Vegan Chili Cheese Fries

Our Vegan Chili Cheese Fries are a delicious way to warm up your body, and the best part, they are quite healthy too!

It's normal to feel like eating more comfort food during this time of the year. Days are getting shorter and darker. It's cold and rainy outside, at least here in Ireland, and our body is asking for warm, hearty and yummy food.

So, how are our chili cheese fries healthy? Firstly, we briefly boil the potatoes before adding them onto a baking tray. We add a few tablespoons of olive oil and leave the potatoes for a good while baking in the oven until they are crunchy and ready to eat. Baking the potatoes will save you from using (and eating) loads of oil.

Our chili beans are also made from scratch, using fresh ingredients. Bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic and beans, an amazing source of fibre. Our chili beans are cooked with cannelloni and kidney beans, but you can choose your favourite beans for this dish, anyone will just fine. We'll tell you all about making the chili beans in this recipe, but if you want more information, have a look at our Chili Beans Recipe.

To finish the dish, we add a homemade salsa verde on the top of the chili cheese fries. Our salsa verde is made with fresh cilantro or coriander, a fresh green chili, olive oil, vinegar, lime juice and salt.

For our Vegan chili cheese fries, we use vegan cheese from Tesco, Ireland. Feel feel to use your favourite vegan cheese brand. Another option would be making a cheese dip to go on top of the fries. If you have extra time, have a look at our Vegan Cheese Dip, it's delicious and made with natural ingredients.

How to make Vegan Chili Cheese Fries

• For this recipe, we use Irish rooster potatoes. Yukon gold potatoes would be the most similar and will work perfectly fine for this recipe. Clean and cut the potatoes into big wedges. Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes and then place them on a baking tray. Coat with a few tablespoons of oil and bake for about 40 minutes. We place a silicone baking mat on our tray before so the potatoes don't stick.
• While the potatoes are baking, prepare the chili beans. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic, stir fry for a couple of minutes until the onion has softened. Finely chop and add the red peppers, cayenne or chili flakes, cumin and smoked paprika. Cook for one more minute, add a tin of tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes and mix well. Add the beans and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Adjust with salt and pepper to taste.
• Make the salsa verde by adding all the ingredients into a blender. Cilantro, fresh green chili, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lime juice and salt. Blend until smooth consistency.
• Time to serve! Place the baked potatoes on a plate. Add the chili beans on the top of the potatoes. Drizzle some salsa verde, and grate your favourite vegan cheese on the top. If you prefer your cheese melted, place under the grill for a few seconds.

Vegan Chili Cheese Fries for Toddlers and Kids

Our recipe can be made toddler and kid-friendly. Our 19-month-old toddler loves this meal. He was not a big fan of beans for a while, but now he calls them corn and ends up asking for more. Toddler life I guess! Potatoes are normally a favorite among kids so this dish is the perfect option to give your little ones a treat without it being unhealthy.

The potatoes are baked in the oven and the chili beans are packed full of fibre and fresh ingredients. Instead of vegan cheese, for our son Luca, we add yeast flakes on the top. Of course, skip the chili flakes and spicy smoked paprika for toddlers and instead add sweet paprika. You can have a look at our recipe for Chili Beans for Toddlers and Kids for more serving ideas.

Serving Suggestions

Vegan chili cheese fries are a perfect meal to serve when having people over. Serve it as an appetizer as an alternative to the Classic Loaded Nachos, or even as a snack.

Perfect for movie nights! If you have a bit of extra time, instead of making popcorn, try making this delicious dish for your next movie night.

As a main dish. We enjoy having cheese fries as a main dish and our recipe can totally be served as a main dish. It's hearty and packed full of nutrients.

If you have any leftovers, keep it in the fridge using an airtight container. It will stay good for 3-4 days and you can reheat it using a microwave. The chili bean can be frozen too.

If you tried our recipe, please leave a comment or tag us on Instagram @Sixhungryfeet. We are always happy to see your creations!