Vegetarian Chili Recipe With Kidney Beans

This vegetarian chili with kidney beans is a protein-packed and flavorful delight. With my detailed recipe, learn how to make this simple dish at home with pantry staple ingredients. Make this warm, vegan, and gluten-free chili with lots of veggies today, and enjoy a homemade meal!

As a vegetarian, we mainly use beans and lentils as our primary protein source. Though we like Indian-style curry recipes with beans, this chili with red kidney beans is my favorite.

I usually cook the kidney beans and store them in the refrigerator or freezer for weekday meals. Cooking beans from scratch saves money and is far healthier than canned beans.

Make this vegan chili today and enjoy it with a side dish like cornbread or nachos. I like to eat this as soup and over rice.

Main Ingredients for Kidney Bean Chili

• Kidney Beans: Kidney beans are the main ingredient in this chili recipe. I used my Instant Pot Kidney beans recipe and cooked the beans from scratch at home. You can use canned beans also to make this chili. If using canned beans, rinse them to remove the excess salt.
• Aromatics: Finely chopped onions and garlic will flavor the chili. You can also use garlic powder if you do not have fresh garlic.
• Veggies: I used carrots, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Sweet potato and potato also go well in this chili and give the chili a creamy texture. You could use sweet corn as well.
• Spices: Ground cumin, paprika, and dried oregano give an amazing flavor to the chili. This recipe yields mildly spiced chili. You can add red chili powder and cayenne pepper to make it spicier.

How to make Vegetarian Chili with Kidney Beans

Cook the Kidney Beans

• Soak the dried kidney beans for 8 hours or overnight.
• Drain the water from the soaked beans and rinse them a couple of times.
• Add rinsed kidney beans to the Instant Pot inner pot.

• Add water and salt. Close the Instant Pot with its lid.

• Start the Instant Pot in manual or pressure cook mode and cook for 12 minutes on high pressure. If you cook dried beans, cook them for 45 minutes on high pressure.
• Once the Instant Pot finishes cooking, drain the kidney beans and keep them aside. Reserve the water, and you can use it in the soups.

Prep the ingredients

• Finely chop the veggies and keep them aside. Also, chop the onions and garlic. You can use a food processor or manual chopper to prep the veggies.

• Keep all the spice powders handy. 

Saute the Aromatics

• Heat a thick-bottomed pan. Once it is hot, add oil and finely chopped onion and garlic.

• Saute the onions till they turn translucent.

Combine the Ingredients

• Now add the veggies one by one and mix them well.

• Add diced tomatoes and cook the veggies mixture for a few minutes.

• Then add the spice powders - ground cumin, paprika powder, dried oregano, freshly ground black pepper, and salt.

• Add water and cooked kidney beans. And mix it well.

Simmer the chili

• Mix everything well and simmer the chili over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
• I mashed the beans using a potato masher to give a nice creamier texture to the chili.

• While it is simmering, stir the chili once or twice to avoid the burning. If required, add more water or vegetable stock.

• Once the chili thickens to your liking, take it off the heat. Serve the warm chili with cornbread or nachos.

Instant Pot Vegan Chili

• Chop the veggies - onions, tomatoes, carrots, red and green bell pepper. Keep them aside.

• Start the Instant Pot in saute mode and add oil to it.

• Once it is hot, add finely chopped onions and garlic.

• Let them cook until the onion turns into a light pink color.

• Add chopped carrots and let them fry for a couple of minutes. Add the veggies that take a longer time to cook first.

• Now add chopped bell peppers and mix them well.

• Add finely chopped tomatoes to the Instant Pot and mix it well. You can also use fire-roasted tomatoes or tomato puree here. 

• Now add the spice powders - dried oregano, red chili powder, cumin powder, pepper powder, and salt. Give this a good stir.

• It's time to add the cooked kidney beans. Traditionally, Mexican chili uses black beans; you can use them here instead of kidney beans.

• Add water or vegetable broth and mix it well. If you cook kidney beans at home, you can use the water in which kidney beans are cooked. 

• Switch off the Instant Pot saute mode and close the lid.
• Start the Instant Pot using manual or pressure mode and cook it for 5 minutes on HIGH pressure. 
• Once the Instant Pot beeps, switch it off. Wait for 10 minutes and do a quick pressure release carefully.
• Stir it well, and Instant Pot vegan chili is ready to serve!

Recipe Notes

• I used fresh tomatoes in this recipe. You can use canned tomatoes to make this recipe, preferably fire-roasted crushed tomatoes. If they are unavailable, tomato paste or tomato sauce also works here.
• This recipe calls for kidney beans, but you could use black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, or a mix of everything to make this vegan chili at home.
• Though I haven't used celery, cilantro, and corn in this recipe, they will be an excellent addition to the chili and make it more flavorful and tasty.
• I have used leftover water from cooking kidney beans in this recipe. Using vegetable stock will make this recipe more flavorful.

Tips for Perfect Vegetarian Chili

From my experience, these tips will yield flavorful and delicious chili.

• Adjust the spices - This recipe yields mildly spiced chili. Feel free to add red chili powder or cayenne pepper to make it more spicy. Always taste the dish before adding more spices.
• Get the right texture - Let it simmer longer to make your chili thicker. Or take some portion of chili in a blender and blend it into a smooth paste. Then, add this blended chili paste to the dish and mix it well. If the chili is too thick, thin it out by adding vegetable broth or water.
• Let the flavors blend - Chili often tastes even better the next day. Consider making it a day in advance and reheating it for maximum flavor. Or simmer the chili on low flame for a longer time for all the flavors to blend well.
• Customize with the toppings - Try different toppings like shredded cheddar cheese (vegan cheese for a vegan version), avocado, sour cream (cashew cheese sauce for a vegan version), or a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

How do you thicken vegan chili?

You do not need to add any flour or cornstarch to thicken your chili. Instead, take some portion of chili in a blender and blend it into a smooth paste. Then, add this chili paste to the dish and mix it well. In this way, your chili will be super creamy and thick.

Serving and Storage

It's time to enjoy the delicious vegetarian chili with kidney beans! Serve it with tortilla chips, breadsticks, cornbread. You can also pair it with a salad. I also like to pair it up with a bowl of rice.

I usually refrigerate the leftover chili and use it within two days. If you intend to store it longer, freezing is the best option. Freeze the chili in portion-sized containers. And take out only the required portions. Reheat the chili and serve it immediately; do not freeze it again.

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