Impossible meat chili

Has anyone made chili with fake meat? I am thinking of making it for a vegetarian friend. Taste? Recipes?

I made a red meat sauce for my vegetarian mom using impossible meat. Turned out great, but not as good as my meat version which uses a 50/50 blend of ground beef and italian sausage.

Iā€™d probably do a bit of these two recipes:

No!

I would use portobello instead of fake meat.
Emeril Lagasse has a great vegetarian chili recipe.

I donā€™t get this ā€œI donā€™t eat meat but I like to pretend I do.ā€

Iā€™ll add meatless crumble to a bean/veggie chili recipe for texture, but I donā€™t add enough to alter the flavor. I had a really good vegetarian chili recipe, but I canā€™t find it. Iā€™ll keep looking.

Found two that I bookmarked and prepared. Both very good. The second one has meatless crumble, which I used 1/2 the amount suggested.


Designerā€™s Plant-Based Chili Recipe for Cold Winter Days - The New York Times
Auroraā€™s Hearty Vegan Chili
Ā· 3 tablespoons olive oil
Ā· 3 large yellow onions, chopped
Ā· 3 cloves garlic, chopped
Ā· 1 large green pepper, chopped
Ā· 1 large red pepper, chopped
Ā· 1 large yellow pepper, chopped
Ā· 3 tablespoons chile powder, divided
Ā· 1 cup broccoli florets
Ā· 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, divided
Ā· Pinch of chile-pepper flakes
Ā· 2 cans crushed tomatoes, divided
Ā· 8 cherry tomatoes, chopped or whole
Ā· 1ā„2 teaspoon salt
Ā· 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Ā· 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed Ā· 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Ā· 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Ā· 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
Ā· 1 teaspoon paprika
Ā· 1 teaspoon oregano
Ā· 1 tablespoon brown sugar or honey
Ā· 1 can tomato paste
Ā· 2 chiles chopped in adobo sauce, canned
Ā· 1 large zucchini, chopped
Ā· 1ā„2 cup fresh peas
Ā· 1ā„2 cup fresh corn
Ā· Optional toppings: scoop of grated Cheddar cheese, sour cream, sliced avocado

  1. In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and yellow onions. Cook for 15 minutes.
  2. Add the chopped garlic, green pepper, red pepper, yellow pepper and one tablespoon of the chile powder. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the broccoli florets, one teaspoon of the cayenne pepper and chile-pepper flakes. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add 1 can of crushed tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, salt and ground pepper. Let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. Add the garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans, along with the remaining two tablespoons of chile powder, the remaining 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, cinnamon, paprika, oregano and brown sugar (or honey). Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. Add the tomato paste, chiles in adobo sauce, the remaining one can of crushed tomatoes and zucchini. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes.
  7. Add peas and corn. Cook for 20 minutes.
  8. Serve the chili in individual bowls with an optional scoop of grated Cheddar cheese, sour cream and sliced avocado. Makes 8 to 10 servings.


    The Best Vegetarian Chili in the World| Allrecipes

1 tablespoon olive oil
1ā„2 medium onion, chopped 2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons dried oregano 1 tablespoon salt
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers, drained
2 (12 ounce) packages vegetarian burger crumbles
3 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
1ā„4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and season with bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and salt. Cook and stir until onion is tender, then mix in the celery, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, and green chile peppers. When vegetables are heated through, mix in the vegetarian burger crumbles. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 5 minutes.
Mix the tomatoes into the pot. Season chili with chili powder and pepper. Stir in the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and black beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes. Stir in the corn, and continue cooking 5 minutes before serving.

While not a vegetarian Iā€™ve always held the belief that using fake meat in vegetarian recipes is like going to a brothel for a kiss. Just embrace the vegetables and legumes.

2 Likes

Brilliant analogy. I may steal it.
[cheers.gif]

1 Like

I would form the the fake meat into patties, brown it, then crumble it into the chili later. It should help to keep the texture better.

I enjoy both Impossible and Beyond Meat.

I eat it more than regular beef. Feel better the next day, although not making any health claims.

If your guest is a vegetarian, they will love it. They wonā€™t see it as a substitute, they see it as another option.

Since you put more care into your cooking than I ever do, Iā€™m sure whatever you do will come out good. I just cook it as if it was beef.

Donā€™t ask people who are biased against it for an unbiased answer.

1 Like

You assume the meat is the orgasm. Not for vegetarians.

Agree that, prior to the Impossible and Beyond products, burgers like Boca Burger which tried to imitate beef, were vastly inferior to more vegetable based burger formulations. These are game changers though, and the arguments agains are theoretical and not born out by the numbers of non-vegetarians who enjoy the product.

Is your all beef version as good as the 50/50 blend? That blend sounds very tasty.

Iā€™m just saying they are fake meat. If the point is to be meatless, why fake it? Especially as more news seems to be coming out that it isnā€™t necessarily any better for you. I have tried a few of them, btw, beyond, impossible a couple of times, and one other I canā€™t recall. Still tastes like fake meat to me. Why bother?

Tofurkey!

Donā€™t look at me. I just bought 4 pounds of Prime Sirloin for the meat eating contingent.

if done properly (or in specific styles) it tastes really close to the actual meat. Like in chili for Jayā€™s purpose - I bet itā€™d be really close.

I had an impossible smash burger the other day and I swore they gave me an actual meat based burger it was so close.

re health: seems each ā€œeditionā€ of beyond meat/impossible meat they tweak it to get the flavor better while making it a touch healthier. They started out really high in saturated fat and salt. Now the saturated fat is lower than beef but salt is still really high.

As a vegetarian I pretty much only eat it when iā€™m really craving a burger (not often)/ fast food. Otherwise, since I became a vegetarian for health purposes , i stick to fresh fruit/veggie

I have made Chili with both Impossible as well as Beyond. (My daughter is a vegetarian.) It is OK, texturally a little weird. Impossible is clearly more meat like. It works OK for sloppy joes. It works stunningly well for Shepherdā€™s Pie or Bobotie.

Why eat Kosher Pizza?
Why eat beef bacon?
Why eat anything that isnā€™t the original.

What it tastes like to you is only important to you. I eat both, like both, and donā€™t feel as heavy from the impossible burger (and probably am 3 for 1 on the beyond/impossible to regular) How am I faking anything? I get a beef burger if I want, I have a plant based burger when I want. Even if my ā€œfeeling heavyā€ is psychsomatic, Iā€™m eating what I want to eat because I like it. (And my diet overall is more than 70% fresh fruit and veg, so all unrefined plant based food is in my deep embrace).

Now why anyone drinks California Cabernet is another question - that I canā€™t answer other than they like it.