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Whether you’re Vegan, Vegetarian, focusing on Meatless Mondays and need a chili recipe, or just wanting to skip meat for a night, this Vegan Chili recipe is a great way to make an easy, filling meal that’s packed with protein and veggies.

In the last few years I’ve noticed that meat and eggs make my migraine headaches worse. After suffering for over 20 years with migraines, I’ve decided to give up both of these things in order to get some relief. Lucky for you, this means that you’re seeing more meatless options here on My Crazy Good Life – including this Vegan Chili Recipe.

collage with chili ingredients on bottom and a cooked bowl of chili on top, with text in between

Where’s the recipe?

Here at My Crazy Good Life, we create healthy recipes that anyone can make. The article below will give you a list of ingredients and some information about them, detailed recipe directions, and healthy eating plan information for the 21 Day Fix and Weight Watchers.

If you’re just looking for the basic recipe without all of the extra information, you’re welcome to scroll to the bottom of the article for our printable recipe for this easy Vegan Chili recipe.

Ingredients in this Vegan Chili recipe:

These are my preferred simple ingredients for this meatless chili recipe–but this is a flexible recipe that you should experiment based on what you love and what’s in your fridge!

  • Carrots I love using carrots in this recipe because they are a bit crunchy and leave me feeling like I’m not missing texture without the meat.
  • Red Onion You can use any color onion you prefer, but I love red for the color.
  • Kidney beans I use low sodium canned dark red kidney beans, but light red works as well.
  • Black beans I use low sodium canned black beans.
  • Cannellini beans I love adding cannellini beans but basic white beans also work.
  • Pinto beans If I can find chili beans without a lot of added ingredients, I love adding them, but regular pinto beans work perfect!
  • Diced tomatoes I use petite diced tomatoes. If you don’t care for tomato chunks, blend them first or use tomato sauce.
  • Seasonings: chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper
  • Water or vegetable broth
top down view of the ingredients needed for this vegan chili recipe

How to cook Vegan Chili on the stove:

  1. Spray a little olive oil and saute the carrots in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
  2. Add in diced onions and seasonings, saute for 5 minutes
  3. Add beans, tomatoes, and water to the pot.
  4. Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until hot and flavors have melded. Top with diced green onions.
  5. Store leftover chili in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
collage showing the steps to making this chili recipe

Recipe Tips:

  1. Get creative with what you put in here – using this base recipe, I love also adding diced celery (it gives a great crunch!), diced and barely cooked sweet potatoes or butternut squash, uncooked green bell peppers, or diced zucchini.
  2. Be flexible with your beans–we have made this recipe so many times with different kinds of beans. Sometimes we use extra black beans and take out a can of kidney. We have added chickpeas when we didn’t have enough of the other types of beans too–they’re delicious!
  3. If you’re wanting a meat substitute, I prefer the Impossible brand vegan ground meat. It has the least offensive smell and texture. I don’t do this often, but typically when we have meat eaters as company.
  4. You can switch up your chili recipe easily by adding some of the following ingredients. They sound crazy, I know – but trust me.
  • 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 bottle of beer
  • 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos
white bowl full of vegan chili, fresh bread in the background

My favorite toppings for this recipe:

  • vegan cheese
  • vegan sour cream
  • crushed tortilla chips or corn chips
  • nutritional yeast
  • sliced jalapeño pepper

Healthy Eating Plans

21 Day Fix

Regular Plan: 1 1/2 green containers and 1 1/3 yellow containers per serving. To reduce the yellow containers to 1 per serving, reduce the beans in this recipe to three cans.

Vegan plan: 1 1/2 green containers per serving, 1 red container per serving.

Weight Watchers

This recipe is zero points on the 2023 Point Plan.

2B Mindset

Serve this meal with a side of whole grain bread as a perfect Plate It lunch option.

More delicious Vegan Recipes

white bowl full of vegan chili, fresh bread in the background
5 from 7 ratings
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Vegan Chili Recipe

Created by: Becca Ludlum
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Approximate Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
Servings 6
This delicious vegan chili recipe uses mostly pantry staples and can be made quickly. It's my go to for serving a large crowd this time of year, and I've found that nearly everyone loves sitting down to a bowl of homemade chili.

Equipment

  • Enameled Cast Iron Pan
  • Cutting Board
  • Kitchen Knife

Ingredients 

  • 1 pound carrots peeled and chopped into 1/4 inch half moons
  • 1 medium red onion diced
  • 3 tbsp chili powder skip if you don't like spice
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 3/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 14 oz low sodium black beans undrained
  • 14 oz low sodium kidney beans undrained
  • 14 oz low sodium cannellini beans or white beans, undrained
  • 14 oz low sodium pinto beans undrained
  • 28 oz diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup water or broth
  • 2 stalks green onions diced, optional

Instructions

  • Spray a little olive oil and saute the carrots in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. 1 pound carrots
  • Add in diced onions and seasonings, saute for 5 minutes. 1 medium red onion 3 tbsp chili powder 1 tbsp cumin 1 tsp garlic powder 3/4 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • Add beans, tomatoes, and water to the pot. Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until hot and flavors have melded. 14 oz low sodium black beans 14 oz low sodium kidney beans 14 oz low sodium cannellini beans 14 oz low sodium pinto beans 28 oz diced tomatoes 1/2 cup water or broth
  • Top with diced green onions. 2 stalks green onions
  • Store leftover chili in an airtight container for 4-5 days.

Notes

21 Day Fix
Regular Plan: 1 1/2 green containers and 1 1/3 yellow containers per serving. To reduce the yellow containers to 1 per serving, reduce the beans in this recipe to three cans.
Vegan plan: 1 1/2 green containers per serving, 1 red container per serving.
Weight Watchers
This recipe is zero points on the 2023 Point Plan.

Nutrition

Calories: 352kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 667mg | Potassium: 1576mg | Fiber: 21g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 13986IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 216mg | Iron: 9mg

Make This Recipe?

Make sure to follow on Pinterest @bludlum and on Instagram @beccaludlum

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