Vegan Chilli Sin Carne Recipe

This vegan chilli sin carne recipe uses texturised soy protein as the meat replacement but you can absolutely make this using just beans. In fact all my life I’ve made chilli sin carne using just red beans and no form of meat substitute and it’s absolutely delicious. And easy to make.

And the protein and nutrient levels in this dish are right up there whether you make it with just beans or with some form of soy protein.

So whether you make it with or without soy, I’m sure you’re gonna love this chilli sin carne recipe. Just be sure to tweak it to your taste buds. More or less spice, more or less soy sauce, herbs, etc.

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

How to Make Vegan Chilli Sin Carne Using TVP

Lot’s of people love using TVP (textured vegetable protein) in the meal because it’s chewy and replaces the meat. But as I’ve never eaten meat, I don’t try to imitate meat meals with my vegan meals.

In fact I couldn’t copy the flavour even if I wanted to!

The other day, however, my daughter left to work abroad again and she brought me over some foodie bits and bobs from her kitchen, which she couldn’t fit in to her luggage. And there among the other things was a packet of textured soy protein or TVP as it’s known.

So guess what . . . yes, time to give it a go!

A new ingredient in the house is like a carrot to a rabbit . . . it beckons and calls out to me from within the cupboard.

So, I decided to make a chilli-sin-carne using the TVP and I was curious to see whether the results would be anything like the counterpart in the meat world of chilli con carne.

So I smilingly announced that we were having chilli con carne for lunch (of course nobody who knows me would ever believe that I was cooking meat, so it was only a joke) and I asked my guests to please report back on the findings of the ‘meat’ type ingredient.

Was this an authentic chilli con carne dish that a carnivore would gobble up without even realising it was vegan?

Before we go on, I have to warn you that the answer was a firm no, lol. This tastes 100% vegan!

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Apparently my TVP doesn’t taste anything like meat, so if you’re looking for a meaty taste, then this probably isn’t the best recipe to be following.

But if you’re looking for a bowl of vegan yumminess, to serve with rice, quinoa, as part of a buddha bowl, on the side of nachos or in a bunch of tacos, then this might well be the one for you.

As with all the recipe on this site, please adapt it to your ingredients and your taste buds. Play with the basic recipe and let it become your own. That’s the beauty of vegan cooking. You can just throw things in the pan and create delicious feasts.

Cooking the TVP for Vegan Chilli

Soak the texturised soy protein (TVP) in water for 20 minutes. I used celery water as I’d just cooked some celery, so I pinched the liquid for the TVP and to that I added some soy sauce. You could use plain water or you could make a vegetable stock for extra flavour.

Just put enough water or stock to cover the TVP and keep and eye on it, adding more liquid as the soy absorbs it, so that it’s always just covered in the juice.

How to Make Vegan Chilli Sin Carne Without TVP

Follow the same recipe below, as if it were with the TVP but double the quantity of beans in the dish and leave them to cook in the pan for double time before adding the tomato so the beans cook a while without the juice in the pan.

Think of cooking the beans for about 6-8 minutes in the olive oil.

Cooking Vegan Chilli Sin Carne

Finely chop 1 large onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 small chilli (or to taste), 1 pepper – traditionally it should be a red pepper but I used green as that’s what I had in the garden.

Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the fresh parsley (or coriander), garlic and chilli followed by the onion. Stir well and cook for 3 minutes while you chop up 1 courgette and the pepper.

Add 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp sweet paprika, 1/4 tsp chilli powder (depending on the chilli you already added), 1/4 tsp thyme and 1/4 tsp salt.

Next add the pepper and courgette to the pan and cook on a high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 2 large chopped mushrooms and cook for a further 3 minutes before you add 1 jar of red beans and a dash of Tamari soy sauce.

Let the beans cook for 3-4 minutes (or 6-8 if using double quantity of beans and no TVP), then add 4 large chopped tomatoes and cook on a high heat for 10 minutes.

Pour the TVP and its liquid into the pan, add 1 small tin of tomato purée and, optionally, add 1 small tin of chopped tomatoes. Stir and taste the sauce.

Next pour in 1 small cup of red or dry white wine, more herbs, chilli or soy sauce according to taste. Bring to a simmer then leave to cook on a low heat for 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and leave to cool. It will be tastier when you come to reheat it!

P.S. When you reheat it, if you like it a bit creamy, add a dash of plant milk to it.

Serve with wraps, burritos, rice, buddha bowl or mashed potato.

I hope you like this vegan chilli sin carne recipe! If you’re looking for some more mediterranean flavours, check out this grilled summer vegetable salad or this Spanish pisto recipe.