So I know I’m kind of late to the party, but I’m officially a meal prep addict.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, meal prepping is when you make lots of meals on the weekend to enjoy throughout the week. It’s a great way to save time cooking and ensure you eat nutritious food all week long. It’s especially great for students like me, who don’t always have the time (or effort) to cook a healthy meal.
I’m planning on writing a blog post all about meal prepping in the future, so if you have any questions about it do get in touch!
In the meanwhile, I’m sharing my easy vegan chili recipe. It’s one of my favourite things to meal prep as its made in one-pot, keeps well in the fridge, and is super versatile.
Why you’ll love this vegan chili recipe:
It’s:
- Cosy, spicy and comforting
- Packed with good-for-you ingredients like beans, carrots, and spices
- Made in just one pot!
- Super meal-preppable
- Made with sweet potatoes. I mean, INSTANT WINNER.
How to make one-pot vegan chili:
Like all good recipes, my healthy chili starts with onion and garlic sauteed in a large pot with a little oil. This chili is all about flavour, and onions and garlic are the best place to start.
Next, we’ll add chopped sweet potatoes and carrots. These help to bulk up the chili whilst adding extra nutrients. Also, would it really be a recipe by Shivani if sweet potatoes weren’t involved?
Then it’s time for the beans. I used one tin of kidney beans and one tin of mixed beans, but feel free to use whatever takes your fancy! We’ll also add a tin of chopped tomatoes here. Aren’t you loving how easy this recipe is?
The secret ingredient for perfectly flavoursome chili:
What’s the trick to giving chili depth of flavour without cooking it for hours? Cinnamon!
Yep, adding a sprinkle of cinnamon to your chili takes things to the next level. Whilst we usually see cinnamon in baked goods (hello: apple pie cinnamon rolls) it also makes a tasty addition to savoury recipes like this chili.
As well as cinnamon, we’re adding cumin, coriander, chilli powder, chilli flakes, and some S+P. For an extra spicy kick and depth of flavour, we’ll also add chilli sauce and tomato puree.
AND THAT’S IT.
Easy right? Then we just leave the vegan chili to simmer for 20 minutes to allow the beans to cook and the flavours to develop.
5 different ways to serve vegan chili:
- Enjoy hot with vegan sour cream, lemon/lime wedges + tortilla chips
- Use it in some stuffed sweet potatoes
- Serve with rice and fresh spinach
- Heat up between 2 wholewheat tortillas with a little vegan cheese to make a tasty quesadilla (this is best done once the chili has been in the fridge for a few days as it will be thicker)
- Serve with easy vegan cornbread (recipe from Choosing Chia)
Storage and reheating:
- Store this bean chili in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- It’s best to only reheat as much chili as you need, as opposed to reheating it all every time.
- You can reheat the chili on the stove-top for 5 minutes on low, or in the microwave for 2 minutes. Ensure it is hot before serving.
Variations on this recipe:
- A hack for students/lazy people: you can make this chili using frozen vegetables! This is often cheaper and speeds up the process as you save time on chopping. Simply swap out the fresh onions, garlic, sweet potatoes and carrots for their frozen counterparts.
- Feel free to use whatever beans you like in this chili recipe. You’ll need 2 x 400g tins – I used one tin of kidney beans and one tin of mixed beans, but you could use black beans, pinto beans, chickpeas…whatever takes your fancy!
- If you are not a fan of spice, start with just the chilli flakes and add chilli sauce/powder to your desired spiciness.
- For extra health points, add in chopped broccoli, peppers, spinach, or sweetcorn to the chili. Feel free to get creative!
I hope you try this recipe! If you do, I’d love for you to tag me on Instagram @shivanilf so I can see how it goes. You can also keep updated with me on Facebook and Pinterest – I hope to see you there!
Vegan Chili Recipe (one-pot!)
Ingredients
- 1/2 Red Onion finely diced
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tbsp Sunflower Oil
- 4 Sweet Potatoes peeled and diced into 1/2 inch chunks
- 1 Carrot peeled and finely diced
- 2 tins Beans of choice – I used 1 tin kidney beans and 1 tin mixed beans
- 1 tin Chopped Tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
- 1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Chilli Sauce or more/less to preference
- 1 tbsp Tomato Puree
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the sweet potatoes and carrots and stir to combine. Add 1 cup of boiling water to the pot, and cook on medium-low for 8-10 minutes until the sweet potatoes soften a little.
- Drain and rinse the 2 tins of beans then add to the pot along with the chopped tomatoes. Add the spices, chilli sauce and tomato puree then stir well to combine.
- Cover and simmer for 20 minutes on medium-low until the beans and sweet potato are cooked through. Serve hot with lemon wedges and vegan sour cream.
Shivani’s Tips
- This chili will store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
NUTRITION
Serving size: 1/4 of the chili 
Did you make this recipe?
Tag me on Instagram @shivanilf and use the hashtag #shivanilovesfood!
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