Best Vegan Chili Ever

One of the things I pride myself on is my ability to make an amazing chili. It's pretty much an essential skill when autumn hits in the Midwest, especially when someone volunteers to make a pan of cinnamon rolls to go with. It's a thing [link], I promise, and it's totally great. When I stopped eating meat I was worried my chili recipe, adapted a long time ago from this one here, wouldn't translate well into veggie-only land, but in fact it's just as delicious, so it's time to share the magic!

Best Ever Vegan Chili

Serves 8

Cooking time: 20-45 min

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil

1 white or yellow onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

2 jalapeño peppers, minced

3 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano 

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

28 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes 

15 oz can tomato sauce

2 15oz cans of chili beans in chili sauce (do not drain)

2 15oz cans of kidney beans, drained

about 1/2 a bag of frozen sweet corn

For serving (optional):

Diced avocados

Red or green onion, diced

Chips or tostadas 

Cinnamon rolls!

1. Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, green pepper, garlic and jalapeño and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft (about 4 or 5 minutes). 

2. Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to the vegetable mixture and stir to coat.

3. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili beans and their sauce, and kidney beans. Bring the the chili to a simmer and let cook at least until completely heated through. The chili tastes great right off the bat, but if you let it simmer about 30 minutes the flavors will have more time to meld together. Tastes almost even better the next day!
4. Add the frozen corn to the chili. Let it simmer until it warms through, about 4-5 minutes.

5. Serve with diced avocado, red or green onions, corn or flour chips/tostadas and/or a side of cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy!