Multi-Meal Prep Vegan Chili (Easy, High-Protein, Budget-Friendly)

Make hearty, delicious multi-meal prep vegan chili! This easy recipe uses ground meat substitute, kidney beans, crushed tomatoes, and bold spices.

Ingredients

• 2-4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 12 oz bags of morning star or gardein vegan ground beef
• 1 large red onion
• 2 small (or 1 large) bell peppers (any color)
• 1 C frozen corn
• Up to 1/2 C of either pickle juice/wine/vinegar/beer (or a mix, but no more than 1/2 C total)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 2 cubes of boullion
• 2 16 oz cans or 1 32 oz can of kidney beans (or chili beans)
• 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (tutto rosso is a good brand! - cheap and tasty)
• 4 tbsp cumin seed powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika or 1 tbsp of hickory liquid smoke (or both if you really like it smokey)
• 1 tsp ground pepper to taste
• Optional: 2-3 jalapeno peppers

Instructions

• Chop the red onion into 1 in pieces.
• Sauté onion in 2-4 tbsp olive oil on high until clear or charred. (based on your preference)
• Chop peppers into 1/2 in pieces.
• Throw in chopped peppers with the onion to cook. Sauté peppers and onions together a bit in a large pot, for ~5-7 min. (Can also add optional chopped jalapano as well)
• Add 1 cup of frozen corn to the pot, and continue sautéing (can raise the temperature if it lowers a lot from adding the frozen corn).
• Add 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped into the pot and stir.
• Open the can(s) of kidney beans, rinse the beans, then add the beans to the pot and stir.
• Once its been thoroughly stir fried, add 1 can of crushed tomatoes.
• Add the 1/2 C of liquid (beer, pickle juice, wine, etc).
• Add 4 tbsp cumin seed powder.
• Once cumin is well dissolved in the chili.
• Add 2 cubes of vegan bullion and stir. Lower heat to medium low (slow simmer).
• Add 1 tsp smoked paprika or 1 tbsp liquid smoke (to taste).
• Add pepper to taste and stir.
• Add 2 12 oz bags of vegan ground beef and bring temperature up to medium. (it’s fine to add this in at the end since vegan beef cooks pretty quickly).
• Cook for 30 min - 1 hr more and serve!

Tips

• Don’t add the 1/2 C of liquid before frying the veggies otherwise they will have more of a boiled quality rather than a sautéd quality.