Quick, spicy, filling, and made mostly of pantry ingredients, this chili/tortilla soup/frito pie mash-up is calling your name. (Shhh. Listen closely.) Garnish it with the toppings of your choice: We like avocado, sour cream, and chopped white onion, but you can add shredded cheese, pickled or fresh jalapeños, and/or sliced scallions or radishes. You can use any tortilla chips you like—they add body and flavor to the soup itself and go on top for extra oomph. You could also fry or bake your own stale tortillas, cut into strips, but if we're being honest, salty, crunchy Fritos will probably taste better.
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What you’ll need
Measuring Cups
$28 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Chef's Knife
$34.53 At Amazon
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
Fork
Small Bowl
$15 At Amazon
Sieve
$18 At Amazon
Dutch Oven
$133 $80 At Amazon
Wooden Spoon
$7 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
4–6 servings
Ingredients
1
6
½
1
¼
2
¼
2
1
1
1½
1
1
½
Preparation
Step 1
Prep your ingredients: First, finely chop 1 large white onion. Cut in half from top to bottom. Trim top, then peel onion skin and first tough layer; discard. Leave root end on. Make slices parallel to cutting board, starting close to the board and moving upward. Then make slices lengthwise from top of onion to root end. Slice across onion, again from top to bottom, and you’ll come away with nice little cubes. Run your knife through once more if any pieces are too big. You should have about 2 cups chopped onions. Set aside 2 Tbsp. for serving.
Step 2
Smash, peel, and finely chop 6 garlic cloves. Separate leaves from stems from ½ bunch cilantro. Coarsely chop leaves; set aside for serving. Finely chop stems. Using a fork, pull 1 chipotle chile from can, then finely chop until a paste forms. Transfer to a small bowl, along with 1 tsp. adobo sauce from can. Add ¼ cup tomato paste. Drain and rinse 2 15-oz. cans pinto beans.
Step 3
Heat ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add onion, garlic, cilantro stems, and 2 tsp. chili powder and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is starting to soften, 5–6 minutes. Add tomato paste mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until brick red and starting to stick to bottom of pan, 2–3 minutes.
Step 4
Add 1 28-oz. can fire-roasted tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until tomatoes are cooked down and slightly darker in color, 8–10 minutes.
Step 5
Add beans, 1 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 2 tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until soup has reduced slightly and flavors have melded, 30–35 minutes. Mash about one-quarter of beans with the back of a wooden spoon or potato masher—this will make the soup thicker and creamier. Stir in 1 cup Fritos (or 1 cup crushed tortilla chips) and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 1–2 minutes. Squeeze in juice of 1 lime half, then taste for salt (you may need to add as much as 2 tsp.).
Step 6
Cut remaining 1 lime half into 4 wedges. Slice 1 avocado in half, carefully remove pit, then crosshatch flesh in its shell. Scoop out flesh with a spoon.
Step 7
Divide soup among bowls. Top with ½ cup sour cream, avocado, reserved cilantro leaves and chopped onion, and remaining ½ cup Fritos. Season with pepper.
How would you rate Vegetarian Chili With Lots of Fritos?
Leave a Review
Reviews (100)
Back to TopThis is the best chili I've ever made. Layering up the chipotle peppers paste and onion/garlic in the beginning give it a really fantastic flavor and depth. My partner, decidedly not a vegetarian, also loves it.
Anonymous
Chicago
10/5/2023
I don’t usually leave reviews but this recipe is really fab. I used black beans and chickpeas because I didn’t have pinto. Also used a combination of beef and chicken stock instead of water as that’s what I had in the fridge. It came out amazing! The chipotle pepper makes a huge difference. This is the best chili I’ve ever made. Love it!
Kaleigh
Toronto
5/20/2023
A great, light recipe for a chilly November night. In addition to the recipe above, I throw in some vegetable stock in place of water for some additional salt and flavor, and some corn and green onions for color. Note that this chili is filling in the moment, but you'll be opening your fridge about an hour after looking for something to snack. Maybe serve the chili with cornbread.
John Patrick
Chicago, IL
11/8/2022
Absolutely loved this vegetarian chili! And so did all my family! I used 3 cups of vegetable broth instead of the 5 cups of water recommended (as was suggested by other reviewers). I will definitely be putting this on repeat ;) (you may want to prep the ingredients ahead of time to save time)
Maggie
7/28/2022
Absolutely delicious! The Chipotle Pepper with Adobe sauce gives a wonderful flavor with just the right amount of heat. I followed the advice of other reviewers and used 3 cups of vegetable broth instead of 5 cups of water. I used one can of pinto beans and one can of red beans. Everything else followed the recipe and it was wonderful! Will make again!
Lisa
Richardson, TX
7/25/2022
Fiery, smoky flavor, might be best chili I’ve made. Instead of 5 cups of water I used 2 cups of chicken broth and left the Fritos for on top only. I immersion blended a small amount of finished chili for texture cuz I forgot to crush the beans. You can use any beans, I only had chickpeas and black beans and in they went. Avocado, sour cream, lime, Fritos on top. Great recipe!
Anonymous
Massachusetts
12/22/2021
I don't normally comment on recipes but this one is so stellar and so unique I just had to echo all the previous rave reviews. I have tried soooo many chili recipes in the past and thought all were just meh. The flavor in this is simply outstanding. My husband could not stop raving about it. He recently went vegan so always looking for flavorful vegan recipes. Thank you for this one!!!
Michele
Berwyn, PA
11/12/2021