Homemade Vegan Chili with Molasses

Chili is made often in our house. We love this hearty warmth, healthy and flavorful meal. Its a wonderful hot meal in the winter that will warm you up with its complex layers of spices. Its full of great vegetables and nutrients, full of flavor and heat. Chili also goes great over rice, quinoa or with cornbread. Another cool thing is that you don’t even have to be vegan to enjoy it!

There are two key features that I want to note that make a vegan chili good. Flavor and Texture. Without meat both of these features can lack without paying special attention to your recipe.

Good Flavor is Number 1

Without the flavor that comes from meat we rely heavy on the seasoning for good flavor. To insure depth of flavor I make sure I have plenty of chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt & pepper as well as jalapeno, garlic, thyme, oregano and molasses.

For spice I have chili powder, paprika cumin, black pepper, and jalapeno. Each of these add little different level of spice and heat. The jalapeno being the hottest and the cumin more earthy and sweet. Each spice added a different type of spice and flavor.

Garlic, thyme, and oregano don’t add a whole lot of spice but they do add another layer of more earthy and warm, savory flavor. Adding herbs like this add much needed flavor to a vegan dish.

Molasses is such a powerful tool when it comes to flavor in the kitchen and also has great nutrition value. Molasses is described in so many different ways, sweet, bitter, savory, spicy, smoky, earthy, caramely, robust. How ever you want to describe this rich syrup is fine with me. Just know this, it adds so much depth to your chili and if you skip this 1 ingredient you will be missing out for sure.
To read more about molasses check out “Benefits of Blackstrap Molassess”.

Good Chili Needs the Right Texture

Dice your vegetables very small. The smaller the better in my opinion. I want the texture to be thick and hearty. I don’t want each bite featuring a 1 single vegetable like I would do in a vegetable broth soup.

Once all your ingredients are cooked and mixed together I also use my potato masher and mash up the chili a little to get a thicker more consistent texture. You can also use an immersion blender or take out a two cups and blend in the blender to create a thicker consistency. Just remember we are not trying to make a creamy soup. We just want to break up a few of the beans to release their natural starches to thicken up the excess liquids as your chili simmers. I find the potato masher works perfect for this job.

I simmer my chili for 30 minutes with the lid on but if your chili has a lot of excess liquids and its not thickening up the way you would like it. Simmer for another 10 minutes with the lid off.

Vegan Chili Ingredients

Beans

You can really use any beans you like, in the pictures you will notice I only used pinto bean but that’s actually quite rare for me. My 3 favorite bean to mix together for the recipe are pinto beans, black bean and kidney beans. I add 5 cups of bean or 3, 15 oz cans. One can of each bean works great.

I use dry beans most of the time. To convert dry beans measurement to cooked bean measurements remember 1/2 cup dry beans equals about 1 1/2 cups cooked beans equaling about 1, 15 oz can of beans. So to make this recipe with dry beans you will need 1 1/2 cups dry bean. 1/2 cup of each bean works great but you can choose any ratio you like.

Vegetables

Onions, mushrooms, bell pepper and a jalapeno are my 4 must haves for this recipe. I also often add carrots and zucchini or squash depending on what I have around. You can also add vegetables like corn or okra or sweet potato. Be creative with the vegetable you like. If carrots are two sweet for you taste when it comes to chili then leave them out or only add one carrot instead of three. You can also add more peppers like banana peppers or poblano peppers would be really good. Add the vegetables that you enjoy.

Petite Diced Tomatoes

Petite diced are my favorite tomatoes for chili. The normal diced is just to chunky for me, again I like everything to be diced small. The crushed tomato also work well. If all you have is normal diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes you can strain the juice into your pot and cut the tomatoes smaller or pulse in the blender a few times but don’t blend them into a sauce. You can also use fresh tomatoes if you have them. You will need 3 cups diced fresh tomatoes.

Spices and Herbs

This recipe calls for chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper, oregano, thyme, and fresh garlic (or garlic powder). Using both spices and herbs creates more layers and depth of flavor. If you don’t have all these individual spices and you like to buy blends then you could to something like 2 tables taco seasoning and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning if that’s what you have. I’ve personally never tried that exact combination but I do tend to experiment with my seasoning a lot. If you are missing a spice or herb try to replace it with something similar so you don’t lose out on a layer of flavor.

Molasses

Molasses is so full of flavor you don’t need a lot to add nice rich layer to your chili. I use blackstrap molasses. You can use a light molasses or Grandma’s Molasses, those are easier to find in the stores but blackstrap has a higher concentrate of nutrients in each tablespoon. Blackstrap also has a bit more flavor to it. I use 2-3 tablespoons blackstrap, if you use a lighter molasses I would do 3-4 tablespoons.
To read more about how molasses is made and the difference between the different type check out “How to Make Brown Sugar” or “Benefits of Blackstrap Molasses“

Toppings (optional)

Avocado, sour cream or plain greek yogurt, cheese, red onions, cilantro, limes, or cornbread. Your choice! My kids like greek yogurt and cheese, while my husband like cheese and cornbread, and I prefer avocados, cilantro and limes. Dec out your chili how ever you like or just eat it as is. It can holds it own.

How to Make Vegan Chili

1. If you are using dry beans, soak and cook those first.
   
2. Dice your onion and saute those first in a large pot. You can use a little oil if you like, I have found it unnecessary and usually don’t add oil.
   
3. Dice you bell pepper, fresh garlic, mushrooms and jalapeno and any other vegetables you choose to add. Don’t forget to peel items like carrots and sweet potatoes… etc.
   
4. Add the vegetables as you dice them into the pot and continue to mix as you chop and cook.
   
5. Add spices and herbs, mix in.
   
6. Add tomatoes, mix in.
   
7. Add molasses, mix in.
   
8. Add bean, mix in.
   
9. Mash with a potato masher to break up some of the beans to release their natural starches and thicken the juices and liquids in the chili.
   
10. Cover with a lid and let it simmer on low for 30 minutes. If your chili still has too much liquid, simmer for another 10 minutes with the lid off.

Its pretty easy and straight forward and always turns out so delicious!

TIP: How To Get The Seeds Out of A Jalapeno

If you like more heat you can leave the seeds and core in the jalapeno but in order to make this a little more kid friendly I take them out.