vegetarian chili mac

Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili Mac is the perfect recipe when you need dinner in a hurry. Healthy and full of flavor, this hearty meal can easily be made vegan or gluten-free! Recipe also includes stove top instructions.

Healthy Vegetarian Chili Mac (Instant Pot Friendly!)

tbsp extra virgin olive oil

onion

yellow bell peppers (diced)

baby spinach (approx. 6 ounces, shredded)

corn

chili powder

tsp cumin

tsp ancho chili powder

salt (more

garlic (minced)

tomatoes tomatoes

15 tomato sauce

15 oz can black beans

kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

whole-wheat elbow pasta (or lentil / chickpea pasta)

vegetable broth

Mexican shredded cheese blend

Set Instant Pot to saute function (normal level) and add olive oil through garlic above. Saute for 5 minutes.

Add diced tomatoes through vegetable broth and stir to combine.

Secure lid onto Instant Pot and set to pressure cook/manual on high for 5 minutes.

Use the quick release valve to release steam.

Once pressure is released, open lid and stir in cheeses until melted and combined. Serve warm.

Cook pasta according to the package directions and set aside.

In a large pot, add olive oil, onions, garlic and all spices, and saute until the onions have caramelized a bit (about 5-10 min on medium heat). Then add the peppers, spinach, corn, salt, diced tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans and saute another 5-10 min on medium heat.

Add half of the can of tomato sauce and stir to combine. Add the pasta into the pot and the cheese and stir to combine.

Depending on how &quot;saucy&quot; the mixture looks, add in the rest of the tomato sauce. If you need it to be even more &quot;saucy&quot; add 1/2 cup vegetable broth at a time until the consistency is what you desire. Serve and enjoy!

To Make This Without An Instant Pot

This Vegetarian Chili Mac is a delicious mash up of two favorite meals: hearty vegetarian chili and gooey mac and cheese. This chili mac recipe is a quick and easy one pot dinner, perfect for busy days!

Vegetarian Chili Mac

olive oil

bell pepper (chopped small, any color)

carrots

cumin

salt

can diced tomatoes

elbow macaroni pasta (whole wheat

can black beans

red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)

water

shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey jack, mozzarella,

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet* or pot over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes.

Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and salt to the pan with the vegetables and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

Stir in the diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chilies, pasta, black beans, kidney beans and water. Stir.

Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover, and cook, stirring every few minutes, until pasta is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 12-15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in most of the cheese, reserving a little for sprinkling on top. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese. Serve.

This is delicious! Even my hubby (who isn’t vegetarian) loved this dish. Besides preparing the veggies, this dish is fast and easy to make. I highly recommend. 

With this easy and delicious recipe I was able to feed seven people at my party! It was delicious and everybody loved it and I still had a bunch of extras!

Awesome!!
I doubled the cheese for my family. I accidentally just got one diced tomatoes and just got diced green chilis by themselves and it worked great. I like to also double the spices, except the salt.
Great recipe!!

This was easy and super delicious. Definitely adding this to our family’s meatless Monday rotation!

Insanely good! I Ended up not having enough cheese but had a box of mac and cheese. Prepared the whole thing like you posted except I use the cheese sauce and about half the cheese with a tablespoon of butter. Oh my, very savory. I also added green chiles since i didnt have the tomato chucks with it, but along side the fireroasted can of tomatoes very yummy. Thank you very much for this recipe.

I am trying to eat less meat and it's sometimes difficult when you're married to a die hard "meat and potatoes" man.  We both LOVED this recipe. I did spice it up a bit by adding 1 whole jalapeno. I also used brown rice and quinoa pasta. This will be a favorite.

Thank you for this. I’ve been burnt out from the same meals over and over and was really frustrated. I needed this in my life! 

I made this last night. It was really easy and really good! I used whole what penne and it worked out fine. Even my super picky husband liked it! Will definitely add to the rotation

I made this tonight ❤️It’s absolutely delicious.
Perfect for the freezing cold weather we having in Wales at the moment.
Thank you so much for this recipe it definitely will be a keeper in my home.

I make this all the time exactly as written. It’s great; quick and tasty! 

Super meaty and flavorful vegan chili mac is easy to prepare and so versatile! Try it with tofu for a whole-food version or with store-bought vegan &quot;beef&quot; for an ultimate, beefy chili mac that will please even hardcore meat eaters. Vegan with gluten-free and oil-free options.

Vegan Chili Mac (Instant Pot Option)

onion,

jalapenos (remove seeds

mushrooms,

garlic,

super firm tofu (oil-free

chili powder (the spice blend, not pure chile pepper)

paprika

oregano

tamari or soy sauce

black pepper

(28 oz.) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

vegetable broth broth

liquid smoke, optional

walnuts

rice vinegar

white vinegar

nutritional yeast

Using a 6 quart or larger Instant Pot, add everything EXCEPT the beans and cheese/cheese sauce to the Instant Pot. Stir very well. 

Lock on the lid and set to sealing (if applicable for your IP model). Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. It will take about 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure because of the large volume of food.

If making the cheesy sauce, combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth.

After the 4 minutes of high pressure cooking are done, carefully quick release the pressure. Remove the lid, stir in the cheesy sauce (or shredded cheese) and the beans. Let stand for a few minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired.

Instant Pot instructions:

Preheat a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the jalapeño and mushrooms and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.

Crumble the tofu or vegan beef into the pot (beef chunks can be about the size of a nickel or quarter; tofu should be slightly smaller; see photo in post for reference). Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the spices and seasonings - chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, tamari, salt (1 tsp for tofu, about 1/2 tsp for pre-seasoned vegan beef), and black pepper. Stir well, then add tomatoes, broth, liquid smoke, if using, and beans. Bring to a boil. Add the pasta and stir. Return to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the pasta is al dente, about 15 minutes.

If making the cheese sauce, combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. When the chili mac is done, stir in the cheesy sauce or shredded vegan cheese. Remove pot from heat, let stand 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stovetop instructions:

This is delicious! I already made it once and now am going to make it again. Would it also work in a slow cooker?

I make this almost every week. It’s soooo gooood! Such a great and EASY staple for my meal prepping, being a busy college student and waitress. Love it

Delicious- another wonderful dinner from your quiet kitchen. Thank you!

This recipe is fantastic. We loved it and will have it again soon. I didn't change anything. I used GF cassava elbows and I made it in the IP.  So good.  :)

Oh this is so, so good! Back in my veggie (and too lazy to cook) days, I used to love Amy’s Kitchen Chili Mac. This is even better, with the added bonus of knowing exactly what’s gone into it. 
I followed the recipe exactly and there’s nothing I would change. This one is going into regular rotation.

I made this recipe yesterday although I was out of mushrooms &amp; jalapeno and only had a small amount of (frozen) onions.  But I'm determined to find one pot, insanely easy recipes like this because....well, because I like easy!  Thank you Lori for providing this recipe which I will definitely revisit and experiment with!  Also, I made the cheesy sauce with walnuts instead of cashews and was surprised how good it was.  Delicious in fact!

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Top 3 vegetarian chili mac recipes from across the web

The most viewed vegetarian chili mac recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

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The most viewed vegetarian chili mac recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine