This Vegan Chilli combines a base of tangy chopped tomatoes, fresh onion and crushed garlic. The mixture of BBQ sauce, spicy ancho chilli flakes and chipotle paste bring a smoky flavour and kick of heat. Rich in protein, we have used kidney beans, black beans and haricot beans to give the chilli a hearty texture and keeps you full for longer.
This Smoky Vegan Chilli is like a comforting hug as it warms you from the inside with a rich flavour and a kick of spice.
This is one of our favourite meal plan dishes as it’s a simple recipe and most of the ingredients have a long shelf life so can be kept in the cupboard for meal planning emergencies
Have you tried this recipe? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
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VEGAN CHILLI RECIPE TIPS
This is a recipe with a delicious deep flavour, however … there is a kick of spice to this one so if your taste is more on the mild side, hold back on the ancho chilli flakes and chipotle paste!
While this can be done on a stove top the key to cooking this comforting Smoky Vegan Chilli is to cook it slowly over a few hours. We use our instapot or you can achieve the same result in any kind of slow cooker.
VEGAN CHILLI INGREDIENTS
Beans: While you can use any type of beans we use a mixture of kidney beans, black beans and haricot beans. Tinned beans are easier and quicker to cook, however if you only have dried beans you can still use these. Be prepared – dried beans take longer to prepare as they need to be soaked according to package instructions.
Sauce: the base of this vegan chilli is what gives it the smoky flavour – chipotle paste and BBQ sauce are added to tinned tomatoes. We used store bought BBQ sauce – if you want to make one from scratch then check out this recipe from Rainbow Plant Life
Spice: this recipe is not short on spice! Aside from the spicy ancho chilli flakes that give this dish its kick of spice, we also have paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and some fresh garlic. All spices that should be in any reasonably stocked kitchen as they’re pretty common ingredients in most recipes.
MORE VEGAN ONE PAN MEAL IDEAS

Smoky Vegan Chilli
Ingredients
- 800 g tinned tomatoes
- 4 tbsp BBQ sauce
- 400 g kidney beans
- 100 g black beans
- 50 g haricot beans
- 2 tbsp chipotle paste
- 100 ml vegetable stock
- 1 medium onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- 4 tsp ancho chilli flakes
- Pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion and fresh garlic, and add to your saucepan or instant pot.
- Once the onion and garlic are nicely browned add in the chipotle paste and cook for another minute or two.
- Finally add in the rest of the ingredients and set your instant pot to "Bean and Chilli" for 40 minutes.
- If you're cooking this on a stove top then bring the mixture to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 60 minutes.
- Serve this vegan chilli with rice and a plant-based sour cream or pour over tortilla chips and top with guacamole and salsa.
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