Martin Shaw’s Favourite Chilli

This Martin Shaw recipe is a Viva! classic – it’s been fed to tens of thousands of people at Viva!’s Incredible Veggie Roadshows and ticks all the boxes: cheap, easy, freezes well and is enjoyed by meat eaters and veggies alike! The original recipe uses frozen veggie mince, widely available but we also offer a wholefood option using whole lentils. Make it mild for kids and other chilli-haters by using just a small amount of mild chilli powder – just serve hot pepper sauce on the side for heat-lovers!

Budget options: use dried savoury TVP (soya mince) or home cooked whole lentils.

Serving suggestions

  • Guacamole – mash up 1-2 ripe avocadoes with a little salt, a little crushed garlic and a squeeze or two of lime or lemon juice – taste as you go! A little chopped chilli; chopped tomato; fresh chopped coriander also good… Or try our Pea Guacamole recipe!
  • Brown or white rice; quinoa; tortillas or wraps
  • Tomato salsa, from a jar, chilled tub or home-made

Gluten-free

  • Omit veggie mince and use a tin of lentils/beans (approximately 250g drained)
  • Replace wheat tortillas with Warburton’s GF wraps or a similar GF and vegan product

Soya-free

  • Use lentils/beans, as with GF option

Nut-free

  • Omit peanut butter OR use another nut or seed butter if the allergy is specific to some nuts but not all (eg cashew, tahini would work)

Diabetic/reduced-fat

  • Replace oil with oil spray or use 1 teaspoon oil only
  • Omit peanut butter – but remove about a small ladle’s worth of chilli from the pan, blend it then return to pan – this will thicken the sauce and make it a bit more creamy
  • Replace frozen veggie mince with dried veggie mince or lentils/beans
  • Omit guacamole – replace with our Pea Guacamole recipe: low-fat, protein-rich and budget
Gluten free
Wheat free
Reduced sugar, diabetic friendly
Freezable
Cheap
Kids recipe

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Total time

30-40 minutes

Cuisine

Mexican, Central and South American

Meal

  • mains
  • lunches

Servings

4-6

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • ½ red pepper, chopped
  • 1 medium courgette, chopped in half lengthways, then sliced into semi-circles
  • 110g/4oz mushrooms, chopped roughly
  • 225g/8oz veggie mince (eg Fry’s, Linda McCartney or supermarket own-brands in the freezer – not Quorn as it’s not vegan. See note above about alternatives)
  • 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp vegan bouillon powder OR 1 Green Oxo
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • ½ tsp mild chilli powder (or more to taste)
  • 1 tsp paprika OR smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter – magic ingredient. Try it. Really. Other nut butters are good too, eg cashew or almond
  • 110g/4oz sweetcorn, rinsed and drained
  • Half a tin (100-120g cooked) of beans: black, kidney or pinto
  • Salt if required (bouillon/stock cubes are quite salty)

Plus any of the serving options above

Instructions

  1. Fry onion and red pepper in oil until soft.
  2. Add garlic, courgette and mushrooms and cook till mushrooms are golden brown.
  3. If using veggie mince option, add it now plus the spices and fry 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. (If mixture sticks, add some of tinned tomato juice.)
  4. Add peanut butter and stir until it has melted in. Add the tinned tomatoes, stock cube/bouillon and tomato purée, stir well and simmer for 10 minutes over a low heat.
  5. If using cooked lentils (instead of veggie mince) add them now plus sweetcorn and kidney beans to chilli and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
  6. Serve hot with options of your choice.

Optional extras / notes

30-40 minutes, depending on how quick you are!

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