Name: Gluten-free Vegetarian Chili
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 onion, chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 carrot, chopped; 1 bell pepper (any color), diced; 2 cups assorted vegetables (zucchini, broccoli, parsnip, cabbage, etc.); ½ Tablespoon cooking oil; 4 Tablespoons chili powder blend; 4 cans assorted beans, drained and rinsed; 1 teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; 1 can chopped tomatoes; 1 Tablespoon jalapeno peppers, chopped (optional); ½ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional); Vegan cheese; Onion, diced

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Our gluten-free vegetarian chili is a perfect one-pot meal. It’s loaded with vegetables and high-protein beans for a nutritious and simple weeknight meal.

I love Jeff’s chili, but now that we are hosting a vegetarian student, he had to make a few changes, more than just leaving out the meat.

But as he does, Jeff captured the flavors of his original chili con carne perfectly, creating for all of us a protein-packed, tasty vegetarian chili. And, it’s super easy to prepare, ready in under an hour.

The new gluten-free vegetarian chili recipe still uses his own spice blend, but it adds a second secret ingredient: liquid smoke. It adds a deeper Southwest BBQ flavor we all love, but he left it optional in the recipe below for those who don’t like it or just want to whip up a batch and don’t have liquid smoke on hand.

His new vegetarian version is gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free, making it suitable for many restricted diets.

What you need to make vegetarian chili

Assorted beans – provide protein, fiber, and a satisfying texture.
(We use any combination of red kidney, pinto, canellini, or black beans, depending on what we have on the shelves)
Chopped tomatoes are the heart of the sauce base for the chili
Vegetables – just about any will do, but we nearly always include onions, garlic, carrots, and bell pepper as they add natural sweetness and color
Chili powder – this is Jeff’s secret to success; he makes his own, and it’s amazing, adding warmth in addition to chili flavor. Find his chili powder here.
Cooking oil helps soften the vegetables and develop flavor
Optional: liquid smoke, jalapeño peppers, and grated vegan cheese

Tips for making gluten-free vegetarian chili

To keep the beans firm, don’t add them too soon, as a longer cooking time will soften them.
Frying the vegetables before adding them to the mix maintains their firmness and adds the bonus of enhancing their flavor.
Use several different-colored bell peppers to make the chili more colorful.
Cayenne (flakes or powder) may be substituted for jalapeno peppers.
If your family is like ours, make extra. It’s great for lunch the next day, and if you make enough, it will keep for a few days. Just note that the beans and vegetables may be a bit softer on day two, but it never bothered any of us.
Sometimes, rather than purchasing individual beans, we get a Bean Trio mix like this. We’ve also made it with chickpeas.

Serving suggestions

While we all love chili, we eat it in different ways. Jeff likes it spicy, so he usually adds extra jalapeños or hot sauce and then tops it with chopped raw onion, whereas I usually add more salt and top it with grated vegan cheese.

Regardless of how we dress it up, we like it served over one of these options:

A bed of plain steamed brown rice with a side of cornbread
As a topping on a big baked potato
On a toasted gluten-free roll, like an open-faced sandwich

Our vegetarian chili recipe