Veggie Loaded Beef Chili
This Veggie Loaded Beef Chili is a winter necessity! It's chunky, flavorful, and takes less than an hour to make in the pressure cooker! Beans are usually the main ingredient in chili recipes, but this chili is FILLED with vegetables. (11 cups in the whole recipe!) And best of all?? It's SO easy to prepare! Instead of chopping all the vegetables by hand, I used my food processor to pulse all of the vegetables into small chunks. This adds a nice texture to the chili, and cuts down on prep time.
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Ground Beef
- 2 28 ounce Cans of Whole Peeled Tomatoes, Pureed You can also use diced tomatoes if you want it to be chunkier.
- 1 15 Ounce Can of Black Beans, drained and rinsed You can add an additional can if you want more! You can also swap the black beans for red kidney beans, pinto beans, or white beans.
Vegetables
- 3 Cups Sweet Potato, Peeled & Chopped 3 cups is about 3 medium sized sweet potato.
- 2 Cups Carrots, Rinsed & Chopped 2 cups is about 3-4 small/medium carrots.
- 3 Cups Red Peppers, Rinsed & Chopped I like to use a mix of red, green, and orange! 3 cups is usually about 3 medium sized peppers.
- 2 Cups Celery, Rinsed & Chopped 2 cups is usually about 3-4 stalks. You can use the whole stalk, just chop off the brown part at the end.
- 1 Sweet Onion, Peeled & Diced
Seasoning & Spices
- 4-6 Cloves of garlic, Peeled & Minced If you don't have fresh garlic you can use ½-1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
- 2 + ½ Teaspoons Chili Powder
- 1 + ½ Teaspoons Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin
- ½ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Instructions
Preparing the vegetables:
- Start by preparing all of your vegetables. For this recipe I pulsed all of my vegetables (one at a time) in the food processor to eliminate extra time chopping them. It also adds a nice chunky texture to your chili! Make sure you roughly chop your vegetables before adding them into the food processor so they chop more evenly.
- Take your roughly chopped and peeled sweet potato and place it in the food processor. Press the pulse button on and off until it turns into small chunks/shreds. Repeat with carrots, peppers, and celery. Once they're prepared, add them to a large bowl and set them aside for later.
- Next take your peeled garlic cloves, and peeled onion chopped into fourths, and add them to your food processor. Pulse until it becomes small chunks. Remove, and add to a separate small bowl.
Preparing the meat:
- Turn your pressure cooker to the saute setting and turn it on high. Let it warm up for a couple minutes, and then add your ground beef, and onion/garlic mixture. Break up the meat and let it cook until it's 80% done. Once it looks about 80% done, turn off the heat.
Putting it all together:
- Next stir in your two cans of pureed tomatoes, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, and salt.
- Then pour in your bowl of pulsed vegetables, and black beans. Give it a good stir, and place the cover on top. Make sure it's set to lock/seal!
Pressure cooking:
- Set your pressure cooker to high for 30 minutes.
- Once it's done, release the pressure and remove the cover. Stir the chili a few times and let it sit for a couple minutes before you serve. ENJOY!
Notes
Tips for beef chili
- Make sure before adding any beans to your chili that you rinse and drain them thoroughly! If you dump them straight in from the can it will add too much liquid.
- What's great about chili is that you can play around with the spices! The measurements that I used create a medium spice! If you're sensitive to spice you can always use a little less cayenne pepper and chili powder. If you enjoy a little more spice, feel free to add ¼ teaspoon more of each!
- It's important to cook the onions, garlic, and beef a the bottom of the pot before you add the rest of the ingredients. This brings out the flavor and allows you time to break up the beef into bite size chunks! To avoid it burning at the bottom of the pot, you must thoroughly stir the soup before pressure cooking or else the meat and onions can stick to the bottom and burn.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you make this Beef Chili Vegan?
Yes! If you’re subbing meat for beans I would suggest using four 15 oz. cans! It tastes best if you use a variety of different kinds! Black Beans, Pinto Beans, Red Kidney Beans, and White Beans are great options.
How do I make this recipe Paleo & Whole30 friendly?
Just skip the beans! I only use one 15 ounce can for this recipe, so you can easily skip the beans, and I bet no one will notice! (;
Can I make this Beef Chili on the stovetop?
I have not tested it on the stovetop, but it would definitely work! Follow the original directions for the meat and onions. (Cook at the bottom of the pan.) Then stir in broth, spices, and then vegetables/beans. I would bring the chili to a boil, and then turn it on low. Let it simmer for about an hour!
Can I make this Beef Chili in the slow cooker?
Yes, I would suggest 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low. Make sure to cook the meat and onions in a pan before adding it to the crockpot. The meat does not need to be 100% cooked through, but as long as the onions soften up and the meat is broken up, you’ll be good to go!
I don't have black beans, what else can I use?
You can use any beans that you want for this recipe! Personally if I add beans it’s usually black beans, but you could also use white beans, pinto beans, or red kidney beans. It’s also delicious if you do a combination of two different kinds of beans!
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 340kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 23gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 77mgSodium: 597mgPotassium: 860mgFiber: 5gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 14522IUVitamin C: 78mgCalcium: 72mgIron: 3mg
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