This Vegan Chili (Crock Pot) recipe is an easy-to-make weeknight dinner. This tasty plant-based chili brings a sweet heat and excitement of flavors - from the smokiness of the chipotle, sweet peaches and brown sugar, four bean texture, and the Holy Trinity of vegetables. Pair that with the rich dark chocolate and coffee notes from a stout beer, and you've got a chili everyone will love!
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Why You'll Love Crockpot Vegan Chili
Peaches in chili? Chipotle in chili? Heck yeah, so good! You'll love the smoky-sweet and spicy flavor in this de-lish vegan chili crock pot recipe."
Vegan and Vegetarian Chili
I've got you a hearty, meat-free, and packed full of healthy protein chili here! If you like beans, then this is the dish for you. Just a little bit of brown sugar and natural sweetness from the peaches with added chipotle and stout beer. Yes, please!
- No dairy is used in this recipe
- Cutting down on sugar? Use a brown sugar substitute such as brown monk fruit sweetener.
- Make sure to use a vegan beer.
- Control and reduce sodium by draining and rinsing beans. If you are lowering your salt intake, start with 1 teaspoon of salt and adjust if needed.
Flavorful
Smoky heat from the chipotle, sweet peaches, and stout beer (which has a bitter hoppy dark chocolate coffee taste), blended with the Holy Trinity of vegetables and a nice texture with four beans, makes for a unique and flavorful vegan chili.
Easy Slow Cooker Recipe
This vegan chili recipe is one of the easiest ones around to prepare. Chop and saute three vegetables, put into crock pot, and the rest is canned or in a can…just dump it all in! Stir and cook your chili on low! There you have it! Delicious chili.
Note that you don't have to saute the vegetables, and you can add them directly to the pot. You will lose some of the caramelization flavors that sauteeing the veg creates, but it will still end up delicious.
Ingredients
Here is a list of ingredients you'll need to make this Chipotle Peach Vegan Chili (Crock Pot) recipe:
See the recipe card for exact quantities.
- Celery Stalks - Add texture and flavor to the chili. Slice off the ends and chop in ½ inch pieces.
- Onions - I prefer yellow onions, but you could certainly use small diced Vidalia, Sweet, and Red onions. Take both ends off and cut in half. Flip cut side down on the cutting board and slice lengthwise three times carefully. Turn and cut perpendicular to lengthwise cuts 4 to 5 times to result in ½ inch squares.
- Bell Peppers - Use any color. I used what I had on hand, orange and green. Peppers are such an essential ingredient to this dish. Yellow and orange peppers are sweeter than red bell peppers or green bell peppers. Slice the sides away from the pepper. Four sides total, but make sure not to get any seeds. If you do, no big deal. Slice skin side down, turn, and dice into small pieces.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Table Salt or Kosher Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- Chipotle Powder - Adds a smoky heat and a more medium spice. If you prefer mild, you can use half the chipotle powder. And likewise, if you like things spicy, use more. If you want to up the smoky taste in this chili, you could add smoked paprika.
- Cumin
- Chili Powder
- Brown Sugar - You can use either dark or light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar is a great addition to any chili as it is made with sugar and molasses. If you want to cut out the sugar, use a brown sugar substitute.
- Canned Dark Red Kidney Beans - drain the beans before adding. To control salt rinse the beans as well.
- Canned Chick Peas/Garbanzo Beans - Drained and rinsed.
- Canned Black Beans - Drained and rinsed.
- Canned Butter Beans - Are nice because they're a bigger bean, and I prefer different textures in my chilis. Drain and rinse the canned beans.
- Tomato Sauce
- Diced Tomatoes - I used canned diced tomatoes, but freshly diced are nice if you have additional time.
- Frozen Peaches - Cut into bite-size pieces. Some I diced in half, and others into thirds.
- Canned Corn - A great way to add more texture to a chili. Canned corn is faster, but fresh corn would be delicious! Image how good that sweet Summer corn would be. Oh yum.
- Stout Beer - There are many vegan beers on the market today, and most will say whether or not they are vegan or gluten-free. Guinness Stout was used in this recipe which now uses a vegan-friendly brewing process.
- Some of my favorite stour beers: O'so Convenient Distraction, Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Stout, or KBS Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout. These few beers have many different flavor notes, ranging from malty, caramel notes to vanilla and coffee notes. Keep in mind that we all live in different regions, so beers will differ from brewery to brewery across the nation.
- Optional Thickener - Tomato paste makes a great thickener to tomato-based dishes. Add 3 to 6 ounces of tomato paste if you prefer it thicker.
Substitutions and Variations
Here are a few ways you can vary or make substitutions to this vegan chili crock pot recipe:
- Up the “Spiced Flavors.” Change up this recipe even more, and try a "spiced approach." Instead of using chipotle powder, go with a garam masala spice blend consisting of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves/etc., and throw some diced-up butternut squash into the chili (peeled and diced w/seeds taken out).
- Tomato Paste. Used as a thickener in tomato-based recipes.
- Make it a Bloody Chili. Use a bloody Mary mix in place of the tomato sauce.
- Not a vegan and would like to add some meat? Adding any type of protein will just enhance the flavor profile of the chili. Chicken and beef are my top favorites, but steak or smoked pork are other excellent options.
- Make it low carb and keto. Are you following a keto diet? Substitute black soybeans and peanuts. You can also bulk up on more celery, carrots, and peppers. Use olive oil and garnish with avocado slices to add healthy fat.
- Want to make it milder or spicier? Use only 1 teaspoon of chipotle for a milder chili, 2 teaspoons for medium heat, and 3 teaspoons for spicy.
- Want to half this recipe? Use half the ingredients. Use 2 whole cans of your favorite beans instead of halving 4 cans of beans (unless you can think up a way to use the other half of the beans, of course).
- Did you accidentally add too much spice? Adding more sweetness to a recipe can beat some of the heat. In this case, add more brown sugar.
Instructions
Here's how to make vegan slow cooker chipotle peach chili:
1. Take chopped vegetables and saute on medium-high heat with 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Make sure oil is just smoking before adding the vegetables to achieve nice caramelization.
Time Saving Tip: If you're in a hurry you can skip this step and add the vegetables directly into the crock pot. Make sure to add 2 hours to the chili cooking time.
2. Add sauteed vegetables on the bottom of the crockpot followed by beans, corn, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, peaches, brown sugar, beer, salt, pepper, chipotle, cumin, and chili powder. Stir to incorporate everything evenly.
3. Cover with lid and turn on low for 4 to 6 hours or until vegetables are completely tender and all flavors have blended.
How To Serve
This vegan chili crock pot recipe is quite hearty, but here are a few serving suggestions you might like. I've included some non-vegan and vegetarian suggestions, too, since I have a mix of readers and think this chili will appeal to everyone. 😉
- Fresh green salad with a vegan-friendly dressing such as Avocado Dressing
- Top with your favorite chili toppings, or try these: pickled jalapenos, pepperoncini, fresh scallions.
- Are you vegetarian and eat dairy? Try different toppings such as sour cream, cream cheese, and shredded cheddar cheese.
- A small side of vegan-friendly pasta or toasted sourdough bread would complement this dish just as well.
Top Tips
- Time-saving tip #1 Buy pre-chopped mirepoix (onions, celery, and peppers).
- Time-saving tip #2 Add the vegetables directly to the crockpot instead of sauteeing in a skillet. You will lose some of the flavors from the caramelization, but I promise this chili will still taste amazing!
- To thicken chili add half a can of tomato paste or use 1 tablespoon cornstarch whisked in 2 tablespoons cold water or vegetable broth.
FAQ's
Yes, absolutely. You can prepare the chili a couple of days ahead of time.
Prepare and leave in the refrigerator stored in the crock pot if you have room. It makes it easier to move from the fridge to the heat source! Turn on low, good to go.
Up to 4 days if stored in an airtight container.
Of course, you can! Freeze in airtight containers and pull one day ahead to thaw in the refrigerator. Put into a small saucepot and heat back to 165 degrees.
Recipe
Chipotle Peach Vegan Chili (Crock Pot)
Equipment
- 6-quart crockpot
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion (diced)
- 3 stalks of celery (diced)
- 2 large bell peppers (diced)
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained (rinsed and drained)
- 1 (15-ounce) can butter beans, drained (rinsed and drained)
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained (rinsed and drained)
- 1 (15-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, drained (rinsed and drained)
- 1 (15-ounce) can sweet corn (drained)
- 1 (8-ounce) bag frozen peaches (partially thaw then dice)
- 1 (28-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup vegan stout beer
- 2 teaspoons chipotle powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- ½ cup light or dark brown sugar
Instructions
- In a large skillet, add olive oil and preheat over medium high-heat.
- Add onions, celery, and bell peppers. Saute vegetables until they are translucent.
- Transfer the vegetables to the bottom of the crock pot.
- Add the beans, corn, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, peaches, brown sugar, beer, salt, pepper, chipotle, cumin, and chili powder to the crock pot. Stir to incorporate everything evenly.
- Cover with lid and turn on low for 4 to 6 hours or until vegetables are completely tender and all flavors have blended.
Video
Notes
- Don't miss all of our helpful hints, substitution ideas, cooking tips, and other delicious recipes that can be found in our post. Check it out!
- SUBSTITUTIONS: Use a brown sugar substitute if trying to reduce sugar. Swap any favorite canned bean.
- TOP TIPS: If needed, thicken chili by whisking 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water. If you're in a hurry to get this into the crock pot, skip sauteing the onion, celery, and peppers and add into the chili. Add 2 hours to the slow cooker time. This recipe can easily be frozen in portions for later, you can also halve the recipe.
Nutrition
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