Photos and Winners from the 11th Annual Vegan Chili Cook-Off

The contestants of the 11th Annual Vegan Chili Cook-Off brought the heat! Over 240 attendees savored vegan chilis created by community and professional contestants while being introduced to animal protection, environmental, and food waste issues.

Many thanks to all of the contestants, including J. Selby’s, Reverie, Root to Rise, Trio Plant-based, Vegan Affairs, and community cooks for creating amazing vegan chili for this friendly competition, showing how delicious, satisfying, and easy to prepare vegan food can be.

The winners of this year’s cook-off are:

**In the Community Category:** Marina and Liberty Kirkeide!

**In the Professional** **Category:** J. Selby’s!

Couldn’t get enough of J. Selby’s winning chili at the cook-off? Get their recipe here!

Reverie—Outstanding Creative Chili
Root to Rise—Outstanding Wholesome Chili
Trio Plant-based—Outstanding Spicy Chili
Vegan Affairs MN—Outstanding Mock Meat Chili

This event would not have been the success it was without the support of our stellar 40+ volunteers and Chili Cook-Off planning team. Thank you for your support with planning, setting up, cleaning up, making extra chili, and more––THANK YOU!

Thank you to Kakookies, who donated cookies for attendees to enjoy. Thanks also to Hope’s Vegan Kitchen, J. Selby’s, Plnt Bsd Smoothie Bowls, Reverie, and The Herbivorous Butcher, who generously donated to the gift basket. We’d like to extend additional appreciation to Fur Free Minneapolis, Spring Farm Sanctuary, and University of Minnesota student groups Nutritious U Food Pantry, Environmental Student Association, University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project, Disabled Student Cultural Center, and oSTEM for their support of the event and information they provided to guests!

Finally, thank you to everyone who came to join in the fun. Whether you are new to vegan food or have been a part of the local vegan community for a long time, we hope you found inspiration and support in moving further down the path of compassionate living.

You can’t remember an event without photos. Big thanks to A.K. Vincent for taking photos at the cook-off! Check out the photos they took at the cook-off below!

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We hope you’ll join us at Spreading Our Wings: CAA’s Annual Banquet, at the Clarence W. Wigington Pavilion at Harriet Island Park on Saturday, March 21. With a scrumptious vegan dinner catered by Seed Cafe, a complimentary drink, and cupcakes from Vegan East, you won’t want to miss this celebration of making a difference for farmed animals. Get your tickets today!