“Chorizo” & Black Bean Vegetarian Chili
In all honesty, I’ve always been confused by meat substitutes. Veggie “bacon,” fake meat crumbles, etc. If you decide to adapt a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, why would you want to eat these things? While I’m not a vegetarian, I eat many meatless meals, filling my plate with filling yet substantial foods like lentils, whole grains and mushrooms.
However, I’m not one to completely dismiss a food until I’ve tried it. By happenstance, I came across this article that explains “hippie ingredients” like miso and nutritional yeast, as well as meat substitutes.
The author talks about tempeh (a meat substitute), claiming “$10 says you can use it interchangeably in [chili, lasagna or Sloppy Joe’s], and even the most astute meat-eater wouldn’t be able to tell if you spice it properly.” Challenge accepted.
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In the name of trying to fool my husband, I trekked to the “hippie” section of my grocery store. While I didn’t find tempeh, I did spot a chorizo-flavored seitan (a high-protein meat substitute made from wheat gluten) with a cute hipster guy on the package, and knew I could turn it into a spicy chili.
With a big pot of chili and a very hungry and unsuspecting husband (I simply told him it was “chorizo chili”), dinner was served.
Now, Jeff is a meat lover. He craves steak, owns his own smoker, and smokes at least 5 pounds of meat many weekends. His review of this chili: “That is an outstanding chili. You should be very proud of that.” I actually still haven’t told him the truth until now. Hi honey – I fed you fake meat. And you had no idea.
I think this vegetarian chili would be perfect to serve a mixed crowd of vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike for game day! The vegetarians will enjoy the spicy flavor and textures, and the non-vegetarians won’t be able to tell the difference! Enjoy the game!
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"Chorizo" & Black Bean Vegetarian Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ small white onion chopped
- 1 package chorizo-flavored seitan 8 ounces
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained 15 ounces
- 1 can crushed tomatoes 14.5 ounces
- 1 can diced green chiles, drained 4 ounces
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoons dried oregano
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt, cilantro, Cheddar cheese and/or tortilla chips, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oil in medium saucepot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion; cook 4 to 6 minutes or until softened, stirring frequently.
- Add seitan; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned, breaking up seitan with side of spoon and stirring frequently.
- Add beans, tomatoes, chiles, stock, chili powder and oregano. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve with desired garnishes.
Notes
- Use any type of meat substitute. There are some great "crumbles" out there!
Haha I love that you faked him out! My man is a die hard meat lover too and if there isn’t meat in a dish he whines and complains. I need to see if I can find this and fake him out too!!
Haha, two thumbs up for tricking our men!
It is so nice to have warm food for such a cold day!
Thanks Kira!
Good to know some ‘fake meat’ does what it claims. I’m always skeptical, but it would be interesting to try. I shouldn’t turn down something without trying it! This looks fantastic!
Haha I hear ya, Sarah. I was sooo skeptical, but it turned out way better than I could have imagined!
Your photo is so stunning I want to dive into that bowl!
Awww, thanks so much Dorothy. I did like how these photos turned out.
Yum! Wish we could get decent veg chorizo here… need to make my own!
Mmmm…good luck, Sarah!
Ah I don’t know if I’d be brave enough to try this seiten, but it sounds really interesting! I am really loving all your great vegetarian recipes 🙂
Haha yeah, I was pretty scared of it too, Shaina 🙂
oh my gawd! I LOVE this! I’ve got to find some seitan!! love that you hubby didn’t even realize he wasn’t eating meat! love!!
Thanks Alice! I made it up to him by making those steak sliders of yours. Nice and MEATY!
I absolutely LOVE the back story on this!! I’m a mostly vegetarian and call my husband Carnivorous Maximus. I made a casserole recently that had tofu in it and he STILL doesn’t know it. He thought it was so good. I’ve been reluctant to try seitan, even though people swear it’s good. I’m so glad you posted this. I’m going to try it and look for the Upton’s chorizo seitan. And I’m going to do the exact same thing with my husband. The only difference is that I’m not sure I’ll tell him the truth LOL. You rock it, girl !!
Good luck, Susan. I think if your husband likes/doesn’t realize he’s eating tofu, seitan might work out even better!
We love vegetarian chili and this looks awesome! Great flavors.
Thanks Heather!
Wow…that is impressive. I’m always nervous to try fake meat on the hubby. He seems to have a finely tuned sensor for the stuff. But maybe this chorizo would fool him. Either way, I know I would love it!
Hehehe, gotta love the meat/fake meat sensor 🙂
I made this. Absolutely delicious. My husband and 22 year old son are meat eaters but would easily be fooled by this. I will tell them and I know they would try it and love it. They won’t convert but won’t stay out of my vegetarian recipes! My daughter and I became vegetarians because of the animal cruelty not because we didn’t like the taste of meat.
I am so glad you liked this, Michele!
Haha, I love the trickery. How soon until he finds out?
I think some people are vegetarians for reasons that have nothing to do with not liking the taste of meat…environment, cruelty to animals, etc. So, that might explain all of the ‘meaty’ substitutes and such…It’s always fun to experiment with different ingredients though…Was tempeh cheaper than meat? Just curious.
Oh, he just found out when I posted this post. I told him “you should read my blog post today…I think you’ll find it interesting.”
I believe the seitan was somewhere in the $3 – $4 dollar range for 8 ounces. So, maybe a little more expensive than beef, but not too bad.