Even though this lentil chili is quick and easy enough for a weeknight, it just might be the BEST vegan chili you've ever tasted. Seriously! There are a few tricks to making meaty, thick, deeply flavorful vegetarian chili, and once you taste the difference you'll be hooked. Be sure to check out the reviews!
This red lentil chili is naturally vegan and easily made gluten-free and oil-free.
Why You'll Love It
The most difficult thing about this lentil chili recipe was figuring out what to name it because so many awesome descriptors apply! It's simultaneously:
- The Best Lentil Chili
- The Best Vegan Chili
- Easy 3-Bean Chili
- and the Only Chili Recipe You'll Ever Need!
Basically, this lentil chili is perfect in every way. (In case you can't tell, I'm REALLY excited about it.)
The flavor and texture are exactly what crave in a bowl of chili. But it's much simpler than my other vegan chili recipe and comes together in just 45 minutes!
While I love the other chili recipe, it's more of an event, you know? Specialty ingredients. Plenty of dirty dishes. And who has time for that on a regular basis?
So I wanted to come up with an all-around amazing vegan chili recipe that's just as exciting, but easy enough to make anytime, even on weeknights.
I know what you're thinking... everyone says they have the best chili. But seriously, friends. This is good. It's not like the flat, tomato-y, thin vegetarian chili recipes you've tried before.
This lentil chili is rich, thick, smoky, flavorful, and balanced.
I hope you love it as much as we do. Give it a try and report back to let us know!
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Key Ingredients
The same secret ingredients listed here are used in that more complex vegan chili I mentioned. It's inspired by an America's Test Kitchen chili recipe I came across years ago. I kept tweaking the recipe each time I would make it and even won a few local chili cook-offs with the recipe.
This time I've simplified the process even more.
I ditched the step of making your own chili powder because I'm guessing 99.9% of you don't want to track down specialty dried peppers, toast them in the oven, then grind them into powder, right? Yeah, me either. Store-bought chili powder to the rescue!
But we are keeping a few of the America's Test Kitchen ideas because they're critical for making epic vegan chili, while taking shortcuts where we can.
- Walnuts - ground walnuts thicken the chili and add a richness that's missing from a lot of vegetarian chilis. Instead of turning on the oven to toast the nuts, we give them a quick toast on the stovetop in the same pot we'll use to make the chili.
- For nut-free simply omit the walnuts, and decrease the water by ¼ or ⅓ cup.
- Bulgur - bulgur wheat is inexpensive, easy to find (look for it in bulk bins), and adds a ground beef-like texture while also thickening the chili.
- For a gluten-free option, sub millet or quinoa. Or for extra protein use TVP (textured vegetable protein).
- dried mushroom powder - instead of the dried shiitake mushrooms called for in the original recipe, which then had to be ground into powder, I use Trader Joe's umami mushroom powder as a shortcut. Feel free to omit this if you can't get your hands on any powdered mushroom seasoning.
How to Make Red Lentil Chili
While my "Best Vegan Chili" takes closer to an hour-and-a-half start to finish, this lentil chili recipe is ready in just 45 minutes.
Watch the video below to see the recipe come to life. Here's the basic flow:
- Prep and gather all ingredients. Once you start cooking it moves quickly! Preheat a soup pot over medium-low heat and toast the walnuts for a few minutes. Transfer to a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Move ground walnuts to a bowl and set aside.
- Add the onion, jalapenos, and garlic to the food processor. Blend until mostly pureed.
- Return the pot to the stove, and increase heat to medium. Add the oil, if using, and the spices. If not using oil, add the blended onion mixture before the spices. Stirring, cook the spices for about 1 minute. Add the pureed onion mixture to the pot, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the smoked salt, tomatoes, soy sauce, broth, and water. Bring to a boil. Add the lentils, bulgur, beans, and ground walnuts, and stir well. Return to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Turn off the heat, and give the chili another good stir. Taste and adjust seasonings. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes. The chili will continue to thicken as it rests.
Like most chili recipes, it tastes even better the next day.
Substitutions
- Gluten-free - sub millet or quinoa for the bulgur and using tamari instead of soy sauce.
- Oil-free - omit the oil used to sauté the veggies and spices. See the Notes section in the recipe card about reversing the order of Step 3. Basically, you'll add the onion mixture to the pot before adding the spices.
- Nut-free - either omit the walnuts and reduce the water slightly, or add a bit more oil when blooming the spices for more richness.
Tip! If you need to omit the walnuts or bulgur because of an allergy, use only two cans of beans and stir in half a can of refried beans for extra thickening.
Variations
With the addition of red lentils in this chili, it doesn't need three types of beans. So unless you just really love a bean-heavy chili, feel free to pare down to your two favorites. I really enjoy it with just pinto and black beans.
In a hurry? Not into lentils? Omit and reduce the water by ½ cup. This chili is still loaded with satisfying beans. As an added bonus, omitting the lentils means shaving a few minutes off the cook time!
Serving Suggestions
I love this chili so much that, honestly, I don't even like the distraction of toppings. But you do you!
Add your favorite chili fixings like cilantro, green onion, fresh or pickled jalapeños, shredded vegan cheese, and sour cream.
Pair lentil chili with any of these vegan cornbread recipes:
I hope you love this Lentil Chili as much as we do. If you try it be sure to leave a comment and rating below (it not only helps me, but it helps other readers find recipes they'll love).
Happy cooking!
Try our other vegan chili recipes: Vegan White Chili and Beyond Meat chili!
More vegan lentil recipes:
Recipe Video
Click to play the video and see how to make lentil chili!
📖 Recipe
45-Minute Lentil Chili (Vegan)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw walnut halves - if allergic, omit and reduce water by about ¼ cup. TIP: another option for added thickening is to stir in half a can of refried beans at the end of cooking.
- 1 large red or yellow onion, cut into chunks
- 2 large jalapeno peppers, stems removed - for mild chili remove the seeds; for spicier chili include all or some of the seeds.
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 Tablespoons oil such as avocado, olive or grapeseed - omit for oil-free.
- 3 Tablespoons chili powder - the blend, not a specific chili.
- 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons mushroom powder, optional
- 1 teaspoon smoked sea salt flakes or ¾ tsp regular fine sea salt)
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce - Sub tamari for GF.
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 ½ cups water
- ⅔ cup red lentils
- ⅔ cup bulgur - For GF sub millet or quinoa; rinse and drain before adding to pot.
- 1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained, optional - Include if you like a lot of beans in your chili, otherwise, skip 'em.
Instructions
- Tip: Once cooking begins in Step 4, things move quickly, so it helps to have all or most of the ingredients gathered and prepped.
- Preheat a large soup pot over medium-low heat. Toast the walnuts until warm and fragrant, about 3 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Transfer walnuts to the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until finely ground. Transfer the ground walnuts to a bowl.
- Add the onion, jalapenos, and garlic to the food processor (see Notes section). Blend until mostly pureed.
- Note: If omitting oil, reverse the order of this step; add the blended onion/jalapeno mixture to the pot first, then add the spices. Otherwise, for the best flavor, bloom the spices in oil as described below.Return the pot to the stove, and increase the burner to medium heat. Add the oil to the pot. Add the spices (3 T chili powder, 1 T cumin, 2 tsp oregano, 2 tsp smoked paprika, and 2 tsp mushroom powder). Stirring frequently, cook for about 1 minute. Add the pureed onion mixture to the pot, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the smoked salt, tomatoes, soy sauce, broth, and water. Bring to a boil. Add the lentils, bulgur, beans, and ground walnuts, and stir well. Return to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once the lentils are done, turn off the heat, and give the chili another good stir. Taste and add a pinch more salt or a drizzle of soy sauce, if desired. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes. The chili will continue to thicken as it rests.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used. We calculate this information using the online calculator cronometer.com.
Danielle Luhrs
This is by far the BEST chili recipe ever! Made it last night and I'm enjoying the leftovers as we speak. Can't wait to try more of your recipes! Thank you!
Kathe
I have some dried porcini mushrooms. If I grind them up, will that be the same as "mushroom powder", do you think?
Lori
Yes, that works great. It’s how I used to make chili before I started looking for short cuts. 🙂 You can also just leave it out if you don’t feel like the added step. Enjoy!
Lisa Marlow
Hi Lori, the recipe sounds great and I'm anxious to try it.
I know the mushroom powder is optional but I have a question.
I don't like the taste of mushrooms but I don't have a problem with their texture.
Does adding the powder give a pronounced mushroom taste or flavor? If it really adds something special to the dish I might try it but probably not if it's just normal mushroom flavor.
Thanks!
Lori
Hi Lisa, good question! Honestly, there are SO many other flavors going on, with the spices and veggies, I think you will like it either way. You won't taste mushroom if you do decide to include the mushroom powder. So in your case I would recommend just omitting it. No need to buy an ingredient you may not have much of a use for in other recipes.
Hope you enjoy!!
Lisa
This IS the best chili ever!! Absolutely delicious! My husband swore there was beef in it! It’s so meaty tasting! Thank you!
Mary
Do you think cooking this in an Instant Pot would harm the flavour any? Thanks for a GREAT recipe!
Lori
Hi Mary, I think cooking it in the Instant Pot will be great. You'll want to use the sauté function for steps 2 - 4. Then once you add all the other ingredients I don't think it will need to cook long. Maybe high pressure for 5 minutes? I would stir in the ground walnuts at the end, after pressure cooking. Hope that helps!
ShaunD
Just made your chili in my Instapot! Came out perfect! Very tasty! I used millet in place of the bulgar and Umami seasoning in place of the mushroom powder.
Sherri
I've tried several vegan chili recipes and this one is by far my favorite. It is saved and starred in my recipe book. Thank you for this one! I just found your website about a month ago and I am enjoying it so much. I especially love the name of your website, My Quiet Kitchen.....so peaceful.