Vegetarian Lentil & Farro Chili! This easy vegetarian chili gets an added boost of nutrition from lentils, and a great texture from the addition of farro. The rich flavor and heartiness of this dish is exactly what you need this fall — you may be surprised when you don’t even miss the meat!
I’ve been somewhat dreading the official beginning of fall. Not because I don’t enjoy this season — it’s actually one of my favorite times of year! But because I knew that I could no longer get away with posting chilled spreads and cold cocktails. You all want comfort food, and you want it NOW.
I totally understand where you’re coming from, and at the same time, even my eyelids are sweating at the mere thought of standing in front of a big, steamy pot of stew. At the risk of sounding like a broken record {for the past 7 years} — it’s still hot here.
But, sacrifices must be made in the name of blogging, and this is one of them. On the positive side, I have to say that what I cooked up for you as my first official fall post is mighty tasty, and that has somewhat eased any hesitation to jump right in and get my fall flavors on.
I worked on this chili recipe for a while because I knew that it had great potential, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was missing at first. Now, I know what some of you are thinking as seeing “beans” on the ingredient list for a chili recipe is enough to cause controversial debate, but hear me out — some of us non-meat-eaters crave a big bowl of warm, spicy comfort food as much as the next carnivore, and you can’t very well make chili without meat AND without beans. That’s just plain silly chili. {And basically a big bowl of nothing.} So, I say bite before you balk.
This chili recipe consists of two types of beans: Kidney, which are commonly used, and lentils, which are not. The reason lentils made their way into this recipe is because when I first tested it, I thought maybe they’d lend a somewhat “meaty” consistency to the chili {the same effect as little pieces of ground beef}, but unfortunately, they got a little too soft in the cooking process and created a “mush-factor” that was less than appealing. I tried a few other ways to incorporate the lentils {including baking the cooked lentils first to dry them out a bit}, but then I realized that I was complicating things too much and that there had to be another ingredient that could create that extra bit of heartiness I was looking for.
And sure enough, there was. Farro. I always forget about understated farro! {Except here and here.} But every time I rediscover it, I remember why I liked it to begin with. Here, the farro adds just enough chewy bite to make this chili something other than just — well, beans.
I also have to tell you that, even during the testing phase when the texture wasn’t quite right, the flavor was fantastic. I apologized to my husband the first time I made it and served it for dinner because, the truth is, it resembled dog food. Bless his heart, he still gobbled it up without complaint. When we both finished our servings we agreed that not only was it “not bad”… it was actually really good. That’s what gave me enough confidence that after a little tweaking, it would turn out to be more than “ok”.
And here we are!
I think a lot of the classic flavors of chili shine through in this easy vegetarian chili — the warm, flavorful spices, the acidity of the tomatoes, the savoriness of the onions. A few glugs of beer help to scrape up all that goodness that sticks to the bottom of the pot to make sure you get every ounce of flavor, and also lends another layer that makes it interesting.
A note on liquid: I like my chili on the thicker side. The farro in this tends to continue to soak up the liquid even after it’s done cooking, so if you prefer a more liquidy chili or if it gets too thick if you have leftovers, you can just add a small amount of liquid {water or veggie stock} to your chili before reheating to thin it out. Alternatively, you can add up to a cup more of liquid in the cooking process and that should help keep things from getting too thick.
Top it with crushed tortilla or corn chips, and sprinkle with your favorite chili toppings for a great “Welcome Fall” dish. As for me, this is probably as “chili” as it’s going to get around here for a while, but I’ll take it!
Vegetarian Lentil & Farro Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 14.5 ounces 1 can diced tomatoes
- 15.5 ounces 1 kidney beans
- 1/2 dry farro
- 1 cup beer
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup cooked lentils
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a pot or a pan with high sides over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until slightly softened.
- Stir in tomato paste {it's ok if it's dry at this point}. Add garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and cayenne and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes and kidney beans, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the farro and stir to combine.
- Pour in the beer and water, again scraping the bottom of the pan. Give it a good stir and allow it to come up to a boil. Cook for about 1 minute, then place a lid on the pot or pan and reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the farro is tender.
- Remove the lid and gently stir in the cooked lentils. Simmer for another minute or two to heat them through.
- Serve hot with your favorite chili toppings.
Just made this since it’s cold and rainy in NY. Perfect fall lunch. Delicious!!! I didn’t have lentils and I added a little ground beef instead. Love the favors and so quick and easy to make. Thanks for sharing
So glad you enjoyed it, Elizabeth! I’m totally jealous of the chilly weather! Thanks for stopping by to let me know you liked the recipe. <3