Chickpea Vegetable Chilli - a great hearty vegetarian option on a popular Chilli Con Carne, quick and easy to make but packed with flavour.
Vegetarian Chilli (Chili)
This yummy vegetarian Chilli is a great recipe to make if you are vegetarian (vegan) or fancy a meat-free meal.
It comes packed with vegetables and delicious flavours of spices but uses chickpeas instead of the regular kidney beans we are used to in a traditional Chilli Con Carne.
Chickpea Chilli
I always have cans of chickpeas on hand in my pantry. They are a great source of fibre and protein and perfect for all kinds of dishes when you want to bulk it out of making it more filling.
I love to add them into Chilli's like in this recipe, soups, pasta, stews, casserole or even just sauteed on a pan with some onion and spices as a side with some salad.
Adding the chickpeas into this chilli recipe, make it much more hearty and gives some texture.
What is an Instant Pot?
An Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) is a 7in1 cooker, that slow cooks, pressure cooks, sautes and has settings for soup, chilli, rice, porridge etc. It will literally cook these meatballs in minutes, so perfect for when you need a meal on the table quickly.
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Since buying my Instant Pot, I use it on a regular basis, it’s not one of those gadgets that sit in my cupboard forgotten. In fact, it never goes away.
Instant Pot is a brand of an electric pressure cooker, but there are various other brands and options out there.
Vegetables for Chilli
There really is no right or wrong for vegetables to add to chilli. In a traditional Chilli Con Carne, you will likely for onions, peppers, tomatoes but then there is also ground beef (beef mince).
For vegetarian chilli the more vegetables you add the better, it will add flavour, bulk out the dish, and add lots of different textures.
In this recipe, I use butternut squash for natural sweetness, tomatoes, peppers, onion and zucchini. Don't be afraid to try different vegetables or stuff you on hand, if you don't have all the same ingredients I do.
So long as you keep the volumes/weights the same and the spices etc, it shouldn't affect the taste and final result.
Replacement for Chickpeas?
Don't have any chickpeas on hand but want to make this recipe? Then another pulse or bean will work well in its place. Just use the same ratios from some of these options below:
- Cannelini Beans
- Pinto Beans
- Lentils (use green or brown, they hold their shape and have more texture)
- Kidney Beans
- Black Beans
- or any other beans/pulse you have available
If not using canned items where they are already cooked, taken into account that you may need to soak and cook them prior to adding into the chilli.
Sides for Chilli (Chili)
For this Chickpea Vegetable Chilli, I like to opt for just a bit of low fat soured cream (or Greek Yoghurt), cheddar and some fresh cilantro (coriander)
Some more great options are:
- Spring Onions
- Avocado
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Olives
- Guacamole or this Pea Guacamole
- Salsa
- Shredded Lettuce
or for some filling sides then these are all great options:
- Rice
- Quinoa
- Perfect Oven Baked Chips (Fries) - I prefer to slice them into rounds so they are like nachos
- Sweet Potato Wedges
- Crispy Cheddar Pita Chips
More Chickpea Recipes
Looking for inspiration for some more chickpea recipes? Then check out some of these:
- VEGAN TIKKA MASALA (INSTANT POT OR STOVE TOP)
- CHICKPEA, EGG AND KALE TRAY BAKE
- CHICKPEA AND TOMATO SOUP
- BUTTERNUT SQUASH CHICKPEA CURRY (VEGAN)
- CHINESE FIVE SPICE CHICKPEAS
- CHANA MASALA (INSTANT POT OR STOVETOP)
or head on over to my Full Recipe Index with over 900 delicious Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers friendly recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, value and smart points etc
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Recipe Card
Chickpea Vegetable Chilli (Stove Top and Instant Pot)
Chickpea Vegetable Chilli - a great hearty vegetarian option on a popular Chilli Con Carne, quick and easy to make but packed with flavour.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- ½ large red pepper, diced
- ½ large green pepper, diced
- 200g (7oz) of butternut squash, cubed small
- 200g (7oz) of grape tomatoes (or cherry), halved
- 2 tbs of tomato puree (paste)
- 1 439g (15.5oz) can of chickpeas with juice
- 1 zucchini, halved and quartered
- 2 cups (480ml) of vegetable stock (use 1 cup (240ml) for instant pot method)
- 1 tbs of paprika (not smoked)
- 1 tbs of cumin
- 1 tbs of oregano
- ½ teaspoon of cayenne
- 1 tbs of mild chilli (chili) powder
- cooking oil spray
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
Stove Top
- Heat a deep saucepan over medium-high heat and spray with some cooking oil spray.
- Add the onion and fry for a couple of minutes until translucent and softened.
- Add in the garlic, cherry tomatoes, tomato paste (puree), cumin, oregano, chilli powder, cayenne and mix to coat, continue to saute until the tomatoes start to break down.
- Add in the butternut squash, peppers, chickpeas (with juice) and stock.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes until the butternut squash is tender.
- Add in the zucchini and remove the lid for the last 10 minutes turn up the heat, so that it bubbles and cooks off any excess stock and thickens.
- Taste and season as needed with salt and black pepper
- Enjoy!!
Instant Pot
- Set instant pot to saute mode.
- Once it displays hot, spray with some cooking oil spray, add in the onion and fry until softened.
- Add in the tomatoes, garlic, cumin, paprika, oregano, chilli and cayenne and stir to coat, continue to saute until the tomatoes start to break down.
- Add in the peppers, tomatoes, chickpeas (with juice), butternut squash and stock and stir to combine well. Making sure you scrape anything stuck to the bottom of the pan.
- Spoon the tomato puree on the top (don't stir in)
- Add lid, close valve (if not self-sealing) and set Instant Pot to manual high pressure for 8 minutes.
- Once Instant Pot finishes cooking time, do a quick release of the pressure.
- Set instant pot to saute mode, add in the zucchini and stir intermittingly cooking for an additional couple of minutes until the chilli thickens.
- Taste and season as needed with salt and black pepper.
- Enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 211Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 0mgSodium 221mgCarbohydrates 36gFiber 9gSugar 16gProtein 7g
Chris says
Made this today and it was absolutely beautiful, will definitely make this again
Maha says
Made this recipe today. And as usual I wasn’t disappointed!! Very nice and full of flavour!! Thank you
Christy says
Amazing flavours, easy recipe to follow. A regular on our cold weather meal planner..