SUPER EASY SLOW COOKER VEGETARIAN BUFFALO CHILI
With Fall coming, the search is on for delicious, hearty recipes to feed your family and make everyone feel cozy and warm. This vegetarian buffalo chili recipe is just what you are looking for!
This vegetarian buffalo chili is full of beans for protein and that heft a rich chili needs to be satisfying. It has the tomatoes, corn, and optional spinach for extra nutrients so you can be confident you are serving your family a healthy meal. Then there is the buffalo sauce, cream cheese, and ranch seasoning to give it that zip and dazzle your taste buds crave!
My vegetarian buffalo chili has become one of my family’s all time favorite dinners. It’s super easy because you don’t have to dice or prep any of the ingredients. You essentially just dump everything into a slow cooker and forget it until it’s time to eat.
You are in charge of how spicy or tangy you want it to be. It’s all in how much buffalo sauce you put into the recipe. My girls and I like a bit more spice so we add extra buffalo sauce during the preparation, and again to our own bowls once we dish it up.
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I like to serve buttered biscuits with this chili but any heavy or thick crusty bread would also be a perfect pairing. You could even whip up some cheesy jalapeno cornbread or honeyed cornbread.
Vegetarian buffalo chili makes for a hearty meal, especially during the colder months. No worries though because this chili is pure comfort food all year round!
This chili comes out somewhat thin. It has more of a soup consistency at first but if you like a thicker chili, it will thicken up within the first day of it being cooked. If you are like my family though, it might not last that long! All of the beans make it so filling though, that the thinner consistency won’t even bother you.
If you would like a thicker consistency however, use only 1/2 of the vegetable broth called for. You could also add another can of beans or tomatoes depending on your preference. Extra cream cheese would also thicken it up.
You can easily double this recipe as long as you have a Crockpot that holds at least a 6 quarts or more. I like to double the recipe and put half aside to cool a little. I then ladle it into a large freezer bag. Freeze the bag laying flat for maximum space conservation. You can then stack the frozen bags both vertically and horizontally depending on your freezers storage needs.
To serve from frozen, simply pull a bag out in the morning to thaw in the refrigerator throughout the day. It can be warmed in the microwave using a microwave safe bowl or warmed on low heat on the stove top.
VEGETARIAN BUFFALO CHILI
Vegetarian Buffalo Chili
Ingredients
EQUIPMENT
- 3-4 quart (or larger) Slow Cooker
VEGETABLES
- 1 15oz can White Navy Beans drained & rinsed
- 1 15oz can Black Beans drained & rinsed
- 1 14.5oz can Fire Roasted Tomatoes lightly drained
- 2 cups Corn Kernels, frozen
- 1 cup Spinach, frozen or fresh *optional
- 4 cups Vegetable Broth
CONDIMENTS
- 1/4 -1/2 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce *based on taste preference
- 1 pkg Ranch Dressing powder mix
SEASONINGS
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Celery Salt
- 1/2 tsp Cilantro, dried
- 1/4 tsp Salt
DAIRY
- 8oz pkg Cream Cheese
GARNISHES
- Bleu Cheese crumbles *optional
- Corn Chips *optional
- Shredded Cheese *optional
- Sour Cream *optional
- Jalapeno Rings *optional
- Fresh Cilantro *optional
Instructions
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Add fire-roasted tomatoes to the slow cooker.
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Add ranch dressing mix & seasonings. Stir into tomatoes until well mixed. This prevents the powders from clumping when the liquids are introduced.
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Add all other ingredients except the cream cheese and garnishes. Stir to combine.
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Gently set the block of cream cheese on top of mixture. Don’t stir. Cover.
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Cook on High for 4 hours or cook on Low for 8 hours.
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Stir to incorporate the cream cheese and add any additional buffalo sauce if desired.
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You can add some bleu cheese crumbles or corn chips to individual bowls if desired.
DON’T FORGET THE GARNISHES
If you are trying to decide what to serve with this chili, you could garnish each individual bowl with shredded cheese, sour cream, corn chips, jalapeno slices or croutons. Really, the sky’s the limit. It all depends on your preferences.
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Like I said, my family absolutely loves this recipe and I would love to know what you think about it. Give it a try and let me know!
Would you try this vegetarian buffalo chili or do you need to have meat in your chili?