Quick Aubergine Black Bean ChiIli Recipe
My quick aubergine (eggplant) and black bean chili recipe is perfect for those busy days when you want a delicious and satisfying meal without spending hours in the kitchen. The combination of tender, sautéed aubergines and hearty black beans creates a filling and flavourful chili that will please both vegans and meat-eaters alike. With simple ingredients and minimal prep time, you can have a steaming bowl of chili ready to enjoy in no time.
Finally the maligned aubergine finds a worthy home in an unlikely place: in my vegan black bean and aubergine (eggplant) chilli. I had never heard of a chilli featuring the purple beauty amongst it’s myriad ingredients.
And, because this has been an impecunious week (week? Try year), I am using everything up in the cupboard and spending as little money as possible on groceries. When I do grocery shop, I buy several items that I refer to as wildcards. What this could be is an new kind of vegan meat replacer or a bag of spinach or a vegetable I wouldn’t normally use. These items lay down for me a gauntlet that entails me using them up before they go bad
Anyway, this is a perfect dish for meat-missing vegetarians or if you don’t like minced beef because of some childhood trauma because the small shiny beans are very meaty in texture and absorb all the flavour of the spices.
Why You’ll Love my Easy Eggplant and Black Bean Chili
- Ready to eat in 30 minutes!
- Store cupboard ingredients
- Quick to prep
- Eggless and Dairy free recipe
And another thing. A good chilli often takes several hours slow cooking to allow the meat to meld with the other ingredients otherwise it can taste a little wishy-washy and lacking depth of flavour. This chilli is as flavourful as any three day old chilli after just 30 minutes simmering, giving it a place in my Quickest Suppers of All Time Hall of Fame.
To extract the best flavour from the aubergine (or eggplant), I shallow fry them in a some vegetable oil, then sprinkle salt over them whilst they drain. This gives them a melting texture, and enhances the natural flavour.
If you loved this vegan chili, try my classic vegan red chili, my easy low fat vegan chili or my spicy vegan tortilla soup!
Table of Contents
Air Fryer Instructions
You can also “fry” the aubergines in the air fryer for a healthier chilli. To do so, preheat your air fryer to 200c.
Dice the aubergine and, in a mixing bowl, toss with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt.
Place in your air fryer and cook until golden. This might take about 10 minutes, but check halfway through and give the aubergine cubes a good mix. If you need to add a little more oil, use some spray oil. You can now add this to the chili as per the recipe.
Note: you can reduce the oil used in the recipe to a tablespoon for frying the rest of the veg.
Ingredients
- onions, garlic, fresh chilis and courgette (zucchini)
- fresh aubergine (although, as you can see from the photo, mine had seen better days)
- spices: coriander, cumin, chili and cinnamon powders
- tinned black beans (or use any canned bean you might have/prefer)
This is ONLY a list of ingredients for the recipe; please see recipe card below for complete printable recipe.
Instructions
Heat the vegetable oil in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the cubes of aubergine in the oil until lightly browned and begin to soften. They will absorb most of the oil.
Remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper, sprinkle with a little salt and leave to drain.
- In the same pan add a little extra oil if needed, and turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Sauté the onion and garlic gently until softened and fragrant.
Add the chilies and cook with the onions and garlic for another minute or two.
Add the ground coriander, ground cumin, cinnamon and chili powder. Mix to combine.
Stir in the tinned tomatoes.
Add the beans and tomato puree, and simmer for a further 15 minutes.
Gently stir in the fried aubergine. Simmer for about five minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve!
Substitutions
- Aubergine/eggplant – really hate eggplant? Try using zucchini/courgette instead.
- Beans – use any tinned beans you like, or even add some canned lentils for added protein.
Storage
- You can store the cooled chilli in the fridge for several days, reheating what you need.
- You can freeze the cooled chilli in a freezer-proof container, but because aubergine is very spongy, it doesn’t particularly enjoy being frozen, and the texture is a little…off when it’s thawed. But it does still taste great!
Black Bean and Aubergine Chilli recipe
Ingredients
- 100 ml Vegetable oil
- 1 Aubergine - cut into 1” cubes
- 1 Zucchini - cut into cubes (optional)
- 1 Onion - medium, peeled and diced
- 4 cloves Garlic - chopped finely
- 3 Red chillies - finely chopped and deseeded if preferred
- ½ teaspoon Ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon Ground cumin
- Pinch Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Chilli powder - more if you like it really hot
- 400 g Tomatoes - tinned
- 1 tablespoon Tomato puree
- 400 g Black beans - can, or other small tinned beans, drained
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Cook the cubes of aubergine and zucchini (if using) in the oil until lightly browned and begin to soften. They will absorb most of the oil.
- Remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper, sprinkle with a little salt and leave to drain.
- In the same pan add a little extra oil if needed, and turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Sauté the onion and garlic gently until softened and fragrant.
- Add the chilies and cook with the onions and garlic for another minute or two.
- Then add the ground coriander, ground cumin, cinnamon and chili powder. Mix to combine.
- Stir in the tinned tomatoes.
- Add the beans and simmer for a further 15 minutes.
- Gently stir in the fried aubergine. Simmer for about five minutes.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary. You may need to add a pinch of caster sugar.
- You can leave this to simmer for a further 15 minutes over a very low heat but bear in mind that the aubergine will disintegrate the longer it is on the heat.
- Serve with plain boiled rice or hash brown potatoes and chopped spring onions and grated vegan cheese.
Please note that where the recipe asks for milk, butter or yogurt, this refers to any plant-based version that you prefer.
