Spicy Slow Cooker Tomato-Lentil Stew

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:

• Cook Up Some Cornbread – What’s better to serve with your stew than some fluffy, warm, and delicious Vegan Jalapeño Cornbread Muffins? Gluten-free and full of flavor, this could easily become your winter go-to.
• Say “Yes” to Salad – Salad is a great complement to soups and stews. Pining for pasta? Cook up some Fresh Picnic Pasta Salad or Super Easy Vegan Pasta Salad. Feeling more Mediterranean? Check out our Vegan Greek Salad With Tofu Feta or Italian Bread Salad. And of course your possibilities are endless with our Superhero Salad Guide.
• Bring on the Bread – Looking for some bread to enjoy your slow cooker lentil stew with? Say “ale, yeah” to some Rosemary Beer Bread and let your taste buds go wild. Toasting up whatever loaf may be living in your kitchen is also an A+ idea!

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

• Vegan Ratatouille
• Easy Vegan Chili
• Indian Toor Dal Soup with Turmeric
• Easy Vegan Instant Pot Soup With Lentils & Vegetables

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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.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes 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

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