One-Pot Black Bean Quinoa Chili
Published 9/18/2023 • Updated 9/25/2023
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Hearty and nourishing black bean quinoa chili is ready in under an hour on the stovetop. This vegetarian chili is protein-packed and a delicious alternative to classic chili made with meat.
It’s not a fall weekend in the Midwest without a pot of chili simmering on the stove, homemade apple cider, and football. We are huge chili fans and have chili recipes for every palate here at Fit Foodie Finds.
This vegetarian chili packs in all of the same great heartiness and flavor of chilis made with meat, but uses black beans and quinoa instead. Everything is cooked together in one pot on the stove, making this a quick and easy recipe with minimal cleanup.
Featured Comment
“Simple and delicious! What a fabulous recipe! Can’t wait to make it again! The cinnamon sticks and hominy make this a very unique recipe! Made it exactly as written!” – Kathy
What You Need for Black Bean Quinoa Chili
Even though this chili is made without meat, it has the same great texture and flavor as our classic chili recipe thanks to plenty of beans, veggies, and spices. You need:
Veggies: Think typical chili vegetables like green and poblano peppers, onion, and garlic. We like to add hominy to this quinoa chili for color, taste, and texture.
Protein: Instead of meat, we use a combination of quinoa (uncooked) and beans for protein.
Tomatoes + Broth: This is a tomato-based chili so we use both diced tomatoes and tomato sauce in addition to vegetable broth.
Spices: The spice combination is what gives this vegetarian chili the flavor depth you’d traditionally get from a meat-based chili. We use cinnamon sticks for a little spice and sweetness, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, and paprika.
Black Bean Quinoa Chili Substitutions
Customize this vegetarian chili to your liking and based on what ingredients you have on hand. Instead of:
- Poblano peppers, try jalapeño peppers or throw in an extra diced bell pepper.
- Black beans, use your favorite kind of beans like garbanzo, navy, or great northern beans.
- Hominy, use the same amount of yellow sweet corn.
- Each individual spice, use about 1/4 cup of homemade chili seasoning to replace the chili powder, cumin, onion powder, and paprika.
- And, for even more spice, add a can of diced green chiles.
Best Dutch Oven for Soups and Chilis
We cook all of our soups and chilis in this thing and it’s truly the perfect size.
Great Jones
Dutch Oven
The Great Jones “The Dutchess” is our favorite Dutch oven for every day cooking. It’s great for one-pot meals, soups, and more!
FAQ
This chili is more “warm” than spicy. It has a rich and comforting flavor profile with some warmth, but not a lot of heat.
No. The quinoa cooks in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, so there’s no pre-cooking required.
The quinoa absorbs much of the water as the chili cooks, so this recipe yields a very thick and hearty chili. If you want a thinner chili, mix in more broth until you reach your desired consistency.
I’m sure you could, but we haven’t tested it. This recipe was developed specifically for quinoa.
Storage
This recipe makes a lot of chili which is great for meal prep. Let the chili cool completely and transfer into airtight container(s). Refrigerate for 3-5 days.
When reheating the chili, you may need to add a little more broth or water to thin it out a bit.
Freezer Instructions for Quinoa Chili
Chili is a wonderful meal to keep in the freezer for long, cold days. To freeze chili, let it cool completely, transfer to freezer-safe containers, and freeze for up to 3 months. And, here are all of our tips and tricks for how to freeze soup and chili like a pro!
Dip it!
One of my personal favorite ways to eat chili is WITHOUT a spoon. That’s right, I like to trade my spoon for tortilla chips and sometimes even Fritos.
Serving Suggestions
AKA ideas for chili toppings! Chili isn’t chili without all of the amazing toppings and here are some of our favorite black bean quinoa chili toppings:
- Cilantro
- Diced avocado or guacamole
- Tortilla chips (for dipping!)
- Greek yogurt or sour cream
- Shredded cheese
- Diced onion
- Diced tomatoes or salsa
- Lime wedges
Black Bean Quinoa Chili
Ingredients
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt, divided
- 1 large poblano pepper, seeded and finely diced
- 1 large green pepper, seeded and diced
- 1.5 cup white quinoa, uncooked
- 30 oz. black beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 oz navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 28 oz. hominy, drained and rinsed (or yellow sweet corn)
- 15 oz. diced tomatoes
- 15 oz. tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 5 cups vegetable broth, divided (or any broth)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Heat a large Dutch oven over medium/high heat. Add olive oil. When the olive oil is fragrant, add the white onion and 1/8 teaspoon of salt to the oil. Toss and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the poblano pepper, green pepper, and quinoa to the Dutch oven. Mix well. Toast the quinoa for 3-4 minutes (stirring continuously) until it begins to brown.
- Add the black beans, hominy, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin powder, onion powder, paprika, pepper, and 4 cups of broth to the Dutch oven. Stir everything together and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and and add the cinnamon sticks. Cover the Dutch oven and let the chili simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked.
- The quinoa will have expanded during the cook time so when the quinoa is completely cooked, stir in the remaining 1 cup of broth.
- Remove the cinnamon sticks and enjoy the chili topped with fresh cilantro and your favorite chili toppings such as sliced avocado, Greek yogurt/sour cream, etc.
Tips & Notes
- Storage: Once the chili is completely cool, transfer to airtight container(s) and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Chili thickens as it sits, so when you reheat the chili, you may need to add a little more broth or water to thin it out.
- Freezing Instructions: Let the chili cool completely, transfer to freezer-safe containers, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Consistency: This is a pretty thick and hearty chili. If you like a thinner chili, add more broth at the end until you reach your desired consistency.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Ashley McGlaughlin from The Edible Perspective.
The best chili recipe, love it every time I make it! I cook the onion and green peppers in olive oil to soften them before adding the rest of the ingredients. I usually sub roasted sweet corn for the hominy, skip the cinnamon and add another 15oz can of tomatoes to make it more chunky. We add avocado, plain greek yogurt, cilantro and cheese to top it off. Mine always soaks up all the broth and turns into more of a hot dish, which is perfect for my young kiddos, I usually keep broth on hand to add to mine and my husbands bowls so its more soup like. Love that I can toss everything in the pot and leave it alone for a while, this is a favorite recipe when having people over because I’m not constantly in the kitchen.
So glad you love this chili! Thank you for the thoughtful review!
Oh My God!! This is incredibly tasty. Even meat eaters go crazy about it. Please do not skip the cinnamon. It makes all the dif. I used only half of the amount but this flavors explode in flavor in your mouth. It is unbelievable. I am in love with this..thank you so much.
Simple and delicious! What a fabulous recipe! Can’t wait to make it again! The cinnamon sticks and hominy make this a very unique recipe! Made it exactly as written!
Wonderful recipe! I added a few red pepper flakes but otherwise followed recipe exact. I will make this often.
Can this recipe be frozen?
Yes it can! We suggest freezing after cooking!
I made this for church potluck. We are mostly vegans or vegetarians. Everyone loved it!! This recipe is easy to make and freezes well. I made it in a larger batch with half mild and the other half with more heat.
What a great potluck recipe! So glad you enjoyed it!
Delicious! Cinnamon is sooo amazing in this chili!!
Your Instant Pot Vegan Chili was the absolutely best vegan or vegetarian chili that I have ever found for the Instant Pot, and trust me, I try a different one at least twice a week. And it is an easy recipe to make. And it makes enough for seconds and thirds. Yum! Now, this Black Bean Chili also looks amazing. Could I dump everything into the instant pot at one time and cook at high pressure for length of time recommended for quinoa? Do you think that would work, or is there any instructions you could give me to convert this for instant pot cooking? Thank you so much for your healthy and super delicious recipes!
This makes me so happy!!!! That is exactly what I would do. IP recipes are tough and they usually take 3 or 4 times to figure out timing just based on what’s in the recipe, but I would maybe try 5 minutes on high + a quick release. If you do it, please let us know if it worked!
Just a note from the spelling police. It’s stock pot, not stalk pot.
Love your recipes.
I noticed you wrote stalk pot instead of stock pot. Just thought you’d want to know ?
Black beans, quinoa, avocado, chili sauce, and a touch of some hearty spices are the ultimate winner for any warming fall or winter supper! I absolutely love that this recipe is packed with healthy ingredients. No need for anything super salty or refined!
So amazing and easy to prepare. Thanks for sharing!