Easy 25-Minute Vegan Chili (Cook-Off Winner!)

*This post was originally published on July 6, 2020, and updated on February 7, 2023.

Chili Cook-Off

Every year my parents host a lively 4th of July party. Growing up overseas, this was typically our one opportunity every year to get together with our family and friends in America. My mom, being the best party planner around, always plans a different theme in regard to the food that we serve at the party and works tirelessly to cook and create a magical experience for her guests. For our 20th annual 4th of July Party, however, my mom decided to switch it up a little, requiring the guests to participate in a little challenge…

A Chili Cook-Off. 

Wait, what? The guests actually have to do work and cook their own meals? I envision my mom smirking, cackling even (inside, of course), at her brilliant plan. After 20 years of cooking for a crowd, maybe she just wanted a small, but well-deserved break. 

Okay, enough about my mom and deserving a break and blah blah blah – what we’re all really wondering is how I, a vegetarian in a sea of carnivores, was going to defy the odds and win this competition. 

The answer can be summed up into four valuable life lessons:

Have a little faith in yourself. Just because you may be deemed “different” than others, doesn’t mean that your voice (or recipe, in this case) isn’t worthy of being at the table.

Stick to your values. Don’t change your values just to fit in (or to try to win a chili cook-off).

Don’t take yourself too seriously. My relaxed attitude may have led to my victory.

Simple is best. There’s no need to show off or be elaborate. Just keep things simple. 

If that was too deep for you, then just make my chili and you’ll find out how I won. 😉

My Husband’s Thoughts on Me Being Vegetarian

Vegetarians can get a bad rap. My husband jokingly gives me grief about being vegetarian all the time.

Me: I’m tired.

Drew: Maybe you should eat meat.

Me: What’s the name for this thingy-ma-bob again?

Drew: Maybe if you ate meat, you’d remember.

Me: Ugh, these three-pound weights feel sooo heavy.

Drew: That’s because you don’t eat meat.

When my husband learned of this Chili Cook-Off competition, he literally asked me if we should submit two entries because there was no way a vegetarian chili was going to win. 

Not only was my very non-competitive husband becoming competitive over this challenge, but it seemed that most everyone else was as well. The different guests would report to my mom about the great lengths they were taking to create the best chili and how their chili was going to win, hands down. 

My chances of winning seemed to be dwindling. But I knew that I made a mean chili…so I carried on.

Little Willy Gilly’s Chili

I think the best part of this story is the name I chose for my chili. I was eight months pregnant at the time of this competition and the gender of our baby was going to be a surprise.

For a long time, we thought the name we would choose if we had a son would be Will. I created a nickname for our imaginary son to include part of my mom’s maiden name. The nickname was “Willy Gilly”, which ultimately stuck because it was really fun to say.

Though we ended up naming our son Ty, at the time of the cook-off I didn’t know that was to be. Since I was eight months pregnant, I thought it would be appropriate to name my chili, “Little Willy Gilly’s Chili”. 

The Great Chili Cook-Off

On the day of the competition, I remember my husband’s complete lack of faith in me. For the record, he normally has total faith in me. Though his lack of faith made me doubt myself, it also secretly made my desire to win much, much stronger. 

When my mom was getting ready to make the announcement of the winners, I remember my Grandma turning to me with a little twinkle in her eyes and whispering, “Yours was the best”. I thought this was just my lovely grandma being her usual sweet self…

My mom began the announcements. 

The third-place winner goes to “Thai Vegetarian Chili”! To everyone’s great surprise, the only other vegetarian chili actually placed in the competition. I was ecstatic!

And the second-place winner goes to “Chili for Everyone”! It was my grandpa’s! The most important thing to know here is that my grandpa is extremely competitive, so second place translates to not winning. Still, he was a good sport and was pleased with the recognition. 

With the anticipation building, my mom finally announced the biggest controversy our 4th of July party has witnessed to date (which is saying a lot given the spread of democrats and republicans always present). “And the first-place winner goes to “Little Willy Gilly’s Chili”!!”

What? Me? My chili? All eyes were on me – looks of shock, confusion, anger perhaps…

My eyes went straight to my husband’s. I silently and triumphantly communicated, “May you never doubt your wife again.” 

Apparently, some guests were pretty upset that a vegetarian won, saying that it must have been rigged. Me, being the overly concerned rule-following citizen that I am, started panicking that maybe I didn’t actually win. My mom was the judge after all. Maybe she didn’t count right. Maybe the votes were tampered with. Anxiously, I went through all of the possible scenarios with my mom to make sure I won fair and square, still in disbelief that a vegetarian won a chili cook-off. I remembered that my mom is not only a math whiz but is also one of, if not the, smartest person that I’ve ever met. Okay, maybe she did calculate it correctly. 

And so, with that, I accepted my victory and have worn it proudly ever since. 

So let this be a lesson to all of you carnivores out there…vegetarians are simply, better. 

Totally kidding! That’s not the lesson to be learned…unless you want it to be. I’d be okay with that.

Easy 25-Minute Vegan Chili Ingredients

Olive oil

White onion

Vegan Italian sausages

Fresh or frozen corn

Red bell pepper

Can of diced tomatoes

Tomato sauce

Black beans

White beans

Red kidney beans

Brown sugar

Balsamic vinegar

Water

Salt

How to Make This Easy 25-Minute Vegan Chili Recipe

STEP 1 – Saute the onion and sausage

Saute onion and sausage in a large pot.

STEP 2 – Add the remaining ingredients

Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the pot, along with all of the remaining ingredients. Stir well, cover, and bring chili to a boil.

STEP 3 – Simmer

Turn down the heat and let the chili simmer for 10-12 minutes.

Vegan Chili Toppings and Sides

This Easy 25-Minute Vegan Chili is actually great as is, but it’s also delicious with the following:

*Note: Use a dairy-free version of any of the following suggestions, if you don’t eat dairy!
A dollop of plain yogurt (or sour cream)

Shredded cheese

Crushed tortilla chips

Avocado

Quesadillas

Cornbread

Crusty, rustic bread

If You Liked This Chili, You Might Like These Recipes Next!

Quick Vegan Pinto Bean Soup

Creamy Vegan White Bean Potato Soup

Vegan Creamy White Bean Asparagus Soup

Vegan Black Bean and Corn Soup (With Hidden Veggies!)

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