Vegan chili can be a bit hit or miss – you need to be careful about layering the flavours to pack as much in there as possible, getting the texture right, and not overwhelming it with too much stuff. This chili hits all the right notes. Mushrooms add a nice base texture for a meaty bite, there are plenty of creamy pinto beans, dry red wine adds depth, and toasted spices make for a smoky, nuanced dish. The ingredients are simple but using the right methods makes all the difference.

Cooking the mushrooms and onion for a longer time reduces the water in the mushrooms, for a better bite, and the onions are sweeter this way. Toasting spices brings out their natural oils and adds flavour to the chili. Deglazing with red wine lifts those delicious browned bits from the bottom of the pot. All of this makes for the best vegan chili. These are pictured with my soft spelt rolls.

Recipe Rundown: Vegan Chili

• Flavour: deeply savoury, with a mild mushroom undertone. If you use button mushrooms as pictured, they don’t come through that strongly, and are more for texture. The spices are the main flavour point as with any chili.
• Texture: thick and hearty, some meatiness from the finely chopped mushrooms, and creaminess from the beans. I like to add some crunchy toppings too.
• Difficulty: not the easiest chili, but certainly easy enough for all home cooks except absolute beginners. Keep an eye on timings and set a clock if needed.

Ingredients

• Beans: pinto beans are best, but kidney will work in a pinch. Use canned or home cooked and drain and rinse well either way.
• Tomatoes: jarred or tinned chopped tomatoes with no add-ins like herbs. I haven’t tested this with fresh tomatoes but you could probably use an equal amount of fresh chopped tomatoes.
• Mushrooms: common button mushrooms, white or brown, are great here. I find oyster mushrooms can add a little too much bite. You could replace a few of the mushrooms with shiitake if you’d like a stronger mushroom taste.
• Wine: this should be a dry red wine. Tomato paste can be used as a substitution if you don’t use wine (see recipe notes).
• Spices: individual fresh spices will add more oomph to the chili. A store-bought chili powder blend can be used if you prefer, a full tablespoon to replace all the spices but salt and pepper.

For more vegan chili recipes, try my one-pot three bean chili, hearty lentil chili, and black bean sweet potato chili.

Step by Step Photos

Step 1: cook the mushrooms and onions for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 2: add the garlic, followed by the spices, and deglaze with wine.

Step 3: add the remaining ingredients.

Step 4: cook for about half an hour and serve.

How to Store

Storage: keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Reheat as usual.

Freezing: transfer fully cooled chili to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.

Expert Tips

• Season to taste: always taste your chili before serving and check if it needs more salt. The amount added will depend on whether the beans were salted and if you use vegetable broth or water.
• Cook the spices: it makes a big difference to add the spices to the pot before adding liquid, rather than adding it at the end or with the tomatoes.
• Soak the beans: if I use canned or tinned beans, I always rinse and then soak them in water for about 30 minutes before draining again to improve the taste. You don’t need to do this for home-cooked beans (you don’t need to do it at all, but it does taste better).

More Vegan Dinner Recipes

Vegan Pasta Bake
Kidney Bean Burgers
Red Lentil Curry
Lemon Broccoli Pasta

If you make this Vegan Chili or any other vegetarian dinner recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.