Fall

Buffalo-Style Quinoa Chili

by:
August 25, 2013
4.6
5 Ratings
Buffalo-Style Quinoa Chili
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 2 to 4
Author Notes

A vegetarian (and easily vegan) buffalo chili that has everything you want in a chicken wing, thrown together in a chili bowl! —Stacy McCann

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: Stacy is a writer and a slow food enthusiast from St. Louis.
WHAT: A 30-minute chili with a serious kick. (Can we capitalize both serious and kick?)
HOW: This will be one of the simplest soups you'll ever make. Just simmer, people.
WHY WE LOVE IT: Sometimes we just want a lot of heat, and for those times, this is the dish we want to make. As a handy bonus, you can whip this up in about the time it takes to crack a beer. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 white onion, diced
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • one 8-ounce can tomato sauce
  • one 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 cup cooked black beans
  • one 14-ounce can hominy
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1/2 cup Frank's red hot sauce, or to taste
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Blue cheese, for topping
Directions
  1. Heat the olive oil over medium in a saucepan and, once hot, add the diced onion and celery to the pan. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer cook for 15 minutes. Add in black beans, hominy, quinoa, Frank’s, smoked paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook 15 more minutes, until the flavors have melded.
  3. To serve, ladle chili into broiler-safe bowls. Top with blue cheese and place under broiler until cheese melts, 3 to 5 minutes.
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41 Reviews

Taylor S.
Taylor S. October 13, 2023
I’ve made this so many times and it’s always delicious! Last night the only change I made was barley in place of quinoa because it’s what I had on hand, and I think that’s my new favorite way of making this dish.
 
Pumpkiness
Pumpkiness March 1, 2021
Made this pretty much to recipe and my husband and I both loved it!!! One thing I'll change next time is substituting another can of black or kidney beans for the hominy. We love hominy, but in this case it just didn't seem to add anything.
 
Kaya
Kaya April 9, 2019
Quinoa is one of my favorite things to make! on your website there are so many options to choose from! its great :)
 
Taylor S.
Taylor S. October 14, 2018
SO GOOD! Very different from anything I've made before. I substituted frozen corn for the hominy and pinto beans for the black beans while only using 1/3 cup Frank's Red Hot instead of the called-for 1/2. Definitely will be making this again :)
 
Cheryl
Cheryl December 26, 2017
Really enjoyed this dis. I used a lot of onion and more celery. After those sauteed, I added 2 cloves garlic and the dried spices (added chili powder too). I couldn't find black beans in my cupboard, so used canned red kidney beans, THEN I found the black beans, so added them too. There didn't seem to be enough tomato now so I found a can of petite diced tomatoes and added them. Instead of hominy, I used 1/2 bag fire roasted frozen corn. As suggested, I used 1/4 c. Franks + a little more since I added more beans and tomatoes. I am going to try the masa harina next time, instead of quinoa, serving the chili over quinoa in the bowl.
 
Kerry G.
Kerry G. August 4, 2017
This one is a keeper. Definitely a perfect template that stands up on its own, but shines with additions as well. I bulked it up with extra quinoa, two cans beans, some ground chicken, one large can of whole tomatoes, garlic and some ground chills . I love hominy, but didn't have any on hand... I stole a Rick bayless trick and added a couple heaping tablespoons masa harina flour
 
Samantha
Samantha March 20, 2017
I thought this was a winner. I don't like having small amounts of leftover ingredients, so I used the whole can of beans (just added a little more broth to compensate), and subbed canned corn for the hominy. I don't think I could have eaten this chili without reducing the Frank's by half. It was definitely spicy, but the blue cheese was the greatest foil. I'm definitely going to make this one again!
 
houlaNOLA
houlaNOLA January 12, 2017
This is a delicious vegetarian chili option! I eat a lot of veggie chili and it's nice to have some variety. I did make a few tweaks - I cooked dried black beans first (not a fan of the texture of canned/boxed/bagged cooked beans) and used about 3 cups instead of 1, I added my entire 24oz can of hominy, used fire roasted diced tomatoes and used only 1/4c of Frank's. It's pretty mild, but I can always add more hot sauce to each serving. The bleu cheese is a nice twist too.
 
Gal
Gal May 18, 2016
Really fantastic recipe! Healthy, easy, hearty meal.
I didn't have a can of hominy on hand when I made this last night so I used a can of corn.
A small rice side dish matched and complemented this fantastic chili, but it can be served alone as a full main meal. Wonderful!
 
Zinsu
Zinsu May 2, 2016
So good. Great for vegetarians who miss wings. I used corn instead of hominy and didn't broil anything (who has broiler-proof bowls?). Otherwise, made as directed. It was pretty spicy but I love Frank's so all was well.
 
Jes A.
Jes A. January 31, 2016
I made this last week for a group of people and it was a hit!
I used tapatio hot sauce because I could not find Franks (I'm in Los Angeles). I doubled the recipe and used an 8oz jar... too much, so just 4 oz works for a doubled recipe. I substituted out the hominy for a half can of black beans.
I made this recipe again last week and I have just made it for the third time now. I always double it because my husband loves it and so do I! I don't like bleu cheese, so we just a dab of greek yogurt.
 
Keith
Keith December 28, 2015
I made this for a friend who can’t eat corn, so I substituted black eye peas, which was pretty darn good. I also made it with more traditional chile spices rather than with Frank’s, so I guess I really didn’t make this dish. It was very good, and a bit of blue cheese on top was excellent. Rave reviews all around.
 
db7
db7 December 21, 2015
Such a great, simple chill recipe! I am more of a Valentina's hot sauce fan so I added that instead. I used about a 1/3 of the amount, so I could add ancho, chill and a little cocoa powder. Chili is so forgiving to play with that way; it was still very spicy but the heat was rich and complex. Thank you!
 
hkrf1017
hkrf1017 January 31, 2015
Made this exactly as written and it is excellent. Did not add blue cheese. I feel like if you need ranch with your buffalo wings then add the cheese. I did not think it was "too acidic" or "too spicy" - it is still milder than hit buffalo wings. My husband, who is a heat lover, says with 1/2 cup Franks it definitely tastes like buffalo wings but is not too hot and you could definitely add more.

Highly recommend. Thanks for sharing this.
 
tota
tota December 16, 2014
Not familiar with Franks' Hot Sauce, is this easily found in San Francisco area? Or can I substitute something else? We certainly have plenty of hot sauces out here!
 
The P.
The P. October 6, 2014
Winner! Keeper!
 
bistrobistro
bistrobistro May 8, 2014
So delicious and super easy. I really cheated and used my slow cooker and just added extra spices (I did sautee the celery and onion).
 
Araceli
Araceli April 21, 2014
Wow, definitely going to be making this sometime this week! I usually do a similar chili without quinoa and I happen to have an unused bag of quinoa already.
 
oldkitcheninflatbush
oldkitcheninflatbush March 22, 2014
I made this tonight. I love the concept. I did add chipotle in adobo instead of the paprika. I also roasted some poblano peppers and threw them in. I used the pozole (hominy) and I had some frozen corn so I roasted it in a pan and threw that in too. I used cheddar instead of blue cheese (didn't have and didn't fell like running to the store). Served with corn tortillas and a dollop of sour cream. Thanks so much for the base and the idea! Brilliant.
 
Marsha G.
Marsha G. March 16, 2014
This was okay. Definitely spicy, even though I used 1/4 c. hot sauce. Don't leave off the blue cheese. You need the tang and the creaminess to cut through all the heat.