Healthy food meets comfort food, with this delicious & homemade buffalo chickpea chili.
It’s playoff hockey season again, which is one of my favorite times to try out new comfort-food recipes.
This week last year, I first made the Creamy Spinach Tomato Pasta.
And the start of another playoff season seemed like the perfect time to finally try this buffalo chickpea chili.
After all, what could possibly be more perfect for game time than a big bowl of spicy homemade chili?
The completely meatless chili is full of wholesome ingredients, such as carrots, onions, tomatoes, and chickpeas, giving you the perfect excuse to feel less guilty for all the beers and chips that might be consumed alongside!
To show just how easy it is to make, I posted a video below of the process:
Tip: If you have a Trader Joes near you, I like to buy the diced mirepoix vegetables to use in this chili recipe. Not only does it take care of all the chopping, it also doesn’t leave you with a zillion leftover pieces of celery you have no idea how to use.
And any time I don’t have to cut up an onion, my eyes are inordinately grateful for it.
Serving suggestions include sliced avocado, tortilla chips, or Vegan Cornbread.
The BEST part about this healthy chili?
Leftovers freeze well, so you can portion extra servings into containers—I use pyrex as opposed to plastic—and freeze for a day when you’re pressed for time but want a home-cooked meal.
The recipe can easily be cooked in a slow cooker, and you can change it up by using different vegetables or trying it with your favorite source of protein. I used kidney beans, but crumbled tofu or tempeh would also work nicely.
The chili was adapted from my Vegetarian Chili Recipe.
Buffalo Chickpea Chili
Ingredients
- 15 oz diced tomatoes
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 15 oz chickpeas, cooked or canned
- 15 oz protein of choice
- 1 cup chopped or diced carrot
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- optional 1/2 cup corn
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 tbsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 3-4 tbsp buffalo sauce or hot sauce
- 4 oz cream cheese, or vegan cream cheese or cashew cream (can be omitted)
Instructions
- If you just want regular (non-spicy) chili, simply omit the buffalo sauce. To add a little extra depth of flavor if desired, you can start by sautéing the onion with a little oil or buttery spread for a few minutes. Combine all ingredients in either a medium pot or a slow cooker, and stir well. If cooking on the stove: bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook uncovered for 35 minutes. If carrots are still too crunchy, cover and cook 10 additional minutes or until vegetables reach desired softness. If using a slow cooker, set to low and cook 6-8 hours. (Time may vary, depending on your slow cooker's size and settings.)*Two readers have commented to say this works in the instant pot if you combine all ingredients, set to high pressure manual for 10 minutes, then do a natural release. Thanks to readers Susan and Vicky C for trying the recipe and leaving a comment to let us know how to make it in the instant pot!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Recipe Of The Day:
Where do you find your dry beans?
Thank you for sharing your creations; you are beautiful;
Hey! You can find dry beans in most grocery stores. Look in the same section as the rice and dried lentils 🙂
Jason
Another amazing recipe from Katie! This is my ALL TIME favourite chilli recipe – I have made it multiple times and it continues to be my absolute favourite (I’m a fan of chilli in general so I have tried many kinds). I typically add both black beans and lentils to the recipe and have tried adding cooked mushrooms as well. For the carrot, I shred it using my food processor or I occasionally omit as my boyfriend isn’t a fan of carrots.
I made this, as well as the suggested corn muffins, tonight for my mom and I. I subbed kidney beans for chickpeas and for the protein I used a product similar to Beyond ground beef. It was delicious; we both loved it! Good thing, because this recipe makes for quite a few leftovers. I’ll probably end up freezing some. Definitely going to make this again!
Honestly I think this tastes even better heated up for breakfast. I topped it with wasabi edamame and corn chips.
Buffalo chickpea chilli,
I like all kinds of chilli and noted you don’t like chopping onions. I’ve honestly found taking the skin off and ends under running water seems to cut down on the instant attack to the eyes and you should be able to chop the rest of it with less bother. Or do what my hubby prefers get someone else to chop it. Lol. Or buy prechopped frozen onions. Or even use a visor?
I’m slimming with Weight Watchers and keep telling folk to look on your pages for your lovely recipes. We are mainly allowed to eat foods that amount up to 29 points a day, they decrease as you lose weight to help keep you losing of course. Your delicious chickpea chilli is 4 points per serving, according to your nutritional values. Just incase someone ever asks you. Personally I think WW should pay you to point all your recipes and buy your books to sell on their website. 😁 keep up the great work Katie.
Oh, shoutout to all Katie’s, my lovely WW coach is called Katie too.
Thank you so much!! 🙂
We are not vegan in our house, but I can’t eat eggs or dairy, so I find Katie’s recipes to be a good source of inspiration even if I decide to add a bit of meat. I just made this chili for the first time, varying from the recipe some purely based on what I had in my pantry. I used a can of Rotel instead of 15 oz diced tomatoes, an 8 oz jar of El Pato jalapeno tomato sauce (red jar) plus 8 oz of salsa in place of tomato sauce, 1/2 cup of dried northern beans as the extra protein, and 1/2 a box of tofu for the cream cheese. (I blended it with the tomato sauce first.) I also added a bit of vegan pepperjack cheese. It came out quite spicy, but we are ok with that around here! My husband admittedly added a bit of regular cheese and sour cream to his, but he tasted it and declared, “OH! This has a really good balance of spice and flavor!” I think it was the most enthusiastic he’s been about any chili I’ve made in recent memory, so this recipe will be a keeper! Of course, I always just use what I have on hand, so no guarantees I will make it exactly the same next time. For me flexibility in a recipe like this one is a huge win!
Made this tonight. Here is where I strayed from the original recipe;
Sautéed onion, carrot and celery till soft. Then added garlic and cooked a few seconds more then added tomato & tomato sauce and spices and simmered 30 mins. Then added protein of choice which was black beans along with the garbanzos and simmered another 20 minutes. It came out great! The longer you cook tomato with garlic and onion the more complex the flavors get.
I want to make this for a pot luck at work. Could I make this the day before and just put it on low to warm up the next day or would I need to add the cream cheese in the morning?
You can absolutely make it the day before.