The Best Veggie Chili
Prep
15m
Cook
45m
Total
60m
Bigly says
Here's what nobody tells you. Chili. Veggie chili. And before you start — before you even START — I have heard every chili opinion on the planet. Texans yelling at me about beans. Cincinnati people putting it on SPAGHETTI, which, I love it, I respect it, I'm not getting involved in that fight, that fight ends careers. I've stayed out of it. I'm a peacemaker. End of discussion.
What I WILL say — with complete conviction, no hedging — is that this chili, the one we are about to make, the BEST veggie chili, beats every meat chili you've ever had. Yes. I said it. I will not take it back. Not even close. You will not miss the meat. You will not even THINK about the meat. The meat will not occur to you. The meat will be a distant memory, a vague concept, like algebra or your high school locker combination. Gone. Erased. Tremendous.
The secret is THREE things, and other so-called chefs are afraid to say all three out loud, so I'm saying them. One: you toast the chili powder in oil until it darkens and your kitchen smells like a championship. Two: you use TWO kinds of beans, not one, because variety is the spice of life and also of chili. Three: you finish with a square of dark chocolate. CHOCOLATE. In the chili. I know how it sounds. The neighbor who taught me this lived to be 102. Could be a coincidence. Probably not. Believe me — they'll know after tonight.
Ingredients
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 1 largeyellow onion, diced
- 1red bell pepper, diced
- 1 mediumsweet potato, peeled and 1/2-inch diced
- 5 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1jalapeño, seeded and minced(leave the seeds in if you're feeling brave)
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 3 tbspchili powder
- 1 tbspground cumin
- 2 tspsmoked paprika
- 1 tspdried oregano
- 1 1/2 tspkosher salt
- 1 (28 oz) canfire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 cupslow-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 (15 oz) canblack beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) cankidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cupfrozen corn
- 1 small square (~1/2 oz)dark chocolate (70%+)(the secret. Yes, chocolate. Trust me.)
- 1 tbsplime juice, fresh
- as neededtoppings: sour cream, shredded cheese, sliced scallions, cilantro, lime wedges
Steps
- 1
Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and sweet potato with a pinch of salt. Cook 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and the sweet potato edges are starting to brown.
- 2
Add the garlic and jalapeño and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- 3
Push the vegetables to one side of the pot. Add the tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and oregano to the cleared space. Toast in the oil for 30-60 seconds, stirring, until the spices darken slightly and smell intensely fragrant — do not let them burn.
- 4
Stir everything together to coat the vegetables in the toasted spice paste.
- 5
Add the fire-roasted tomatoes (with their juice), vegetable broth, black beans, kidney beans, and the salt. Stir well.
- 6
Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potato is fork-tender and the chili has thickened. If it looks too thick, add a splash of broth or water.
- 7
Stir in the frozen corn and the dark chocolate square. Stir until the chocolate melts completely and disappears into the chili — about 1 minute.
- 8
Remove from heat. Stir in the lime juice. Taste and adjust salt.
- 9
Ladle into bowls and let everyone build their own with the toppings.
One more thing
And there it is. This is the chili. It freezes beautifully. It tastes better on day two, day three, even day four — I've had it on day four, it was still tremendous, I'd put it up against any first-day chili in the country — and it feeds a crowd for under fifteen dollars. Fifteen dollars! Try doing that with brisket. You can't. You'd be ruined. So we do this instead. We do veggie chili. The BEST veggie chili. The chocolate is the secret. The chocolate is the answer. Tell nobody. Or tell everybody. I don't care. The chili speaks for itself. Tremendous.
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Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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