Bright and cozy vegetarian chili recipe! You will love the unexpected flavor of this hearty bean chili with orange and cinnamon.
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Hello, Rhubarbarians! This vegetarian chili with orange is soooo cozy and the perfect winter comfort food.
This time of year I start to crave fresh and bright food. This chili is amazing because it's hearty and filling, but brightened up with orange zest and orange juice.
Check out this list of the ten best vegetarian chili recipes!
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Why you'll love this
This pot of chili is full of unexpected flavors of orange and cinnamon, but still comfort food like you want from chili. It's easy to prepare, vegan, and is great for freezing for easy meals later on.
You can top it with any of your favorite chili toppings so it's a great option for family friendly meals as well.
Have you tried this cranberry chili with cinnamon and cocoa recipe yet?
Ingredients and equipment
Gather up your ingredients and equipment and let's make a pot of chili! Full ingredients are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.
Ingredients:
- Orange. Go for a medium sized, heavy navel orange.
- Oil. Olive oil or avocado oil.
- Onion and garlic.
- Peppers. You'll need poblano, serrano, and red bell pepper.
- Spices. You'll need chile powder, cinnamon, cumin, and dried oregano.
- Tomatoes. You'll need tomato paste and crushed tomatoes.
- Beans. Black beans and kidney beans.
- Water.
- Toppings. Pick your favorites, but I like fresh cilantro, radish slices, and orange slices for this chili.
Equipment:
- Two small bowls. For the orange zest and the orange juice.
- Zester, grater, or micro planer. For zesting the orange. I love our OXO zester and grater!
- Citrus juicer. For juicing the orange. Or you can just squeeze with your hands.
- Stove top or cook top.
- Dutch oven or soup pot. I love our Lodge dutch oven so much!
- Measuring spoons.
- Chef's knife.
- Cutting board. For chopping the vegetables.
- Stirring utensil. Like a wooden spoon or spoonula. I use our spoonula all the time!
- Measuring cups.
- Can opener. For opening the cans of beans and tomatoes.
- Bowls and spoons. For serving.
Pro tip: if you want to cook your own dry beans for this chili, you'll need 3 cups of cooked black beans and 1 ½ cups of cooked kidney beans.
Step by step instructions
Here's how to make vegetarian orange chili with step by step photos! Full instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.
- Start by zesting and juicing an orange. You'll want to keep the zest and juice separate. Set aside.
- Saute the onion in the oil in a large pot.
- When the onions start to brown, add the garlic.
- Add all the peppers and saute those.
- Add all of the spices and heat them in the pot.
- Stir in the tomato paste.
- Add all of the beans and one teaspoon of orange zest.
- Add all of the liquid to the pot.
- Simmer the pot for about 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let the chili thicken slightly.
- Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more orange zest if desired.
- Top with your favorite chili toppings and enjoy!
Serving suggestions
I like to make a big pot of this chili for dinner and let everyone at the table choose the toppings for their bowls.
I consider a bowl of chili a full meal, but other than filling the bowl with toppings, it's always fun to have side dishes!
Side dishes to serve with orange chili:
- Cornbread
- Corn chips to scoop or tortilla chips
- Quesadilla or nachos
- Side salad (this Mexican inspired side salad would be delicious!)
The toppings
One of the best things about chili is all the toppings! The possibilities are endless. I love that you can customize your bowl to your liking so that everyone at the table is happy.
Here are some of our favorite toppings for chili with orange:
- Cilantro
- Radish
- Orange slices or orange zest (or both)
- Avocado slices
- Chopped cabbage
- Tortilla strips or corn chips (Midwest Foodie can teach you how to make homemade tortilla strips!)
- Minced onion
- Fresh tomato slices
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
Recipe tips and substitutions
- The black beans and kidney beans can be swapped for almost any type of bean. Try pinto beans, white beans, or even chickpeas if that's what you have.
- If you want to cook dry beans, you'll need 1 ½ cups for each can. So for this recipe, swap the two cans of black beans for 3 cups of cooked beans. Swap the can of kidney beans for 1 ½ cups of cooked beans.
- You should yield about ⅓ cup of orange juice from one navel orange. You can use unsweetened bottled orange juice if needed but a lot of the flavor comes from the orange zest.
- Omit the serrano for a less spicy chili. Or swap the serrano for a jalapeno for a slightly less spicy chili.
- I use mild chile powder in this recipe, but feel to free to use whatever chile powder you like. Ancho chile powder would be amazing!
- If you can't find poblano peppers, swap those out for anaheim peppers (hatch chiles) or green peppers.
Have you tried this easy meatless quinoa chili recipe yet?
Storing and freezing
Storing:
Store any leftover chili in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 5 days. It's best to store the leftovers without any toppings added.
Heat the leftovers in the microwave or the stove top. Once you have reheated the chili, don't restore it in the refrigerator.
Freezing:
Freeze the chili without any of the toppings added. Place it in a sealed, air tight freezer safe container and freeze for up to 6 months.
Thaw the chili in the refrigerator before reheating or reheat the whole batch on the stove top from frozen. Don't restore heated chili in the refrigerator.
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FAQs
Yep! You'll want to use 3 cups of cooked black beans and 1 ½ cups of cooked kidney beans for this recipe.
You can use unsweetened bottled orange juice. But a lot of the flavor comes from the orange zest. I recommend using fresh! Add ⅓ cup of orange juice if using bottled.
Omit the serrano pepper or swap the serrano pepper for a jalapeno pepper.
Yep! Ancho chile powder would be a delicious swap for chile powder.
This chili is vegan.
Looking for more recipes like this one? Here are all of our vegetarian soup, stew, and chili recipes!
Did you make this recipe? Leave us a review and star rating in the comments below! We read every single review and appreciate your feedback.
Recipe
Vegetarian chili with orange and cinnamon
Ingredients
- 1 large navel orange
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 5 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 medium poblano peppers, diced
- 1 medium serrano pepper, minced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 4 teaspoons chile powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups water
- For serving: fresh cilantro, orange slices or additional orange zest, sliced radish
Instructions
- Zest and juice the entire orange, keeping the zest and juice separate. You should have about ⅓ cup of orange juice. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a medium sized dutch oven or soup pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add all the peppers and saute until fragrant, about another minute. Add the next 4 spices, through oregano and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the tomato paste until combined. Add the crushed tomatoes, all the beans, the water, one teaspoon of the orange zest, and all of the orange juice. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. The chili will thicken a bit as it cools. Taste and season to your liking with salt and pepper. Add more orange zest if desired.
- Serve with fresh cilantro, sliced radish, the remaining orange zest and/or orange slices. (optional)
Notes
- The black beans and kidney beans can be swapped for almost any type of bean. Try pinto beans, white beans, or even chickpeas if that's what you have.
- If you want to cook dry beans, you'll need 1 ½ cups for each can. So for this recipe, swap the two cans of black beans for 3 cups of cooked beans. Swap the can of kidney beans for 1 ½ cups of cooked beans.
- You should yield about ⅓ cup of orange juice from one navel orange. You can use unsweetened bottled orange juice if needed but a lot of the flavor comes from the orange zest.
- Omit the serrano for a less spicy chili. Or swap the serrano for a jalapeno for a slightly less spicy chili.
- I use mild chile powder in this recipe, but feel to free to use whatever chile powder you like. Ancho chile powder would be amazing!
- If you can't find poblano peppers, swap those out for anaheim peppers (hatch chiles) or green peppers.
Nutrition
If you make this recipe, please let us know on social media or in the comments below! Leave a star rating in your comment or tag us on Instagram with #Rhubarbarians
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Alison
Yes! I did try it. My slowcooker cooks really fast so it only took about 4 hours. It was really yummy although I would add more orange zest next time. One thing I did change was the liquid. I used one cup of water and one cup of freshly squeezed orange juice from the zested oranges.
Patricia Bozeman
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Alison
Oh my goodness! I didn't read that right LOL. You're right there are cranberries in the second recipe I didn't realize there was two recipes at first
Alison
Still having a problem finding the actual recipe for orange chili
Patricia Bozeman
OK, this is SO WEIRD! The cranberry chili recipe is up on this page for some reason. AAARGH. OK let me do some fixing and I'll let you know when it's up.
Patricia Bozeman
Should be fixed now. Thanks for bringing that to my attention!
Alison LeCompte
Thank You!!!! ??? I literally cant wait to make this!
Alison LeCompte
Sorry to bother again.... just wanted to know if you think this can be made in the slowcooker?
Patricia Bozeman
I don't see why not! If you try it out, let me know how it goes!
Alison
Can the cranberries be subbed for something else? A vegetable maybe?
Patricia Bozeman
Hmmm... there aren't any cranberries in this recipe. I have a cranberry chili recipe on the blog though, so if you are talking about that one I would just choose a different one. Just search chili under the recipes section or click here https://www.rhubarbarians.com/?s=chili
Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen
What a fun mix of flavors - I wouldn't even miss the meat in this vegan dish!
Patricia Bozeman
Thank you! 🙂