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Veggie Chilli and Two Vegan Cookbook Reviews

ByChoclette 16th January 201728th October 2026

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A delicious, warming and hearty veggie chilli recipe made with vegetables, beans and warming spices. Dark chocolate adds depth and richness. It’s just the sort of nourishing, flavoursome meal to cook up for a crowd and you can use aduki, red kidney or black beans. Serve with rice, tortilla chips, baked potatoes or crusty bread.

Post updated October 2026.

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As promised for this month of Veganuary, I’m trying to up the number of vegan meals I eat. Two brilliant new vegan cookbooks by fellow food bloggers have really helped me with this. You’ll find reviews of the books below along with my version of veggie chilli which I had to make after seeing a recipe for rainbow veggie chilli in one of them.

Why This Veggie Chilli Recipe Works

Easy one-pot meal – This veggie chilli is straightforward to make in a single pot, so there’s less washing up afterwards. Serve it with crusty bread and you’ve got a complete meal without needing to cook anything else.
Rich rounded flavour – Dark chocolate adds depth and richness to the tomato based sauce without making the chilli taste sweet.
Smoky warmth – Chipotle chilli flakes bring a smoky heat that complements the earthy spices and gives the chilli plenty of character.
Plenty of texture – A generous mix of vegetables, beans and sweetcorn makes this a hearty, satisfying meal.
Flexible serving options – This versatile veggie chilli works just as well with rice as it does with baked potatoes, tortilla chips or crusty bread. It’s ideal as a family meal, a quick midweek dinner or for feeding a crowd.

Bit of the Good Stuff by Sharon Collins

Sharon is a long standing plant-based whole food blogger over at Bit of the Good Stuff. Due to popular demand, Sharon self-published over a hundred of her recipes and created an excellent cookbook which I’m really excited about. Despite the wealth of recipes on the internet, I still love print cookbooks. So I desperately hope that online books won’t ever entirely replace them.

Bit of the Good Stuff is definitely my kind of book. It’s not only beautifully illustrated, but the recipes are wholesome, hearty and delicious and everything is made from scratch. Sharon cooks the way I like to cook and uses similar ingredients. I guess that should be no surprise as she is a fellow member of the Suma Blogger’s Network.

Sharon starts by explaining the benefits that a whole food plant-based diet have made to her and her family. It must be working; her 13 year old son has not yet had a single day off school through sickness. Sharon no longer has the aches, pains and sinusitis she did before adopting this way of eating and her husband has more stamina when mountain biking and rides faster than ever before. I’m not sure I’m ready to give up dairy yet, but I feel almost tempted.

If you struggle with getting kids to eat their five a day, Sharon throws in several tips on how to encourage them to love their veggies. She also outlines some of her favourite ingredients and kitchen essentials. The recipes are divided into five chapters: breakfasts & elevenses; soups; lunches & light dinners; mains; desserts, treats & snacks. Time to get stuck in.

The Recipes

The recipes are family friendly, easy to follow and easy to make. Each one is accompanied by a clear and appealing photograph taken by Sharon herself. How cool is that?

I particularly like The Good Stuff, nuggets of nutritional information that accompany most of the recipes. The recipe for chive & onion frittata with sun-dried tomato, for example, tells us that “onions are great immune-boosters and are packed with antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antiviral nutrients”.

After I attended a vegan cookery workshop at The Vegetarian Society last year, I bought myself a tub of nutritional yeast flakes. It has sat in my cupboard unopened ever since; I just never think to use it. Thanks to Sharon, I now have several recipes to try it in, including cashew ‘parmesan’, mac ‘n’ cheese and spinach & tofu pie.

If you’re wanting to incorporate more plant-based meals into your diet or you’re vegan and looking to widen your cooking repertoire, I can’t recommend this book highly enough. You can buy it online at Amazon for around £17 – Bit of the Good Stuff: Over 100 Easy and Delicious Plant-Powered Recipes for All the Family to Enjoy*.

I’ve only made one of the recipes so far, but I’ve got several bookmarked including: green pea tostadas, nut koftas and butternut squash & apricot tagine. As regular readers will know, I can’t resist the sweet stuff, so I will have to try these easy vegan waffles, apple cinnamon monkey bread and giant peanut butter cups in due course.

Veggie Chilli For Dinner

Veggie chilli, or chilli sin carne as it’s also known, is a classic standby dish from my youth. It’s easy-to-make, cheap and can easily scale up to feed a crowd. Perfect for student digs. But it’s a meal that’s stayed with me ever since.

When I make it these days, I add dark chocolate. It really makes a difference, giving extra richness and depth, not to say a nice dark colour. I usually serve it with brown rice, but sometimes we just serve it in a bowl and scoop it up with plain tortilla chips.

Sometimes, when I feel a bit more of a feast is required, I’ll serve it with some or all of the following:

guacamole
a squeeze of lime juice
chopped coriander leaves
pickled chilli slices
sour cream or yoghurt
grated cheddar cheese.

I’m not good at following recipes as I prefer to go my own way and usually just cook with whatever I have to hand. That’s why I’m sharing my version of veggie chilli which Bit Of The Good Stuff inspired me to make, rather than the original Rainbow Veggie Chilli. You’ll need to head to Sharon’s blog for that, or better still buy the book.

Ingredients, Additions and Substitutions

You don’t need to be too fussy with the ingredients for this veggie chilli. Use whatever vegetables you have to hand. But there are a few key ones that really make this recipe stand out.

Beans

Aduki beans are small and tasty. They’re similar to black beans, but red in colour and they work particularly well in a veggie chilli. But do feel free to swap them for red kidney beans or black beans, depending on what you have available or prefer.

Dried beans, tinned ones or jarred are all good for this recipe. As usual, if you use ready salted beans, you won’t need to use much additional salt in the recipe.

Top Tip – If you use dried beans, you’ll need to soak them overnight, rinse them well then simmer in fresh unsalted water for an hour or so until tender. But do note that red kidney beans should be boiled hard for at least ten minutes to destroy a natural toxin called phytohaemagglutinin (PHA).

Chocolate

Dark chocolate is what you need for this recipe. Anything from 70% to 100% cacao solids works best.

Sweetcorn

Sweetcorn brings a gentle sweetness that balances the tomatoes and spices, so there’s no need to add sugar or any other sweetener. Use fresh, frozen or tinned.

Tomatoes

As veggie chilli tends to be an autumn and winter dish, it’s best to used tinned tomatoes. However, if you have any late season tomatoes that need using up, this is a good recipe to use them in. Either way, finely chopped tomatoes are what you’re after.

A little tomato purée is an excellent addition and helps to ramp up the umami notes in the chilli stew.

Vegetables

Use whatever vegetables you have to hand for this chilli sin carne. It’s not worth going out to buy specific ones which may not be in season. I used onion, carrots, red pepper, sweetcorn and mushrooms in mine. But differently coloured peppers, leeks, celery, sweet potato, courgettes, peas, aubergine, pumpkin or squash are all good.

Seasoning

Apart from the chocolate already mentioned, tamari* is one of my must have ingredients that adds both flavour and umami to the chilli. If you don’t have any, swap it for your favourite soy sauce, but I highly recommend stocking it.

Other flavour enhancers are garlic, fresh chilli, cumin seeds, oregano, smoked paprika and chipotle chilli flakes. The latter adds a gentle warm smokiness that somehow makes the stew seem more authentic.

How To Make Veggie Chilli

The main task involved in making this veggie chilli is chopping all the veg. The rest is very quick and extremely simple.

Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for cooking times, measurements and quantities of ingredients used.

You can make this stew by simply frying the onions and carrots in a large pan, then adding the remaining ingredients and simmering until done. But layering flavours as you go, gives a more flavoursome result.

Step 1. Prepare Veg

Peel and finely chop the onion. Scrub the carrot, top and tail it then dice into roughly 1 cm pieces (a bit less than half an inch).

Wipe the mushrooms, cut off any woody ends, then chop into pieces about twice the size of the carrots. They will shrink when cooked.

Remove the stem from the chilli. Halve it and deseed if you don’t like too much heat. You might like to remove the membranes too if heat isn’t your thing. Finely chop it along with the peeled garlic cloves.

Remove the stalk, seeds and membranes from the pepper, then chop it into 2½ cm (1 inch) chunks.

Step 2. Fry Veg

Heat the olive oil in a wide, but deep pan which has a lid. A cast iron casserole is ideal, but I don’t have one and use a large sauté pan instead.

Fry the cumin seeds for thirty seconds, they should sizzle and smell fragrant. Add the diced onion and carrot and fry over a moderate heat until the onions are translucent.

Add a pinch of salt, the mushrooms, garlic and fresh chilli. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes, then add the tomato paste and spices.

Stir-fry for a further minute.

Step 3. Add Wet Ingredients

Add the kidney beans, tomatoes and sweetcorn to the pan along with the water. If using tinned sweetcorn, use any liquid in the tin as part of the water content. And use the water to swish out any tomato juice left in the tin.

If using tinned beans, drain the beans and rinse them before adding to the pan. If using jarred beans, add the entire contents and reduce the water accordingly.

Give a good stir, bring the pan to a gentle simmer, then add the red pepper chunks. Stir, cover the pan and leave it to cook until the carrots are completely tender and the sauce has thickened.

If the mixture looks to dry at any point, add a little more water.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Add a few grinds of pepper and give a good stir.

Step 4. To Finish

Once the chocolate has melted and is thoroughly amalgamated, do a taste test. If you think it needs it, add a little more salt.

You could also add a squeeze or two of lime juice, if you like.

Take the pan straight to the table so people can help themselves or ladle it directly into bowls.

Serve just as it is or with rice, baked potatoes, tortilla chips or crusty bread. Other additions which turn it into something a bit more special include a sprinkling of chopped coriander leaves, a grating of cheese such as cheddar, a spoonful of sour cream or yoghurt and / or a dollop of guacamole.

Veggie chilli freezes well and any leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to three days. Just make sure you keep it in an airtight container.

Vegan in 15 by Kate Ford

With more and more people wanting to embrace a vegan lifestyle or at the very least attempting to eat less meat and dairy meals, Kate’s Vegan in 15 is timely. It’s a great guide for the novice vegan shopper and cook as it contains over 60 quick-to-make recipes. You’ll find tips on going vegan as well as planning, shopping and cooking.

If you’re worried about nutrition and where you’ll get your protein and calcium from, Kate has you covered. She also gives a fairly comprehensive guide on stocking the store cupboard.

The book contains over 60 recipes and you can prepare them all in fifteen minutes or less. The recipes are divided into seven chapters: Easy Brunch, Speedy Soups, Salads, Fast Lunch, Small Plates, Main Courses and Decadent Desserts. The recipes are diverse; as well as the pasta, risotto and stews you’d expect to find, there are plenty of gems such as tahini and cashew quinoa bowl with garlic and ginger mushrooms.

I do love a good breakfast, so what suggestions, I wondered did Kate have for us? Turns out she has some fabulous ideas. bubble and squeak fry-up with grilled tomatoes sounds like a great start to the weekend, although I’ve also fallen for the smashed avocado on toast with crispy spring onions and chilli yoghurt. I’m rather wishing now that I’d tried the hazelnut and plum porridge with pumpkin Seeds for breakfast this morning. Luckily, there is always tomorrow.

Yesterday, I made cannellini beans with cavolo nero. It was speedy and delicious, although in fact I substituted borlotti beans and savoy cabbage as that’s what I had to hand. The recipe was very easy to follow, included alternatives to the cavolo nero and a useful top tip. Today I’m thinking I quite fancy the speedy bean burger with gherkins and mustard mayo or maybe black bean tacos with avocado and roasted peppers.

More About Vegan in 15

Kate cooks some of the recipes from scratch, but also uses some ready made products. As mentioned earlier, I tend to cook most things from scratch. However, it’s always useful to have a few standbys in the cupboard and I do occasionally resort to “cheat” ingredients. I’m sure I’m not the only one who is pressed for time at some point or other.

I particularly like the handy little “check” symbol next to any ingredient that might contain animal products. It’s always a good idea to read the labels in my experience.

Most of the recipes are unillustrated. But there are a few photographs by Romas Foord in the middle of the book to whet your appetite. I’m rather taken by the picture of the Chocolate and Peanut Butter ‘Freakshake’ and even more so by the recipe. It’s a much healthier version of the ‘Freakshakes’ that have suddenly become so popular, but it still sounds decadent and delicious.

With two weeks of Veganuary left, now’s a good time to get hold of this book and try a few of the recipes. Published in pbk by Short Books, Vegan in 15: Delicious Plant-based recipes you can cook in 15 minutes or less* is widely available at £8.99. Kate’s blog, The Veg Space is well worth visiting too.

Other Vegan Stew Recipes You Might Like

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this veggie chilli, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like to see more Mexican inspired recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.

Choclette x

Veggie Chilli. PIN IT.

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5 from 1 vote

Veggie Chilli

A delicious, warming and hearty veggie chilli recipe made with vegetables, beans and warming spices. Dark chocolate adds depth and richness. It's just the sort of nourishing, flavoursome meal to cook up for a crowd and you can use aduki, red kidney or black beans. Serve with rice, tortilla chips, baked potatoes or crusty bread.

Prep Time20

Cook Time35

Total Time55

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: aduki beans, black beans, dark chocolate, kidney beans, pulses, stew, vegan

Servings: people

Calories: 291kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion finely chopped (or leek sliced)
1 large carrot scrubbed, topped, tailed and diced
1 pinch sea salt
3 cloves garlic finely chopped or grated
6 chestnut mushrooms chopped
1 red chilli seeds removed & finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp chipotle chilli flakes
400 g cooked aduki beans can use red kidney beans or black beans instead (or use 2 x 400g tins – drained)
400 g tinned chopped tomatoes + ½ tin water
150 g frozen sweetcorn (or tinned)
1 large red pepper seeds removed & chopped
1 tbsp tamari (affiliate link)
20 g dark chocolate 80-100% cocoa solids is best
salt and pepper if and as required

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

In a large saucepan, fry the cumin seed, onion, carrot and salt in the oil over a medium heat for 3 minutes.
1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 large onion, 1 large carrot, 1 pinch sea salt
Add the mushrooms, garlic and chilli and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
3 cloves garlic, 1 red chilli, 6 chestnut mushrooms
Stir in the spices and tomato paste and cook for a further minute.
1 tbsp tomato puree, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp smoked paprika, ½ tsp chipotle chilli flakes
Add all the other ingredients, bar the chocolate. Place the lid on the pan and bring to the boil.
400 g cooked aduki beans, 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes, 150 g frozen sweetcorn, 1 large red pepper, 1 tbsp tamari (affiliate link)
Simmer for 20-25 minutes by which time the carrot should be tender and the flavours amalgamated. If the mixture looks to dry at any point, add a little more water.
Turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Stir, then taste test. Add salt and pepper if required.
20 g dark chocolate, salt and pepper
Serve with rice, tortilla chips, baked potatoes or crusty bread.

Notes

Provides four large servings, but could easily stretch to five.

If liked, serve with any of the following: guacamole, a squeeze of lime juice, chopped coriander leaves, pickled chilli slices, sour cream or yoghurt, grated cheddar cheese.

Aduki beans are small and tasty. Similar to black beans, but red in colour, they work particularly well in a veggie chilli. But do feel free to swap them for red kidney or black beans.

Swap or add vegetables of your choice as you see fit. Veggie chilli is a great recipe for a fridge clear out. Leeks, sweet potato, courgette, celery, other coloured peppers and winter squash are all good.

You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.

Nutrition Estimate

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

Sharing

I’m sending my veggie chilli off to Baking Queen and Farmersgirl Kitchen for the Slow Cooked Challenge. Whilst the chilli doesn’t take that long to cook, I slow cooked the aduki beans beforehand. I then used them in the chilli.

Thanks to Sharon and Kate for the books. I was not required to write positive reviews and as always, all opinions are my own. The post contains affiliate links which are marked by an asterisk*. Buying through a link will not cost you any more, but I will get a small commission. This helps to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.