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Easy Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

This easy vegetarian black bean chili recipe is a great meatless meal to throw together with pantry staples when you don’t know what’s for dinner! Naturally gluten free.

Here’s a simple yet flavorful recipe to add to your Meatless Monday meal planning options: Easy Vegetarian Black Bean Chili! This one is both super affordable and super easy to throw together with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, making it a good last-minute weeknight option when you’re trying to figure out what’s for dinner.

bowl of vegetarian chili

Even the avowed carnivores in the family enjoyed this recipe! Chili is a great way to help ease into meatless meals, because you still have the familiar flavors and textures going on — so sometimes it’s easier to start by adapting recipes that use meat as an ingredient, rather than as the main dish.

Be sure to browse through the Meatless Monday category for additional vegetarian main dish ideas, too.

Easy Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 a medium yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne (halve or omit if you are sensitive to spice)
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 cans black beans, drained, rinsed, & divided
10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles
2 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp lime juice (about 1 small lime)

Directions

black beans in a food chopper

Mash one can of beans (or give it a short whirl in a food chopper), then set aside. Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or soup pot until softened.

season the garlic and onion

Stir in garlic and spices and cook another minute. Add broth, tomatoes, and both whole and mashed beans, then simmer chili for one hour on medium-low, stirring occasionally. Stir in lime juice and serve.

Optional but recommended: Garnish with avocado, cilantro, cotija, tortilla chips, lime wedges, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, diced green onions, and/or other fixings of choice.

Note: If you don’t like your chili too spicy, you’ll want to omit the cayenne.

Spicy & filling vegetarian chili, anyone?

finished black bean chili

Yum! This easy vegetarian chili recipe is both spicy and satisfying. I used my little Ninja food chopper for the onion, garlic, and black beans here to help everything come together very quickly — love that thing so much — and chopping or mashing up half of the beans also helps thicken up the chili and gives you that “meatier” texture.

You will want the longer simmering time to give the chili a chance to thicken up and for the flavors to mingle, but the actual hands on prep time in this recipe is fairly short. This week we enjoyed our black bean chili with quesadillas on the side, but it’s also great with cornbread or served over cooked rice or quinoa. Easy vegetarian black bean chili is naturally gluten free.

Easy Vegetarian Black Bean Chili, printable recipe

Easy Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

This chili is both super affordable and super easy to throw together with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.
Course dinner
Cuisine chili
Keyword black beans, chili, meatless monday, vegetarian, vegetarian chili
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 a medium yellow onion diced
  • 4 garlic cloves minced (about 2 tsp)
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne (halve or omit if you are sensitive to spice)
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 cans black beans drained, rinsed, & divided
  • 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice about 1 small lime

Instructions

  • Mash one can of beans (or give it a short whirl in a food chopper), then set aside.
  • Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or soup pot until softened.
  • Stir in garlic and spices and cook another minute.
  • Add broth, tomatoes, and both whole and mashed beans, then simmer chili for one hour on medium-low, stirring occasionally.
  • Stir in lime juice and serve.

Optional but recommended: Garnish with avocado, cilantro, cotija, tortilla chips, lime wedges, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, diced green onions, and/or other fixings of choice.

    Notes

    If you don’t like your chili too spicy, you’ll want to omit the cayenne.

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    Recipe Rating




    Aeryn Moss

    Monday 8th of July 2019

    I'm sort of wondering how to do this without a blender, food processor, or potato masher...just squash the beans with a fork?? Haha.

    rachel

    Monday 8th of July 2019

    Sure, why not. As long as some get squashed up, you'll have the texture -- the how is not important, lol.

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    Sarah

    Tuesday 4th of April 2017

    I need to make this now!