Chipotle Black Bean Skillet! Quick to assemble and easy to customize, it shines when served with fluffy rice, quinoa, or a side salad, turning a simple pantry staple into a crowd-pleasing, protein-packed entrée.
This Chipotle Black Bean Skillet is the ultimate cozy bowl for cool nights, a warming, rich skillet that bursts with hearty black beans and aromatic spices. Each bite delivers depth from smoky chipotle blended with cumin, oregano, and garlic, inviting you to savor a comforting, meatless main that feels satisfyingly hearty.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
We are huge fans of chipotle, and this black bean skillet is a celebration of that love. If you’re a fellow chipotle enthusiast, you’ll smell the smoky heat as soon as the pan hits the stove, and you’ll know you’re in for something special. You gotta give this one a try—it’s a wholesome bowl that feels both comforting and exciting every time you dig in.
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Chipotle Black Bean Skillet is warming, rich, and full of hearty black beans flavored in deliciously Southwestern herbs and spices with an accent on chipotle spice. This is perfect comfort food filled with aromatic spices and heartiness. Pair it with rice, quinoa, or a simple salad for the perfect meal.
- Tenderness of the Onions, Green Bell Peppers and Celery: Be sure to get the onions, green bell peppers and celery to the desired tenderness before adding the beans.
- Spices: You can easily ramp up the spices if you wish to suit your own personal preferences.
- Cocoa (Cacao) Powder: The cocoa (cacao) powder enhances the depth and richness of the flavor, creating a more complex, savory taste. You won’t be able to discern the specific flavor. You can leave it out if you wish, but we believe it takes the dish to the next level.
- Almond Butter: The almond butter gives some extra dimension to the dish. You won’t taste it as ‘almond butter’, but that little bit of fat from the almond butter does wonders to the dish.
- Almond Butter Substitutions: You can substitute with your favorite nut butter, seed butter, or tahini.
- Amount of Sea Salt: Our family was completely divided over the amount of sea salt that was used in this recipe. Some felt it needed additional sea salt seasoning. We ultimately landed on 1 teaspoon of sea salt.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
- Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered air-tight container.
This dish freezes well.
Pantry Products:
- Unsweetened Cocoa (Cacao) Powder: We used Navitas Organic Cacao Powder. Feel free to use your favorite cocoa (cacao) powder.
- Almond Butter: We used Artisana Organics Raw Vegan Almond Butter. Feel free to use your favorite raw almond butter in this recipe. Read the label, make sure the only ingredient is raw almonds. Do not use a salted or sweetened almond butter.
- Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients. Feel free to use your favorite vegetable broth.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Large skillet
If you try this tasty dish, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Chipotle Black Bean Skillet
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 35-40 Minutes
- Total Time: 50 Minutes
- Yield: 4 Cups 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Chipotle Black Bean Skillet is the ultimate cozy bowl for cool nights, a warming, rich skillet that bursts with hearty black beans and aromatic spices.
Ingredients
Skillet Ingredients:
- 1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
- 3 celery ribs, small dice
- 1 green bell pepper, small dice (or red, orange, or yellow)
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth *
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons almond butter *
- 1 teaspoon lime juice (+/-)
- ½ teaspoon cocoa powder *
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika (+/-)
- ½ teaspoon chipotle powder (+/-)
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano (or regular oregano)
- 1 teaspoon cumin (+/-) *
- ¼ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
- 1 bay leaf
Other Ingredients:
- 2 – [ 15.5 oz. cans ] black beans, drained and rinsed
Optional Toppings:
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Chopped avocados
Instructions
- Please all the Spice/Herb Ingredients (except the bay leaf) into a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
- In a large skillet, add the diced onions, celery, and bell peppers, sauté over medium-high heat for 7 to 10 minutes to soften, add a splash of water, if needed to avoid burning.
- Then lower the heat to medium, push the onions, celery, and bell peppers to the sides of the skillet. Add the minced garlic and tomato paste to the center of the skillet, sauté, stir constantly for one minute.
- Next add all the remaining Skillet Ingredients (except the cocoa powder) and the Spice/Herb Mix, bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer, add the cocoa powder, stir to incorporate, tuck in the bay leaf and cook on medium-low for 7 to 10 minutes or until the celery, onions, and bell peppers are perfectly tender.
- After 7 minutes, then add the black beans, stir well to incorporate, heat on medium-low temperature and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Check the sauce thickness, if needed add more water, up to ¼ cup) to create more sauce, if needed, stir well to incorporate.
- Simmer on low for several minutes, remove the bay leaf (discard), then serve topped with freshly chopped cilantro/avocados or coupled with your favorite grain like quinoa or rice, or with a simple salad.
Notes
Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Servings: 4 (makes 4 cups)
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