Yeah, I know, it’s 90 degrees outside and most people don’t want to be eating chili right now, but I’m a year ’round chili eater. Especially back in the day when I worked in a building that kept their AC set to 68 and it felt like winter all year long. I know I’m not the only one who suffers in summertime office AC, so this one goes out to all you fellow members of the always cold club. And the rest of you? Just bookmark this page and set a reminder in your phone to revisit this awesome Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Chili two months from now. ;)
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It’s All About The Toppings…
I’ve written and priced this recipe for Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Chili as just the chili itself, without toppings because toppings are very personal, and often depends on what is already on hand. I love adding something creamy (cheese, sour cream, or avocado), something green (green onion, cilantro, or avocado), and sometimes something starchy (tortilla chips, oyster crackers, cornbread, or crusty bread for dipping). Make the chili your own with the toppings and take advantage of this opportunity to use up some leftovers from your fridge!
Vegetarian or Vegan?
The chili itself is actually vegan! But I titled it with vegetarian because I’m picturing it with non-vegan toppings, but you can customize that to your needs. ;)
Freezer Friendly
This chili is extremely freezer friendly, so as soon as you’re done cooking it, I suggest dividing it into single portions. Once those portions have cooled completely in the fridge, transfer at least a few to your freezer for long term storage. You can take one out at a time whenever the craving for chili hits and reheat either in the microwave or in a pot on the stove.
Chili Seasoning Short Cut
For this recipe, I used a slightly modified version of my Homemade Chili Seasoning, but if you want a shortcut you can use a store-bought packet of chili seasoning in its place. But I have to say, I think the herbs and spices listed in the recipe below will definitely yield a better result. ;)
Serve with a side of Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Chili
Servings 6 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.33)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 15oz. can petite diced tomatoes (with juices) ($0.48)
- 1 6oz. can tomato paste ($0.48)
- 1 15oz. can black beans, drained ($0.59)
- 1 15oz. can kidney beans, drained ($0.59)
- 1 cup brown lentils, uncooked ($0.70)
- 1 Tbsp chili powder ($0.30)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil* ($0.13)
- 4 cups vegetable broth ($0.52)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the slow cooker along with all the other ingredients and stir to combine.
- Place a lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours (or low for 8 hours). After cooking, the lentils should be tender. Taste the chili and add salt to taste, if needed (this will depend on the salt content of your broth).
- Serve the chili hot, with your favorite toppings.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Slow Cooker Lentil Chili – Step by Step Photos
Dice one onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the slow cooker along with one 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes (with their juices), one 6 oz. can of tomato paste…
One 15 oz. can black beans (drained), one 15 oz. can kidney beans (drained), one cup of uncooked brown lentils…
1 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 20 cranks of a pepper mill). If you don’t have a well stocked spice cabinet, you can substitute one packet of store bought chili seasoning.
Also add 4 cups vegetable broth and 2 Tbsp coconut oil. I like to use coconut oil because it has a similar mouth feel to animal fats (because it’s a solid saturated fat), but you can use your favorite fat or oil in its place. Give everything a good stir to distribute the spices and tomato paste.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours (or low for eight hours). Once it has cooked the lentils should be tender. Give it a taste and add salt if needed.
Then grab whatever toppings you have in your fridge and GO TO TOWN.
Each bowl can be unique, which means leftovers of this Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Chili will be a little less tiring…
But don’t you just want to dive in, tho?? 🤤
I’m making this chili for the second time today – it’s perfect for a chilly, drizzly, Sunday, and will leave me at least a couple delicious lunches from the leftovers! My husband and I both loved this meal with corn muffins last time, but I think I’ll make a cheese quesadilla to enjoy with it this evening. I made the recipe as-is, and it’s a great medium-spicy flavor.
This chili is amazing. The best thing about it is…you can leave it in your crock pot ALL DAY LONG. Like 7am-6pm work day long and it is still delicious! The second best thing about this chili is how quickly it comes together. I just made it for the second time and made a few tweaks – chicken broth instead of veggie, I didn’t cut up an onion or garlic (because, hello I was making this at 6:30am while feeding my two kids breakfast and getting them ready for school) and instead just used powder garlic and onion. I also didn’t measure out the spices and instead used a low sodium McCormick Chili spice pack because…(see above).
My 3 and 4 year old love it!
This just came out of the slow cooker and is absolutely delicious! I used diced toms with jalapeno and habanero and also added a can of hominy! Thank you!!
This is THE best vegetarian chili! It is similar to Forks Over Knives recipe, but SO much more flavorful, and the lentils are a nice addition. I used red lentils because I already had them in the house, but I just threw them in for the last 45 minutes of cooking since they do cook fast. Goes great with avocado and sour cream!
I made this recipe because I wanted sometime simple and bean-y for the slow cooker during the week. I was skeptical as to how well it would turn out – you don’t even brown the onions (let along the spices)! But after a day in the slow cooker (and it turned out to be a long day at the office – so nearly 12 hours later) I had a bowl of this chili and it was fantastic: thick, full of beans, and lots of flavor.
Possible ‘improvements’ for next time might be browning the onions and adding a bit of sweetness – maybe a cinnamon quill or a little bit of maple syrup?
Yum, I love the cinnamon and maple syrup ideas!
Hi Beth, thanks again for a successfull recipe! We enjoyed it so much! I used beluga lentils because I can’t seem to find brown lentils here in The Netherlands. We have something called mountain lentils, and they look brownish, but I haven’t used them ever. Do you happen to know if brown lentils are actually red lentils with their skin still on? Because I read somewhere that mountain lentils are red lentils with their skin on and that would mean our mountain lentils are the same as your brown lentils. Whoa long story, sorry!
forgot to add my rating!
Hmm, no, I don’t think brown lentils are red lentils with their skins. But perhaps those mountain lentils will cook similarly to our brown lentils. :)
Thanks for taking the time to reply!
I was worried about making this because my husband is a big meat eater, but he loved the lentils! The only change I made was that I added a jalapeno pepper with seeds because we like it hot. Next time I will add a teaspoon of cocoa powder for a tiny bit of sweetness. But this is a great recipe that I feel like anyone will love it just as written!
Hi Beth! Would this work with presoaked dried beans (ie. Would they cook up in the slow cooker?) Or would they have to be fully cooked up beforehand? Thanks!
Cooking kidney beans in a slow cooker is not suggested because it doesn’t get quite hot enough to break down one of the kidney beans’ natural compounds, which can be a GI toxin. Because of that and the fact that you’d need to alter the liquid ratio even with soaked beans, I’d suggest just cooking them separately first. :)
@Beth I have red and green lentils already – would either/both work as a substitute for brown lentils?
If you use red lentils they will break down really quickly and give the chili more of a mushy consistency. If you have French green lentils, those usually take twice as long to cook as the brown lentils I used, so I’m not sure if they’ll soften in the slow cooker. If you have the package for the green lentils, check to see the recommended cooking time. If it’s in the neighborhood of 20 minutes (boiling on stove top) they should work fine. If the package recommends boiling for closer to 45 minutes, I’m not sure those will work in this recipe.
Hey Sara! I used green lentils last night and they came out fine. I added them an hour before I added the beans. I hope that helps!
This is the amazing. Meal number 3 my picky family all agrees on.
Speaking of picky…I had to make some changes so my kids would eat it.
I skipped the onions and tomatoes, and just added extra onion powder. Those were my only main changes. It also tasted great with pinto instead of kidneys (didn’t have any on hand). I bet it is crazy good with the tomatoes and onions! Oh well, maybe in 9 years, lol!
Thanks so much for my new multiple-times-a-month recipe!
$0.59 for a can of black beans? Where do you live?
I live in Nashville. Kroger, which is a national chain, has great prices on beans. Aldi also has canned beans for about this same price. :)
I live in Canada and it’s also available here for about $0.70. even less if you use dry beans (and cooking them first)
If you have a Walmart nearby, they also sell canned beans for even less than that, sometimes only like 30 cents.
As I was preparing this, I kept thinking how underwhelming it was going to be and how it would be pushed to the back of the fridge to mold. I’d been craving chili, and even though I had low expectations I decided to throw this together.
I was terribly mistaken- this is amazing! I made it 4 days ago and I’ve eaten it all; I’m planning on making t again next week! I didn’t change anything except for using a pre-packaged chili powder packet that I always use in chilis. This is a fantastic recipe and defied all expectation!
So satisfying. I added a teaspoon of cayenne for a bit more heat.
Followed the instructions exactly and used the high setting on the Crockpot. Perfectly seasoned and delicious. I went with 1-cup rather than 1.5-cup servings (which seemed huge to me), so this recipe is even more economical. :-)
I would think that this could be dehydrated super well to take on hikes..