Vegan Tortilla Stew (Like Chili!)

Finished product! Add as much (or as little) cheese and chips as you want.

A bit over a year ago, I posted my go-to healthy chili recipe. I love that recipe because its easy, cheap, healthy, flexible (use whatever meat you want, use whatever beans you have, etc), and people who aren’t (as) concerned with health and fitness as I am love it. It’s nice to not feel like you’re just pushing gross healthy food on all your loved ones. Chili type dishes do the trick because the amount of toppings (cheese, chips, sour cream, corn bread) you load on top is totally up to you. You can opt for a lightly topped version while you’re friend eating with you can choose to load up on all the decadent stuff (or visa versa, of course)

I obnoxiously post it to my Instagram stories whenever I’m making it, so for some time my vegetarian friends and clients have been asking for a similar recipe that they can actually eat. When I saw a recipe for vegetarian taco stew in the new Chrissy Teigan cookbook, Cravings, I thought that I would give it a try. I’ll definitely be making this high fiber, high protein vegan recipe again (my roommates enjoyed it as well). If you don’t have the cookbook, I suggest buying it - it might make a great gift for the holidays.

This recipe is very closely based on her’s, but I’m noting some of the exact ingredients I ended up using and tips I found helpful as they worked well for me.

Ingredients for the stew:

2 TBSP cooking oil (mild flavored oil of choice)

Prep produce before beginning (even the day before is fine!).

Produce:

1 large onion, diced (I used a yellow onion, it’s on the sweeter side out of all the common onions and I tend to enjoy it most.)

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeño, minced with seeds included

Spices:

2 TBSP chili powder (I used the Whole Foods 365 brand chili powder, I tend to be happy with it’s flavor. Chili powder varies a lot, so find the one you like.)

1 TBSP ground cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (this recipe ended up being relatively spicy, so leave this out if you hate spice)

The spices are added all at once, so it’s fine to measure them out and throw them all in a bowl in preparation.

salt and ground pepper

Canned goods:

4 cups vegetable broth
I ended up using this mushroom bouillon base that I had in the fridge, which worked great! I like these bases because they don’t go bad quickly so you can keep them on hand the kitchen at all times.

2 15oz cans diced tomatoes in juiceCravings

2 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

Other:

1 cup cooked rice (to be added last)

Suggested toppings:

Cotija cheese (I tried this with cheddar and then with cotija and it is SO much better with Cotija if you enjoy the flavor. You can find it at regular grocery stores like Safeway.)

Tortilla chips or strips (if you buy the cookbook, Chrissy will tell you to make these yourself. It’s really not hard, I did it, but I am not sure it added much that regular tortilla chips from the bag wouldn’t.)

Anything else you like to put on chili would be great!

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the diced onion, bell pepper, and the jalapeño. Sauté these for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and slightly browned.

2. Next add the spices (all of them), 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp salt. Sauté for about 2 minutes (until it smells really good in your kitchen).

3. Add chicken or vegetable broth (in my case 4 cups from the bouillon base), 2 cans of tomatoes, and 2 cans of black beans. Bring the mixture to a boil before reducing the heat and simmering for about 30m. After 30m, add the cooked rice and continue to cook for about 15 mins more. Leaving it a little longer won’t hurt! It should look nice and thick like a stew when you’re ready to serve.

   Visual learner? I included a few slides with captions below to show you how the stew should look at each key step.

4. Take a taste and season with more salt and pepper if you like.

5. Serve with your toppings of choice!