Lentil Chili
Meatless lentil chili with simple ingredients and flavorful spices. It’s wholesome, filling, and makes one easy weeknight meal.
Love meatless lentil recipes? Try our Lentil and Butternut Squash Chili. Loaded with veggies, lentils, and spices.
Lentil Chili
Hearty, chunky, and thick. That’s what this lentil chili is all about. It’s flavorful and very easy to prepare with only 10-ingredients!
It’s made with traditional chili ingredients, plus the lentils. Lentil is an edible legume that is high in protein and fiber and low in fat making it a great alternative to meat.
Also, lentils absorb flavors really well from whatever they’re cooked in. So the chili comes out really well seasoned and flavorful.
Not to mention this lentil chili recipe is very adaptable. Just keep reading for more add-in ideas.
What Type of Lentils To Use?
Brown or green lentils are best for lentil chili. Brown lentils have a mild and earthy flavor, whereas green lentils have a peppery taste. Both lentils hold their shape well when cooked.
I recommend using dry lentils for this recipe and not canned.
Do Lentils Need to Be Soaked?
Lentils do not require soaking. Simply rinse lentils before adding them to the chili, and quickly sift through for any broken bits.
How to Make Lentil Chili
In a heavy-duty dutch oven, at least 5-quart (or bigger), cook the onions and bell pepper over medium heat until soft and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in garlic and chili powder, and cook until fragrant.
Add lentils, tomatoes, bay leaf, and vegetable stock. Season generously with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.
Tip: Lentils are cooked as soon as they are tender but not mushy and no longer crunchy.
Remove the chili from heat and discard the bay leaf. Transfer about 3-4 cups of chili into a food-processor and process until smooth.
Return the puréed chili back to the pot and stir to combine. Stir in cilantro and serve with your favorite toppings.
Add-Ins
This lentil chili recipe is very adaptable. You can add more flavor to the chili by adding more veggies, spices, or beans. Here are a few suggestions:
- Vegetables – carrots, celery, zucchini, corn, jalapeño, canned fire-roasted tomatoes
- Spices – cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, chipotle chili powder
- Beans – canned black beans or red kidney beans
Lentil Chili Toppings
To serve lentil chili, set out a variety of toppings so everyone can customize their bowls. Here are a few favorites:
- Sliced jalapeño
- Minced red onion or pickled red onion
- Fresh cilantro leaves
- Diced avocado
- Lime wedges
- Sour cream or crema
- Cheddar cheese
- Roasted tomato salsa
- Cheese puffs (for dipping!)
Storing Leftovers
Leftovers will keep for up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Video: How to Make Lentil Chili
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Lentil Chili
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Simmer
- Cuisine: American
Description
Meatless lentil chili with simple ingredients and flavorful spices. It’s wholesome, filling, and makes one easy weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tsp. chili powder
- 1 (16 oz.) bag dry brown lentils
- 2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 (32 oz.) cartons vegetable stock
- 1/3 cup fresh chopped cilantro
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
To Serve
- Red onions, minced
- Jalapeño, thinly sliced
- Cilantro, chopped
- Limes
Instructions
- In a large heavy-duty dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and red bell pepper. Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until soft and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in garlic and chili powder and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add lentils, tomatoes, bay leaf, and stock. Season generously with salt and ground black pepper. Simmer partially covered over medium-low heat for 30 minutes or until lentils are tender. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaf.
- Transfer 3-4 cups of chili into a food processor and process until smooth. Add the puréed chili back into the pot and stir to combine. Taste for salt and pepper.
- Stir in cilantro and serve with toppings of choice.
Notes
- Add-Ins: This lentil chili is very adaptable. See post for a full list of add-in ideas.
- Leftovers: Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days or for up to 3 months in the freezer. Chili will thicken the longer it sits. If desired, thin out with a little stock when reheating.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
- Calories: 231
- Sugar: 5.6 g
- Sodium: 588.1 mg
- Fat: 3.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.2 g
- Protein: 12.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I love cumin too 🙂 So glad everyone loved the chili! Thanks for your feedback Cari.
This was so delicious! Thank you for the recipe! I even made my own vegetable stock! Soooo good!!
Wait a minute! This Lentil Chili recipe does not call for any unusual or exotic ingredients that are hard or impossible to find. I have everything in my pantry already. It’s nice to see such a recipe. I always use cumin and coriander with beans and lentils.
I love the simplicity of this recipe too! I’m glad you have everything on hand. Don’t you love when that happens 🙂 Hope you enjoy the chili.
I plan on making this tonight! Looks so good! Quick question! Where do all of the carbs come from? I know lentils have some, but the carb count is much higher than I expected this dish to be.
Hi Stacie, chili without the lentils (according to the online nutritional calculator that I use) is about 8 grams of carbs so my guess most of the carbs are from the lentils. I hope you do enjoy the chili!
That’s so great! Glad you enjoyed it…esp meat loving hubby. Yeay to that 🙂
Katya, i have replied before that this lentil chili is amazing but it just keeps getting better!!! It is a complete staple in my household. Do you know how well it “blends” with other foods??? Wowie!! Our dietitian took us off starch carbs for a month so lentils are my new friend. I MOST OF THE TIME, have a stash of lentil chili in my fridge – just because it’s soooo good!! I made us Bobotie (traditional SA dish but it requires bread to thicken it and make it nice and gloopy almost), so i decided why not… add some chili to the dish as it’ll thicken it for sure right…. OOOH MY WORD, it’s the best dish ever, taken to a complete new level of yummyness!! I am now adding lentil chili to many of my meat dishes, bulking it out and elevating the taste of it!! I owe u BIG TIME for this most awesome recipe!! Thank you so much! Love, Tanja
Thank you so much Tanja for your sweet words! You made my morning. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the chili. We love leftover chili over mashed potatoes, chili mac and cheese, served over rice, served over baked potatoes, stuffed peppers. Just some of our favorites 🙂
Ooooooo – over mash YES!!! Will surely give that a try!! You Rock Katya! Just love all of your recipes, are on your blog page all the time! Have a blessed day! xx
Thank you for the nice recipe Katya!
Can you please expand on “I pureed about 3 cups of cooked chili in a food processor and dumped it back into the pot of chili” what chili in this case? Peppers? was this from a can (what brand) or you meant you cooked fresh peppers? what kind? Sorry Im not familiar with some terminology in english. thanks!
Hi Eugenia, after you cook the chili, you will puree 3 cups in a blender or food processor. Then you will add the pureed chili back into the pot. This thickens the chili and gives. You will use fresh green bell pepper for this recipe. Hope that answers your question. Let me know if you need anything else 🙂
I’ve made this chili a bunch of times and it’s delicious. It’s easy and healthy. I make it with rice sometimes but tonight I’m making it with low fat cornbread. I also use green peppers instead of red if that’s all I have and I don’t purée some of it because I’m lazy and this still comes out amazing. Oh yeah…I’ve mistakenly used 4 tbs of chili powder instead of 4 tsp and it stills tastes delicious. YUMMY! Thanks for a great recipe!
Just finished eating the chili and it turned out to be delicious! I made it a bit spicy to my liking. I cut the recipe in half and it made quite a lot of food. Looks like I have a tasty lunch to look forward to tomorrow!
So glad to hear that! I’m glad you enjoyed the chili. I’m a fan of spicy too 🙂
Hi Susan! I’m so glad you liked the chili! The recipe is pretty simple and I’m glad you were able to tweak it to your own liking 🙂
Could this be made in the crockpot? If so, how long would you suggest cooking it?
Hi Kristen: You definitely can. I would follow stovetop instructions through #2. Then transfer everything to a crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Taste the lentils to make sure they’re tender.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the chili Jacqueline (and family too!) thanks so much for taking the time to leave your feedback 🙂
My fiancée and I are currently in a weight loss contest (I’m winning so far) so we can be in shape for our wedding and rock the dance floor. We both hit the dreaded weight plateau and somebody told us to increase our iron and fiber intake, and lentils have a massive amount of both.
Anyway, this recipe rocks! I’ve made it twice so far. The first time I did it by the book it was fantastic! The second time I made a couple tweaks. I used 4 cups of fresh chopped tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes and added a little cumin and red pepper flakes. Sublime.
For those who would like to know nutritional information, I did the math (this is approximate on the original recipe, it varies based on type and brand of ingredients you end up getting):
1 cup of this delicious chili = 148 calories with 1% daily fat, 13% daily sodium, 8% daily carbohydrates, 49% daily fiber, and 17% daily iron.
We were daring and switched out the lentil beans and used pinto beans instead- yummy!!! We slow cook those first, use only one container of broth, and keep the rest the same! We still simmer once the beans are added for about 20 minutes so it gets a little thicker. Fixed the upset stomach my fiance had with using lentils!!
Sounds delicious! I love using just beans for this chili too. Glad it all worked out for you 🙂
I really think you will enjoy this chili Toni and hope it will be just another one to add to your collection 🙂
Chili turned out really well. My family really likes it.
I tried this Lentil Chili and it was so delicious.. Added Cashew Cheese into the chili as my thickner to make it purely vegan… Both my husband and 2-year old toddler ♡ it. Thanks again for sharing.
Hi Katya, this chilli sounds absolutely awesome and both my husband and daughter loves all legumes so this is a must try for me. BUT, i’m a bit lazy…. so want to run this by you before attempting it and ending with a mess. Can i make use of tinned lentils? I have a couple of tins in my cupboard along with tinned beans…. Or is the whole idea of using the uncooked lentils for it to soak up the flavour as it cooks….. Had to ask… Thanks a mill.
Hi Tanja: Using canned lentils will probably alter the taste a bit but you can certainly try it. Just taste for seasoning and alter cooking time. Hope that helps 🙂
Thanks Katya, but then NO! I’d rather stick to the orignal recipe then. Don’t want to alter the taste of it, i’m just lazy… I DO have brown lentils in my cupboard as well…. so…. Gonna do it the RIGHT way!! On the menu for Monday supper! Can’t WAIT to try it… looking forward! (I might, though, also add a tin of beans like some of the other guys….) xx
definitely! let me know how it turns out. have a great day Tanja!
I usually eat lentils because they’re healthy and cheap, rather than because I actually enjoy them. But this? This is *good*. Not just good by lentil standards, good by food standards. I made a huge pot and my husband and I have been eating it for three nights straight. He’s Russian and therefore graciously eats whatever I put in front of him without complaint, but I can tell when he really likes something, and he instantly loved this. Yesterday I texted him to ask if he wanted me to make something new for dinner or if he wanted more chili, and got back “chili!!!” in response. He’s added it to his list of favorites, a feat never before accomplished by a dish that’s less than 70% meat. As for me, I’m a displaced Okie living in Austria, and making this with some cornbread tastes just like home. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Elizabeth: thank you for your comment and sweet words. You made my day! Glad that you and the husband are loving this chili.
Made this chili last night and, with a few modifications (I did add some dark red kidney beans, added more spices, etc.), this was THE best chili I have ever had IN MY LIFE. The lentils give the perfect texture to vegetarian chili, which otherwise was lacking…something. They soak up the flavor of the spices and bay leaf so well! Wonderful recipe, thank you!!!
I love your modifications Sarah! Sounds like you had a delish bowl of chili 🙂 Thank you for your feedback!!
Hi
I made this recipe for lunch and I loved it! Thanks for sharing it and thank you for those amazing mouth watering pictures!
Hi Natasha! So glad you enjoyed it and thanks for your comment 🙂
I followed the recipe but I had use my ninja bullet to purée 3 cups. After I added this back into the soup. It completely changed the color. Looks nothing like the photo. It’s a completely brown from the lentils. Not sure if I did something wrong?
Hi Gabrielle: It’s probably nothing you did wrong, sometimes overprocessing will alter the color a bit. And you used brown lentils? I hope the chili at least tasted good despite the color change 🙂
My fiance is in love with this recipe! He never wants to make meat chili anymore (which, trust me, THAT’S saying a lot). But he thinks the lentils give him an upset stomach, so he thought there might be an alternative we could use that would still make it just as delicious. Do you have any suggestions?
That’s so awesome Michelle! I know it’s so hard for men to give up their love for meat, so def says something 🙂 The only thing I can think of would be to use beans instead of lentils if you want to keep the vegetarian aspect of it. I haven’t personally tried it but from comments above it looks like couple readers have and it comes out pretty good too.