We love that this easy chipotle two bean chili gets an extra kick of heat from a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce! You can easily substitute with extra chili powder, smoked paprika, or cayenne if you don’t have chipotle peppers on hand BUT… they pack major flavour and are one of our pantry favourites! This chili is:
Spiced With Chipotle
Chunky with Kidney Beans and Chickpeas
Easily Adaptable With Whatever Is In Your Pantry
And Is A Thrifty Go-To With No Sacrifice In Flavour!
Recipe Cost For Chipotle Chili
It took me a little while to try an all bean and veggie chili so if you’re wondering how a chilli can be tasty without ground beef… I’ve been there too! But I found… the spices are the key! All that comforting chili flavour comes from the spice, the chunkiness, the tomato base… and this version has some extra fun added with the chipotle peppers!
And… knowing you can make a super tasty big batch of chili for less than $8 might give you a little push to give it a try!
- This easy chipotle chilli recipe costs us roughly: CAD $7.33 for 6 servings ($1.22/serving)!
*The extra thriftiness comes from cooking our beans from dried, which has become a surprisingly simple habit to adopt and ensures we always have frozen beans in our freezer to make stirring up a batch of chili even easier!
*And… you can use water to thin out the chili but we love using our Nearly Free Homemade Veggie Scrap Broth for way more flavour!
- If we make this recipe using canned beans and store-bought broth our cost rises by about $3.18 to: CAD $10.51.
- And… using 1 pound of ground beef would add between $4 -$6.
How To Make Chipotle Two Bean Chili
An extra bonus to this chipotle two bean chili recipe is – no more stress that your meat is cooked through!
I love that I can toss all the ingredients for this recipe in a big pot and know that everything will be safe to eat even if I don’t have the full amount of time to let it simmer! Allowing for that 25 minutes of simmering time will strengthen all the flavours and make sure your chili is extra tasty, but if you’re in a rush… could you simmer for less time? Probably!
- Cook some onion and garlic in your pot for 2 minutes or so.
- Add in canned or frozen corn, chili powder, and chopped chipotle pepper. Cook for another few minutes.
- Then go in the beans, canned tomatoes, and broth or water.
- Simmer for 25 minutes or so to combine all your flavours.
- And enjoy!
Chili is the perfect meal to adapt to your preference!
- If you like your chili thick, add in some tomato paste or stewed tomatoes near the end of the cooking time.
- Swap the bean varieties for your favourites.
- Add in your favourite veggies (celery, sweet potato, a leafy green).
- Add a grain (we love tossing in leftover quinoa).
- Flex your creative muscles!
Adding A Grain
If you decide to add an uncooked grain make sure to adjust for more liquid! The easiest way to add a grain and make sure it doesn’t soak up all the liquid of your chili is to add it once it’s cooked. We love using up leftover or frozen cooked quinoa to thicken our chili!
Adding a grain is a great way to get a bit more heft out of your chili while still being thrifty…
*Adding 1 ½ cups of cooked quinoa adds only CAD $0.43 to this easy chipotle chlli vs. $4-$6 for ground beef.
So grab a big pot and stir up our easy chipotle two bean chili! Have you seen our Kid Approved Cornbread? It’s our favourite side to bake up while our chili cooks! And if you like to top with sour cream, try out our Easy 4-Ingredient Homemade Version!
Let us know in the comments below if you give this easy chipotle chili recipe a try and if it packs all that comforting chili spice for you too!
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Chipotle Two Bean Chili – An Easy Cost Saver!
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This easy chipotle two bean chili recipe is packed with comforting flavour & just enough spice! Less than $8 CAD, this cost saver is a go-to!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tbsp oil (or water/broth)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp salt and pepper (or to taste)
- 1 cup corn kernels (canned, drained/or from frozen)
- 1 ½ tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (roughly 1 pepper with sauce!)
- 2 28oz cans diced tomatoes (with liquid)
- 2 cups red kidney beans (drained, rinsed)
- 2 cups chickpeas (drained, rinsed)
- 2 cups water or broth (homemade broth for extra savings!)
- optional: 2 tablespoon tomato paste (to thicken)
- optional: ¼ – ½ cup crushed tomatoes (to thicken)
- optional: ½ teaspoon cumin
*All the ingredients for this recipe are from our pantry and freezer tips!
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the oil (or water/broth) and add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes until the onion is soft and the garlic fragrant.
- Add the drained corn, chili powder, and chipotle pepper. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes.
- Then add in the tomatoes with their juices, the drained beans (alternatively you can use the liquid from the canned beans to thicken the chili and adjust the amount of water/broth needed), and the water or broth.
- Bring the chili to a boil (you can raise the heat and put the lid on to speed up the process, just watch the pot closely and stir occasionally). Then lower the heat to a simmer and cover with the lid.
- Simmer for 25 – 30 minutes to combine all the flavours. Stirring occasionally.
- Add the tomato paste and/or crushed tomatoes to thicken if desired.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired, chilli powder for extra heat or extra chopped chipotles!
- Serve with our tasty & thrifty cornbread and top with green onion, avocado, sour cream or however else you desire!
Notes
Cost Comparison: CAD $7.33 using beans cooked from scratch and our easy homemade veggie scrap broth vs. $10.51 using canned beans ($3.18 difference) and store-bought broth. Using 1 pound ground beef adds roughly $4-6 to the recipe cost (adding 1 ½ cups of cooked quinoa adds only $0.43).
If you don’t have chipotle peppers on hand feel free to substitute any other hot pepper for the heat, or try some ground smoked paprika or cayenne.
If adding a grain is desired, quinoa works well, it is best to add a cooked grain and adjust the water/broth as needed. If adding a dry grain watch closely as it will soak up lots of liquid.
Any beans will work well in this chili, we have used white kidney beans and black beans too!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove-top, One-Pot
- Cuisine: Mexican
Gabriel
This chilli is delicious! It was super easy to make and all of the ingredients were in my pantry. I added a few extra spices and veggies just for fun. This is definitely a great recipe to experiment with. Can’t wait to mix it up a bit the next time I make it.
Kathryn Alexandre
I’m so glad you made this recipe your own! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed it! Enjoy your future chilli experiments!
McKenna
This is such a tasty and easy recipe. I love that all of the ingredients are things I always have on hand. The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce really add to the flavor so I’d recommend not skipping them!
Kathryn Alexandre
I’m glad you love the chipotle peppers. They are not something I used to keep on hand so I wonder how accessible they are for others. I’m glad to know that these are staples for you and you love the kick from the pepper and adobo. I use them in my red lentil “ragu” as well so that might be another recipe you’d like! Thank you so much for the lovely star review. I really appreciate the time you took to comment!