Vegetarian Skillet Chili
If you stock canned beans, tomatoes, onion, and garlic in your pantry, you can prepare this dish any weeknight without the need for grocery shopping. While the pickled onions are optional, they're easy to prepare and provide a delightful tangy complement to the beans. If you don't have pickled onions, pickled peppers can be a suitable replacement.If you have bell peppers or jalapeños, you can dice them and sauté them alongside the onions. For an extra touch of sophistication, consider grating the lime's zest before juicing it for the pickles and mixing it into sour cream.
Ingredients
For the Pickled Onions:
- 1 lime
- 1 red onion or shallot thinly sliced
- A generous pinch of kosher salt
- A small pinch of granulated sugar
For the Chili:
- Olive or grapeseed oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced (adjust to your preference)
- 1 teaspoon chile powder with additional for taste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano with extra for taste
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) of drained beans
- 1 can (15 ounces) of diced tomatoes with their juices
- Kosher salt
- Optional garnishes: Fresh cilantro diced avocado, and sour cream
Instructions
Create the pickled onions:
- Mix lime juice into a bowl and combine it with the sliced onion, salt, and sugar. Allow this mixture to rest while you move on to making the chili.
Prepare the chili:
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add the oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add the chopped onion and sauté until it becomes tender, which should take about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the garlic, chile powder, and oregano, and continue sautéing until the fragrance is released, about 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Add the beans and tomatoes along with a few generous pinches of salt.
- Let the mixture simmer until the tomatoes break down, typically around 20 minutes.
- Taste the chili and adjust the seasoning as needed by adding more salt, chile powder, and oregano according to your preference. Serve the chili with the pickled onions and any garnishes of your choice.