Slow Cooker Lentil and Carrot Chili
with lemon-garlic yogurt
Smarts: We definitely recommend soaking the lentils. They'll cook up a lot more tender in the slow cooker.
Ingredients
- French or green lentils, dried - 1 cup
- Garlic - 3 cloves, minced
- Onions - 1, diced
- Carrots - 1 lb, diced
- Cooking oil - 1 1/2 Tbsp
- Crushed tomatoes - 1 1/2 cups
- Cumin - 1 1/2 tsp
- Paprika - 1 tsp
- Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Vegetable broth - 2 cups
- Avocados, large - 1, cubed
- Tortilla chips (opt) - for serving with chili
- Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
- Greek yogurt, plain - 1 1/2 cups
- Lemons - 1, juice of
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Lentils - Soak overnight in water.
- Garlic (for yogurt and chili) / Onions / Carrots - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
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Make
- If slow cooking, heat up a skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat (if not slow cooking, heat up a Dutch oven). Add cooking oil and then garlic and onions with a dash of salt to heated oil. Saute until softened, ~3 minutes.
- Fold in lentils and saute for another minute.
- If slow cooking, transfer to slow cooker. Add in crushed tomatoes, cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt, vegetable broth, and carrots and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. (If not slow cooking, add all those ingredients into the Dutch oven, cover, and bring to a boil. Then simmer uncovered for ~20 minutes.)
- While chili is cooking, make lemon-garlic yogurt. Mix yogurt with minced garlic, lemon juice, and salt (this makes enough for Wednesday’s dinner).
- Cube avocado.
- Once chili is done, season to taste with salt, pepper, any more of the spices, or dig into your condiments. Portion into bowls and let everyone top with avocado and yogurt. Scoop with tortilla chips if using. Remember to save half of the yogurt for Wednesday!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
137 reviews
So good!! We added black beans based on reviews. Great flavors, especially with the avocado and yogurt!
0 HelpfulI probably doubled the spices and we had some red lentils so I tossed those in as well. Nice, hearty dinner.
0 HelpfulDefinitely will make again. This was so good, and the yogurt sauce surprisingly pulled it all together.
0 HelpfulI made this for a chili cook off and I won the people's choice award!!! I did some slight variations though. I did ground chicken and added a can of whole kernel corn and a can each of red chili beans and red kidney beans.
0 HelpfulThis was tasty-great! Good for the budget and for the taste buds. We are trying to better manage our carbs around here so I skipped the potatoes and chips, and love that I can see just how much that will shave off the recipe stats, but added more Olive oil & 1 cup of black beans (I need beans in my chili). Thank you CookSmarts!
0 Helpful