Vegetarian Lentil Chili
Nutritious and delicious, this vegetarian lentil chili is a great way to mix up your standard chili recipe and add something new to your meatless Monday repertoire. This recipe is filled with lentils, beans, and veggies to create a dish that is packed full of fiber and plant-based protein.
One-pot meals are the way to go for a warm, hearty, and comforting meal, and although soups are great, stews and chilis are really where it’s at. It’s actually quite easy to make any old chili recipe vegetarian by omitting the meat and adding some extra beans, but swapping the beef for lentils is a great way to take a vegetarian chili to the next level.
Lentils are a highly underrated ingredient; not only are they incredibly inexpensive but they are really easy to use! There are many different varieties of lentils available, but for a chili like this I think puy or French lentils are the way to go. Not only does their texture work well in this vegetarian lentil chili, but they add some much-needed plant-based protein to this staple cold-weather meal.
Vegetarian Lentil Chili
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Chili
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This vegetarian lentil chili is made with French lentils, however, brown lentils would also work well.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 28oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup puy lentils, soaked overnight or at least 1 hour, strained and rinsed
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 14oz can kidney beans, strained and rinsed
- 14oz can black beans, strained and rinsed
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper and carrot, and cook for 3-4 minutes until vegetables are tender.
- Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika and a pinch of sea salt and cook for another minute until fragrant.
- Add rinsed and strained lentils and stir to coat with the vegetable and spice mixture.
- Tip in can of diced tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable broth and stir well to combine.
- Reduce heat, cover with a lid, and allow to simmer for 20 minutes until lentils are tender.
- Add strained and rinsed kidney and black beans and cook for an additional 20 minutes on a low heat, covered with a lid.
- Remove lid and stir to combine. If you find the chili a little liquidy, simply cook uncovered on medium-high heat for an additional 5-10 minutes to reduce it a little.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately with fresh coriander, or store in the fridge for up to 5 days or the freezer for serval months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 360 calories
- Sugar: 12 grams
- Fat: 7 grams
- Carbohydrates: 62 grams
- Fiber: 15 grams
- Protein: 18 grams
Keywords: black beans, kidney beans, lentils, best, easy, vegetarian, vegan
Hey Red, do you think this could be made in a slow cooker too? Thanks!
I don’t see why not! Definitely worth trying. It might be a little liquidy, but you could always just boil it down a little if it is 🙂
Made this tonight. It’s so delicious! I didn’t have tomato paste so I used one can diced and one can stewed tomato’s with olive oil and basil. Sounded logical to me and it came out perfect!! Yum
Wonderful, Stacie! Thanks for sharing, so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I just finished cooking this and it smelled sooo good that I tasted it while it was still a little too hot, but it was totally worth it! lol. YUM! I didn’t have any black beans on hand so I just doubled the kidney beans and it came out perfect. My boyfriend (who isn’t really a fan of beans) absolutely loves this veggie chili as well. Thank you so much for sharing your delicious recipe!! Will definitely be making this again very soon. 🙂
Wonderful Lauren, thanks so much for sharing! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
This is delicious! Just made a pot for the family!
Thank you, I’ll be making this again!
Fantastic! I’m so happy to hear it and thank you so much for sharing!
Wonderful, I’m so happy you like it! 🙂
Just made athis for dinner! DELICIOUS!!!
I’ll be making this again for sure!
Thank you!
Definitely a keeper!
★★★★★
Happy to hear it!
I don’t have red kidney beans what can I substitute them with.
Additional black beans, navy beans, or white beans will work well!