In this vegan chili recipe, butternut squash, chipotles & poblanos make a delicious sweet & smoky flavor combination. It's quick, easy & so darn good.
Are you as excited as I am that it’s soup season? I love making a big batch of a soup or stew on Sunday and eating it all week. This butternut squash vegan chili recipe is my current Sunday soup obsession. It’s hearty and healthy, warming and slightly spicy. Plus, it’s one of those soups that gets a little better every day, so unlike most leftovers, I loved eating this chili for lunch just about every afternoon last week.
Best Vegan Chili Recipe Ingredients
To make this vegan chili recipe hearty & flavorful, I added butternut squash. It gives the chili bulk without making it overly bean-y, and it adds a mild sweetness to contrast with the other spicy, smoky flavors. When I made this chili, I had 3 tiny butternut squashes on hand, but you won’t need 3 to make it. Just cube up enough squash to equal about two cups. If you don’t have squash, sweet potato would work well in its place.
Along with the butternut squash, I used poblanos in this vegan chili recipe. If you prefer, or if you’re sensitive to spice, green bell peppers would work equally well. Aside from these veggies, here’s what you need to make a show-stopping vegan chili:
- Onion, garlic & carrot are the aromatic base.
- Chili powder & chipotle powder give it essential spicy, smoky flavor.
- Fresh cherry tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes add a tangy contrast to the sweet squash and spicy chili powder.
- Apple cider vinegar adds brightness and tones down the heat.
- Black beans bulk it up. Pinto beans, kidney beans, or a mix would be good too!
- Vegetable broth thins it out.
- And lime gives it a bright finish.
Vegan Chili Serving Suggestions
I topped my bowls of veggie chili with leftover cashew sour cream, crispy tortilla chips, and cilantro. Feel free to top yours with whatever you like – fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels, diced avocado, green onion, or hot sauce would also be delicious.
Serve your chili with spicy cornbread or a baked or stuffed sweet potato. Enjoy!
If you love this vegan chili recipe…
Try my easy vegetarian chili, curried lentil soup, tomato soup, or butternut squash soup next!
Best Vegan Chili
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced, about 1½ cups
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 cups cubed butternut squash
- 1 poblano pepper, stem and seeds removed, and diced*
- 1 teaspoon chili powder*
- ½ teaspoon chipotle paste or powder*
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes, or 1 cup canned diced tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 to 3 cups vegetable broth
- Juice of ½ to 1 lime
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Grilled corn kernels
- Handful of cilantro
- Baked tortilla strips (or crumbled chips)
- Lime slices
- Dollops of poblano cashew cream
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic, carrots, poblano, butternut squash, and another pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables just start to become tender and the onion is lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Reduce the heat if necessary.
- Add the chili powder, chipotle powder, and tomatoes and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and black beans and then add 2 cups of vegetable broth (or enough to cover everything). Simmer until the butternut squash and carrots are tender, 20 to 30 minutes, adding more broth as needed.
- Add a big squeeze of lime. Season to taste with more salt, pepper, and spices to your liking. If your chili is too spicy, stir in a small splash of apple cider vinegar. If it's too thick, add another cup of broth.
- Serve with grilled corn, cilantro, tortilla strips, lime slices, and poblano cashew cream.
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Your photos are absolutely beautiful! And this recipe! YUM! Pinning and making this this weekend for sure!
Hi there-
Can you freeze this soup? How does it hold up?
Thanks!
Ann
Yep! It’s great – the vegetables get softer, but in a good way (not as pretty as the above photo, but delicious)
Thanks! I just made a batch and it is delicious!!!! Thanks!
I’ve been looking for a good vegetarian chili recipe and this one looks amazing. Love the cashew cream too!
I am having this for dinner right now and I am in love!
How cute are they? Super Cute!! Haha. My grandfather had soup every.single.day – 365 days a year…NO EXCEPTIONS. So I don’t know from soup season…in my house everyday is soup season. I don’t know how you accomplished creating a soup that looks both warming and refreshing at the same time…so great!
Looks delicious! Should there be a note about the broth? In the ingredient list there are double asterisk ** but no note underneath. Just wondering!
oops, nope 🙂
Ahhh this looks so yummy! We are headed back up to 90 this weekend in Los Angeles so it’s not soup season yet. I’m hoping we’re only a couple of weeks away because soup season is my favorite. Can’t wait to try this one!
Do you think this would work in the crockpot? I was thinking of sauteing the onions and garlic first then adding those and all other ingredients to crockpot. How long would you cook it?
Hi Jessie, I’m not sure because I’ve never used a crockpot – but I don’t see why it wouldn’t (if you sauté the onions and garlic first, like you say). I’m not sure how long, maybe someone else reading this thread will have some crockpot advice!
Soup season is my favorite. I’m always on the lookout for good vegetarian chili recipes, and this looks phenomenal- I can’t wait to try it out.
I am SO excited for soup season. And butternut squash is my favorite of the fall squashies, so I’m loving this soup! Pinned 🙂
This looks like the ultimate fall chili! Can’t wait to try it.
I love the colours of this soup, it looks so happy. I will definitely try this one, maybe leave out the cillantro as I am not a big fan.
This looks so yummy, I love soup season. I’m so excited to start filling my freezer with soups and stews 🙂
Katie xoxo
http://www.iheartkatiecakes.co.uk/
I’m loving this dish! Butternut pumpkin is my favourite of all pumpkins 🙂 I love it’s deliciously nutty sweetness – which I think will work perfectly with your list of ingredients here.
Oooh, yum. Do the butternut squash pieces fall apart when re-heating? Not that it would taste any different.
Hi Kelley – they get softer over time but in a very delicious way – butternut squash tends to hold it’s shape (more than sweet potatoes, which I sometimes use here).
You have made that look so very attractive! Cheers
I just did several soups this weekend that I could freeze up and have ready at a moments notice. Not going to lie, two of those included butternut squash! So good!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
I’m obsessed with chili! I can’t wait for this time of year. I’m absolutely saving this recipe to make soon.
Yes, I look forward to soup season every year and in that regard I feel lucky I live somewhere it’s cool much of the year 🙂 I also love pairing apple cider with smoky flavors like chili powder. This looks like a beautiful rendition of chili.
I am totally with you on this soup season excitement!! And a chili like this sounds great! Yum.
For the people asking about using a crockpot (my preferable cooker, as I have two kids under two), this is what I did. It made so much that I made half of it into soup using my immersion blender, and I served the other half over pasta. And I froze half of those halves, if that makes sense. Win, win, win, win! My husband said this was one of the best things I’ve ever made – the soup AND the pasta dish! Awesome recipe, slightly tweaked for the current chaotic state of my life. ?
32 oz vegetable broth
1 can black beans – strained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans – strained and rinsed
2 small butternut squashes, peeled and cubed
One yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
28 oz stewed or diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
Tsp of chipotle chile powder (or to taste)
3 garlic cloves – minced
2 TBSP Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Saut̩ onions, garlic and squash in olive oil (not cooked Рjust a few minutes)
In crock pot, add vegetable broth, both cans of beans, carrots, tomatoes, chipotle chile powder and bay leaf.
Add sautéed onions, butternut squash and garlic to crock pot.
Cook for 6 hours (or 4 on high).
Use immersion blender to make soup out half of the crock pot mixture. After blending, add 1/2 cup (more or less, depending on how much you blend) of heavy cream, let simmer for 5-10 minutes. Serve with sour cream and cilantro.
Serve other half (unblended) over pasta for veggie pasta.
Side note: to serve to my kids, too, I didn’t add the pepper. That means I also didn’t add the apple cider. Still turned out amazing.
Delicious. I ended up adding a bit more of this and that as my supplies required, but the flavor combinations were a wonderful creation. Thank you!