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Everyone's out here in the chili galaxy defaulting to kidney beans like it's the law, while pintos are sitting in the pantry being creamy, buttery and superior in every way and nobody is giving them their flowers. But on this very glorious day, this one-pot vegan pinto bean chili is going to make you realize your chili game can be better than you've ever dreamed of.
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Brace yourself. This pinto bean chili comes together super-fast, and has not one but two secret ingredients that at first might make you tilt your head and then immediately make another batch.
First: fire-roasted hatch chiles, which bring some smoky, slightly sweet heat without having to grab obscure dried chilies from a Mexican grocery store.
Second: a full cup of strong brewed coffee, which sounds a little nuts until you taste what it does to ramp up umami complexity and meatiness in the chili without harming a single lovable animal.
Rock this out with some vegan cornbread, use it as the base for vegan tamale pie or vegan Frito pie, and you are well on your way to Tex-Mex comfort food glory.
This recipe came together with ease and is so good I just can't get enough. This chili has just the right amount of spice and it's full of flavor. The coffee adds depth, and no, it doesn't make it taste like coffee. I will be making this over and over, and bringing it to all my pot luck events!
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🥰 Why you'll adore this pinto bean chili recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: Remember how every time you see a majestic field of wheat blowing in the breeze, it makes you scream and want to leave planet Earth on an escape pod ASAP? Well, my gluten-hating goose, this happens to be one of the gluten-free vegan recipes that you can rely on to not anger you in any way whatsoever.
☕ Coffee in the Chili. Yes, Really: A full cup of strong brewed coffee goes into this pot and does something quite a bit unhinged to the depth of flavor. It adds a rich, dark backbone that emulates the flavor of slow cooked bbq without even a hint of violence to animals.
⏱️ One Pot, No Drama: Everything goes in one pot, start to finish, and the whole shebang is ready in 30 minutes flat, leaving you plenty of time for whatever else you've got cooking.
🫕 The Leftover Situation Is Exceptional: This hearty chili gets better overnight as everything melds together, so day 2 is a whole different ball game. Future you is gonna be tickled pink.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all my vegan recipes, over 1,000 testers messed with this and gave it the green light.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
🫘 Pinto Bean Chili Ingredients
Hatch Chiles
I use (and recommend) the canned fire-roasted hatch chiles from Trader Joe's. Can't find them? Any canned roasted green chiles or poblanos are perfectly good substitutes.
If you have some left over after cooking this, they make a ridiculously fast hatch chile salsa, and a life-changing vegan queso.
Refried Beans
I recommend making your own vegan refried beans, because they are cheap to make and hella flavorful. But if you just wan to buy some, as much as I don't love the company, I have to give the thumbs up to the Ranchera style refried beans from Goya.
Because my younger daughter is addicted to vegan tostadas, we have tried just about every single brand of refried beans on the market, and these are easily the winner of them all. A God amongst men when it comes to beans, I guess you could say.
The Seasonings
While some basic-ass pinto chili recipes use generic taco seasonings and call it a day, I really think this comes out remarkably better with a more fine-tuned array of spices.
As far as the cumin goes, while you can get away with any ol' ground cumin, here's what I recommend as wayyy better. Get wild mountain cumin from Burlap and Barrel light toast them in a dry pan and then grind them fresh in a spice grinder.
Get my fave cumin seeds for free!
Using this link, add the wild mountain cumin to your cart, spend at least $15 on some of the other absurdly good spices from Burlap & Barrel (they all seriously slap) and the bottle of this bangin' wild mountain cumin becomes FREE, and you will love it so much.
Now for the rest of the gang: Mexican chili powder is actually blend of ancho chili powder and other mild dried spices. Smoked paprika brings smoky gorgeous red color, again without much actual heat. Ground coriander and oregano creates a nice background flavor base the chili needs to reach the apex of heavenly chili delights.
Pinto Beans
Canned pinto beans are the move here, no shame, I do it every time. If you're trying to stretch your grocery budget though, dried beans soaked and cooked from scratch is genuinely the most cost effective route.
Strong Brewed Coffee
Okay before you side eye me just trust the process on this one. I use generous big scoop of a full-bodied medium roast in my French press for this but a strong Americano from an espresso maker works great too. I promise that it doesn't make the chili actually taste like coffee. It just adds this deep, rich, roasty robustness that makes the darn thing taste more legit.
If you wanna skip it completely no worries at all, just swap in extra vegetable stock and add 1 tablespoon of natural cocoa powder to get a similar sort of depth.
Vegetable Stock
Storebought works totally fine. But just know that finding completely unsalted stock is trickier than it should be. So, if yours has sodium just go easy on the added salt in the chili and taste as you go.
Otherwise, homemade vegetable stock is made by simmering onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns together until lifeless, and then straining out and discarding the solids.
Optional: Vegan Sour Cream
My vegan sour cream recipe is fast, easy and is wonderful to jazz up your chili. If you are a lazy bum and you're grabbing something from the store, Tofutti, Kite Hill and Forager are my personal faves.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Seitan Chili (served in a gosh darned hat )
You think eating chili out of a bowl is acceptable? That's where you are wrong, as well as bad to the core. Somewhat like Osama Bin Laden, except about chili. Stop being a menace and just cook up a juicy ol' hat full of seitan chili, and reach the pinnacle of modern human culture.
Tofu Chili
This tofu chili uses a special technique to reach a super-beefy texture without any processed garbage in sight.
Taco Soup
What if you want something with a thinner constancy than chili, but still packed with fun goobers, toppings, and whatnot? Well, my goose, that's where this one-pot vegan taco soup shines.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
📖 How to make vegan pinto bean chili
Follow these step-by-step instructions and nail this chili on the very first try. Printable recipe card for this one-pot wonder is waiting at the bottom if you'd rather just get to the darn thing already.
Step One
A More Perfect Onion:
Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. After 90 seconds, when the oil is hot, add the onion, celery, and red bell pepper. Sauté for 5 to 6 minutes until softened and fragrant.
Step Two
Cumin to America:
Add the garlic, hatch chiles, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, and oregano directly to the pot. Stir constantly for 60 to 90 seconds until fragrant, taking care not to burn the garlic or spices.
Step Three
Coffee Break:
Add the remaining ingredients: pinto beans, coffee, vegetable stock, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, refried beans, and brown sugar. Stir everything together well, then bring the chili to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chili reaches your desired thickness.
Step Four
A Salt and Battery:
Season with salt to taste and stir in the cilantro.
Step Five
Cheddy Van Halen:
Ladle into bowls and top with vegan cheddar, sour cream, red onion, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro.
👉Top tips
- Mash Some of the Beans: Optionally, about halfway through the simmer, mash roughly ¼ of the beans against the side of the pot. It releases their natural starch into the broth and thickens the chili without adding a single extra ingredient.
- Your Coffee Has to Be Strong: Weak coffee disappears into the broth and basically just makes it waterier, which is the opposite of the point. Use a proper, stronger than usual cup of coffee to make this turn into robes magic, instead of weak hot sauce.
- Don't Salt Until the Very End: This is especially critical if you aren't using fully unsalted stock. The broth reduces and concentrates during the simmer, so you might not have a great idea of how salty it will be until the consistency you like has been met.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
You sure can. Dried beans need to be soaked overnight and cooked for 50-70 minutes (I recommend not to do it higher than on medium). Then drain them in a colander and rinse them well. Canned beans are called for here specifically because they make this a straightforward 30-minute recipe without the extra planning.
Hatch chiles are a specific variety grown in New Mexico with a smoky, mildly sweet flavor that's more nuanced than standard green chilies. If you can't find them, your chili can survive with them left out, but they do make this a couple levels more awesome if you can include 'em.
Absolutely! Add a diced jalapeño with the aromatics at the beginning, or stir in a small spoonful of chipotle in adobo sauce for extra smoky heat. You can also garnish bowls with a spoonful of salsa macha, or Chile de arbol salsa if you like.
Yes, sauté the aromatics and toast the spices on the stovetop first since the slow cooker won't develop those flavors on its own, then transfer everything to the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.
🧊 Refrigerating: Transfer cooled chili to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Trust me on this- It tastes even better on day 2 once the flavors have had time to settle.
❄️ Freezing: Pinto bean vegetarian chili freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Let it cool completely before transferring to freezer-safe containers, leaving a little room at the top since the chili expands as it freezes.
🌡️ Thawing: Move the container from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before you plan to eat it and let it thaw overnight. For a quicker thaw, place the sealed container in a bowl of cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes.
🔥 Stovetop Reheating: Pour the chili into a pot over medium-low heat and warm it gently, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of vegetable stock if it has thickened up too much in the fridge.
✌️You'll also love these vegan Tex Mex recipes
Pinto Bean Chili Recipe
Equipment
- Metal spoon
Ingredients
For the Chili:
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 ½ cups onion diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 cup red bell pepper diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 4 oz. canned fire-roasted hatch chiles
- 1 tablespoon Mexican chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 2 14 oz. cans pinto beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup strong brewed coffee
- 2 cups unsalted vegetable stock
- 28 oz. canned diced tomatoes (preferably fire roasted)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 ½ cups refried beans
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
Optional Garnishes:
- ½ cup vegan cheddar cheese shreds
- ⅓ cup vegan sour cream
- ¼ cup red onion minced
- 1 jalapeño sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. After 90 seconds when the oil is hot, add the onion, celery, and red bell pepper. Sauté for 5-6 minutes until softened and fragrant.
- Add the garlic, hatch chiles, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, and oregano directly to the pot. Stir constantly for 60-90 seconds, making sure not to burn the spices or garlic.
- Add the pinto beans, coffee, vegetable stock, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, refried beans, and brown sugar. Stir well to combine, then bring the chili to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chili reaches the desired thickness.
- Season with salt to taste and stir in the cilantro.
- Ladle into bowls and top with vegan cheddar, sour cream, red onion, jalapeño slices, and fresh cilantro leaves.
Notes
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Cathy says
Tastes like home.
Kathy says
This recipe came together with ease and is so good I just can’t get enough. This chili has just the right amount of spice and it’s full of flavor. The coffee adds depth, and no, it doesn’t make it taste like coffee. I will be making this over and over, and bringing it to all my pot luck events!
Dushenka says
I make this at least once a week for my son and his friends beg me for it even in the summer when it’s a million degrees outside and the last thing I want is something hot! I leave out the vegan sour cream, butter, and vegan cheese (both in the batter and the body) and swap the maple syrup for 1/4 c agave. My son actually likes a more liquid base with large chunky bits in a Dutch oven so that I spoon the batter over the chunky bits in the center and then the liquid bubbles up over the edges and forms a crispy layer. You might say “well that’s not even this recipe!” I say “it just goes to show how versatile this recipe is!”