This recipe is perfect for those days when you don’t want to cook. Besides the quinoa and onions, you’re just throwing things into a pot and leaving it be until its done cooking.
All the spices can be modified to achieve your desired flavor/spiciness/salty-ness, etc. I've served this plain, with salad, with chips, and sometimes with bread. But no matter how you serve it, you won’t be disappointed. A ton of my non-vegan friends and family asked for this recipe and once you try it, you will know why. The quinoa adds a heartiness and almost meaty texture, and the cocoa adds a nice depth of flavor.
This recipe can be easily doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. I’ve made a 6x batch of this recipe for my church and there was no change in flavor or consistency when compared to the single batch. That means, this recipe is perfect for meal prepping for the week or for large parties! Just set up a topping bar and you’ll win everyone over.
I know I’m hyping this up a lot, but its because I LOVE IT!
Okay…. Here is the recipe.
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
3 hours
Total time
3 hours 15 mins
Author: Destinee
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
2 cups quinoa, cooked
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion (diced)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
Canned:
2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
2½ - 3 cups vegetable broth (to achieve your desired chili consistency)
2 cans kidney beans (drained and rinsed, 15 oz)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed, 15 oz)
2 cups canned or frozen corn
Spices:
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp dark cocoa powder
1½ tsp smoked paprika
2 T white or brown sugar
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 T salt (more to taste)
2 tsp black pepper (more to taste)
½ cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
CASHEW SOUR CREAM:
1 c soaked cashews
3 Tbsp plant-based milk
1 tsp vinegar
½ lemon, juice only
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
Cook Quinoa according to package directions and set aside
Heat Oil in a skillet and sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. About 2 minutes.
Toss onions into a 6qt crock pot along with the remaining ingredients (except the quinoa)
Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5 hours, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the cashew sour cream in a high-speed mixer and blend until smooth. Refrigerate this until you're ready to serve the chili.
20 minutes before you serve, add Quinoa to Chili. It only needs about 20 minutes to warm up since its already cooked.
Serve your chili with additional cilantro, Fritos, vegan cheese, avocado, or just eat it plain! It's incredible either way!
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 7 days
Sour cream will last 5 days in the fridge in an air-tight container
**This recipe is adapted from Kelley @chefsavvy**