This vegan white chili is spicy and delicious, perfect for a fall or winter recipe, an easy game day recipe, and the perfect comfort food.
I love this vegan white bean recipes and this recipe is no exception.
It's also an easy recipe to follow makes six satisfying servings. You can easily double or even triple the recipe to yield more servings.
This plant based chili recipe is super delicious when eaten fresh, but also perfect to eat as leftovers, makes a great vegan or vegetarian meal prep recipe, and can be frozen and reheated up to three months later, making it a great choice for a vegan freezer meal.
When I develop new recipes, one of my favorite things to do is to take some of my old favorite non-vegan recipes and turn them into plant based alternatives. That's why this vegan white chicken chili recipe can now be a delicious vegetarian white chili option, and a great vegan chili recipe.
In my opinion this truly is one of the best easy vegan chili recipes and one of the best vegan chili recipes out there. If you need more inspiration, be sure to try my Vegan Pumpkin Chili as well!
Ingredients
Beans: I used a combination of half navy beans and half cannellini beans in this recipe, but you can use whatever white beans you love most, or have on hand.
This is a really good and informative article from Allrecipes about the different types of beans.
Corn: I used frozen corn for convenience in this recipe because it is accessible all year long. You can absolutely use fresh corn in this recipe though, yum!
Onion: Sweet onion is my usual preferred onion of choice when it comes to cooking, and the type of onion I used in this recipe. You can use a classic yellow onion in you would like.
Spices: A delicious mixture of cumin, oregano, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes brings this chili to life!
Lime: I used the juice of 1 lime. I always recommend using fresh lime juice for better and fresher flavor, whenever possible.
Garlic: Again, I always recommend using fresh garlic whenever possible for peak flavor.
Celery: The celery gives this chili a hearty yet light addition. It's great added texture and flavor.
Green Chiles: The green chiles bring so much good flavor to this recipe, don't skip these!
Broth: I used an organic vegetable broth in this recipe. If you're interested in making your own homemade broth, check out my recipe for Vegetable Scrap Broth.
See recipe card below for quantities and full instructions.
Instructions
Start by combining the olive oil, onion, garlic, celery, and spices in a large pot. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the remaining ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil.
Once it reaches a boil, reduce it to a simmer, cover, and let it cook for another 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and let it cool slightly before using an immersion blender to blend about one third of the chili. This will give you a really nice, creamy and thick consistency, just be sure to only blend one third of the chili and leave the other two thirds as whole ingredients.
If you don't have an immersion blender you can let the chili cool almost all of the way, transfer a third of it to a traditional blender, vent the lid slightly, and blend that way. Then return it to the pot, reheat as necessary, and enjoy!
Storage and Tips
This Vegan chilli holds up well in the refrigerator for up to five days when stored in an airtight container.
You can also freeze this white chili for up to three months, when stored in an airtight container. This makes a great freezer meal.
If you're trying to save some time, you can prep and store your ingredients the night before making this recipe. Wash and prep your onion, and celery, and drain and rinse the beans so you can toss everything together in a snap the next day!
Variations and Substitutions
You can turn this into an easy slow cooker recipe and make vegan crockpot chili simply by adding all ingredients to a slow cooker, and cooking on high heat, covered, for 4 hours.
I used a combination of navy beans and cannellini beans in this recipe, but you can use any type of white bean that you have on hand.
This plant based chili is delicious on its own, but I am extremely guilty of adding a million toppings to my soups and chilis. I would recommend serving with sliced jalapeños, fresh cilantro, red onion, avocado, tortilla strips, corn bread, or a hearty sourdough or garlic bread.
Be sure to try some of my other recipes next:
- Vegan Pumpkin Soup
- Vegan Pumpkin Chili
- Easy Vegan Lentil Bolognese
- Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
- Fall Harvest Salad
Vegan White Bean Chili
Equipment
- Immersion blender
- Large stock pot
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 4 cans white beans 15 oz cans (drained)
- ¼ cup green chiles diced
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine the olive oil, onion, garlic, celery, and spices in a large stock pot and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil.
- Once it has reached a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and continue to cook on low heat for about 30 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool. Use an immersion blender to blend about one third of the chili, leaving the remaining two thirds as whole ingredients. If you do not have an immersion blender, see notes below.
- Reheat if necessary, top with your favorite toppings, and enjoy!
