With something as big as cutting out tomatoes, it's better to start with a whole new recipe rather than trying to work off of one that depended on them.

In general, I find that red bell peppers give a similar consistency to tomato in puree, but they're sweeter and less acidic. You also need a good pureer. Ideally something like a VitaMix, but good stick blender would be okay for small batches. A good food mill would work, but with a lot more effort. It's good for a pasta sauce, spread on bread and similar, and if you cook it down, it might make a good sub for a spoonful of tomato paste, but I just don't know about chili.

I think rather than trying to go anywhere near what one thinks of about a chili with a tomato base, I'd go for a whole different profile that doesn't have a vegetable base. You can make a chili like a ragout or any other stew. For instance, for a chili con carne, you can roast beef bones until they're well caramelized in the oven and put them right in the chili pot rather than making stock first. Brown the meat first, then add your base vegetables (onion, garlic, chilis, etc.), bones and some stock or water, and cook it down. Adjust the seasonings you'd ordinarily use (chili powders, cumin, Mexican oregano, etc.), to go with the meaty flavor, and add beans if you like. Adding a little concentrated red pepper puree to something like that (or just including a couple of sweet peppers) might be a lot better than trying to build on a base of it. You could do something similar with turkey, but poultry can't be cooked as long, so the stock should be made separately, and the vegetables cooked down before you add the meat.

If you want more of a bean chili than a meat one, you can do it similarly, in broth (vegetable broth is fine), but puree some of the beans to thicken and rich it up.

Any chili can also be thickened with a handful or two of masa.

what type tomatoes and why must you abstain.

my mom can't tolerate the red varieties but yellow, and white ones work amazingly well as replacement for the red varieties.

Barb, it's my understanding that true "Texas style chili" has neither tomatoes nor beans. Now I can live without tomatoes, but I'm from the Midwest. Chili just needs to have beans, LOL. I either add beans to this or serve it over rice, because it just screams to me that it needs a starch! It's amazing served over a baked potato too!

The recipe is from Bon Appetit, but RiverRat posted it here about 7 or 8 years ago, and it's just as good as it was then. I've made "cheater" versions with leftover roast beef and with ground venison. I've added beans, I've left out the mole, I've left out the masa because I didn't have any, I've cut the ancho powder way, WAY down because I'm a wuss. It's all still good and no tomatoes. Elery likes his with cheese and sour cream, I just want a slice of bread and butter or a grilled cheese sandwich. It freezes well too, so a big batch is good. it's also a great topping for nachos or, as I mentioned, a baked potato topping, in which case it's all I need for dinner!

Beef Chili with Ancho, Mole, and Cumin

8 servings.

Chili:
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
4 bacon slices, chopped
1 4-pound boneless chuck roast, trimmed, cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
4 (or more) large garlic cloves, chopped
3 1/2 cups (or more) beef broth, divided
1/4 cup pure ancho chili powder
1/4 cup Texas-style chili powder blend (such as Gebhardt)
1 tablespoon mole paste
2 teaspoons (or more) salt
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
1 to 2 tablespoons masa (corn tortilla mix)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Garnishes:
Warm, freshly cooked or drained canned black beans
Chopped white, red, and/or green onions
Grated cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, or queso fresco
Sliced fresh or pickled jalapeño chiles
Sour cream
Tortilla chips or oyster crackers

Toast cumin seeds in heavy small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, stirring often, 4 to 5 minutes. Cool; grind finely in spice mill or in mortar with pestle.

Saute bacon in large pot over medium-high heat until brown and crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to large bowl.

Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Working in 4 batches, saute beef in drippings in pot until browned, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer beef and most drippings to bowl with bacon.

Add onion and garlic to pot. Saute until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup broth to pot. Bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits. Return beef, bacon, and any accumulated juices to pot. Mix in ancho chili powder, Texas-style chili powder, mole paste, 2 teaspoons salt, vinegar, oregano, and cumin seeds. Add 3 cups broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to very low and simmer gently uncovered until beef is very tender, stirring occasionally and adding more broth by 1/2 cupfuls if chili is dry, about 2 1/2 hours or more. Mix in masa by teaspoonfuls to thicken chili or add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls to thin. Season chili with salt, pepper, and cayenne, if desired. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cool 1 hour. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm over low heat.)

Set out garnishes as desired. Ladle chili into bowls and serve.

Maybe try a chili verde, and sub the tomatoes for bell peppers.

Or instead of chili, make a curry.

Barb, a lot depends on what you can eat without any problems. As plllog mentioned, red bell pepper is often used as a sub for tomatoes because you can still get that nice red color. However, not everyone digests bell peppers well. And if you're trying to stay away from nightshade veggies (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc), then red bells wouldn't be a good choice. Same problem with John's suggestion because chili verde contains green peppers (hot or mild). But if you can handle the green peppers, chili verde is delicious.

Annie's right about real authentic chili. It doesn't have tomatoes but is loaded with dried chilies. Her recipe sounds really good. But maybe making a chili flavored stew is not what you're looking for.

I've been using Ann T's recipe for TACO BEEF for several years now. It's just ground beef browned with a bit of onion and garlic, flavored with chili powder, and simmered with beef broth. The directions call for a half hour covered simmer and then uncovering it to let the liquid evaporate. But there's no reason why you couldn't add a bit more beef broth and forgo the evaporation. It's very mild in flavor but still chili based.

As for soups, I guess the best you can do is use either chicken, vegetable, or beef broth. Also start with a foundation of chopped onion, celery, & carrot (mirepoix) and add some garlic. If you can tolerate red pepper, that would be a nice addition too. Same with green bell pepper. For the missing acid from tomatoes, a bit of vinegar or lemon juice might help.

John's suggestion about curry is a good one. You can find mild curry blends available almost everywhere. You could cook them in broth or add some coconut milk for a change of pace.

I love fresh cold tomatoes but cooked, meh, not so much, actually, not at all!

New recipes that don't include toms are a better route. I use a lot of authentic Mexican recipes (such as using tomatillos = green chili enchiladas instead of red) and Northern Italian recipes, even Greek recipes (lots of yummy olives), no toms. I even make white pizza, which makes my husband shudder. He thinks toms have to be in everything, breakfast to dinner to snacks. I made him his fav beef and veggie stew/soup and put in some toasted ground New Mexican chilies instead of toms and a bit of old red wine. The right color was there and I didn't tell him I subbed. He loved it.

Nancy

When I was on a low acid diet, I made white chili instead of red. But as others have said, it had chilies in it which are in the nightshade family. So depends on if you are avoiding nightshade family members due to arthritis (potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes and green peppers) or acid foods (tomatoes, lemons and many other fruits). BTW, after avoiding all acids for months, I realized that it was only certain acids that bothered me. I had to give up tea and red wine, and diet soda pop, but tomatoes I am fine with, and orange juice too, as long as I don't overdo it.

Usually if tomatoes are out, many other foods are on that list. Did you have a full sensitivity test or just following a reaction you are having. ?

A good substitution sauce is exactly the chili recipe mentioned, no tomatoes. Really good and good used just like you would tomato sauce. Over pasta etc.

Roasting in the oven on a sheet pan...onion, red pepper, garlic, celery, carrots, pumpkin or winter squash, sweet potato, even a beet...then blending with stock in a cuisinart or blender to a consistency you like...is another good sauce option. Add beans or red lentils. Some of the veggies can be left in larger pieces. Saute mushrooms and/or ground beef for a richer sauce.

Just leave out anything that fall in that sensitivity list.

Add a couple dates or prunes or honey to add some natural sweetness that you might miss from the tomatoes.