The Best Vegetarian Chili EVER!

Historically, my husband has always been a bit skeptical of vegetarian chilis. I think this is because he used to eat meat (he turned veggie at age 15) and probably never got used to the non-meat flavor in veggie chili. (I could probably ask him why he didn’t like it but it’s more fun for me to speculate on this blog hehe). Anyway – I recently came across a really flavorful veggie chili recipe on Kath Eats and convinced my husband to try it. It was a total SUCCESS! He LOVED the chili so much he went back for seconds  I made a few modifications to Kath’s recipe – but overall stayed pretty true to it because it was so good! Thanks Kath for a great recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 can Kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Navy (or pinto) beans, drained and rinsed (I used pinto beans because I like them better)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen okra (I actually omitted this, and substituted 1 cup of chopped red pepper)
• 1/2 cup frozen lima beans (or canned) (I omitted this too, and substituted 1/2 cup chopped red onion)
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup vegetable broth (or chicken broth) To keep it veggie friendly, I used veggie broth of course 
• 3 garlic cloves (I probably used closer to 4-5 to up the flavor)
• 1 heaping tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp Ghirardelli cocoa powder (unsweet) (This is totally the secret ingredient in the recipe! Makes the chili super smoky and gives it a wonderful flavor!)
• 2 sprinkles garlic powder (This ended up being about 1/2 tsp for me)
• 1 sprinkle cayenne pepper (This ended up being a little less than 1/4 tsp for me)
• 3-4 glugs Worcestershire sauce (Worcestershire sauce has anchovies in it, so I actually used soy sauce as a substitute and it worked great!)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• A few grinds of black pepper

Directions

1. Chop the garlic, onion, and red pepper. Saute lightly over medium high heat in 1-2 tsp olive oil
2. Add everything else into the pot! Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 min or longer as needed
4. Top with cheese, sour cream, and serve with tortilla chips!

Nutritionals

This makes 12 ladles of soup. Each ladle has ~135 calories; 8g protein; 8g fiber! Talk about a nutritional powerhouse in a one pot dish!

Pictures of the Ingredients I used…

The chili is almost done cooking…

Dinner is served!

Now topped with the cheese for the final touch – yummyyy 

This chili really was the best veggie version both me and my husband have ever had. It had a great smoky quality about it, was super hearty with all the beans and veggies, and was amazingly easy to make! Thanks again Kath, you saved Sunday night dinner for me!