Vegan Green Chile Stew

Vegan Green Chile Stew is the ultimate comfort food for any vegan who loves New Mexican green chile!

What is Vegan Green Chile Stew?

When most people hear chile, they think of Texas chile which is a thick bean stew with beans, meat, and chile powder. New Mexican chile is a totally different thing.
For Green chile stew, I’m talking about roasted green chile peppers from Hatch NM. These are anaheim peppers that are grown in the Hatch Valley along the Rio Grande near Hatch NM. (The climate in this specific region give the peppers their unique flavor).

If you have ever been in New Mexico in the fall, you have smelled the green chiles roasting from seemingly every street corner. It kind of smells like someone burnt their peppers while smoking a joint. The smell used to make me gag when I first moved to NM, but now it reminds me of the magical taste of green chile stew!

What is the difference between red and green chiles?

If they don’t roast the chiles, they string them up into ristras. The chiles turn red as they dry out in the sun. One may think that they are nothing more than an iconic NM decoration, but the ristras are functional to dry out the peppers to be used to make their equally popular red chile dishes.

How can I find green chiles?

I went to the University of New Mexico and then lived in Albuquerque, NM for 10 years. I loved every minute of it, but we moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when my first child was born to be closer to family. I thought that I may never smell those chiles roasting or eat fresh roasted green chiles again. That is, until 5 years ago when a local farm sent box truck to Hatch NM and returned with a truck full of Hatch green chiles to host a chile festival!  That beautiful smell was in the air again, and I got to enjoy seeing my children  eating the chiles fresh out of the roaster!

I raced home and used our fresh roasted green chiles for my vegan green chile stew, but if you don’t have that luxury,  you can also use green chiles from a can or a jar.  The peppers range greatly in spiciness, so you want to adjust the amount of chile peppers you use to the spice level that you like.  I like to use about 1 cup of medium chopped peppers.  If you use extra hot, it overwhelms the roasted chile flavor in my opinion.

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VEGAN GREEN CHILE STEW

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

A creamy authentic New Mexican green chile "chicken" stew!  A hearty dairy free and gluten free soup.

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: gluten free, New Mexican, vegan

Servings: 12

Author: Monica | The Hidden Veggies

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp mild flavored oil
• 1 onion peeled and diced
• 1 cup mushrooms sliced
• 1 small zucchini cubed
• 2 tsp salt
• 8 cups water
• 2 Not Chicken bouillon cubes or replace water with vegetable broth
• 1 cup chopped green chiles medium heat
• 4 medium potatoes peeled and diced into bite sized cubes
• 3 cups PLAIN soy milk or other plant based milk of choice
• ½ package of Butler Soy Curls or 1 package of any imitation chicken strips

To thicken the stew:

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• ½ cup white flour or 1/3 cup GF flour without sorghum or garbanzo beans

Or for gluten free/ fat free:

• ½ cup corn starch mixed in 1 cup of water

Instructions

1. Sauté onion in 1 TBS of oil for about 3 minutes (for oil free option, just add all veggies to water with bullion and green chile and simmer for 20 minutes).

2. Add zucchini and mushrooms and sprinkle with salt

3. Sauté for about 5 more minutes until they start to release their juices.

4. Add water, Not Chick’n bouillon cubes, and chopped green chiles. (reduce water by 1 cup if not using Soy Curls)

5. Peel and cube potatoes and boil them separately until just tender throughout. Drain, rinse and add to the soup pot.

6. Heat soup boil then turn down heat to low.

7. Add Butler soy curls or other chicken strip product of choice.

8. Simmer for about 5 more minutes, then add the milk.

To thicken the stew with a roux:

1. Mix the oil and flour in the bottom of another soup pot.

2. Heat over medium heat until oil and flour mixture bubbles.

3. Scoop out liquid from the soup with a ladle and add it to the roux one at a time stirring well between each scoop. (It will be very thick at first).

4. Stir until the stew just begins to bubble and then turn off heat.

To thicken with corn starch:

1. To thicken with corn starch and water mixture. Mix water and corn starch and pour it into the hot soup, and stir well.

2. Stir until the stew just begins to bubble and then turn off heat.

Recipe Notes

• Green chiles vary greatly in levels of spiciness.  Add 1/2 and then taste test to see how spicy they are.  Remember, once you add the milk and thickener, your soup will lose some spice.  
• To make this oil free, omit sauteing vegetables and use the cornstarch method. 

I always start with sautéing onion and then add some other veggies that we like, usually zucchini and mushrooms. (Chop the zucchini up super small and your picky eater won’t even know it’s there). Since traditional Green Chile Stew has chicken in it, I use a vegan Not-Chick’n Cubes bullion to give it a chicken flavor. (for fat free option, just add all veggies to water with bullion and green chile and simmer for 20 minutes, then continue the recipe according to directions).

Next, I chop up the chiles. If you are using freshly roasted chiles, you will need to peel most of the tough skin off the chiles and remove the stem and most of the seeds. The seeds of the peppers are the hottest part, so if you want a super spicy stew, you can leave them attached. (However, they have a tough texture, you don’t want too many).

Let your broth simmer to infuse the green chile taste throughout. If you want green chile “chicken” stew, add a vegan chicken product like chicken flavored satain, chick’n strips, or Butler Soy Curls. I used Butler Soy curls because they are gluten free and have a great texture and flavor. They can be poured directly into the broth and will soak up the delicious flavor.

Cube potatoes and boil them separately until just barely cooked. Drain the potatoes and then add them to the pot. Stir in your PLAIN dairy free milk and your almost done.
The last step is to thicken your stew. You can use a traditional roux, or if you want it gluten free or fat free, simply use corn starch and water. The traditional roux will give you a heartier stew, but both ways are delicious!

Let the stew simmer on low for a little bit longer to allow all of the flavors to mix and then enjoy!  It is one of those meals that tastes even better the next day after all of the flavors have mixed together!

Pin the Vegan Green Chile Stew recipe for later:

Love spicy soups?  Try this delicious vegan Tom Yum!