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The heartiest meatless meal I know… Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili Recipe. This chili is jammed packed with three different kinds of beans, a bunch of vegetables, a ton of flavor. The perfect comfort food that couldn’t be easier to make in the crockpot. This is a vegetarian chili that could stand its own against any chili with meat!
3 Bean Vegetarian Chili
I love a good chili, I mean who doesn’t?
So today I am finally ready to share my vegetarian chili with you all!
This one took me a while before I deemed it ready for the blog because I wanted it absolutely perfect… I find a lot of vegetarian chili’s to be too sweet or depend on hard to find ingredients. That isn’t what I wanted, I wanted something that could be hardy and stand up to any other chili is a cookout but still remain wholesome with easy to find fresh ingredients. So this is what I made…
Growing up the chili my mom made never had meat in it, she filled it with a ton of vegetables and flavors, it wasn’t until I was older that I realized that a lot of people will typically make chili with meat.
So I relied on my memory of what my mom made along with what I thought would taste good, here is what happened:
Texture: I really wanted to make sure that my vegetarian chili had the right consistency, some (not all) tend to not have a lot of structure. So I ended up adding not 1 or 2 types of beans but 3. Three different beans to add to the texture I wanted.
and
Peppers: This chili ended up with quite a bit of peppers including jalapeños. I balanced out the sweet bell peppers with the jalapeño to get a flavorful mix!
These are what I built this chili around. Together it makes a wonderful yet filling meal!
Supplies
This recipe is an easy one:
- Typical Kitchenware such as knifes, measuring spoons, can opener. spoon
- Slow Cooker
See so easy right?!?
Ingredients
- onion – white or yellow works in the recipe
- bell peppers – I use a red and a yellow, you can really use any color you would like though
- jalapeños – the recipe calls for 3, if you remove the light colored middle and seeds this will stop your chili from being spicy, if you are really worried about it you could use only 2 jalapeños, if you want more spicy keep some of the light colored insides and seeds attached
- diced tomatoes – the large 28 ounce sized can, or two of the 15 ounce ones
- chickpeas – aka garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
- kidney beans – drained and rinsed
- black beans – drained and rinsed
- minced garlic – I opted for actually garlic instead of garlic powder like I have done in the past here for that fresh flavor
- chili powder – have to have this for chili right?
- kosher salt – I think kosher is the best salt for cooking but you could use seat salt here too
- cayenne pepper powder – Just a little bit, not enough to make the whole thing spicy, although you can add more if you wish…
- cumin – another classic chili spice
For a complete detailed list of the ingredients continue towards the bottom of the page.
How to Make Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili
I swear this has to be one of my easiest recipes, the hardest part is dicing up the peppers.
Dice the onion, bell peppers, and jalapeños. With the jalapeños ensure to remove the seeds and light colored insides, the easiest way to do this is to cut the jalapeño in half the long way and use a small spoon to scoop everything out, then you can dice the green part of the vegetable for the chili discarding the seeds and center part.
Once that is done add the diced vegetables, tomatoes, rinsed beans, garlic, chili powder, salt, cayenne, and cumin to the crock of a slow cooker stir to combine.
Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Serve with garnishes such as sour cream/greek yogurt, cheddar cheese, cilantro, green onions, or any of your favorite chili toppings.
Tips, Tricks, and Questions
- The spiciness of the jalapeño is all in the white insides and seeds, so if they are removed you get the jalapeño flavor without the spiciness (even my spicy sensitive kid will eat this). If you are making this for yourself and others that love spicy feel free to leave some of the insides/seeds attached to the jalapeños.
- This can easily be made on the stove top. Start by sautéing the diced vegetables until the start to become tender, then add everything to the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer together until the vegetables are soft.
Is this Vegan?
Yes, If you do not add any animal products as garnishes such as cheese or sour cream.
You might also like:
- Secret Ingredient Turkey Chili
- Crockpot Creamy Pumpkin Chili
- Classic Crockpot Chili
- Slow Cooker Black Bean Tortilla Soup
- Slow Cooker Clam Chowder
3 Bean Vegetarian Chili
A hearty slow cooker vegetarian chili, made with three different beans and plenty of vegetables. This meatless meal is one that everyone will enjoy, it is full of bold flavors and textures plus it isn't too sweet like many vegetarian chilis.
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 bell peppers (red & yellow)
- 3 jalapeños
- 1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (15oz) can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
- 1 (15oz) can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 (15oz) can black beans, drained & rinsed
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
Instructions
- Dice the onion, bell peppers, and jalapeños. With the jalapeños ensure to remove the seeds and light colored insides, the easiest way to remove the insides and seeds is to cut the jalapeño in half the long way and use a small spoon to scoop everything out, from there dice the green part of the vegetable.
- Add the diced vegetables, tomatoes, chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans, garlic, chili powder, salt, cayenne, and cumin to the crock of a slow cooker stir to combine.
- Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Serve with garnishes such are sour cream/greek yogurt, cheddar cheese, cilanto, green onions, or any of your favorite chili toppings.
Notes
The spiciness of the jalapeño is all in the white insides and seeds, so if they are removed you get the jalapeño flavor without the spiciness (even my spicy sensitive kid will eat this). If you are making this for yourself and others that love spicy feel free to leave some of the insides/seeds attached to the jalapeños.
This can easily be made on the stove top. Start by sautéing the diced vegetables until the start to become tender, then add everything to the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer together until the vegetables are soft.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
2 cupsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 233Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 706mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 13gSugar: 7gProtein: 13g
Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made. (Includes no garnishes)
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Great recipe added more chilli powder and salt and 1 more pepper (had red orange and yellow) and added a can of corn. It is great with tortilla chips
How many days can this last in fridge
It will last 3 to 4 days. This recipe could also be frozen if need be.
Does this recipe not need any liquid added to the crock?
It does not need any added liquids! The vegetables will let off quite a bit of liquid during the cooking process. If you are hesitant and like a more soupy chili feel free to add about 1 cup (more or less to your liking) of tomato juice or vegetable juice.
I made this dish today, September 4, 2022. It turned out great. My question is how you’re calculating the calories per serving. I used the ingredients exactly as listed with the exception of one half onion. Here is my list of ingredients and the calories assigned to each:
½ Onion = 32
1 Red Bell Pepper = 32
1 Yellow Bell Pepper = 23
3 Jalapenos = 71
2 14.5 Oz Cans of Diced Tomatoes = 175 cals
1 15 Oz Can of Chickpeas = 420 cals
1 15 OZ Can of Light Red Kidney Beans = 420 cals
1 15 Oz Can of Black Beans = 420 cals
2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic = 8 cals
2 Tablespoons Chili Powder = 46 cals
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt = 0 cals
¼ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper = 1 cal
1 Teaspoon Cumin = 7 cals
Total for all ingredients = 1, 655
One (1) Cup Servings = 7
Cals per serving = 236
The Nutrition Information in your recipe says that a two (2) cup serving should come in at 233 Calories. I’m on a weight management program that tracks all calories that I consume. Can you please clarify the discrepancies between the two calories counts.
Thanks
As stated nutrition is automated.
Thanks, but that’s not really an adequate response. “Automated” how?
Edward
I made this dish following the instructions exactly. It turned out pretty good. I’ll do some experimenting to see if I can take from pretty good to great.
Edward
This is one of my go to meals for meal prep and now I am bringing it to work for a chili cook out 😊 going to be a lot of people eating this chili!!! I added garlic and an extra sweet pepper
Wow! This was a hit 🙂 I added vegetable broth and made it more soup like to feed more people 🙂 and a little smoked paprika. Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe! 🙂
Any ideas on how long to cook this in the Instant Pot?
I haven’t tried it in the instant pot but I would guess about 25 minutes. If you are making in the instant pot you will also want to add at least 1 cup of liquid, I would recommend either veggie broth or water.
Can I usedry chickpeas instead of canned?
I have not tried to use dried chickpeas before, so I can’t say for certain how it would work. If you do want to try dried chickpeas I would soak them overnight before using otherwise I am afraid they might soak up too much liquid as they are cooking, you could also add some extra liquid as well.
I’ve made this recipe for fall and winter the last year since I discovered it. It is so delicious and filling, non vegetarians don’t even miss the meat. I like to serve it on top of a roasted sweet potato. Keeping this recipe for the rest of my life, it’s a cozy day staple!
I made this yesterday. It ended up being way to spicy. I put in 3 jalapenos with seeds and white part removed. But really spicy. Next time I will only do 1 or 2 jalapenos.
This was delicious. I made it exactly as your recipe lays out but Indid add corn. I was skeptical about not adding additional liquid but the vegetables absolutely made enough juice.