Smoky Red Lentil Chili
Switch up your chili game with this incredibly easy one pot red lentil chili, made with fire roasted tomatoes and smoked paprika. Fully plant-based but minimal chopping, ready in about a half hour!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or your fave neutral oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes or just regular diced tomatoes
- 28 ounce can water I just use the tomato can to measure the water!
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar or maple syrup
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 14 oz can navy beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup dry red lentils
- half lime juiced
Optional Toppings
- fresh cilantro minced
- fresh or pickled jalapeño
- crushed tortilla chips
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, warm the oil and then cook the onion until glossy and softened, 5-7 minutes. Add the red pepper and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.
- Add the tomatoes and water, the chili powder, cocoa, paprika, cumin, salt and brown sugar and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once boiling, add the red lentils, corn and navy beans and return to medium heat. Let it bubble away until lentils are tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes.
- Add lime juice, taste and adjust salt if needed. Serve with your favourite toppings!
Notes
Want to extend this meal to feed a crowd? Serve it with a hearty cooked whole grain like brown rice, quinoa or millet.
Red lentil cooking note: if your lentils are quite old, they might take a bit longer to cook or seem tough. If you’ve got the time, just let them go a bit longer (the chili will get even more flavourful!). But you can also add a tiny pinch of baking soda to the chili to speed things up…an actual pinch, because if you overdo it, the whole thing will turn to mush.