Lentil Chili

This Lentil Chili recipe is made with ground turkey, green lentils, onion and garlic, and it’s perfectly seasoned with ground cumin, oregano, Turkish bay leaves and cocoa powder. It’s quick and easy to make, and if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, they taste even better the next day. 

You’ll enjoy the change of pace from traditional chili made with beans when you take your first bite of this tasty chili with lentils! It’s a rich and hearty, warm and not-too-spicy chili that your whole family will love!

Lentil Chili Recipe

• Olive oil. We use olive oil to saute the onions with. 
• Ground turkey. We use ground turkey for this recipe, but you could use ground or shredded, chicken beef or turkey.
• Onion. We use both yellow and green onions in this chili which adds a lot of flavor to the mix.
• Seasoning. We use a perfect blend of ground oregano, cumin, Gebhart chili powder and bay leaves.
• Cocoa powder.  Adding unsweetened cocoa powder to chili mellows the acidity of the tomatoes and adds a rich flavor to the chili! Definite add it, but make sure it’s unsweetened cocoa powder!
• Tomatoes. Use both diced tomatoes (including the juices) and tomato sauce for a delicious rich stew-like base.
• Broth.  Just a little chicken broth adds flavor and thins the chili out a bit. If the chili becomes too thick, then add a little more, but not too much or you’ll end up with a soup instead of chili. 
• Lentils. We use dry green lentils for this recipe because green lentils hold their shape when cooking better than brown or orange lentils.

Find printable recipe with the measurements below.

How To Make Turkey Lentil Chili

This turkey lentil chili recipe takes about an hour to cook, but most of that time is spent just checking in now and then and giving it a stir. 

1. Brown meat. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium low heat and brown the meat. 
2. Saute onions. Add the onions to the pot and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes or until they’re beginning to brown.
3. Add seasoning. Stir in the seasonings.
4. Stir in lentils. Add the uncooked lentils to the pot. 
5. Pour in tomatoes, sauce and broth.  Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, turkey and chicken broth.
6. Simmer.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.
7. Serve.  Sprinkle each bowl of chili with chopped cilantro, cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Why Add Unsweetened Cocoa Powder To Chili

Adding unsweetened cocoa powder to chili mellows the acidity of the tomatoes and it enhances the deep rich flavors of the chili. Don’t worry, you won’t taste the flavor of cocoa powder in your chili at all! We only add 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder to a pot of chili that will feed between 6-8 people and uses 1-1/2 pounds of meat. Make sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder.

Why You’ll Love This Chili With Lentil

• Easy. It takes just minutes to pull together then all that’s left to do is let it simmer. I’ve made this recipe so many times over the years that I pretty much have it committed to memory.
• Great Tasting. This chili is rich, flavorful and perfectly seasoned.
• Crowd Pleasing. I’ve taken this chili to many potlucks over the years and it’s alway popular. It’s also relatively inexpensive to make and it feeds 6-8 people.

Chili Toppings

• Homemade tortilla chips or tortilla strips
• Avocado slices or a scoop of guacamole.
• Sour cream
• Cheese
• Green or purple onions
• Jalapeno slices

Serving Suggestions

This chili goes great with a salad and homemade cornbread, garlic bread, warm crusty baguette or flour tortillas. It’s also tasty to ladle it over noodles (spaghetti or angel hair). 

• Summer Corn Salad
• Romaine Salad
• Lemon Arugula Salad
• Spring Mix Salad

Looking For More Lentil Recipes?

• Mexican Lentil Soup
• Sausage Lentil Soup
• Italian Lentil Soup
• Hearty Lentil Stew
• Red Lentil Soup

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 6 Servings

Lentil Chili

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

This Lentil Chili recipe is made with ground turkey, green lentils, onion and garlic and it's perfectly seasoned with ground cumin, oregano, Turkish bay leaves and cocoa powder. It’s quick and easy to make, and if you're lucky enough to have leftovers, they taste even better the next day. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground oregano
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons Gebhart chili powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes (include the juices)
• 1 8-ounce can no salt tomato sauce
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1-1/2 cup green lentils
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium low heat. Add the ground turkey and brown. Transfer the turkey to a bowl and set aside.
2. Add the onions and sauté for about 8 to 10 minutes or until they're beginning to brown. Add more oil if necessary.
3. Stir in the garlic, oregano, cumin and chili powder.
4. Add the meat and the lentils to the pot.
5. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, turkey and chicken broth.
6. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 40 to 45 minutes or until the lentils are tender but not falling apart. Stir occasionally.
7. Serve with chopped cilantro, cheese, sour cream, jalapeno slices, chopped onion and tortilla chips.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 401Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 15796mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 10gSugar: 7gProtein: 29g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.