Vegetarian Chili Mac & Cheese
By: Sammi Haber Brondo | NYC Dietitian
Friends, meet your new favorite winter comfort food. I present to you: Vegetarian Chili Mac & Cheese. It’s hearty, it’s nourishing and it’s comforting - everything you could possibly want in a winter meal.
I’m always looking for creative ways to eat veggies during the winter. I love a good cooked, warm meal when it’s cold out, but sometimes just need something a liiiitle more creative than your standard oven-roasted veg.
I love chili. The fun thing about it is that literally anything goes. Want to throw in some extra veggies? Do it. Add a few types of beans? Go for it. Chili is pretty hard to mess up.
So, I started thinking about how I could elevate even a simple chili, and it came to me: combine it with mac & cheese. Let me tell you why this meal is so ideal:
It has 5 (!) different veggies in it: onion, carrots, bell peppers, black beans and crushed tomatoes.
It’s jam packed with protein and fiber from the veggies, beans and chickpea pasta. Protein and fiber are key in any meal to make it both filling and satisfying.
It couldn’t be easier to make. You literally just throw everything in a pot. Like a standard chili, this meal is pretty hard to mess up.
It works really well for leftovers. The recipe makes about 6 servings, so if you have some leftover, put it in airtight container in the fridge and it’ll keep for about 3-4 days. Just heat it up in the microwave!
If you like cheese, you will loooove the cheesiness of this. SO. GOOD.
Some notes:
This recipe uses onion, carrots and bell peppers, but so many other veggies would work. If you have them on hand or like them better, you can also try it with chopped celery or mushrooms.
I used black beans in this recipe, but again, any bean will work.
If you can’t find low sodium canned beans, simply rinse and drain the beans. Did you know that rinsing canned beans actually removes the sodium off of them? The more you know!
This recipe can easily be made vegan - simply don’t add the cheese. TBH, I’m not a huge cheese person (I know, I know) and feel like I might’ve liked this even better without it. Trying that next time!
If you don’t have or can’t find chickpea pasta, whole wheat will also work well. I love both pastas for the protein and fiber that they add. Whatever pasta you use, just make sure to cook it until it’s soft enough.
DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE? MENTION @VEGGIESANDCHOCOLATE OR TAG #VEGGIESANDCHOCOLATE I’D LOVE TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS!
Vegetarian Chili Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 3 bell peppers (I used red, orange and yellow), chopped
- 1 15.5 oz. can black beans
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 lb chickpea or whole wheat elbow pasta
- Optional: 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft.
- Add carrots and bell peppers and cook for another 5 minutes, until soft.
- Rinse and drain black beans. Add to pot and stir to combine.
- Add in vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Add in elbow pasta and turn heat up to medium high. Cook until pasta is soft, about 9-10 minutes.
- Optional: turn heat down to low and add in cheese. Mix until cheese has melted.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
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NYC dietitian: Sammi Haber Brondo | Veggies and Chocolate