Wow! Thank you so much to all my fellow childhood rice-butterers that chimed in on Monday's post to let me know I'm not alone. It's so crazy- every person I've ever told that my family buttered their rice thought I was crazy (even Chris, my wonderful husband thought this habit odd). I'm so happy I'm not alone on these things!
It was also good to hear that serving chili on rice isn't that weird either, though that's not what we're doing today. This spicy chili is best when soaked up with some warm, moist, slightly sweet cornbread.
Whenever I have a recipe that calls for a can of chipotles in adobo sauce, I end up using just a small portion and the rest of the can hangs out in my fridge until it's gross and inedible. This chili will allow you to use up those leftover chipotles and give you reason to stock your shelves with more!
It's hard to say what the best part about this chili is, but my vote would be for the tempeh. I've been on a tempeh kick recently, as you may've noticed, and the tempeh in this chili really rocks my world. Before the rest of the stew gets started, the tempeh is sautéed with onions, garlic, liquid aminos, and chopped chipotle chiles. Once the tempeh is tender and has soaked up as much flavor as it possibly can, then the rest of the chili ingredients are added. Then it gets to simmer for awhile to let the flavors deepen. By the time you're ready to sit down with a bowl, this chili will be bold, zesty, and full of flavor.
Even though it would seem that something this flavorful would need hours to cook, it actually comes together pretty quickly. Just last week, I came home from work with such a mad craving for this chipotle chili con tempeh that I got to cooking and had the chili and the cornbread on the table in 1 hour. While it was simmering, I even had time to wash my face and put my pj's on and in my book, that makes this recipe a winner.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
- two 8-ounce packages of tempeh, torn into small crumbles
- 5 chipotles in adobo (canned), diced
- 4 tablespoons liquid aminos, divided
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- one 14-ounce can unsalted tomato sauce
- one 15-ounce can unsalted diced, fire-roasted tomatoes
- one 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- one 15-ounce can red beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon blackstrap molasses (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until onion is just beginning to become translucent. Add the tempeh, chipotles, 3 tablespoons liquid aminos, and 1/2 cup vegetable broth. Saute for about 5 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Add the remaining broth, the remaining liquid aminos, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans, veggies, maple syrup, tomato paste, sriracha sauce, blackstrap molasses (if using), cumin, paprika, coriander, parsley, and thyme. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the liquid smoke, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and remove from the heat. Serve immediately. Leftovers can be chilled in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
This recipe is amazing served with cornbread. Obviously.
What goes into your favorite chili?
Photography by Chris Miller
millie l Add A Little
This looks amazing! I love that its vegan but full of flavour!
Anita
This looks delicious! Any suggestions on how to take the kick out and make it kid friendly?
keepinitkind
Thank you! You could try making it without the chipotle chiles- hopefully that will work.
Emma
This looks awesome Kristy, especially with a big chunk of cornbread on the side! I love adding tempeh to beany dishes for an extra level of heartiness.
Speedy is definitely a winner in my book too.
Carla
I'm making this right now! ; p When do I add the veggies? With the tempeh or with the bean and everything else? Don't think I can go wrong either way but wanted to ask.
Heather B.
Looks delicious! That's definitely at the top of recipes I want to try!
I feel your pain regarding cans of chipotle en adobo, so I thought I'd share a tip with you... When I open a can, within a day or two I try to do the following: I line a small pan/cookie sheet with parchment paper, and then I put on latex gloves and prep the chiles. I cut off any stem, slit them open and scrape out the seeds, then I lay the chili on the piece of parchment paper. I go through and do all the chiles, then I take a spoon and start putting sauce on top of all the chiles. After it's all divvied up, I put the pan in the freezer. A few hours later I simply peel the frozen chiles off the parchment paper and pop them into a freezer container or ziplock baggie, and that way I can simply take as many as I need out of the freezer whenever I need them. Works great!
Thalia @ butter and brioche
I can't get enough of tempeh, I cook it most nights and even brought 1kg of it back from Indonesia! So this recipe is perfect for me to recreate for myself and my vegetarian household. Thanks for sharing it!
Supa
Looks great, and the recipe is not very hard to do. The taste should be very good.
Gabby @ the veggie nook
My absolute favourite chilli is a rendition I have on a PPK tempeh chilli. Tempeh and chilli were just meant for each other. I can't wait to try your version!
mitra
Made this for dinner tonight, cut back on the liquid aminos as I don't love the flavour but it was absolutely delicious! (And I eat meat!)
keepinitkind
I love hearing that- Thank you!
Claude
This is going to sound super random but I have the same red spoon! It was my grand father's when he was in the Canadian army back in the 30s-40s. All the grand kids used it when we went there and there was always a fight to be able to be the kid to use that spoon at Christmas!
Katie
I made this and it was a big hit with my omni friends! I cut the chipotles back to 2 instead of 5 to err on the side of caution, and I'm glad I did. People can always add more sriracha. I was in a hurry to get dinner on the table and left out the smoked paprika, coriander, tomato paste, and lemon juice, and it still had really great flavor! I also used soy sauce for aminos. Thanks so much for a crowd-pleasing recipe! I'll get all the flavorings in there next time.
keepinitkind
Awesome! I'm so happy everyone liked it! 🙂
Tracy
Made this for tonight's dinner and it was FABULOUS! Had to leave out a couple items (garlic, chipotles in adobo and sriracha) because of a garlic allergy, but was still absolutely delicious with tons of flavor! So glad it made such a big batch, we can't wait for leftovers!