With veggie chilli and bolognese, it's not really the texture or presence of meat, it's the taste. Bolognese just needs that pancetta and ideally a bit of chicken liver to really get going. Otherwise it's just tomato sauce. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not the rich ragu that bolognese demands. Ironically, I find it benefits from using minimum quantities for meat – less is more, the meat is more flavouring than substance, it really should be a sauce to coat your pasta. People always make the mistake of sticking a pile of mince in it. Not needed.
Carbonara also works well with a small amount of pancetta or smoky bacon to flavour the sauce. Fry it up till crisp while cooking the pasta, tip pasta in the pan with the pancetta (off the heat), add the egg and parmesan, stir and serve. One rasher is easily enough.
Chilli though, I find does need a pile of meat. It's a meaty dish. Otherwise, it just ends up as bean stew. Nothing against that either, but it's not proper chilli, which needs beef in quantity (also some bacon). Possibly I was an American for too long.