This protein-rich, hearty vegetarian white bean chili comes together extremely fast, perfect for making and throwing into the freezer on a weeknight before your river trip.
Ingredients
This vegetarian white bean chili has an unusual spice mix that makes it a real crowd-pleaser. I like to serve it with cornbread, which you can make ahead or make in the Dutch oven in camp (check out our primer on Dutch oven cooking on river trips). This recipe is adapted from Alexandra Caspero’s version at Delish Knowledge, but my variation goes heavy on the white beans (more protein for hungry river trippers). Plus, I added some corn for visual interest and a little flavor kick. Another change: I went heavy on the garlic, used fire-roasted diced canned tomatoes, and used Hatch’s diced green chiles.
Chili is always a great go-to dinner option for a river trip: Not only is it easy to double or triple the recipe for 16+ river trippers but you can also use the leftovers in breakfast burritos the next morning.
How to reheat frozen soups on river trips
You’d be surprised how thoroughly frozen a pre-frozen, vacuum-sealed soup at the bottom of a high-quality cooler can be even after a couple of days on the river. When reheating soups with beans in camp, it’s best to let the soup partially thaw before starting rather than attempting to start from a frozen solid block. I like to pull my frozen chili out of the cooler either in the early afternoon (right after your lunch stop) or right when we get to camp, so it has a chance to start thawing before I put it on the stove.
Here are a few tips for reheating if the soup is still partially frozen:
- Add some liquid to the pot (keep a carton or can of broth in your dry box for this purpose, or you can add some water)
- Be very careful to keep turning the block to avoid burning the bottom
- Keep the flame as low as possible until the soup has thawed enough to create a liquid layer on the bottom—then you can gradually turn the heat up
