Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chickpea Lentil Stew

Here’s an easy vegan recipe idea for your Meatless Monday tomorrow! I do realize that this Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chickpea Lentil Stew is not the most photogenic of dishes, but it does make up for its muddiness in color with an excess of both flavor and fragrance; the smokiness of the paprika and cumin play well together here to bring out the underlying nuttiness of the lentils and the chickpeas.

This easy vegan lentil stew recipe takes only about 15 minutes of prep time to throw together and into your Crock-Pot, where it happily simmers away undisturbed and unsupervised all day — until you come home hungry and ready to eat! How nice it will be then to find a big pot of vegetarian stew, all cooked and ready to throw over your choice of neutral carb (from rice to potatoes, from pasta to quinoa). 😉

Lentils make their appearance in this week’s Sunday Scratchups (your weekly recipe around grocery sales & affordable ingredients), because both green and red lentils just made their seasonal appearance at ALDI this week. $2.19 for a pound of organic split lentils? Don’t mind if I do, really!

Note — these are back in January 2019, but have gone up to $2.29 at my store. 

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chickpea Lentil Stew

Ingredients

– for the spiced onion + mushrooms

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 Tbsp minced garlic (about six cloves)
8 oz white or baby bella mushrooms, roughly chopped
1.5 Tbsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp curry powder

– for the stew

1 cup dry red split lentils, rinsed
Two cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
8 oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
6 oz can tomato paste
32 oz vegetable broth
3/4 tsp Kosher salt
Black pepper, to taste
Lemon juice, to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and saute for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic, mushrooms, smoked paprika, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, and curry powder and saute for another three minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add that sauteed onion & garlic plus all other ingredients (except for the lemon juice) to your slow cooker. Stir, then cook for 8-10 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high.

Squeeze in a splash of fresh lemon juice. Stir, taste to see if you need a little more lemon juice or salt, then serve your lentil chickpea stew over cooked rice, potatoes, quinoa, or pasta.

Note: This thick and tomato-y stew is savory, but it is not spicy. If you want yours to be spicier after tasting it at the end of the day, stir in a little more cayenne and/or crushed red pepper.

Hearty and satisfying

This slow cooker chickpea lentil stew is a warm and welcoming choice for a chilly winter’s night: The perfect vegetarian comfort food! We enjoyed our saucy vegetarian stew over pasta for a full and filling meal; just add a little fruit on the side to round things out. This easy Crock-Pot stew recipe is naturally gluten free and vegan.

For more vegetarian recipes, browse through the Meatless Monday category for additional dinner ideas.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chickpea Lentil Stew, printable recipe

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Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chickpea Lentil Stew

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This easy vegan lentil stew recipe takes only about 15 minutes of prep time to throw together and into your Crock-Pot, where it happily simmers away undisturbed and unsupervised all day -- until you come home hungry and ready to eat!

Course dinner

Total Time 8 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

- for the spiced onion + mushrooms

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic (about six cloves)
• 8 oz white or baby bella mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1.5 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp curry powder

- for the stew

• 1 cup dry red split lentils, rinsed
• 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 8 oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 32 oz vegetable broth
• 3/4 tsp Kosher salt
• Black pepper, to taste
• Lemon juice, to taste

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and saute for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic, mushrooms, smoked paprika, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, and curry powder and saute for another three minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add that sauteed onion & garlic plus all other ingredients (except for the lemon juice) to your slow cooker. Stir, then cook for 8-10 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high.
• Squeeze in a splash of fresh lemon juice. Stir, taste to see if you need a little more lemon juice or salt, then serve your lentil chickpea stew over cooked rice, potatoes, quinoa, or pasta.

Notes

This thick and tomato-y stew is savory, but it is not spicy. If you want yours to be spicier after tasting it at the end of the day, stir in a little more cayenne and/or crushed red pepper.

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And don’t miss the free weekly ALDI meal plans that show you how to use these recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family!