Three pro tips and an unexpected ingredient give this vegan chili a silky, spicy, and smoky flavor. Different protein add-ins make it versatile, for vegans and non-vegans alike.
The origin of this recipe
I’m curious about chili. You know, the stew that is so popular and comes in so many iterations. I’ve been wondering where it comes from, and what the most authentic version is. I learned that it likely originated as far back as the 16th century in Northern Mexico, now called Mexico City and quickly migrated over the border into Texas. I also read that it began as a concoction of meat and chiles that were pounded down together and condensed into bricks that could be mixed with water for a meal on the go. It made the meat last longer. Fast forward and it’s become a Tex-Mex dish around the country. That’s a long way away from this Vegan Chili with Charred Veggies!
With the history of the chili dish in mind, I realized there was a lot of room for interpretation with this dish. Therefore, I reflected on some of the reasons chili seems lackluster, such as the basic flavor profile, and the method of dumping ingredients in a pot and leaving them to cook. While this is easy for sure, I’m looking for more flavor excitement. As a result, I landed on three pro tips I am excited to share with you, so you can make this chili with more flavor:
- Make your own Chili Powder
- Start the soup with a spicy tomato paste
- Char the tomatoes and fresh chiles
Pro tip #1: Make your own Chili Powder
I’m also curious about what spices are used across chili recipes. Here’s where it gets interesting. I found that most contain chili powder, cumin, and Mexican oregano. Mexican oregano is not the same as Mediterranean oregano used in a lot of Italian recipes. It has more fruity/floral notes, whereas Mediterranean oregano is part of the mint family of herbs. The fact that they are both called “oregano” is a misnomer- they are completely different.
This led me to research what chili powder is. There are so many kinds of chiles, that I was curious. The commercial, bottled chili powder we all use is a blend of non-specific chile powder with other spices. Long story short, I was led to develop and make Homemade Chili Powder. If you make this homemade chili powder, you will be armed with a spice mix that is smoky, toasty, spicy, and even a tad tangy. I love it and think you will too. It takes less than 30 minutes and you’ll have a spice blend on hand that you can use in tacos, this Vegan Chili with Charred veggies as well as enchilada sauce, or taco soup, you name it, this will level up all your recipes.
Pro tip #2: Start the vegan chili with a spicy tomato chile paste
Now that I had this amazingly flavorful and powerful chili powder at my disposal with much more heat and depth of flavor than your average chili powder (which you can use if you must), I put on my thinking cap about how to spice a recipe with it, because it is so flavorful, and I wasn’t sure how to decide how much to use. The storebought stuff is so bitter and bland that you can dump random amounts in and only affect the heat of the recipe a bit, but this powder is different. Creating a homemade tomato paste, that incorporates the chili powder solves this problem and is how you should begin making this soup.
I suppose I was inspired subconsciously by how Gochugaru, the Korean chile pepper, is used to make Gochujang, the Korean chili paste, except Gochujang is fermented. Hmmm, something to consider! Also, there’s nothing more frustrating than making chili or soup and dumping in the amount of spice the recipe calls for, only to find it’s way too hot/spicy or not flavorful at all. Creating this condensed spicy paste allows you to develop the overall flavor you like, then gradually add it to the soup until you arrive at the right level of heat for your liking.
Pro tip #3: Char the tomatoes and fresh chiles
I love tomatoes and making chili with tomatoes, but here, again, I wanted more flavor in my soup. I also wanted to incorporate fresh chilis, from our local market. In essence, I wanted to turn all the elements of chili I love, into a soup. Here is where most of the work is for this soup, choosing the type of fresh chiles you want (one of two factors that will determine the spice/heat of the soup) and charring them with the tomatoes, either outside on your grill, or inside in the oven or stovetop.
It took me about 10-15 minutes to grill the tomatoes and chiles outside. You could do it one day and make the soup the next if you wanted. Veggies do cook/char quickly so stand by with tongs to rotate them as needed. I’m not gonna lie, it’s tricky cooking small cherry tomatoes on an outside grill, and you risk losing a bit of their insides, so you decide if you are better suited to work with larger-sized cherry tomatoes or whatever works for you. I enjoyed including some yellow cherry tomatoes. As for what fresh chiles to buy, your market should display a guide of some sort in the produce area where the chiles are, but generally, poblanos are the milder ones, followed by Fresno, jalapeno, and then serrano. Bird’s Eye, Habanero, and Scotch Bonnet are super hot. (I used 2 Poblanos-mild, 1 large Jalapeno-medium, 1 Serrano-med-hot)
(oh! Pro tip #4: best not to simmer tomatoes in a cast iron pan, because cast iron is a reactive metal that interacts with the acidic tomatoes and causes a bitter metallic taste to develop)
One last thing, that secret ingredient:
The secret ingredient is chocolate! Using chocolate in savory cooking dates back to the Aztecs, to balance out the acidity in tomatoes and I found that 1 oz of 70% dark chocolate added just the right amount of richness and umami, which also balances out the spiciness as well. The fat in the chocolate adds that special velvet texture to this Vegan Chili with Charred Veggies.
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Vegan Chili with Charred Veggies
Kitchen Tools
- 1 grill, or sheet pan if broil/roast instead of grill
- 1 3 quart soup pot, or dutch oven
- 1 small pan, to fry chili paste
- 1 blender, to blend soup ingredients
Ingredients
- 1-3 tsp homemade chili powder (Go to Recipe)
- 1/4 cup homemade tomato chile paste
- 2-4 tbsp tomato paste (store-bought)
- 1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes unsalted
- 4-6 ea fresh chili peppers (you choose the heat level)
- 2-3 boxes cherry tomatoes (can include the small on-the-vine type)
- 1 15 oz can chili beans
- 1 ea medium yellow onion
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 oz 70% dark chocolate (shhh, this is the secret ingredient!)
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano (sub regular oregano)
- 1 tbsp cumin ground
Optional Protein add ins (animal protein or tofu options)
- 1 lb ground turkey (sautéed and browned)
- 8 oz smoked, braised or extra firm tofu (any of the three options work)
Method:
Prep the ingredients
- First up, make that 1-3 tsp homemade chili powder, or if using store bought, see note below.
- Make the 1/4 cup homemade tomato chile paste: To a small stainless or non-stick sauce or fry pan add a spoonful of the 2-4 tbsp tomato paste, 2-3 Tbsp of the 1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes unsalted, and about 1 tsp. of the chili powder you made or bought. If your chili powder is prettyspicy then start by adding 1 tsp to this homemade chili paste.
- Stir and cook this tomato chile paste over low heat for a few minutes, allowing the tomato paste to caramelize, the spices to bloom, and the crushed tomatoes to cook off some of their liquid. Taste it and adjust the flavor by adding bits of the 3 ingredients.
- Prep the 2-3 boxes cherry tomatoes and 4-6 ea fresh chili peppers. Cut off the stems and deseed the chile peppers.
- Toss the prepped veggies with some olive oil and liberally sprinkle with 1 tbsp cumin ground, and 1 tbsp Mexican oregano. Char the veggies by grilling on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes per side. Once they are all bubbly and charred, remove them to cool, then casually chop them (see upper right photo of them, added to pot).
Finish the soup
- To a pot (I used a 3.5 qt Dutch oven, but anything works) add a drizzle of olive oil, and saute the 1 ea medium yellow onion, chopped, with 1 tbsp cumin seeds over medium heat. Let the seeds get toasty and the onion develops some color for about 5-8 min.
- To a blender or food processor add the sauteed onion/cumin, the chopped, charred veggies, and the rest of the can of tomatoes and blend until nice and smooth.
- Return the pureed ingredients to the pan, and add the 1 15 oz can chili beans, including the liquid, which adds flavor and texture. Time to add the secret ingredient, 1 oz 70% dark chocolate, and stir it into the soup to melt, on medium-low heat.
- Finally, add half of the homemade chili paste and taste the soup. Add however much creates the flavor and level of heat you like. You now have a velvety, silk, smoky tomato chili soup.
Optional Protein Add-ins: either of the below choices will make the chili heartier, more filling
- Smoked or braised tofu crumbled: this is sold in the same area as regular tofu.
- Or add ground turkey, sauteed until you’ve crumbled the meat and it has browned.
Toppings:
- Try pickled or candied jalapenos, scallions, lime zest, cumin seeds, toasted pepitas, and crushed blue corn chips (great color contrast for presentation- shown at the top of this post in the center).
