Vegan Chili Recipe for Burgers & Dogs (2024)

If you love carrot/veggie dogs and black bean burgers but miss topping them with chili, I think you’re about to do a happy dance! This quick Vegan Chili Recipe is simmered with spices and onions and can be made in minutes.

We love this chili because it’s…

• So versatile
• Great on chili cheese fries, carrot hotdogs, black bean burgers, and more
• Busting with flavor
• Hearty
• Easy to make
• Even fools meat-eaters

Before switching to a healthy whole food, plant-based diet(WFPB) and lifestyle, we used to eat a lot of artery-clogging burgers and hot dogs.

We also had a host of medical conditions including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, and joint pain.

Discovering how to make meatless chili for veggie burgers and dogs

For 35 years, I had made my homemade chili to top those burgers, hot dogs, and fries. It was a recipe I learned from my mom and grandmother, and it was so good.

Then, after four years of eating chili-less Black Bean Burgers, carrot dogs, and French fries, I decided to veganizedmy old recipe by replacing the ground beef with a grain called bulgur that is available at many grocery stores.

What is bulgur?

Bulguris a wholewheat grainthat is cooked exactlylike rice in about 15 minutes.(Follow package directions).

I like to make a big batch of it andstore it in the freezerto use in recipes like tacos, stews, chili beans, no-meatloaf, etc. because bulgur adds aground beef textureand soaks up flavors of dish you’re preparing.

It’s so nice to be able to pull it out of the freezer already cooked and jump right into cooking the main dish.

For this chili recipe, you can use already cooked bulgur from your freezer or uncooked. Just reduce the cooking time if you decide to use cooked bulgur you already have on hand.

See Also

35 Vegan Thanksgiving RecipesThai Coconut Milk Soup Recipe | Cotter Crunch20+ Homemade Candy Recipes26 Great Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes

The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.

How to make vegan chili

In a saucepan, saute diced onions in approximately 3 Tbsp of the veggie broth. As they brown and begin to caramelize, add more veggie broth 1 Tbsp at a time. Allow to caramelize well.

Add all other chili ingredients including the bulgur, stir well, and simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Cover and turn off. Chili is basically done and ready to be eaten.

*NOTE: If you already have pre-cooked bulgur (2 cups) in the freezer that you would like to use, simply omit the veggie broth/water except for about 1/2 a cup, and cook for only 5 minutes.

Add to carrot dogs, veggie and black bean burgers, vegan chili cheese fries, or anything else you can think of.

Tips for making this vegan hotdog chili

• I make big batches of bulgur in my rice steamer and freeze it to be used in recipes like this, along with tacos, lasagna, and chili fries. The great thing about having bulgur already cooked is that it cuts a step out of food preparation and speeds up the process of sitting down to dinner.
• It’s so nice to be able to pull it out of the freezer and jump right into cooking the main dish.
• This chili is the perfect topping for carrot dogs, which are my new love.
• You’ve just GOT to try my homemade Vegan Cheese Sauce on your hot dogs and burgers too!
• To make this gluten-free, try substituting Buckwheat Groats or cauliflower rice.

If you would like to make your own ketchup for this recipe, check out my 10-Minute Vegan Ketchup recipe.

*Originally published May 25, 2017

Made this on Monday and used no-salt added tomato sauce…it came out perfect! So delicious on carrot dogz.”–Chickavegan

Other recipes that use bulgur

• Vegan Chili Cheese Fries
• Black Bean Spinach Lasagna
• Three Bean Crockpot Chili
• Instant Pot Chili Recipe

For those of you new to the whole food plant-based lifestyle, we’ve created a FREE 7-Day Plant-Based Menu Planner to help you get started!

This post may contain affiliate links.Read my full disclosure here.

If you try this recipe, please let us know how you like it by rating it and leaving a comment. We love to hear from you!