You definitely won’t miss the meat in this spicy vegan chili with cashew sour cream! It’s super easy to make and packed with protein! It has been one of my favorite vegan weeknight meals for a long time.
I love trying new recipes and new ingredients, but some recipes just make their way to our meal plan again and again and this easy vegan chili is definitely one of them! It’s one of our staples around here as it’s so easy to make and incredibly healthy at the same time!
To make this vegan chili sin carne even better, I topped it off with homemade cashew sour cream and sliced avocados. We ate it together with nachos, but it’s also great with rice or bread.
This easy meatless chili is packed with protein, so when people ask you “but where do you get your protein?!”, just tell them to have a look at this vegan tofu chili recipe. I’m sure most of you have heard this question at least once…
What To Put in Vegan Chili – What You Need For This Recipe:
The ingredient list might look a bit long at first sight, but it’s a lot of spices and simple products. You should be able to find all of the ingredients in any regular grocery store.
You need:
- firm tofu
- an onion
- garlic
- tomato paste
- dry red wine
- diced tomatoes
- cooked kidney beans (either canned or cooked in an Instant Pot)
- cooked black beans
- frozen corn
- one red bell pepper
- paprika powder
- ground cumin
- red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper
As always, you can find the full ingredient list and the recipe instructions in a separate recipe box at the end of this post.
How To Make Vegan Chili:
The recipe for this vegan chili is super easy. All in all, it’s ready in just 30 minutes!
STEP 1: Either use a fork to mash the tofu or use your hands until it’s all crumbled in small chunks. In a large pan, heat the olive oil and cook the tofu for about 5 minutes.
STEP 2: Add the onion and sauté for about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute.
STEP 3: Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Then deglaze it with red wine and allow the sauce to thicken for about 2 minutes.
STEP 4: Then deglaze it with red wine and allow the sauce to thicken for about 2 minutes.
STEP 5: Stir in the diced tomatoes, the red bell pepper, the corn, the beans, and the spices. Cook for about 10 minutes.
STEP 6: In the meantime, make the sour cream: Drain the cashews and put all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
STEP 7: Serve the tofu chili with nachos and top it off with some of the cashew sour cream and avocado.
Why This Vegan Chili Works – Recipe Notes:
- The crumbled firm tofu works as a meat-free replacer of ground meat in this recipe. It’s perfectly seasoned and the tomato paste, the onions, the garlic, and the red wine give it a deep flavor. And the best thing is that it’s super healthy and packed with protein at the same time.
- The combination of black beans and kidney beans makes this vegan chili really healthy and it adds a lot of protein.
- It’s great to make ahead and it’s perfect for a larger crowd. So just double the recipe, make a larger batch, and bring it to a party!
- You can adjust the spiciness to your personal liking. Just use a larger amount of red pepper flakes if you’re into spicy food. Or even add some hot sauce. If you’re cooking for kids or people who don’t like spicy food, just go easy on the red pepper flakes or leave them out completely.
- It’s really important that you cook the tofu long enough, so it loses its wobbly consistency. I usually cook it for about 5 minutes before I add the onions and the garlic and cook it for another 4 minutes.
- For the vegan sour cream with cashews, you should definitely have a high speed blender. Otherwise the sour cream just won’t get as creamy. But don’t worry, the vegan chili is still amazing even without it!
What to Eat With Vegan Chili?
There are many different ways to eat chili. Here are some delicious ideas! You could eat it with:
- tortilla chips
- avocado
- vegan sour cream
- brown rice
- vegan corn bread
- quinoa
- or you could use it for a vegan taco bowl
Other Vegan Mexican-Inspired Recipes You Might Like:
- One Pan Mexican Quinoa
- Vegan Chili Cheese Fries
- Vegan Burrito Bowl with Quinoa
- Mexican Street Corn Salad with Chipotle Dressing
- Vegan Taquitos with Chipotle Sauce
I LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU GUYS!
I hope you like this vegan chili recipe as much as we do around here.
If you give it a try, I’d love to know what you think about it. Just leave me a comment and a star rating below. Your comments really make my day!
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Sina
Vegan Chili
Ingredients
For the vegan tofu chili:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 block firm tofu (7 oz), crumbled
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/3 cup dry red wine
- 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes (canned)
- 1 cup kidney beans
- 1 cup black beans
- 1 cup corn
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into medium pieces
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- red pepper flakes, to taste
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
For the vegan cashew sour cream:
- 1 cup cashews, soaked for 30 minutes
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove of garlic
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Either use a fork to mash the tofu or use your hands until it's all crumbled in small chunks. In a large pan, heat the olive oil and cook the tofu for about 5 minutes.
- Add the onion and sauté for about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Then deglaze it with red wine and allow the sauce to thicken for about 2 minutes. Stir in the diced tomatoes, the red bell pepper, the corn, the beans, and the spices and cook for about 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, make the sour cream: Drain the cashews and put all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the tofu chili with nachos and top it off with some of the cashew sour cream and avocado.
Notes
- The crumbled firm tofu works as a meat-free replacer of ground meat in this recipe. It's perfectly seasoned and the tomato paste, the onions, the garlic, and the red wine give it a deep flavor. And the best thing is that it's super healthy and packed with protein at the same time.
- The combination of black beans and kidney beans makes this vegan chili really healthy and it adds a lot of protein.
- It's great to make ahead and it's perfect for a larger crowd. So just double the recipe, make a larger batch, and bring it to a party!
- You can adjust the spiciness to your personal liking. Just use a larger amount of red pepper flakes if you're into spicy food. Or even add some hot sauce. If you're cooking for kids or people who don't like spicy food, just go easy on the red pepper flakes or leave them out completely.
- It's really important that you cook the tofu long enough, so it loses its wobbly consistency. I usually cook it for about 5 minutes before I add the onions and the garlic and cook it for another 4 minutes.
- For the vegan sour cream with cashews, you should definitely have a high speed blender. Otherwise the sour cream just won't get as creamy. But don't worry, the vegan chili is still amazing even without it!
This was delicious and so easy to make! Thank you for sharing!
This recipe is 5 Stars!!! Soo easy to make and very delicious
I made this spicy tofu chili today, and I love it. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you.
Hi Sina, thank you for this beautiful blog, it makes me feel inspired to cook healthy meals!
I have a quick question; I made this last night and it wasn’t very flavourful. I wasn’t sure when to add the spices and didn’t notice that the recipe doesn’t say when until near the end, when I popped them in – when should I add them? How many red chilli flakes would you use?
I will definitely cite this recipe when non-vegans worry about my protein levels!!
Hi Abi, Thanks so much for the compliment! So great to have you as a reader. :-) Oh, I’m so sorry!! I just fixed the recipe. I added the spices right in the beginning, this definitely gives it more flavor. I think I used about half a teaspoon of red chili flakes, but it depends on how spicy you like it. Hope that helps. ;-)
Looks so yummy, can’t wait to try!
Thanks, Amy! :-)