Serves 6 to 8
Photo from Jugalbandi.
A hearty, luscious and flavorful chili, brimming with the goodness of tempeh and rounded out with the greatness of beer. I like to serve it with a mound of guacamole and thick slices of cornbread. Some finely chopped red onions sprinkled over the top wouldn’t hurt either.
1 package (8 oz) tempeh, diced medium
1 large yellow onion, diced medium
1 green bell pepper, diced medium
1 large carrot, diced small
3 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon olive oil + 2 teaspoons
2 teaspoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Couple of generous dashes fresh black pepper
15 oz can pinto beans, drained
1 cup good dark beer (I use Negra Modelo)
15 oz can diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water or veg broth
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Handful fresh cilantro, chopped (about a cup, lightly packed)
In a large pot, cook onions, green bell pepper and carrots over med-high heat, until tender and a little brown (15-20 minutes) stirring occasionally.
At the same time, put tempeh in a large frying pan and fill with water until it is almost covered. Add 2 teaspoons soy sauce and let simmer over high heat for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed, stirring occasionally. When water is mostly absorbed, mash tempeh with a fork, so it’s crumbly but still chunky. Lower heat to medium and add 2 teaspoons olive oil , saute for 15 more minutes.
At this point, the twenty minutes for your veggies should be up. Add garlic and saute one minute, then add salt and spices (except cilantro, you add that last) and saute a minute more. Add beer and deglaze the pot. Cook for 2 minutes. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, beans and water. Your tempeh should be done cooking so add that as well. Lower heat to medium, stir it up and cover for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook 30 more minutes stirring occasionally. Add maple syrup, lemon juice and stir it up. Add cilantro. Serve!
I always have trouble with the tempeh in this recipe, the part after boiling, cooking for 15 minutes it sticks to the pan and gets mushy. What I love about this is there us plenty of time to whip up a corn bread while the chili cooks.
I always replace the tempeh with TVP in this recipe. 1 cup TVP + 1 cup boiling hot water, and a splash of soy sauce.
Yum. Notes for self: 2 normal size tins of tomato work well; great with aubergine, red capsicum and mushrooms thrown in (I pre-baked the aubergine for a while); better when I skipped the beer; black beans worked well.
This looks delicious! Would this work with gluten free beer do you think?
My go to recipe. Today I modified with a dried ancho poblano andmulato negro rehydrated and macerated in the vege broth. Also to ramp up depth from brown beer I added a tspn of molasses.
Amazing, perfect autumn dish. My preferred chili meat is TVP, so I used that instead of tempeh. I did not rehydrate it ahead of time, just added it at the same time as the tomatoes/broth/beans. I followed some other commenters’ suggestions of adding a little cocoa powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Went with Isa’s suggestion of diced red onions to garnish, which adds a perfect crunch. And also personally have been adding a handful of Daiya pepperjack shreds to each bowl before I reheat. Mmmm <3