Quick 3-Bean Chilli (with Vegan Option)

You know those days? The ones where it gets past 5 o’clock, and you sigh and pull your sleeves up and your hair back and think “right, what can I possibly make for dinner with what I’ve got in the 30 minute window I have left to me?” Yeah, those days.

This is the recipe for those days.

This is the recipe that uses simple ingredients that keep well in cupboards and freezers.The kind of things you can always keep on hand – just in case!

This is the recipe that gets everyone feeling full, and that provides a load of goodness in each bite. It is a balanced recipe, and a heck of a tasty one as well.

This is one of my go-to’s for those days.

I hope it will become one of yours, too.

I know chilli is supposed to be one of those things that simmers for hours on the stove and tastes wonderfully deep and smoky when it is served. It’s one of those recipes that is better made ahead, with freshly chopped veggies like peppers and onions. And we definitely have those when we’ve planned ahead and got out the slow cooker or stocked the freezer.

But sometimes, you just need something that can be made quickly. Preferably with minimal effort. And somehow still tastes wonderful, like it’s been cooked for hours and with great effort.

This is that recipe.

On top of which, you get 6 different kinds of vegetables packed into dinner! Not bad for a quick, cheap and easy meal!

And as for what to serve it with?

Simple: whatever you have. It is beautifully versatile, and will go just as perfectly with a jacket potato as with the half-used packet of quinoa or the leftover rice from last night’s dinner. Or, if even cooking pasta seems too strenuous tonight, just do what we often do: serve with sourdough bread and a green salad (I’m French. I serve just about everything with homemade bread and a green salad!). And tortilla crisps. And sour cream. Or tzatziki. Or guacamole. Seriously, it goes with anything!

And you know what else is amazing about this recipe? It’s largely just tipping things into a pan, so for those of you with older children who can use a frying pan, it’s a great one to teach them for when you want a night off from cooking and want your children to learn more about cooking healthy food at the same time!

Little hands can:

• help you tip things into the pan with supervision (older kids can do this themselves and stir everything over the heat under a watchful eye)
• chop coriander with scissors if they are good with scissors (or tear apart the leaves with their hands – you can go over it roughly with a knife after)
• get ingredients for you from cupboards or pass them to you from the counter as you cook (this helps them to recognise ingredients and familiarise themselves with them)
• serve up the extras: mash ripe avocado with a squeeze of lime to make an instant “guacamole”, spoon dips or sauces into bowls, pour crisps (chips) onto a serving bowl, tear up toasted pittas, etc.

Print

Quick 3-Bean Chilli

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

A yummy vegetable-packed chilli that can be ready in just half an hour but taste like you've been cooking it all day! Vegetarian/vegan option included.

Course: Dinner

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
• 300 g pork or beef mince (or 400g tin cooked green lentils added with the beans for vegetarian/vegan)
• 1 onion, finely chopped (a handful of frozen pre-chopped onion is fine)
• 1-2 carrots, diced into 2cm cubes (frozen pre-chopped is fine, but this takes seconds to do fresh if you have a food processor)
• 1 large sweet potato, diced into 2cm cubes (frozen pre-chopped is fine, but this takes seconds to do fresh if you have a food processor)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2-1 tsp mild chilli powder, adjust to taste depending on how spicy you like your chilli
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 400 g (14oz) tin chopped tomatoes
• 400 g tin kidney beans
• 400 g tin black beans
• 400 g tin cannellini beans
• large handful frozen sweetcorn, defrosted
• large handful frozen baby leaf spinach, defrosted
• 1/2 pack fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• sour cream, guacamole, and other toppings of choice
• cooked jacket potato, tortilla crisps, salad, crusty bread, quinoa, or whatever your chosen accompaniment!

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a pan over a low-medium heat and fry the mince for 2 mins to lightly brown, then add in the onion, carrots and sweet potato and cook for another 3 minutes.

2. Stir in the spices and tomato puree, then pour in the chopped tomatoes and 300ml water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until vegetables are softened.

3. Add in the beans and frozen veggies and simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through.

4. Serve hot with your choice of accompaniments.

5. Serve with your choice of condiments and grains, tortilla crisps, potatoes, bread, pasta, polenta, salad or whatever else you think might go well with it!

Need another healthy 30 minute dinner? Take a look at all of ours here.