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Vegan White Chickpea Chili

Name: Vegan White Chickpea Chili
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 yellow onion, diced; 1 red pepper, diced; 1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, petite diced; 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced; 1.5 tablespoons ground cumin; 1 teaspoon chili powder; 1 teaspoon coriander; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; 2 (15 oz.) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed; 1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed; 16 oz. salsa verde (green salsa); 1 (13.5 oz.) full fat coconut milk; 2 cups vegetable broth; juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons); Kosher salt; fresh cracked pepper; tortilla strips; sour cream; crumbled cotija cheese; fresh chopped cilantro; sliced jalapeno; lime wedges

Published: Jul 22, 2020 » Modified: Mar 22, 2021 » By: Kylie » 122 Comments

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This White Chickpea Chili is a vegan twist on the ever popular white chicken chili. It's loaded with veggies, beans and plenty of spice in a broth of coconut milk, vegetable broth, and salsa verde. Make room in your monthly meal rotation for this 30 minute dinner!

Over head shot of a white bowl of chickpea chili garnished tortilla strips and cotija cheese

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You'll Love This

If you're a chili lover like me, it's fun to try something a little different than your traditional tomato-based chili recipe. Although I love classic red chilis, as evidenced by the wide variety of chilies on my site including Shredded Short Rib Chili, Slow Cooker Turkey Chili, Creamy Enchilada Chicken Chili, and Vegan Black Bean Chili, I love the unique flavors that this white chickpea chili has and it's fun to switch it up with some plant-based meals.
You won't even miss the chicken, I promise! This type of white chili is typically made with chicken breast, but in this recipe, I've replaced the chicken with chickpeas, and I'm telling you - it's AMAZING. Chickpeas can literally replace any meat in any of your favorite dishes and they really shine in this chili. A few of my other favorites that showcase chickpeas instead of meat include my BBQ Chickpea Sandwich, Creamy Chickpea Noodle Soup, Greek Chickpea Gyros, Sheet Pan Chickpea Fajitas, and BBQ Chickpea Pizza. If you're looking to add more vegan meals to your family dinner rotation - try switching out the meat in the dish for chickpeas!
It's perfect for meal prep and it just gets better with time! If you're curious about meal prep, but it sounds daunting, start with soup! Soup is one of the easiest things to meal prep because you can make a big batch and eat it all week. This chickpea chili can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, and frozen for up to 2 months. If you do plan to enjoy this soup at a later date, just be sure that you season to taste with salt after reheating it!

Close up shot of a white bowl of chickpea chili garnished tortilla strips and cotija cheese

Instructions

Saute onion, red pepper, and jalapeno in oil along with a couple large pinches of salt and pepper for 5 minutes.

Large white pot with onion, red pepper and jalapeno in it

Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, coriander, and oregano and cook, stirring frequently for another minute.

Large white pot with onion, red pepper, jalapeno, and spices in it

Add a splash of vegetable broth and deglaze the bottom of the pot, scraping all the yummy bits off the bottom.

Add garbanzo beans, pinto beans, salsa verde, coconut milk, and vegetable broth along with a couple pinches of salt and pepper.

Large pot with coconut milk, salsa, and beans in it for chili

Stir to combine, then bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in fresh lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Large white pot with homemade chickpea chili in it

Garnish with your favorite toppings - don't forget the homemade fried tortilla strips - and enjoy!

Over head shot of a white pot of chickpea chili garnished tortilla strips and cotija cheese

Tips

This chickpea chili has a bit of a kick to it! Our family enjoys the amount of spice, although for our daughter we added a scoop of sour cream and mixed it in just to mellow it out a bit. If you'd like a more mild chili, try using mild green salsa and omitting the chili powder.
If you like a thicker chili, try adding less vegetable broth. The coconut milk will make the chili super creamy and then the vegetable broth helps to thin that out a bit, but if you want a creamier chili, add less vegetable broth - you can always add more later!
Use whatever beans you'd like in this chickpea chili. I like the creaminess and flavor of pinto beans, but light or dark kidney beans or black beans would be delicious in this recipe as well! You could even just add an extra can of chickpeas in place of the pinto beans. Use up what you've got in your cupboard - the flavors are going to be pretty similar regardless of what kind of bean you use.
Be sure to moderately salt this chili! The ingredient list is simple, and while it does have a few spices in it, salt is going to go a long way in boosting the overall flavors of the dish. I recommend using Kosher salt to season as you have more control over how much you add. It's easy to get heavy handed with traditional table salt and add too much.

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