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. ;)
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.
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Equipment
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?? 🤤
Have made this 2 or 3 times!
I made this recipe for dinner with a few changes. Added in a healthy amount of liquid smoke, two small sweet potatoes (orange not white), a bit of bittersweet chocolate. I did have to switch back to sauté after cook time was up to thicken and finish cooking sweet potatoes. What I ended up with was an immediate success to my wife ( a bit of a picky eater and vocal when it misses the mark). Re-heats extremely well and freezes too! With about 2 cups of reheated some corn chips a few sunnyside up eggs and some melty cheese or cojita cheese instant chilaquiles for breakfast. Super filling and is officially in monthly rotation (both the chili and chilaquiles). Thanks for such a great recipe!
Great pantry meal! I don’t have a slow cooker and it’s not really my thing, but I made it on the stovetop. I added the same ingredients but sautéed the garlic and onion in a pan with oil first. I also added some chopped jalapeños (already had them leftover) at the same time. Then I added the tomatoes, beans, broth, and everything else. I did up the spices slightly to taste and subbed beef broth. Heated til boiling then simmered til done. Delicious and thick.
Absolutely delicious!!! I upped the garlic to four cloves and used bacon fat to appease my carnivore husband. This is now a regular in our rotation, he said he can’t tell there’s no meat. Thank you!
This chili is great and my whole family loved it! I adapted this for the Instant Pot – sautéed onion and garlic, added the other ingredients and cooked it all on high pressure for 15 minutes. Delicious and perfect chili texture.
Emma, how long in total did it take for the pressure cooker to cook the chili? I’m hoping to make a double batch of this in the instant pot for friends. Thanks!
Do you recommend rinsing the beans?
I didn’t rinse mine, just drained them. :)
Thank you. I served the chili to a friend, my adult children, and their significant others. It was a big hit. :)
This was easy and cheap to make and went nicely with the frozen garlic bread recipe on here. I might experiment with adding something a little sweet next time as I was missing it a little from my usual chili recipe.
One suggestion, microwave the onions, garlic, paste and oil before adding to the crockpot for 5 minutes, stirring halfway through. Softening and blooming these ingredients go a long way, a microwave & crockpot a great combo, who knew?
I accidentally bought WAY too many lentils a while back (planned to make a lentil dish, kept forgetting that I already had some, picked up another bag at the store, repeat), and I love beany chili, so this recipe has been enormously helpful in clearing out my pantry! it’s delicious every time. I like to add in a square of dark chocolate, as well as upping the cayenne for personal taste.
Accidentally buying too many lentils, story of my life! Haha!
I used French green lentils instead of brown because that is what I had on hand. I added them an hour before I added beans and it was the perfect cooking time! I noticed green lentils dont tend to break down as much as brown lentils and they have it a very meaty texture. Great recipe, Beth!
Thanks for sharing that for others, Stephanie! :)
My coop didn’t have brown lentils. I have black or red. Would either of those work?
Red will break down and give you a thicker chili with a little less texture. I’m not sure how long black lentils take to cook, so if they need a long cook time there is a chance that they will not soften completely in the slow cooker without adding a lot of extra time.
So delicious! Question, should you adjust the cooking time if you double the recipe?
I suppose it depends on if your slow cooker takes longer to get the contents of the soup up to the right temperature. Unfortunately it’s kind of hard to estimate without testing. I wouldn’t expect that you’d need to double it, though. If anything probably just an hour or two more.
This vegetarian chili recipe is completely phenomenal. I didn’t have the time for using the slow-cooker, so I preboiled my lentils then threw everything into a pot on the stove with an added tablespoon of maple syrup, and simmered for 45 mins. The flavors were bold, complex, and wonderfully satisfying.
Thank you so much Beth for a wonderful recipe, that will now be on permanent rotation.
Is there any way to thicken this up so that it resembles chili instead of soup??
Yes, the lentils should be very tender, to the point where they are beginning to break down. Slightly mash them as you stir and it should naturally thicken it up to a chili consistency. If they’re not that soft, you may need to cook it a little longer (slow cookers can vary).
My favorite way to thicken chili is to mash some of the beans. As the chili cooks, the mashed beans thicken it up nicely.
This is a keeper! This one is good enough to enter in the chili cook off at work. Made it last night. 4 hours on high then transferred it to the cast iron dutch oven and simmered it on the stove top because I needed the slow cooker to make the slow cooker apple recipe.