This veggie green chili recipe has tomatillos, hatch chiles, and yellow eye beans. Don't look any further for your next vegetarian green chili recipe!
Vegetable green chili with yellow eye beans
Cook time: 35 minutes
My last two posts have been building towards this recipe. One of the recipes was how to cook dried yellow eye beans, and the other was for a roasted tomatillo and hatch chile salsa. The whole time I was planning to use the yellow eye beans and the roasted salsa verde to make a green chili stew. It’s great having cooked yellow eye beans, but you’ve got to do something with them!
Can I substitute canned beans instead of cooking dried beans?
You can definitely use canned beans in this green chili recipe instead of cooking dried beans. I would suggest using canned great northern beans or navy beans if you aren’t cooking the yellow eye beans for the chili. If you are using canned beans for this recipe, make sure to rinse them before adding them to the pot.
If you don’t have access to fresh tomatillos, use store bought roasted tomatillo salsa. But if you can buy tomatillos at your grocery store, I encourage you to do so and to make your own salsa. All you need is your oven, a blender, and a broiler safe cooking vessel. For this vegetarian green chili, this is the salsa that I made.
What can I use instead of freshly roasted hatch chiles?
If you can’t get fresh hatch chiles, do not worry! Depending on where you live, you may have very limited access to fresh hatch chiles. Even in New Mexico, the season for fresh chiles is typically only August and September. Your grocery store should have canned roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped hatch chiles year-round. The canned green chiles will include salt and citric acid, so just take this into account while tasting for seasoning. If you are lucky, you may be able to buy frozen hatch chiles from the grocery store. These are preferable to the canned variety, since the will just be roasted, peeled, seeded, diced and frozen. The only ingredient will be hatch chiles. I used frozen hatch chiles for this recipe, and most restaurants use frozen hatch chiles as well.
Is this green chili vegetarian or vegan?
This recipe is vegetarian, and if you just omit the cotija cheese it’s vegan! I am not vegetarian or vegan, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love vegetables, because I do. If you aren’t vegetarian or vegan, feel free to use chicken stock or broth as your cooking liquid. If you really feel the need to add meat, I won’t stop you. But really, this green chili recipe doesn’t need meat. We’ve got the hearty yellow eye beans, onions, diced zucchini, and puréed roasted tomatillos and hatch chiles enveloping everything.
Servings/Suggestions
Optional garnishes: Sour cream, avocado, crumbled tortilla chips, thinly sliced radish, hot sauce
Special Equipment
Dutch oven or large pot
Ingredients List
2 cups roasted tomatillo and hatch chile salsa, plus more for garnish
or substitute store bought tomatillo salsa
2/3 cup roasted and chopped mild hatch chiles
1 bunch cilantro
1 white onion, diced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 quart broth, stock, or water
2 small zucchinis, cut into 1/2” quarter moons
4 cups cooked yellow eye beans
or substitute 32 ounces of any canned white bean
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon grapeseed or canola oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 lime
cotija cheese
1 fresno chili, sliced
How to Make Vegetable Green Chili
Step 1
Heat up dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of grapeseed oil. Add the diced white onion and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion begins to soften. Meanwhile, blend the roasted tomatillo and hatch chile salsa, 1/3 cup of diced hatch chiles, and the 10 sprigs of cilantro.
Step 2
When the white onion is soft, add the sliced red onion and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir. After 5 minutes or so the onions should have a bit of color. Then add the minced garlic. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
Step 3
Push the onions and garlic to the side of your dutch oven. Add the paprika and ground cumin to the dutch oven and toast for about 30 seconds. Add the oregano and stir everything together with the onions.
Step 4
Add the blended salsa, hatch chile, and cilantro mixture to the dutch oven, along with 1 quart of broth/stock/water and bring to a boil. Add the zucchini and 1 teaspoon of salt. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 5
Add the cooked yellow eye beans and 1/3 cup of roasted and diced hatch chiles. Simmer for 10 minutes and stir occasionally.
Step 6:
Taste the vegetarian green chili to check your seasoning. Does it need more salt? If so, add it along with a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. To serve, ladle the green chili into bowls. Top with lime zest, lime juice, cotija cheese, chopped cilantro, roasted tomatillo and hatch chile salsa, and sliced fresno chile.
Vegetable Green Chili with Yellow Eye Beans
Ingredients
- 2 cups roasted tomatillo and hatch chile salsa, plus more for garnish
- 2/3 cup roasted and chopped mild hatch chiles
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 quart broth, stock, or water
- 2 small zucchinis, cut into 1/2” quarter moons
- 4 cups cooked yellow eye beans
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon grapeseed or canola oil
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 lime
- cotija cheese
- 1 fresno chili, sliced
Instructions
- Heat up dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of grapeseed oil. Add the diced white onion and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion begins to soften. Meanwhile, blend the roasted tomatillo and hatch chile salsa, 1/3 cup of diced hatch chiles, and the 10 sprigs of cilantro.
- When the white onion is soft, add the sliced red onion and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir. After 5 minutes or so the onions should have a bit of color. Then add the minced garlic. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Push the onions and garlic to the side of your dutch oven. Add the paprika and ground cumin to the dutch oven and toast for about 30 seconds. Add the oregano and stir everything together with the onions.
- Add the blended salsa, hatch chile, and cilantro mixture to the dutch oven, along with 1 quart of broth/stock/water and bring to a boil. Add the zucchini and 1 teaspoon of salt. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the cooked yellow eye beans and 1/3 cup of roasted and diced hatch chiles. Simmer for 10 minutes and stir occasionally.
- Taste the vegetarian green chili to check your seasoning. Does it need more salt? If so, add it along with a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. To serve, ladle the green chili into bowls. Top with lime zest, lime juice, cotija cheese, chopped cilantro, roasted tomatillo and hatch chile salsa, and sliced fresno chile.
Notes
Don't forget to refer to the web site for more info!
