Chili Vegetarian Version Smoked on the Grills

Here is our chili vegetarian version with lots of spice and smoke.

What we love about this veg version is that smoking the garlic, onions and peppers separately before you begin really brings the charcoal and smoke into the dish.

The vegetables char and melt forming the most flavourful base for this chili vegetarian dish. Chili is always tasty but having an extra smoke dimension lifts the taste to an entirely new level.

This will serve around 8-10 people, depending on appetites and side dishes.

Table of Contents 

Chili Vegetarian Version Step 1 – Smoke Your Vegetables in the BBQ Smoker

Chili Vegetarian Version Step 2 – Put Your Chili Ingredients in a Pot

Chili Vegetarian Version Step 3 – Smoke Your Vegetarian Chili

Chili Vegetarian Version Step 4 – Serve Your Vegetarian Smoked Chili With Rice

Ingredients For the Chili Vegetarian Version

2 Tins of Chickpeas

2 Tins of Red Kidney Beans 

4 Tins of Chopped Tomatoes

3 Tablespoonfuls of Tomato Puree

1/2 Head of Garlic

3 Bay Leaves

2 Medium Red Onions

2 Red Bell Peppers

2 Teaspoons of Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon of Good Quality Instant Coffee (or Espresso) Powder

1 Habanero or Chipotle Chili (or a milder red chili if you don’t like too much heat)

2 Teaspoons of Smoked Paprika

1 Teaspoon of Chili Powder

2 Squares of Dark Chocolate (Or a Little Honey)

1 Litre of Vegetable Stock

2 Teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper

2 Teaspoons of Fine Sea Salt

To Serve

Boiled Long Grain Rice

Chopped Cilantro/Coriander

Sour Cream or Natural Yoghurt

Slices of Lime 

Chili Vegetarian Version – Step 1 Smoke Your Vegetables

Get your smoker or barbecue up to temperature 110C or 225F. Place your onions, Red Bell Peppers, chili and half a head of garlic into your smoker, directly on the grills, and close the lid.

Leave for up to two hours, but for 1 hour at least until the vegetables become soft and gooey. The vegetables will char and melt in their skins, taking on that wonderful smoke flavour.

The garlic and onions should be so soft and smokey that they will be easily removed from their skins. The bell peppers and chili can be easily chopped and deseeded. 

Chili Vegetarian Version Step 2 – Put Chili Ingredients in a Pot

Remove your veg from the smoker and place in a heatproof good-sized pot that will fit in your smoker. Squeeze the garlic and onion into your pot – it should be a nice gooey texture, but if you need to chop it up with a knife then you can do so.

Add the rest of your ingredients to the pot.

Chili Vegetarian Version Step 3 – Smoke Your Chili

Place your pot into your smoker or barbecue (without a pot lid so the smoke gets in) and pull the lid of your smoker down.

Hickory wood is great for smoking chili giving it a robust smoked taste.

Keep an eye on your Chili and stir it every so often – it shouldn’t dry out but if it does add a little boiled water from your kettle.

Smoke your chili for about an hour.

Chili Vegetarian Version Step 4 – Serve Your Vegetarian Smoked Chili

Now you can serve your vegetarian chili with rice, lime wedges, and a dollop of natural yoghurt or sour cream.

You could also serve it with corn tortillas as burritos or tacos. Guacamole is optional too!

Chili Vegetarian version nailed! Well done.

If you enjoyed this article you could try our ‘BBQ Vegetables Recipes,’ article.

Or this ‘How to Make BBQ Sauce,’ article.

Another great article on Vegetarian Chili can be found here:

https://www.theendlessmeal.com/easy-vegetarian-chili-recipe/