5 Bean (Vegetarian) Chili

Lately, we’ve been eating chili about once a week at my house. This is how dinner goes: I list off three or four things I can make for dinner, and Trey picks one. I usually list them in the order I want to eat and/or make them. So if I really want pizza, I list that first.

But lately, no matter what, if chili is on the list Trey always picks that. And I can’t complain, as it’s SO easy to make and can take just around 30 minutes (or less!). So we’ve been eating a lot of chili lately.

Related: 60 Easy Dinner Recipes

Anyway, back to chili. Since we are mostly vegetarians, most of my chili’s revolve around beans as the main ingredient of the dish. This is the version I’ve been making most often at home. You can cut this recipe in half if you are feeding just two, or you can warm this up the next day for another chili dinner.

5 Bean Vegetarian Chili, serves 4.

45 oz. canned (cooked beans), usually 3 cans. You can use any beans you like, including pinto, kidney, black beans, great northern, or even garbanzo.
14.5 oz. (one can) diced tomatoes
8 oz. (one small can) tomato sauce
1/2 cup cooked corn (canned or frozen)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

Cook the onion for 2-3 minutes until it begins to soften. Toss in the garlic and spices, and cook for another minute, stirring so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.

Now add in the diced tomatoes (and their juices), tomato sauce, beans (drained), and corn (if frozen, thaw it first). Stir and continue to cook until everything is hot. Taste and add salt and pepper as you need.

You can serve this as soon as everything is hot, or you can lower the heat and let the flavors mingle a little longer. We pretty much always eat it as soon as it’s ready. We’re total foodies, obviously.

At our house we nearly always serve chili over Frito (corn) chips. But tortilla chips or cornbread are great options as well. Garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, and some chopped green onions or chives. Enjoy! xo. Emma

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5 from 4 votes

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Yield 4

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• ▢ 45 oz. canned beans (Usually 3 cans. You can use any beans you like, including pinto, kidney, black beans, great northern, or even garbanzo.)
• ▢ 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes (one can)
• ▢ 8 oz. tomato sauce (one small can)
• ▢ ½ cup cooked corn (canned or frozen)
• ▢ ½ yellow onion (chopped)
• ▢ 2-3 cloves garlic (minced)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cumin
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• ▢ salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions

• In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the onion for 2-3 minutes until it begins to soften. Toss in the garlic and spices, and cook for another minute, stirring so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.
• Now add in the diced tomatoes (and their juices), tomato sauce, beans (drained), and corn (if frozen, thaw it first).

  Stir and continue to cook until everything is hot. Taste and add salt and pepper as you need. You can serve this as soon as everything is hot, or you can lower the heat and let the flavors mingle a little longer. We pretty much always eat it as soon as it's ready.

Notes

At our house we nearly always serve chili over Frito (corn) chips. But tortilla chips or cornbread are great options as well. Garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, and some chopped green onions or chives

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keywords chili, vegetarian chili