Slow Cooker Lentil Chili
Updated March 26, 2019
Slow Cooker Lentil Chili-this healthy chili will warm you up and fill you up!
We had a lazy weekend. I’ve been sick and Josh is still hobbling around on crutches. He tore his MCL skiing a few weeks ago and is still recovering. Neither of us wanted to cook, but we both knew we needed to eat. We asked Caleb to make dinner and he actually offered to make us quesadillas. We were tempted to let him go for it, but a 2 year old and a gas stove is probably not a good idea.
Josh has been on a slow cooker kick lately and suggested we make Slow Cooker Lentil Chili. It sounded good to me and I was happy to let our crockpot do the work.
Josh and I worked together to create our Slow Cooker Lentil Chili Recipe. It only took us about 10 minutes to get everything ready for our slow cooker.
We added the ingredients to the slow cooker, gave it a good stir, and walked away. We let our slow cooker cook us dinner while we laid on the couch. Not a bad deal!
When our chili was ready, we filled our bowls and ate dinner while we watched football. The chili hit the spot! The lentils were a nice change from our standard chili recipes. This chili is vegan and gluten-free, but even meat lovers will go back for a second bowl. Josh did:)
You can top your lentil chili with your favorite chili toppings. I highly recommend avocado slices. They made my bowl of chili extra tasty!
The next time you are feeling lazy, but still want a hearty and healthy meal, make our Slow Cooker Lentil Chili. This recipe serves a crowd, but if you don’t have a crowd to feed you can freeze the leftovers. I put our leftovers in the freezer for the next time we are feeling lazy. I am sure we will reheating lentil chili soon. Lazy or not, I am already craving another bowl of lentil chili!
Looking for more Slow Cooker Recipes? Here are a few of our favorites:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Chile Verde
- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup
- Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Slow Cooker Lentil Chili
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 jalapeño diced, seeds removed
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 1 yellow pepper chopped
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
- 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
- 1 16 oz bag brown lentils, rinsed
- 2 15 oz cans small red beans, rinsed and drained
- 2-3 tablespoons chili powder we used 3 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- 1. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. Stir well to combine.
- 2. Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Serve warm.
- Note-we use a 6 quart slow cooker. This chili freezes well. Top with your favorite chili toppings, if desired. Some people have commented that their lentils didn't cook in the slow cooker, we haven't had this problem, but you might want to cook them before adding them into the slow cooker to be safe.
Have you tried this recipe?
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I make this for my family all the time! My hubs & I usually do this recipe together, which makes it that much more fun! Our 3 kids gobble it up! They also love to scoop it into tortilla chips, some of us love avocado chunks in it, most of us add Cholula or some type of hot sauce as we eat it (I go light on chili powder for the more spice sensitive kiddo). My kids are 3, 6, & 8. We are not vegetarians but we love this recipe! I also use the instant pot to cook this when I’m making it late in the day. I prefer how it turns out in the slow cooker though. I’ve never had an issue with lentils not cooking, but I do think it takes my crock pot a little longer- like 5-6 hrs- when I use it on high (however it is 15 years old now). I use bagged brown lentils by La Preferida brand. I’ve sent this one to many friends!
Question regarding the diced tomatoes: do you drain them before adding them to the slow cooker? Or do you leave the liquid in?
I love this recipe — it’s cooking in the slow cooker right now, actually! House smells amazing and it’s always a crowd pleaser. I use the pre-cooked lentils from Trader Joe’s and have never had an issue. I like to add cayenne pepper and serve it with our favorite toppings. Thanks for this healthy, delicious recipe!
I love this recipe and I wish it had the nutrition info.
This was delicious Lentil Chili. Lots left over so into the freezer it goes. I did start the lentils by themselves for a couple hours on high in crock pot due to comments about the lentils not being done. At the two hour point I added remainder of ingredients. I only used one can tomato sauce. This is a great recipe!