Vegan Chili Cheese Fries that will win everybody over! These also happen to be super healthy, low-fat and oil-free as a bonus, but the flavors would never reveal that.
VEGAN CHILI CHEESE FRIES
Isn’t that an oxymoron? Chili cheese fries can’t possibly be low-fat, can they? If they are made the the vegan 8 way, they can be. These are comfort food, without the guilt or extra lbs. Potatoes are super filling and good for you and so is every other ingredient. So, go on, eat chili cheese fries happily, no shame. This is basically healthy fast food. It takes a little longer than a drive-thru, but certainly worth the health factor and effort.
Funny little story about that adorable little hand there. I was standing on top of my wobbly ottoman to capture this overhead shot (the things we do as bloggers) and I didn’t even realize my daughter was reaching for the fries. I was focused on centering and just didn’t notice it. I did hear her say beneath me, “oh, these aren’t cooked yet”. Haha. When I was editing my photos, I just beamed when I saw this photo. I swear, something that simple made me so happy. Her beautiful little hand. This is probably one of my favorite photos ever now. I know, I’m a total goober, but I’m just being honest. It was unexpected.
HEALTHY VEGAN FAST FOOD
Big sloppy, messy plate of yumminess right there. This is kind of like a fast food type of chili…simple and few ingredients to meet that craving. If you are wanting a full blown chili recipe, be sure to try my Mexican Chili.
This recipe is made for anybody really, as it is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, grain-free and nut-free and extremely low-fat. Just 8 ingredients (+ salt & water).
This recipe is full of protein. Who the heck says you can’t get enough protein on a vegan diet?? That is the biggest misconception out there, not to mention, there is such a thing as too much protein, which can be harmful to your kidneys. Carbs are full of fiber and vitamins and digest way better than protein. There is protein in every plant based food, naturally. Have you ever heard of anybody being protein deficient? Nope. This amazing recipe clocks in at less than 1 g fat per serving and almost 16 g protein!! Yeehaw.
HOW DO YOU MAKE VEGAN CHILI CHEESE FRIES?
First, bake the potatoes and while they are baking, prepare the incredibly simple chili quickly over the stove and then the cheese.
I decided to get a little creative with the cheese part. After you make this yummy chili mixture, you will take part of it and blend that up with some nutritional yeast and lemon juice and it makes the cheese really flavorful. The finished dish is delicious. I really hope you love these vegan chili cheese fries as much as we do!
More Vegan Potato recipes to try:
- Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
- Fluffy Buttermilk Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Baked Sweet Potatoes Stuffed with Chickpea Chili
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Healthy Vegan Chili Cheese Fries
Ingredients
- 2 lbs yukon gold potatoes (you'll need about 6 cups chopped 1/2 inch fry wedges)
FOR THE CHILI
- 2 small or 1 large red bell pepper, chopped (184g, you will need 1 3/4 cups chopped)
- 1 cup (160g) finely diced white onion
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder (+ 2 more teaspoons towards the end of cooking, see directions)
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- Optional: 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- One 15 oz can low-sodium red kidney beans (or 1 1/2 cups 255g cooked)
FOR THE CHEESE
- 1/2 cup of the above cooked chili mixture
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons (32g) raw cashew butter (optional for a thicker/creamier sauce)
OPTIONAL TOPPINGS
- Vegan sour cream, green onions, parsley, hot sauce (I only added hot sauce and some parsley)
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper to prevent sticking. No oil is needed! Rinse (don't peel) and chop your potatoes into 1/2 inch wedges. Spread them out evenly on the pan, being careful not to overlap them. Salt and pepper very generously and bake for 30-35 minutes until very golden brown. I did mine for 34 minutes. Then, for extra crispiness, turn on your broiler for 1-2 minutes. Watch closely.
- To prepare the chili, add all of the ingredients (except the beans and nutritional yeast) listed under "Chili" to a large pan and stir well. Bring to a boil, once it's boiling, turn to medium heat and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times during. At the end of the ten minutes, all of the water should be gone. Mine took exactly 10 minutes.
- While the veggies are cooking, roughly mash the beans with a fork, leaving some whole. After the 10 minutes is up for the veggies, add the beans and another 1/2 cup of water, 2 teaspoons chili powder and 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast. Adding these at the 2nd part of cooking enhances the flavor, since you are adding more water. Heat through just until thickened. Turn off the heat. Taste and add any more salt or seasoning. I didn't add anything extra. If you want your chili more soupy, add more water, but you may need more spice then. I like mine chunky.
- To make the cheese, add 1/2 cup of the above chili mixture to a food processor with the remaining "cheese" ingredients. Blend until completely smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired. I didn't add anything else.
- Serve the chili over the fries and drizzle some cheese on top. I then added a bit of parsley on top, although I will do green onions next time. Add vegan sour cream, tomatoes or any other toppings you like. I added some hot sauce and oh boy, it took it over the top!
Made this tonight and it is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! I’m actually really sad I have to wait till tomorrow to have the leftovers! I would be happy if this is all I ate 3 times a day! Thanks for such a great recipe!
I’m so happy to hear you loved it so much and thank you so much for the wonderful feedback, I truly appreciate you taking the time to leave it! Haha on waiting on leftovers….I know how you feel 🙂
My husband and I made this recipe, and it is crazy good! Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you so much Drew! Yay, so glad it was a hit and thank you for letting me know, I love hearing from my readers!
I am SO making these when I go home for Christmas! I totally know what you mean about the protein – such a silly myth! For a while I was eating way too much protein by accident and ended up suffering for it. My protein/carb ratio is sorted now, but I neglect potatoes, purely because I can’t eat them quickly enough by myself and then they turn into tentacled tubers from outer space. Looking forward to making up for it with this recipe:D
Made these tonight and DEVOURED them! Another awesome recipe, Brandi!
Yay!! So glad to hear that Megan, thanks so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it! 😉
I WANT SOME GODDARN CHILI CHEEZE FRIES NOW. I can’t believe I’m drooling all over your scrumptious dish tonight. I love cheese + fries + chili + everything else on it. What is your favorite hot sauce brand? I’m curious to know your favorite hot sauce! 😉
As soon as you posted the teaser for this recipe on Instagram I knew I had to try it, and I was not disappointed. I was very impressed by your technique for layering the flavours, it works so unbelievably well and the result was amazing. So decadent but completely nourishing and healthy. I made this for my family who aren’t vegan, and they completely loved it. It was so great with lots of coriander and spring onion sprinkled on top. Will be making this one again for sure. Cannot wait to try more of your recipes. Thanks again Brandi! 🙂
Bea, thank you so much for this wonderful feedback!! I’m so happy to hear how much you loved the recipe and I love the idea of coriander on top, yum! Thanks so much for sharing your gorgeous photo on Instagram as well! 🙂
This is the first of your meals I’ve ever made and if this is any indication of how good your food is I will be making many more. the ingredients didn’t seem like anything special, but how they are layered together creates this wonderful dance of flavors. Hubby and I loved it and he said this tasted just like chili we used to eat when we were Omni. He absolutely loved it! Thank you again and look forward to more great recipes!!
Thank you so much Estee for the wonderful feedback and for taking the time to do it!! I’m so happy both you and your hubby loved it! Yep, ingredients are nothing fancy, just simple and easy, that’s what makes this such a go-to recipe for anybody to make! Thanks again 🙂
These vegan chili cheese fries – oh my gosh! They look amazing!!! And I loveee everything that you said about protein, carbs – all of it! “Who the heck says you can’t get enough protein on a vegan diet??” <– Can I get an amen? 😉 Love it! Excited to try these for dinner this week 🙂 Pinned!
Thank you so much Ceara! They have been a huge hit already with readers, so I’m hoping you love them too! 🙂
Okay so we LOVE LOVE LOVE these! They have become a regular around here! Such a delicious meal with such simple ingredients (I typically have all of these in my pantry at all times!). My boyfriend LOVES them as well! We both couldn’t get over how “cheesy” they are with absolutely no cheese in sight (and he’s not a vegan at all but a big fan of delicious vegan meals like this!!). This meal is one of those meals that is straight up comfort food and such a crowd pleaser! I only made a couple additions when I made it last time – I added a couple tbsp of cashews when I blended the cheesy sauce and about a cup of tomato puree to the chilli. DELICIOUS! Thanks again for the wonderful recipe 😀
Yummers!!!!
These look so good! That sauce/chilli looks great spread over the big chunky fries. Now thats a great recipe when you think you want to splurge (even though you really aren’t splurging ;-))
Oh my word, I LOVE your daughter’s cute chubby hand so much! What a sweet picture. This recipe sounds amazing and I love that it could be a one course dinner and I think all the kids would love it! Great idea!!!
Thank you so much Melanie!! 🙂
This recipe is a winner! I made it for dinner this evening and even though the recipe makes enough for four, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that the two of us ate all of it! The cheezy sauce is especially delicious. I’ll be making this one again soon!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me wonderful feedback Sue! I’m so happy to hear you and your husband both loved it so much and no worries, it’s so healthy and guilt-free, that eating it all is certainly acceptable, haha!
wow this is the epitome of beautiful comfort food! mmm!
Thank you so much Caralyn, I appreciate that! 🙂
I am totally NOT a potato person BUTTTTTTTT I will try this on maybe some squash or spinach or just straight up IN MY MOUTH!
These don’t LOOK low-fat, which is awesome!! They look SO delicious and rich. I am all over potatoes right now, something about cold weather and root vegetables!
They definitely don’t taste low-fat either….extremely filling, but not that heavy zombie feeling you get from greasy fattening fries, lol!
Brandi those fries look so good. I really do think the photo with your daughters little hand grabbing the potato is beautiful, its perfect. This is a fantastic recipe.
Aww thanks Suzanne…it was a happy moment for me, for sure!
Love the look of this dish Brandi! You always introduce me to new things – Chili Cheese Fries?!
I’ve never tried cooking fries oil-free but yours definitely still look nice and crisp. Your cheese sauce is so creative too!
Aww thanks Emma! Yes, I guess it’s more of an American thing because it’s a big deal here, but it’s known as junk food here because it’s typically full of meat and grease and fatty cheese. High cholesterol and bad news, lol! SO, I just had to create a healthier, low-fat version because healthy chili cheese fries is unheard of around here! I’m happy to say they more than satisfied the craving! 🙂
Oh, and thank you! I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy the cheesy sauce turned out with the chili mixture blended up!
Chilli cheese fries are my must order at any restaurant, your photos are absolutely mouthwatering 😀
Haha your daughter sounds adorable, I often sneak food when my mum is cooking too 😛
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Awww thank you! I really appreciate that, as I really struggled with the photos this day because it was dark and rainy and I thought they turned out horrible, so thank you for thinking otherwise, lol!
MMMF thank you SO much for making a batch of chili cheese fries that aren’t nut-based! I have an extremely bad gallbladder and gastroparesis, so low fat is a MUST for me. It’s football night tomorrow, and I now know what’s for dinner!
Oh, you are so welcome Eva!! Yes, I hear you! I love nut-based sauces, but they are definitely high calorie, so I like to create some really low calorie ones too for a good variety. The great thing about this is even though it’s basicall fat-free, it is still very filling because of all the carbs and protein from the beans and potatoes! Doesn’t feel low-fat, but it doesn’t leave you feeling heavy either.
Please, please let me know how it turns out tomorrow! 🙂
Another brilliant recipe, Brandi!! And omgosh how old is your daughter?? For some reason I had this impression of her being so tiny that she couldn’t talk. But that picture is truly adorable!! And these fries look amazingg. I’ve been craving fries like crazy lately so I’m ear-marking these to make soon!!
You are so sweet Erika, thank you! She just turned 3 last month, so she definitely talks as good as we do! In fact, too well, I can’t get anything past her, lol!
First of all, that little hand really does make the picture – so adorable! And second, does your Hubby know how lucky he is? I want to marry you myself after seeing this. I am pinning, of course (I should really just start a board dedicated to your recipes already) and I’m thinking next Sunday when we have friends over for football I can fool them all into enjoying a healthy vegan treat! Fabulous job, as usual – thanks for sharing!
Jen
Awww you are the sweetest Jen!! Thank you so much for your kind words! Haha, I’ll tell him that he needs to know how lucky he is 🙂 haha! Yes, load them up! I would even add some vegan sour cream, green onions and some hot sauce and I think everybody would love them. You can tell it’s beans and not meat, but very delicious nonetheless. Let me know if you make them! I really appreciate you commenting too 🙂
This would be yum on some baked oil-free chips too! Nachos! Will try this ASAP!