Our meatless chili is the real game day winner
Pile it on top of your nachos
Hey Bean Team, welcome to our virtual Super Bowl tailgate! No matter what team you’re rooting for, we can all agree that the snacks are the real champ. Sadly for us, a lot of staple game day grub is pretty heavy on meat and dairy, which means it’s gotta get sidelined for anyone looking to cut the planet-warming potential of their food habits.
When it comes to emissions, chili and nachos are among the worst offenders. So I knew we had to give our bowl of red a meat-free makeover to help y’all unlock both of those watch-party mainstays. The internet doesn’t need another beans-only chili recipe, which is why I’m basing ours on our simple tofu chorizo, which mimics the texture of ground beef.
Chili cookin’ comes with lots of opinions. Meat or no meat? Beans or Texas-style (beanless)? I’m of the opinion that the best ones have both. My game day chili has three different beans and chorizo-spiced crumbled tofu—plus some dark beer, to bring out the “meaty” flavors. To give the tofu-rizo a chewier texture that’s ideal for chili, I freeze the block first then let it thaw before grating it. If you’re new here, this is one of our favorite tricks: Freezing tofu gives it a spongier texture that’s bouncier and better at absorbing flavors. In this instance, it’s also great because tofu crumbles will also hold their shape well, which makes for a pretty spot-on swap, texturally speaking.
You can make this chili up to three days ahead, and it gets better as it sits and the spices have had time to mingle. You can eat it straight up with toppings, with cornbread for dunking, or bake it up atop a bed of nachos with cashew butter queso and all the fixins’.
Tofu-rizo Beer Chili
Yield: 6 servings