This hearty Black Bean Chili calls for traditional ingredients, like onion, bell pepper and tomatoes, but adds cauliflower and white potatoes for a more rustic texture. Garnish with avocado, cilantro and/or green onions.
Black Bean Chili
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 (makes about 9 cups) 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
- 1 large red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 3 ribs celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic (4 to 5 cloves)
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 3 cans (15-oz. ea.) cooked black beans (or 5¼ cups), rinsed
- 1 26-oz. can or box strained or chopped tomatoes
- 1½ cups water or sodium-free vegetable stock
- 1½ cups cauliflower florets (cut into large chunks)
- 1 medium Yukon gold potato, peeled and chopped
- Garnish options: chopped cilantro, green onion and/or avocado
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of water in a soup pot over medium-high heat. When the water starts to sputter, add the onion, bell pepper, and celery, and cook for about 7 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently, adding water as needed to prevent sticking. Add the garlic, chili powder and cumin seeds, and cook while stirring for 1 minute more.
- Add the remaining ingredients: black beans, tomatoes (with liquid), water or vegetable stock, cauliflower and potato. Stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes and cauliflower are tender, stirring once during.
- Transfer 2 to 3 cups of the chili, including all of the cauliflower pieces, to a blender, and blend for 10 to 20 seconds (it doesn’t have to be completely smooth). Pour this back into the soup pot and stir. Serve as is or garnished with chopped cilantro, green onion, and/or chopped avocado.
Notes
- Fun additions: 4 or 5 sliced mushrooms, chopped greens (kale, chard, collards); to make it spicy, add ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes.
- If you don’t have any cauliflower on hand, you can add 1 to 2 more Yukon gold potatoes. Using cauliflower gives the chili a bit of a rustic texture.
- Rinsing the beans: I always rinse my beans, but I know others like to use the liquid their canned beans come in. This is fine, but add only 1 cup water instead of 1½ cups to make sure the chili is not overly thin; adjust as needed.
- Chili powder: If you like a hot-n-spicy chili, use a medium to hot chili powder. Mild chili powder is usually just labelled as "chili powder."
- Prep Time: 25 mins.
- Cook Time: 40 mins.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cups
- Calories: 189
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 55 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 37 g
- Fiber: 12 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Cholesterol: 0
Another winner Cathy. I did not even use the tomatoes and it tasted great. I'll be putting this on my comfort food list.
Thanks for commenting Milton! 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it!
Delicious! I added a whole cauliflower and it was still wonderful. Thanks. We love all your recipes.
Great idea! Thanks Karen! 😉
I just saw this recipe this afternoon, and I had to go right away and get the ingredients to make it tonight, and it is delicious!! The whole family loved it! And, other than the time it takes to chop everything (which really wasn’t that bad), it’s so easy to make!
Yay! Glad to hear this; thanks Shanna! 🙂
Cathy,
This is the first recipe of yours that I have tried. Found out about you yesterday! The chili was a fabulous WFPB recipe! Cannot wait to try other recipes. I didnt have the canned tomatoes so I substitued the equivalent amount of fresh diced tomatoes, bit added water, and a can of no salt added tomato sauce, and it was amazing! I am blessed to have found you on Chef AJ's you tube demo.
Welcome Kim! 🙂 Thank you for the comment!
This site is always my first choice when I'm in the mood to try something new. Thanks for all the great recipes. I thought this dish needed more chili flavor. I doubled up on the chili powder and cumin, then added some chipotle chili powder for a little heat. That did the trick!
Really enjoyed this recipe, Cathy. Thank you! This is the first vegan chili I’ve been truly happy with. I didn’t have a bell pepper or cauliflower, but I had some roasted red peppers, and Yukon gold potatoes, and those substitutions worked great. I added some chili con carne and ground cumin, and ancho chili pepper, too. It’s wonderful. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this chili. It is super healthy. Definitely add avocado. I also used Kirkland no salt seasoning just to boost up the flavor profile a little bit. Thank you for such a high fiber, high plant protein nutritious recipe. Will definitely be making this again.