This deliciously easy vegan lentil chili is sure to impress! With stove-top, Instant Pot, and slow cooker versions all in this post, you can whip it up any way you choose with minimal effort. Whoo!
Even better? This tasty chili can be made in one pot! Less effort + less dishes + a whole lot of veggie action = one ridiculously happy mama!
Wait…
Are you freaking out? You’re totally freaking out, aren’t you?
The lack of cheese on top of this chili has got to be shocking at least a few of y’all right now, especially those that have been with me long enough to know that cheese is basically it’s very own food group around here!
While I do love an extra cheesy pot-o-chili in my face once the temperature drops, I also need to fit into my pants on a regular basis. This healthy chili is a great way to veg it up and slim it down during the cold Fall and Winter months.
Absolutely feel free to jazz up this hearty recipe with a little bit of cheese if you’re of the vegetarian variety. Same goes for my T-rex friends – I’ll allow you to add a mountain of cheese as long as you promise me you’ll go veggie today!
Four card carrying carnivores gave this recipe an enthusiastic thumbs up, so let’s ditch the meat and slam some veggies today, shall we?
Because we all have a different chili cooking method of choice (and different appliances handy!) I’m going to go balls to the wall and include stove top, slow cooker, and electric pressure cooker instructions for this recipe. Crazy awesome right?!
Each method certainly has it’s perk.
I love using my Instant Pot for chilis and soups because I get slow cooked, well developed flavor in a fraction of the time. The traditional stove top method takes about the same time prep and cook, but I always suggest adding some extra time to simmer and mingle *or* you can cheat and make it the night before to serve the following day.
Leftover chili is the absolute best and this recipe is no exception. I guard my leftovers fiercely; they’re just so good!
As for the slow cooker, you have to carve out more time for cooking, but have the ease of making this while you’re at work or running errands. The cool thing about many newer slow cookers and even the Instant Pot, is the auto shutoff feature. My pressure cooker switches to warm when it’s done so I don’t have to drop what I’m doing and rush back to it. My food is hot and ready when I am!
I know, I know. I’m totally playing favorites here. I just LOVE my Instant pot! Plus once this delicious vegan lentil chili is done, I can toss some rice in it and have fluffy white rice in 8-12 minutes. YES!
Vegan Lentil Chili
A legume-packed twist on my popular Quinoa Chili recipe that we absolutely fell in love with!
No matter which cooking method you choose, this healthy vegan lentil chili is sure to warm you up on a cold night. Grab a bowl, add a mountain of your favorite toppings, and get ready to rock your taste buds!
Vegan Lentil Chili
Ingredients
- 2 cups yellow onion diced
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1 large green bell pepper diced
- 1 large red bell pepper diced
- 2 jalapeños plus extra to garnish
- 2-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup corn frozen or fresh
- 15 oz can spicy chili beans with sauce
- 1 cup black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 2 TBSP chili powder
- 1 TBSP cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp smoked paprika plus extra to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups veggie broth
- 1 cup dried red lentils
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes
EXTRAS:
- diced jalapenos or cayenne pepper for a kick
- veggie broth or tomato sauce to adjust thickness if desired
- all the tasty toppings your heart desires!
TOPPING INSPIRATION:
- sliced or diced jalapeños
- chopped red onion
- fresh pico de gallo or salsa
- sliced avocado
- fresh cilantro
- sour cream or greek yogurt if vegetarian/t-rex
- shredded cheddar cheese if vegetarian/t-rex
- crushed tortilla chips
- corn chips
- corn bread crumbles
- and so much more...
Instructions
- Below are the electric pressure cooker instructions. For stove top or slow cooker instructions, see blog post below.
- First chop your veggies and measure out the ingredients.
- Switch your pressure cooker to the saute funtion and saute 1 TBSP oil with onion for 3-5 minutes, until edges are golden and browned.
- Then add garlic, peppers, and corn, and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes to soften slightly.
- Add lentils, veggie broth, chili beans, black beans and spices.
- Set to high pressure for 15 minutes and allow to come to pressure.
- Allow a natural pressure release.
- Lastly, stir in crushed tomatoes and adjust broth/tomato/seasoning to taste, adding more of what you prefer to get your ideal thickness and flavor punch.
- I added the crushed tomatoes at the end to avoid overstuffing my pressure cooker and score a quicker cook time as well. Since my crushed tomatoes were canned (LOVE muir glen's organic tomato basil) they took zero time to heat up once swirled into my piping hot pot-o-chili. Sweet!
- If you want to dive in sooner, feel free to manually release the pressure on your Instant Pot by flipping the little lever from seal to vent. Worst case scenario, if your chili needs a little extra time you can seal it back up and give the veggies extra time to soften. Pressure cookers are pretty forgiving like that!
- Add all your favorite toppings and dive in!
Notes
Nutrition
My stove top and pressure cooker versions of this chili looked dramatically different. The lentils held shape on the stove, but the pressure cooker pulverized them into “ground lentils” – kind of like ground beef minus the moo-cow! They were creamy and delicious and I couldn’t get enough!
The pulverized lentil version would be stellar for anyone trying to convince a lentil skeptic that they do indeed love these versatile legumes. Instant Pot for the win!
No Instant Pot? No problem!
If you don’t have a pressure cooker simply use the stove top or slow cooker instructions below to make this tasty lentil chili. Easy peasy!
stove top instructions
Bring a large pot to medium heat and add a drizzle of your favorite cooking oil. Sauté your onion until edges are golden, then add your garlic, bell pepper, and jalapeño. Cook until peppers are tender, approx. 5 minutes.
Next add veggie broth, crushed tomatoes, corn, chili beans, black beans, and spices; stir to mix. Let mixture come to a boil and add your dried red lentils. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes. The longer you let it cook the more pronounced the flavor will be. Feel free to cook a little longer if time permits, up to you! Scoop out a bowlful, pile on the toppings, sit back, and enjoy!
slow cooker instructions
To make this lentil chili in the crock-pot, add all the ingredients to your slow cooker (minus your toppings) and walk away. It’s that easy!
This recipe takes about 5-6 hours on high. You’ll basically want to let it simmer away until the lentils and veggies are super tender. The chili will thicken as it cools. For extra flavor you can 100% sauté your onion and garlic before adding it to the slow cooker, but it’s not essential. As I mentioned above, adjust the thickness to your liking with extra crushed tomato or broth and season to taste based on any changes. Pile on the toppings and dive on in!
Leftover lentil chili? That’s cause for celebration!
I have it on good authority that this vegan lentil chili is even better the next day. It will stay fresh for a few days in the fridge or a month or so in the freezer. We ran out a few days later and cannot wait to make it again! My friends and family adored it.
If you feel like getting super creative, you can also stuff the leftovers into a baked sweet potato or even a roasted spaghetti squash! Helloooo delicious!
Feeling snacky? I always save 2 cups of this chili to make my AMAZING Vegetarian Chili Cheese Dip which is perfect for movie night, game day, and parties galore!
Don’t forget the homemade cornbread!
Very tasty, definitely enjoyed the warm flavors/seasoning. I’ve never used chili beans or lentils in chili but it made a lot of sense to! Super hearty. Made it on the stovetop and didn’t bother deseeding the jalapeños, didn’t turn out too spicy surprisingly. I used chicken bouillon and water instead of vegetable broth but it still needed salt in my opinion when it was done simmering. Lovely with some avocado on top. Would happily make again, great change up from my usual chili.
This is my go to recipe I am making it for the third time the recipe last me all week for all my lunches at work just microwave and smells of the whole office everybody is saying oh that smells that smells good. they all know that I started becoming a vegan.
Thank You for a very tasty meat free alternative! Enjoying several of your recipes for sure. I’m just getting into cooking and my wife is enjoying having a plate of nice food when she gets in from work. Cheers from sunny Scotland, UK
Made this again. It’s the #1 meatless chili recipe as voted by the family so far (and we’ve tried a few). Tonight was reheating left overs and adding refried beans and rice to the meal on a separate part of the plate. It’s all good; lasted a week in the fridge.
Ahhhh yay! So glad y’all have been enjoying the recipe! Love the idea of adding refried beans and rice – so good!
Delicious! Have made this several times since a friend made it for us.
this was awesome! didnt have jalapenos, but replaced it with 1 serrano pepper for the heat! thank you for this recipe, can’t wait to try the rest
So stoked you enjoyed it Amy! Thank you!
Made this tonight for our 2nd edition of meatless Mondays. It made the Clean Plate Club Role of Honor! My wife has a low tolerance level for spiciness and this was at the high end of what she’d enjoy (I’d call it 4 star chili). But I did deviate from the recipe as follows. No jalapenos; that would have been a show stopper. Instead I added one 7oz can of diced green chilies (not drained) which have worked well in other Tex-Mex recipes. Instead of a can of store bought Spicy Chili Beans (who knows what you’ll get except a ton of salt) I just used a cup of re-hydrated red kidney beans. Black beans were also re-hydrated rather than canned. I followed the rest of the spices per the recipe with the addition of a very small dash of cayenne pepper; not needed. My version was not vegan. Used chicken stock since we didn’t have any vegetable broth. Will try and use homemade veggie broth next time and further reduce the sodium. The technical committee decided that since chicken broth is made from bone marrow which is not “meat” this was not a disqualifying event for Meatless Monday 😉 We also used fresh cilantro, shredded Mexican Cheese and sour cream as toppings.
Since we have an 8qt Instant Pot I wasn’t worried about capacity, or cooking time. So I put in a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (not drained) before the pressure cycle. Set the time for 15 minutes and let naturally release pressure for 30 minutes. Yum, the wife often complains if I use “diced” tomatoes instead of “petite diced” tomatoes. No worries here, the sauce was blended into a smoothie consistent mixture that was perfection!
Next time I’ll try pinto beans instead of red kidney beans just to added some visual contrast. The green and red bell peppers along with the yellow corn already add a lot. The red lentils pretty much dissolved into the sauce which is great. Like I said the texture was perfection and it didn’t look like you were trying to create an illusion of ground beef (which “real” chili doesn’t have… or beans for that matter). That leads to two questions. How important are the expensive red lentils vs regular lentils of which I have sacks to use up? And, if you omitted the bell peppers and corn or ran them through the food processor could you make and freeze batches of chili sauce for use in countless variations? Dare I say it, even add browned hamburger at 1/4-1/2 the usual amount and fool everyone.
Thank you, Bernie! I’m so glad the chili was a hit and I’m honored to make the Clean Plate Club! You’ll lose that glorious texture using regular lentils in place of red but I’m a HUGE fan of brown/green lentils as well. They require time adjustments and additional liquid to cook so sometimes you’ll have to experiment with them a bit more and deviate a bit from what the red lentils require. As for freezing, the chili is absolutely freezer-friendly!
Here are some favorites using regular lentils, to help you use them up:
Lentil Minestrone
Instant Pot Lentil Tacos
Instant Pot Italian Lentil Soup
Great recipe! I’ve made it multiple times and my family loves it. I do dial back the heat so my kids (all under 5) will eat it. We serve with cornbread and pickled red onions. Always a hit.
Thank you!
Love this chili! Everytime I make it for my family its gone by the second day!
Thank you Annabelle!
I varied this recipe a tad as there were no canned Chilli Beans available so replaced with a half jar of Chipotle in Adoro Sauce and a can of Chick Peas. Also, felt like swapping out for a large Red onion, trebled the garlic and halved my extremely hot chilli powder to 1tbs.I must say it turned out superb and will be a staple in this cruelty free household from now on!
Thank you
We are so not vegans. That being said, this is awesome. Trying to put some meatless meals in our menu and this is #1 on my list. I made exactly as directed for instant pot. To die for. Thank you for the delicious recipe.
Hi Jen, I thought you should know that this recipe has brought out the inner chef In me I never knew I had! I’m 55 and all my life I have disliked cooking ALOT! Then about a month ago, someone made this particular recipe for me and it was so good I had to try cooking it myself. The way you explain everything has made cooking enjoyable for me, so much so, I have now cooked a variety of dishes, all tasty and the step by step way you explain things, are easy for me to follow. I am no longer overwhelmed by a recipe and so my husband and I thank you for changing our lives to bring yummy and healthy food to our table, you are a food angel!!
Jojo you just made me tear up! Thank you so much for your sweet comment and I am so thrilled this recipe was a hit and has helped give you confidence in the kitchen. You’re amazing! xoxo
I’ve been looking for a great tasting vegan chili and this is it! So happy to have found this recipe, I’m slightly obsessed!
Hiya just made this and absolutely loved it! Was wondering if I put in the fridge and want to eat the next day, how can I warm this up without a microwave?
So glad you enjoyed it Rebeka! You can warm up leftover portions in a small pot on the stove. I usually bring it to a vigorous simmer and then reduce heat to low and cover until cooked through, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
I’ve literally just finishing devouring this meal. It’s my new favorite dish. It’s filling, flavorful, and the texture is thick and chunky. I used a 32 oz can of crushed tomatoes, which is probably double what I needed, and and the whole can of black beans, since I don’t want to have them just sitting in the fridge. Neither change seem to be detrimental. I was worried the extra liquid from the tomatoes would thin out the chili too much, but it didn’t. I also used the stove instruction, and found it to be super easy. Some of us did put sour cream and cheese on top, which obviously makes this not vegan, but that’s okay, as none of us are vegan. Fresh tomatoes, onions, and guacamole are also awesome on top. Not that it needs it. I’ll probably be making myself a whole batch just for the freezer. Thanks so much for this recipe.
DAY = MADE!!! Thank you so much Hannah!
Hi Jenn would you have a recommendation on how long to cook this if I was to cook it on low in a slow cooker? I was thinking 10 hours or so?
Hey Sara! I have all the deets at the bottom of the blog post below the recipe card. Lemme paste it here for ya!
To make this lentil chili in the crock-pot, add all the ingredients to your slow cooker (minus your toppings) and walk away. It’s that easy! This recipe takes about 5-6 hours on high. You’ll basically want to let it simmer away until the lentils and veggies are super tender. The chili will thicken as it cools. For extra flavor you can 100% sauté your onion and garlic before adding it to the slow cooker, but it’s not essential. As I mentioned above, adjust the thickness to your liking with extra crushed tomato or broth and season to taste based on any changes. Pile on the toppings and dive on in!
If you’d like to cook it on LOW you can do so for 9-10 hours and be good to go! xoxo
If I have no red lentils what can be substituted in place or can I leave them out?
Hi Alina! The lentils here are key for texture but I have a scrumptious vegan and vegetarian friendly chili you can try instead! Check out my Healthy Vegetarian Quinoa Chili and see if those ingredients work instead? Hopefully they do! xoxo
Question- any substitute for the chili beans? Or a hack for them? Just curious. I absolutely adore your other red lentil recipe similar to this and can’t wait to try thus one! But alas, no chili beans in my pantry…
Hey EK! Chili beans are simply slightly saucy seasoned pinto beans so there are for sure swaps! You could use pinto beans, kidney beans, cannellini beans or extra black beans and then just add some extra spices and maybe 2-3 TBSP extra veggie broth and you should be able to replicate the consistency pretty darn well in this recipe!
This is one of our favorite recipes ever! We make it all the time. Thank you, thank you!!
This is the best chili recipe ever! The blend of lentils, beans, vegetables and spices make it delicious. It was easy to make it on the stovetop. It’s one of my new favorites! I highly recommend it to vegan and carnivore alike!
Hi there, I’m preparing to make this in a slow cooker but I could only find red SPLIT lentils. How should the cooking time differ?
Hi Sera! The ones I buy are split red lentils so you’re good to go! The cooking time range will be the same. xoxo
Our little family really enjoyed this recipe! I initially made this in the slow cooker. I just bought an insta-pot. I would like to make this recipe with all the beans being dried. Do you have any idea what needs to change in the recipe for this to work? (e.g. more liquid, more time…)
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it AJ!
So to use dried beans you actually have to cook the black beans on their own first in the Instant Pot. The reason is that they take so much longer to cook than the veggies do, and if you cook them together the veggies can literally melt into nothingness (This is great for black bean soup though, BTW since you’re blending anyways!) — To cook 1 pound of dried black beans you’ll add 6 cups of water and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes in your IP. Then let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes and they should be cooked perfectly!
Use what you need for the soup and then you can freeze the rest in 1 cup portions for several months, defrosting them whenever you need them for soups, stews, dips, or chilis!
Hope that helps! xoxo
Hey do you know how many calories this is per serving? Trying to track my macros here!
Hey Erin! If you break it into 6 portions, it’s 309 calories per serving as per MyFitnessPal’s online calculator. For 10 small side-dish servings it’s 185 calories per serving. This is calculated before the toppings since everyone adds different favorites on top! Hope this helps! xo
This is delicious! So versatile! We’re not vegans so I added ground turkey the second time I made the recipe although the vegan version is great too. I love keeping generous serving size portions of this in the freezer for variety since there’s only 2 of us. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Could you use green or brown lentils for this or does it need to be red?
Hey Sophie! Red lentils are probably half the size of brown/green (super thin basically) and they pulverize when you cook them under pressure, giving this awesome meaty texture without the meat! I think they’re best here!
You can use the brown-green ones if you’d like to in the slow cooker but you will need extra liquid (I’ll be back with measurements in a moment – a reader tested it out in the crock-pot and reported back!) In the Instant Pot only red will work because they don’t soak up as much liquid. If you added that much green lentils to the IP they’d suck up all the liquid and burn. If you add them in already cooked then they won’t though! I hope that helps and if you have any more questions for sure send them my way! XOXO
Hookay so the reader that made my Lentil Tortilla Soup in the slow cooker reported that he wound up adding an extra 2 cups of broth to the crock-pot for the green lentils and extended the cook time by an hour to give them the extra time needed to cook. LMK what appliance you planned on using and we can try to figure something out! 🙂
Thanks so much for that! I made it in a stove-top on the weekend with red lentils and it was so tasty but i just wasnt a fan of the texture…it kind of became a big bowl of slop! Maybe i overcooked them?
I thought i would give it a try with the green or brown lentils as i heard they hold there shape a bit better! Would either do it on the stove top or slow cooker as i dont have an instant pot!
Super happy to help! You’re SO good to go then if you’re doing stove-top or slow cooker! The extra liquid and extra simmer time is all you’ll have to worry about then 🙂 The red lentils are supposed to fall apart and make a sloppy hot mess chili haha – I think you’ll for sure love the green/brown lentils instead because they’ll hold their shape! I use them in my lentil tacos all the time b/c they stay in tact like champs! 🙂
Thanks so much for your help!
I followed your directions without variation. I sealed the lid and set the Instapot on high pressure for 15 minutes. During the time I was waiting for the pot to pressurize, a “Burn” message appeared on the screen. I’d not ever dealt with that message before. Looked up what it meant, scraped the bottom of the pot and added the remainder of the 32 oz. veggie broth. The chili really did seem quite thick. Resealed the lid, set to high pressure for 15 minutes and received the “Burn” message again. Scraped the the bottom of the pot and added even more broth. Resealed, set on high for 15 minutes, same thing happened again. I opened another container of broth, added to the instapot ….same scenario again. I gave up on the pressure cooking. The chili tastes very good. I think it would have been even better had it pressure cooked. Nobody else has commented having this issue. Any suggestions?
Hey David! Eek! So sorry to hear you were victim to the dreaded “Burn” notice on the IP. It hasn’t happened to me yet but I hear it’s crazy common when any variation in ingredients is made with a recipe and also because sometimes our beloved Instant Pot is fickle as can be. You’re right on the thickness, it does not like stews/chilis/etc that are too thick and the liquid ratio get’s crazy technical. Basically it wants 1 cup of liquid to work, but then if ingredients that soak up that liquid are present you need more, hence the 2 cups of broth and 2 cups of crushed tomatoes in liquid. It is for sure maddening at times trying to give the IP what it wants and still get the thick chili we crave.
Two main things could have happened here I’m happy to help troubleshoot! First, when sautéing if any brown bits got left on the bottom of the pot, the IP may be doomed from the start. It views those browned bits as char/burn and will do auto shutoff like you experienced. The next factor could be changing just a single ingredient from using brown/green lentils versus red (they require a ton of liquid to cook and soak up the entire pot’s liquid) or changing one of the other ingredients too. For sure let me know and I’ll try to get to the bottom of it for ya!
I’m so so glad you enjoyed the chili but terrible sorry about the IP drama!
How many does this serve?
Great question Sophie! (Updating the post right now as I’m not sure how it didn’t make it on the recipe card!) – This serves about 6-10 depending on if you’re going the bowl or cup route!
Thank-you
I LOVE this recipe! I just made it for the 4th time last night and it turns out great every time. I always get excited when I put this one the menu because I know: 1- It has healthy ingredients 2- It is easy to prepare 3- With some baked sweet potato on the side I will get a filling, satisfying meal at the end of the day. I usually let mine cook for the full 6 hours in the crockpot to make sure all of the lentils are tender. My husband usually adds some extra jalapeño in his bowl, but I think it is perfect as written. My two-year-old daughter even loves it! I’m so excited to heat up some leftovers for lunch!
I have made this chili twice! On the stove and in the slow cooker. I added a little extra veggie broth and used regular paprika since I didn’t have the smoked one.Lentils took longer than 25 minutes to cook on the stove. When I made it in the slow cooker, I sauteed onions and peppers before putting them in the pot.
My whole family fell in love with this chili! It’S DELICIOUS!
i will be making it today!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So thrilled you’re loving the recipe Margarita, thank you! Day = Made!!
This was absolutely delicious!! I made this for a Christmas party and even my omni relatives loved it and asked for the recipe! It’s now one of my favorite meals to make 🙂
Love reading your writing. Looking forward to making your recipes.
Thanks David! I can’t wait to hear all about what you make! 🙂
Just made this tonight and it was amazing. Love the texture the lentils added. I used the stove-top method and let it simmer for about 3.5 hours. A delicious and easy Winter dinner!
I make this almost every other week now. It’s super easy and amazing. Thank you so much!!
Ahhhh thank you! Love it! 🙂
I have this in my slow cooker right now, and I’m trying to log it on my fitness pal, but was wondering if anyone can tell me how many servings the recipe makes? Thanks in advance!
Hey Ashley! The chili yields anywhere from 6-10 servings but will vary on how big/small of a portion. Sometimes I’ll have a big bowl with cornbread and other times I’ll heat up a small cup to pair with a salad or sandwich. Hope you ADORE it! 🙂
I made this today and we loved it! I did add a can pure pumpkin when I added tomatoes, as well as more broth. I took the seeds out of the Jalapenos and it was still plenty spicy. My husband like it too and he is a big meat guy. He didn’t even mention that there was no meat in it.
Sherry that added pumpkin sounds magical!!!! So glad y’all both enjoyed it 🙂 Yay!
I made this recipe for my lunches this week. It is absolutely delicious! It is so flavorful and jam-packed with veggies! I ate it over a brown rice and quinoa mix and added nutritional yeast on top. I am definitely planning to make this again!
Thank you Carissa! LOVE that you served it over brown rice and quinoa (YUM!) and I bet the sprinkle of nutritional yeast on top was awesome! So thrilled you enjoyed it! 🙂
Are the lentils supposed to be cooked before I add them ?
Hey Sandra! Toss them in raw and you’re good to go. I used bagged dried lentils for this recipe.
This was delicious. Met my criteria of easy and fast, and to my surprise it was hard to tell it was meat free. Thank you for the recipe!
So super happy to hear it Cindy, thank you! 🙂
OK, confession time: I doubted you. I’m sorry, I just didn’t think chili could truly deliver without meat. I decided to give it a try in my crockpot yesterday and didn’t even like the smell for the first 4 hours or so. Then it started smelling like chili and the magic happened. After 6 hours, everything came together into wonderfulness! I’m a texture freak and absolutely loved the texture of this chili. Adding lentils was a stroke of genius because they made it creamy while letting the beans and corn give it chunkiness. I served it over a little bit of groats and it was super filling. I added chipotle powder in addition to the regular chili powder and will add more chipotle and more jalapeños next time but other than that, I won’t change a thing. Well, I’ll double the recipe!! Thank you, Jenn, for another great recipe!
Thank you for your sweet review! I am so super glad you loved the recipe and totally go nuts with those jalapeños — just how I like it!
I’m a huge fan of lentils, and am new to experimenting with vegan recipes. I really like that this meatless chili still packs a ton of protein! Excited to try this one out!
Thanks for posting Jenn! Cheers!
Thanks Seth! The best part is that you can even add extra beans to make it chunkier and more protein packed which I love! Hope you adore the recipe! <3 xo
Just wanted to let you know that in the pressure cooker directions it doesn’t say when to add the lentils! I’m making this now and just realized I didn’t add them to the pot, so I just added them and am going to do high pressure for another 15 min and do quick release- hope it turns out. Looks delicious, I just wish I’d noticed the lack of lentils when I was following the directions. I’m sure it will still be tasty.
Ohmygosh Dina where is my brain?! I have it in my recipe notebook but somehow I goofed and didn’t type it into the recipe widget — thank you SO SO MUCH for telling me and I’m beyond sorry that I left it out in the first place. Everything (seriously thank you!) is fixed now and I hope you adore the chili! I actually just reheated a bowl for dinner tonight – we’re on our third batch!
Sometimes I have trouble getting lentils to cook all the way in the slow cooker when there are tomatoes around. Has anyone tested this in the slow cooker? I might give it a whirl this weekend anyway.
Hey Trisha! I’ve been making it in the pressure cooker but I’ll give it a whirl in the slow cooker today since I had planned on making another batch for the week! I’ll keep you posted 🙂 I plan on using the high setting for about 4 hours.
Update :: So it took until the 5/6 hour mark on high for my red lentils to get nice and soft. They still hold their form (unlike the pulverized pressure cooked lentils in the batch I photographed) but they’re nice and soft and fully cooked. Hope this helps Trisha! xoxo
I made it in the slow cooker and the lentils did cook all the way. But I used tomato sauce instead of crushed tomatoes, because that’s what I had on hand. I don’t know if that would make a difference, but it worked great for me!
This looks great! Leftovers would be great for a meatless taco salad too! Thank you!
Looove that leftover idea Beth! The combination sounds amazing! 🙂
Yum-oh! This chili looks so delicious, and filling. I can see myself serving it over a bed of chips and serving as nachos. And I love when you can cook everything in one pot.
Thanks Celeste! Veggie chili nachos sound so good right now!!! 🙂
I’m really excited to make this this weekend!! I’ve been looking for a good lentil chili recipe and this looks SO good. 😀
So stoked you’ll be trying it Sarah – thanks! I’m making another batch this weekend once I drag my butt to the store for more lentils! The leftovers were my fav! 🙂
I’m digging the addition of lentils. Also, I too guard my leftovers fiercely. This looks glorious.
I knew I’d like it when I threw them into the pot but OMG GIRL — I had no idea how buttcrazy in love I’d be! Lentils are so perfect for chili <3 Do it!
I have been craving chili so bad lately! I really want to add dark chocolate to it… that’s my favorite! Yum this recipe is fabulous!
Thanks Mary! Oh gosh I’ve had cocoa in chili before and loved it – dark chocolate sounds totally luxe! 🙂