At the end of gardening season, I was gifted a huge box of green tomatoes. I love finding ways to use unsual ingredients, so I set to work making both new and old green tomato recipes. This vegetarian green tomato chili is going to become a fall staple at my house, I loved it that much!
If you are not a gardener, the best place to look for green tomatoes is the farmers market. Yes, the grocery store has them, but they tend to charge more for them as a specialty item.
I don’t think of green tomatoes as a specialty produce item. Instead I think of them as “not going to waste just because they didn’t ripen before frost” produce item. Green tomatoes have a more tangy flavor than their red-ripened couterparts, because they are simply not ripened.
I checked, and our local farmers market still has green tomatoes available, so hopefully you can find some to try this chili before winter!
Comments on this Vegetarian Green Tomato Chili recipe:
- This is not a chili verde recipe. Chili verde uses tomatillos and cilantro and purees them to make a sauce that is then used to braise pork (most commonly). Here I am making a basic chili, but with green tomatoes in place of red.
- This recipe is most similar to a white chili recipe. I used white beans and cumin to make this chili. You could easily swap kidney beans and chili powder to make a batch that is more similar to a red chili.
- Vegan: Simply leave off the cheese as a garnish and this chili is already vegan.
Other Green Tomato Recipes:
- Try my Fresh Green Tomato Salsa recipe, which swaps green tomatoes for tomatillas in fresh salsa.
- If you are looking for a sweet treat, try my Green Tomato Mince Pie. It is made with apples, raisins, and green tomatoes and is heavily spiced with cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. It’s the only pie recipe I make every single year, it’s that good!
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 4 cups diced green tomatoes (from about 1 ¼ lbs)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 oz can green chili peppers (or 1 large anaheim pepper)
- 2 jalapenos, minced
- 1 TBS each: cumin and coriander
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 15-oz cans great northern beans or pinto beans
- Saute onion and bell pepper in oil until tender and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add green tomato, stirring to combine. Let these saute about 2-3 minutes to soften.
- Add garlic, green chilies, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, oregano, salt and broth. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the beans and bring back to a boil. Simmer until the mixture is thickened, 15-30 more minutes.
This is delicious and so easy to fix! Thanks for a wonderful new addition to our favorite soup recipes.
Thank you, Terri!
Would canned petite diced green tomatoes work in this? If so, how many cans? Also, would it need to be drained or would you leave the liquid? Thanks
I have never used canned green-tomatoes, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. A 15 oz can is about 1 3/4 cup, so two cans will leave you just shy of the 4 cups called for in the recipe, and will likely be just fine. No need to drain, either.