Big-batch recipe · Vegan
Black bean and walnut chili
8 portions, about 24 g of protein in each. 25 minutes of hands-on work and 50 min of cooking.
Where it sits in the week
What this one is for
On the vegan track this is a Sunday cook — the long session, which covers Monday to Wednesday. Cooked once, portioned hot, and eaten across the days that session covers — on the seven-day plan it turns up at Monday lunch.
Two portions is about 48 g of protein — our own arithmetic on the figure above, not a separate measurement. Protein targets on this site are computed against goal weight or lean mass rather than scale weight, which is the whole of Real Fuel.
Part of the vegan meal plan, cooked in the two-session prep schedule.
What goes in
- 3 cans (15 oz) black beans, drained
- 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained
- 2 cans (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped fine — this is the texture trick
- 1 cup TVP or soy mince, dry
- 2 onions, 6 cloves garlic, 2 peppers
- 2 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1–2 chipotle in adobo
- 3 cups vegetable stock, 2 tbsp tomato paste
How
- Sweat the onion, pepper and garlic in oil for 8 minutes until soft, not coloured.
- Add the tomato paste and dry spices and fry for 90 seconds. This is where the depth comes from.
- Add everything else, bring it up, then hold at a bare simmer for 40 minutes uncovered.
- It should nearly hold a spoon upright by the end. If it will not, take the lid off and give it ten more minutes.
Keeping it: Fridge 4 days, freezer 3 months, and it comes back better than it went in. Portion it while it is hot — cold it sets solid and you will not get it out of the tub.
Nothing on this page is medical advice. It is a plan written for general strength training in healthy adults, and any condition or medication you are managing outranks it.
Doing it cheaper
Swaps that apply to this one
From the vegan track's budget version, filtered to the ingredients this recipe actually uses.
| Instead of | Use | Why it is worth it |
|---|---|---|
| Canned beans | Dried beans, soaked overnight | Roughly half the price per gram of protein, and the texture holds up better in a long simmer. |
| Packaged vegan mince | TVP or soy curls, dry | Same protein, a fraction of the cost, and it keeps for a year in a cupboard. |
The prices behind these swaps, with sources, are in the protein-per-dollar table.
The rest of the vegan week
3 more big-batch recipes on this track, plus the seven-day plan they feed.