My hearty Lentil Stew is a comforting flavorful meat-free stew recipe with tender lentils and veggies. An easy cozy meal in about 40 minutes!
This easy meat-free Lentil Stew is the perfect cozy meal for fall and winter, but it’s so tasty that you can honestly make it all year round. For more veggie Soups and Stews, try my Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup and African Sweet Potato Stew.
Table of contents
Sabrina’s Lentil Stew Recipe
It’s hard to think of anything more comforting than a steaming bowl of savory soup or stew. This delicious recipe is packed with vegetables, tender lentils, and simple seasonings, all cooked in chicken broth. The lentils are so hearty and flavorful, you won’t even miss the meat!
This lentil recipe is great for both weekends and weekdays. It’s an easy, one-pot meal with a pretty short prep time, and the red lentils don’t take too long to cook in the savory broth. Or, if you want your dinner ready when you get home in the evening, follow my slow cooker directions to prep it ahead of time. It can cook on low throughout the day and you get to come home to a delicious stew ready to serve!
Ingredients
- Mirepoix: Just as in so many soup recipes, this one uses medium carrots, onions, and celery stalks. The combination of these aromatic vegetables is found in the base of most soup recipes and is called mirepoix. You’ll cook the vegetables in olive oil to bring out the flavor, which they then release into the rest of the stew while cooking.
- Tomatoes: Canned tomatoes are an excellent stew ingredient, which provides tangy flavor and a hearty texture. Do not drain the tomatoes, and instead add them to the stew pot with the liquid.
- Seasonings: You’ll need thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. I used just a few simple seasonings that go great with the garden veggie flavors and sweet lentils.
- Lentils: Before adding the lentils to the pot, be sure to rinse them well. I used whole red lentils because they aren’t as earthy as green lentils and have a bit of nutty sweetness that goes so well with the veggies. See my Chef’s Note (below the recipe card) about using whole lentils versus split lentils.
- Kale: Leafy greens like kale are incredibly healthy and taste delicious in this stew! Slice the kale from the stem, so it’s more tender and easy to eat. It will soften in the broth and be less bitter.
- Broth: I used chicken broth because I prefer the rich, savory flavor but if you want to use veggie broth for a truly meat-free stew, feel free!
- Parmesan Cheese: I love finishing off veggie soups and stews with some fresh Parmesan cheese. It adds just a hint more salt and the nutty cheese is perfect for lentils.
How to Make
Time needed: 40 minutes.
- Saute Veggies
Add olive oil to a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot and put it over medium heat. Then add the onions, celery, and carrots. Stir to coat in oil and cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Season vegetables
Add minced garlic cloves, stir, and cook for 30 seconds. Add the salt, thyme, oregano, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Then stir them together to season the veggies.
- Add Remaining Ingredients
Add the diced tomatoes, lentils, chicken broth, and kale to the pot.
- Cook soup
Stir well and simmer for 22-25 minutes until the lentils are tender. After the cooking time, garnish with parmesan cheese and serve with crusty bread.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 yellow onion , finely diced
- 2 stalks celery , finely diced
- 2 carrots , finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 14.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes , do not drain
- 3 cups red lentils , rinsed well
- 12 cups chicken broth
- 2 heads kale , stripped from stems and sliced
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese , shaved
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a large dutch oven on medium heat.
- Add in onion, celery and carrots; stir to coat and cook for 5-6 minutes until onions are translucent.
- Add in garlic, stir and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add in salt, thyme, oregano, black pepper and red pepper flakes and stir.
- Add in diced tomatoes, lentils, chicken broth and kale.
- Stir well and simmer for 22-25 minutes until lentils are tender.
- Garnish with parmesan cheese and serve with crusty French bread.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note: Cooking Red Lentils
I used red lentils for this lentil stew because they have a delicious blend of sweet and nutty notes, versus more earthy brown and green lentils. I also want to note that I used whole lentils, not split. Red lentils are the least firm and can get very soft, but also usually take longer to cook than brown lentils. Using whole lentils and cooking them only about 25 minutes helps them keep their shape better and gives the stew more texture. If you want to use split lentils, add them in the last 5-7 minutes because they cook much faster.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, Lentil Stew can definitely be made ahead of time! In fact, it often tastes even better after sitting for a day or two, as the flavors have time to really come together.
Nutritional Facts
How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave Lentil Stew at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Store: To store leftovers, first wait for the stew recipe to cool completely. Then transfer it to an airtight container. It’ll stay good in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: You can also seal the stew and freeze it for 4-5 months. Let it thaw in the fridge before reheating the recipe on the stovetop.
Slow Cooker Lentil Stew
- Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker and stir well.
- Cover pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours. Gently stir a few times throughout the cooking process. The cook time may vary depending on your slow cooker. Continue cooking until the lentils are tender.
- If you’re serving the stew for a potluck or party, keep the slow cooker set to low, so it stays warm throughout the evening.
Frequent Questions
The easy answer is yes. Lentils are a great ingredient to add to your diet. They’re a plant-based protein that’s high in fiber and low in fat, so they’re an excellent meat substitute for a vegetarian or vegan diet. They also have other important health benefits from folate, iron, phosphorus, and potassium. On top of that, stews like this are an easy way to eat more vegetables.
In this recipe, I added lots of seasonings and vegetables to flavor the lentils. Onion, celery, garlic, thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes all blend together to flavor the lentils. As the lentils cook in the vegetable broth, they’ll absorb the flavor from the broth, vegetables, and spices all around them.
The main difference between a soup and a stew recipe is how much liquid there is. Soups are typically made with more of a thin broth. Even after cooking, there’s enough broth to fill the soup bowl and for the vegetables and meat to float in. On the other hand, comforting stew recipes are only made with enough liquid to simmer the ingredients in, so stews will turn out thicker.
Variations
- Vegan Lentil Stew: If you want to make this into a vegan dinner, it’s quite an easy change. Simply replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth and leave the parmesan cheese off the top. With just that simple swap, you’ll have a delicious, hearty stew with no dairy or meat products.
- Chicken Lentil Stew: On the other hand, if you want to add some extra protein to the stew, you can make this recipe with chicken. Either brown chicken breast meat ahead of making the rest of the stew, or use leftover Roasted Chicken as the meat for your recipe. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add it to the stew a few minutes before you’re done cooking to heat the meat.
- Vegetables: There are so many delicious vegetables that you can add to this stew recipe. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, peas, green beans, cauliflower, or mushrooms would all make delicious flavor and texture additions.
- Flavor Additions: Spices like curry powder, paprika, garlic powder, rosemary, basil, or cayenne pepper would all taste delicious in this recipe. If you want to add a bit of fresh flavor at the end, you can finish the stew with a squeeze of lemon juice. The tart citrus flavor contrasts with the other ingredients and ultimately enhances all of the flavors.
- Lentils: I made this stew with red lentils, but you can make Lentil Stew with different lentil varieties. Green lentils have a mild peppery flavor and cook the fastest so reduce the cooking time. Brown lentils are more earthy and take a little less time, so start checking on them around 20 minutes.
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