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Looking for a super tasty, crowd-pleasing dinner option? Lentil Chili with incredible bold flavors coming right up! This lentil chili recipe is a hearty and healthy plant-based chili filled with lentils, beans, tomatoes, and plenty of delicious spices! An easy one pot dinner option that the whole family will love!
Why this is our favorite vegetarian chili!
In my opinion, you can never go wrong with a warm and comforting chili dinner, especially this time of year. Whether it’s a loaded vegan chili or a slow cooker chili, it’s always a hit in my house. This lentil chili is our new favorite – it’s full of flavor, color and texture and is a total winner.
Here’s why you’ll LOVE this lentil bean chili:
- Packed with protein – Lentils add the perfect meaty texture while keeping it 100% vegetarian and such a delicious hearty meal!
- Budget-friendly – Made with pantry staples like beans, lentils, tomatoes, and spices, this chili stretches your dollar without sacrificing flavor.
- One-pot wonder – Everything simmers together in one pot, making cleanup a breeze.
- Perfect for meal prep – This has so much flavor that gets even better the next day, and it freezes beautifully for future dinners.
- Customizable – Add extra veggies, swap in different beans, or adjust the spice level to make it your own.
Ingredients we’re using
This recipe is full of healthy, nourishing ingredients and flavorful spices that make this lentil chili absolutely delicious! Here’s the key ingredients (full list can be found down in the recipe card):
- Yellow onion + garlic. Adds delicious savory flavor to the chili. Sometimes I add in other veggies such as sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, or even poblano pepper!
- Vegetable broth. Use more or less veggie broth, depending on how thick you like your chili.
- Lentils. The best lentils for this are brown or green lentils. If you’d like to use red lentils, just know that the chili will not need to cook as long. I haven’t tried this recipe with split red lentils, but my guess is that it would only need to simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Tomato sauce. I love the way the tomato sauce combines with the broth to make this chili extra hearty.
- Tomatoes. Use regular diced tomatoes or fire roasted tomatoes for so much delicious flavor!
- Beans. The recipe calls for black and kidney beans, but feel free to use any beans you’d like. Pinto beans or chili beans would also work great.
- Cocoa powder. My secret ingredient! It gives this chili such a wonderful depth of flavor!
- Seasonings. Chili powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper create the perfect blend of flavors. If you’re sensitive to spice, feel free to omit the cayenne pepper.
- Toppings. I love serving this easy lentil chili with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, diced red onion, cilantro and a dollop of dairy-free sour cream or greek yogurt.
How to make this lentil chili
Making this cozy lentil chili is such a breeze! I love that everything is cooked in one pot and the only chopping you have to do is for the onion and garlic. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s involved, but you can find the complete recipe at the bottom of the post.
- Start this chili recipe by heating olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and sautéing onion + garlic.
- Stir in broth, lentils, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, kidney and black beans.
- Add in cocoa powder, salt + pepper, chili powder, oregano, and cayenne and stir to incorporate all of the ingredients.
- Simmer the chili covered for 25 minutes and until lentils are tender and chili is thick. Serve with your favorite toppings (such as sour cream, cheese, and green onions) and enjoy! Store leftover lentil chili in an airtight container!
Is lentil chili good for you?
This plant-based chili is GREAT for you! It’s packed with nourishing, healthy ingredients like lentils, beans, and tomatoes that contain numerous health benefits.
It’s also low in calories and fat, but high in protein and fiber, which makes it perfect for satisfying lunches and dinners. I suggest also checking out my creamy lentil soup!
Here are some of the health benefits of this chili and its ingredients:
- High in Fiber, Vitamins, and Minerals. lentils, onions, tomatoes, beans
- Rich in Antioxidants. onions, garlic, tomatoes, beans
- Packed with Protein. lentils, beans, add even more protein by topping your chili with Greek yogurt
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! For the slow cooker, just add all the ingredients and cook on low for 6–8 hours or high for 3–4 hours. For the Instant Pot, sauté the veggies first, then cook on high pressure for 12 minutes with a quick release.
No soaking required! Lentils cook much faster than beans, so you can toss them right into the pot.
Green or brown lentils are best because they hold their shape. Red lentils will break down and make the chili creamier, but less chunky.
Absolutely! Let the chili cool completely, then portion it into airtight containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
Lentil Chili
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups vegetable broth, plus more as desired
- 1 cup uncooked lentils
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 15 ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed*
- 1 tablespoon baking cocoa
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt and more to taste
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add in the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients: broth, lentils, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, kidney and black beans, cocoa powder, salt + pepper, chili powder, oregano, and cayenne. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, COVER, and cook until the lentil are soft and ready to eat, 25- 30 minutes.
- Once lentils are ready, add additional liquid as desired. I prefer this chili on the thicker side but feel free to add additional veggie broth if you want it a little more soupy.
- Remove from heat, serve with your favorite toppings and ENJOY!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this yesterday and didn’t get to eat it till now. It is delicious. I’ve had a terrible time finding a chili I like. I love this. Thank you.
this is hot ?
Delicious. I used fire roasted diced tomatoes but otherwise followed the recipe exactly.
This is really good! I used chicken broth because that’s what I had on hand. I think I will add some smoked paprika next time to give it that hint of smoke. Very yummy!
Why not mention the cheese in the recipe??
I don’t mention any of the toppings. I figure people can put on what they want :)
This was lovely thank you! We had it for dinner but it would also be great for a packed lunch.
We added red peppers, umami paste and extra garlic. We also used chipotle paste instead of chilly powder.
This was a quick, easy and very delicious recipe. I needed to make a few substitutions for some missing pantry items. I substituted 1 can of Rotel for the tomato sauce, red lentils instead of green or brown lentils and chipotle powder in place of cayenne. The Rotel added some extra heat and the chipotle added nice smokiness. The cocoa powder added such richness to the chili. This, paired with cornbread was a wonderfully hearty recipe to warm us on a cold, snowy night. Tomorrow, we will be having this chili with polenta. Thank you for this great recipe, it’s a keeper!
I’m blown away. I have picky eaters and my kids loved this. They are 5, 8 and 12. The recipe had to be slightly altered because I didn’t have canned tomatoes only crushed and my black bean can had pinto mixed in it. I made ground Turkey with coconut oil and cooked it with the onion and garlic. This recipe was absolutely wonderful. Delicious and flavorful. Keeping this for my permanent family recipe book.
Hi Peggy! I was thinking of adding ground Turkey also! Did you add any extra liquid to it?
Thank you for this recipe! I work in a rural school kitchen and feed 80 kids and staff per day. We have a program called Harvest of the Month and December’s food is lentils, so I’ve been looking for a recipe that won’t put them off lentils or is to foreign for grade schoolers and I think this is it!
This is so neat. Please tell us how it goes! Lucky kids.
This is the ultimate lentil chili. I warm it up and eat it with tortilla chips all week long. It’s great on top of a sweet potato or spaghetti squash also. Don’t skip the cocoa power. Just trust the process.
Delicious! Made it just as written mostly, but I doubled the spices because I’m like that. (I would have doubled the garlic too but my garlic cloves were enormous already). I didn’t add any extra liquid, I like my chili thick. I put grated cheddar on the top, and it was delicious! It has a different flavor than most other recipes, probably because of the cocoa. I’m a big fan! I’ll make it spicier next time though.