Spicy Slow Cooker Tomato-Lentil Stew

post featured image Lentil soup with spinach
Lentil soup with spinach
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This slow cooker lentil stew is the perfect recipe for keeping your belly warm this winter! Whether you’re looking for a hearty meal to satisfy the whole meal or like to do bulk meal prep, this dish has you covered! Full of protein and vibrant with veggies, you may find yourself coming back for more of this stew throughout the year. Feel free to adapt as you’d like and turn the spice level up or down, depending on how much you can take!

Load Up With Lentils

Lentils are a staple ingredient in vegan diets due to their high protein content and simple preparation requirements. They’re perfect for soups and this slow cooker lentil stew but also pair wonderfully with rice, potatoes, pasta, avocados, and many other kinds of food. Naturally high in protein (they’re made up of 25% protein!), lentils are also an excellent source of iron, folate, manganese, B vitamins, and antioxidants. Lentils are also free from gluten and are very economical to consume!

There are many different lentils to choose from! Green, brown, and French (Puy) lentils are ideal for stews while red and yellow lentils are great for making dal. We’d just recommend that you steer clear of using black beluga lentils in soups since they’re best suited for salads and caviar substitution!

How to Serve Up Your Slow Cooker Lentil Stew

This stew pairs beautifully with a variety of side dishes! Here are just a few ideas of how you can enjoy your slow cooker lentil stew:

Storing Your Stew

Your lentil stew will keep about 4-5 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container. You could also freeze your stew for up to six months! Just note that brown lentils hold more water so if you’re already planning to freeze your stew, you may want to be careful not to let the lentils cook too thoroughly.

More Soups and Stews to Try

Spicy Slow Cooker Tomato-Lentil Stew

Author: Toni Okamoto
5 from 7 votes
This spicy slow cooker tomato-lentil stew is easy to toss together using pantry ingredients, and it freezes beautifully. It’s flexible, too—mix it up by adding any veggies you have in the fridge, like broccoli, cauliflower, or green beans.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 6 -8

Ingredients

  • 2 cups dried brown lentils (or French or green lentils), rinsed
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
  • 2 cups peeled and chopped russet potatoes
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • ½ cup chopped carrots
  • ½ cup chopped celery
  • 2 tablespoons hot sauce
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 4 cloves
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 bay leaf
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • 4 cubes vegetable bouillon

Instructions

  • Combine the lentils, water, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, potatoes, onion, carrot, celery, hot sauce, garlic, cumin, chili powder, coriander, paprika, bay leaf, cayenne pepper, and bouillon cubes in a slow cooker; mix well.
  • Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
  • Remove the bay leaf, and serve.

Notes

  • If you don’t have bouillon cubes, you can use vegetable broth in place of water.

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Sodium: 252mg | Potassium: 1265mg | Fiber: 23g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 2231IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 115mg | Iron: 7mg
Course dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Italian
Keyword gluten-free stew, slow-cooker stew recipe, tomato lentil stew, vegan slow-cooker recipe, vegan stew

Article and recipe for Slow Cooker Lentil Stew from The Super-Easy Vegan Slow Cooker Cookbook by Toni Okamoto. Photo by ©Sporrer/Skowronek/Stockfood.

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Recipe Rating




7 comments
  1. Andrea White says:

    5 stars
    OMG this looks so incredible! I’ve been wanting new slow cooker recipes to try out and this one looks like a banger. Cant’t wait to try it!

  2. 5 stars
    This stew looks amazing I am so close to making this for dinner tonight 😀

  3. 5 stars
    Soup is one of my favorite meals! I used to be hesitant about lentils, but this soup recipe really won me over. It’s so comforting and delicious!

  4. Beatriz Buono-Core says:

    5 stars
    Nothing like a cozy soup recipe! Love this!

  5. 5 stars
    Lentils are the perfect food for making stew with! Love this recipe!

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