Chilli has long been a staple meal for me. As a kid my mom would make it with ground beef and kidney beans, and while I loved the taste of it I found as the years went by I picked out more and more of the beef and ate more and more of the kidney beans. When I made chilli myself for the time I skipped the beef and it was magical. Thankfully now there is veggie ground round to sub for real beef and it’s even more like the stuff I grew up with.

Chilli is seriously the easiest thing to make. You basically throw everything into a pot and let it cook. That’s it! When I make chilli it looks like this:

Vegan Chilli
2 cups veggie stock
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 can chickpeas, strained
1 can lentils, strained
2 cans kidney beans, strained
1 can black beans, strained
1 can corn nibblets, strained
1 onion, chopped
1 package veggie ground round (original or Mexican)
5 or 6 carrots, chopped
4 big potatoes, cut into chunks
4 or 5 stalks of celery, chopped
5 or 6 cloves of garlic, mashed
Salt and pepper to taste
Chilli powder to taste (I use LOTS)
Cayenne pepper to taste
Maple syrup to taste

You need a big pot, obviously. Literally just put everything in all at once, save for the spices, and let it cook for a few hours. If it starts to look too thick you can add more water. Towards the end I start adding the salt and pepper, chili powder, and maple syrup and taste it to make sure it’s not too bland. Don’t be shy, I’m serious last time I made this I used like 1/4 cup of chili powder haha.

It’s ready when all the veggies are cooked through, but the longer it cooks the better it tastes. It’s even better the next day! Serve with cornbread or garlic toast, and on mashed potatoes or rice. AHHH it’s so good.