Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Easy and Cheap 7 Can Vegetarian Chili Soup

This extremely quick, simple, and cheap recipe for chili soup is what we crave on cold rainy nights.  It's inexpensive and goes a long way.  It's based on the Pioneer Woman's meat-based recipe, but I've tweaked it with my own flair as a vegetarian dish and I've added a few extras.  You could definitely adapt this to be vegan if you wanted, I think.  But my version does have some dairy in it.

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 can white (northern or navy) beans
1 can red kidney beans (light or dark red)
1 can vegetarian chili
1 can Rotel tomatoes, original flavor
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
8 ounces Velveeta (or substitute), divided into several small chunks
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 TBL olive oil or butter to saute

Steps:
1. Over medium heat in a large pot, saute the chopped onion in some oil and cook thoroughly or carmelize as golden as you prefer.
2. Add the chopped garlic.
3. Add the contents of all the cans.  DO NOT DRAIN THE CANS.  Just add every bit of what's in each can.  The liquid in the cans becomes part of your soup.  Every drop is used in this recipe and nothing is wasted.
4. Let it all get hot and start to bubble a little.  Then, add the Velveeta and stir until it's all melted together.
5. Serve when it turns into a beautiful orange soup.  You can top with a little sour cream and chopped green onions if you're feeling festive.

That's it! So easy.  So quick. So tasty.

You could leave out the Velveeta if you wanted to avoid dairy and it would still be tasty.
You could also add a can of green chiles, or use Fiesta style corn for variety.  The beans could also be changed for some other canned beans, if desired. Like navy, for instance.
I also sometimes add a chopped up veggie burger, to make it more "meaty" and chili-like.

See photos below!




The basic recipe ingredients


Saute onions until caramelized


Add garlic and start adding in the cans' contents.  Don't drain the cans. Use every drop.


Veggie chili


Black beans


Northern beans


Light red kidney beans


Sweet golden corn

Chopped up grilled Boca "turk'y" burger from yesterday


Throw in the Velveeta (this was the generic store version, "Nice N' Cheesy")


A few minutes later, it becomes a beautiful, zippy, orange-colored chili soup that will thaw the coldest of hearts on a rainy night.