Well, almost EVERYONE! Assuming of course that you’re not allergic to beans…or quinoa…or tomatoes for that matter…then this is a vegan chili recipe for you, and one that even the most stubborn Meat Eaters will love!
I am sure many of you have your own competition chili recipe that you would put money on, and I definitely encourage and applaud your competitive spirit! While this chili may not have won any international chili contests (yet), I’m confident that this recipe is a real winner, and one that you’ll be excited to share with your friends and family!
This delicious combination of flavors appeals to most palettes, and while you can certainly make this dish spicier, the recipe featured below has a classic mild chili flavor that makes it something the kids will enjoy too!
As for the carnivores in your life, my husband is the type of meat eater that feels genuinely unsatisfied if there is no meat in his meal, but even he admits that this dish is so filling that it doesn’t leave him longing for meat. The round grainy texture of quinoa is truly an amazing substitute for ground beef. Moreover, as far as plant proteins go, quinoa is one of the best!
Beyond its appeal and availability to most diets, one of its greatest selling features of this Vegan Chili is that it can be made easily with items you already have in the pantry!
In honor of National Chili Day, February 25th, I’m whipping up a fresh batch for the family and thought it would be nice to share my recipe with the fine folks who are part of the Mr. B’s Community!
To those of you still following along, your reward is the knowledge that today is ALSO National TOAST Day as well! So to celebrate the dual holidays, I am going to enjoy something delicious that’s been a staple of mine for most of my life: Chili ON Toast. (Seriously, y’all: why is toast SO good!? Try all your leftovers on toast and tell us what works best in the comments!)
The crew at Mr. B’s Festival Needs believes this weird holiday mashup has been sorely overlooked for years, so today, in an act of official festiveness (and our desire to keep things interesting) we hereby declare a hybrid holiday:
February 25th will henceforth be known as “National Chili ON Toast Day!”
You heard it here first!!
Now, after spending most of my time convincing people to try the Vegan Quinoa Chili, I don’t have much time to pay tribute to the delights of toast, but I want to make it clear that I personally believe that toast deserves more words than is typically recommended in an online article, so I will reserve my ode to toast until National Sourdough Day (you’ve been warned…see you back here April 1st!).
In the meantime, check out our new Toasty Tee and join us in commemorating National Chili ON Toast Day 😉
VEGAN QUINOA CHILI
| INGREDIENTS | |
|---|---|
| | |
| 1 Half | Onion, chopped |
| 3 Cloves | Garlic, minced |
| 1 Tbsp | Oil |
| 3 Tbsp | Chili Powder |
| 1 Tbsp | Coriander |
| 1 Tsp | Ground Black Pepper |
| | |
| 2/3 cups | Uncooked Quinoa, rinsed |
| 15 oz. | Canned Black Beans, drained & rinsed |
| 15 oz. | Canned Kidney Beans, drained & rinsed |
| 15 oz. | Canned Diced Tomatoes |
| 1/4 cup | Tomato Paste |
| 4 cups | Vegetable Borth (or broth of choice) |
| 1 1/2 tsp | Salt |
SWEAT ONIONS – Dice onions + mince garlic (or scoop from your minced garlic jar). Cook in a little bit of oil until translucent. If you want to skip this part, you can, but if you do I suggest you skip the onions altogether. If you don’t “sweat” the onions they are always going to bother someone with texture issues. Also, if you are cooking for others, dice your onions as small as you can to make them most universally accepted by picky palettes. You can choose to ignore this step altogether if you want to.
TOAST SPICES – Toast your spices by adding them to the cooked onions (after they are translucent), and heating them up and moving them around for a few minutes until fragrant. You could skip this, too, but it is an easy way to enhance the flavor.
DUMP – Add your spicy onion mix to the cooker of your choice. Mine is the slow cooker, but you could easily use the Instant Pot (and save yourself a dish from sweating your onions in another pot), or just a standard pot on the stove. Rinse quinoa. Drain & rinse beans. Then just dump everything else in there, and stir.
COOK – If you are cooking on the stovetop, you will need to fuss with the temperature until it’s just simmering with a lid on. It will take a little more attention – every stove is different. For Slowcooker: Cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. In Instant Pot: Cook on Medium for 5 hours or High for 3-4 hours. Water will be absorbed and the chili nice and thick when it is done
Serve leftovers on toast!
Bonus Points for Extra Protein Boost:
Use dry beans and then reuse the water you cook the beans in instead of vegetable stock!
Ways to make this dish spicier:
Use 1 tsp of paprika and only 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper for a spicier kick. Give it an additional crank with cayenne, but use with caution!
Loved it? Let us know! Hated it? Give us an earful in the comments! <3
