I have been trying to incorporate more beans, lentils, and vegetables into our daily meals. With the right combination of spices, you can turn boring canned beans into something really spectacular. In my university job I was tasked with creating new and exciting vegan and vegetarian recipes for college students. One of the dishes that proved really popular was a special vegan chili that I created.

Key ingredients include canned fire roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic base that give the chili lots of flavor. Although I use regular corn below (since this is all I had on hand) the recipe works even better with fire roasted frozen corn if you have it.

I don’t add any water to my chili as the liquids from the beans, tomatoes, and pimentos makes the perfect amount of sauce. Leftovers can be stored either in the refrigerator or in the freezer. Chili tends to soak up some liquid while it sits in the refrigerator, so if that happens you can add some vegetable broth to thin it out. Leftovers taste even better the next day.

Although I don’t normally eat a lot of chili (as it is sometimes a bit bland for my tastes), I really do like this one, and I think you will too. Even if you typically expect meat in your chili, you won’t miss it! This is a chili that even carnivores should love. It’s that good.

One last thing — this can be made in as little as 45 minutes. That leaves you a lot of time for enjoying it!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 cup yellow onion, small dice
• 1/2 cup celery, small dice
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 tbsp. chili powder (mild)
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 tbsp. roasted garlic base
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black ground pepper
• 1 4 oz. jar diced pimientos
• 1 14.5 oz. can diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 15.5 oz. can garbanzo beans (don’t drain the beans)
• 1 15.5 oz. can black beans (don’t drain the beans)
• 1 15.5 oz. can kidney beans (don’t drain the beans)
• 1 cup frozen corn

Garnish

• Vegan sour cream ( thin it out a little with lime juice)
• Thinly sliced green onion
• Lime slices

Instructions

Heat oil in a large heavy bottom soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic, then cook for 3-5 minutes or until onions are soft. Next add chili powder, paprika, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and garlic base. Turn down the heat, then stir well, and cook for a minute.

Add beans and liquids from the beans, tomatoes, corn, and pimientos to the pot and stir well. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring in-between. Taste for seasoning, add more roasted garlic base if needed 1 tsp. at a time. To serve ladle the soup into a bowl, drizzle sour cream over the soup then sprinkle green onions over the top!

Serves 6

Did you make this dish? I’d love to know how it turns out! Feel free to like this post and comment or use the hashtag #globaldinein on Instagram. If you would to be notified of upcoming posts, please consider subscribing to my blog!