It’s time for another $1 lunch video! Today I’m cooking up a giant pot of plant based Rainbow Lentil Chili. This quick and easy one pot meal is loaded with veggies and bursting with flavor!
I spent $10.43 on ingredients or $1.04 per serving, excluding the cost of spices. I purchased these groceries at my neighborhood produce store and my local Aldi. Here’s what I paid for my ingredients:
5 green, yellow, and red bell peppers ($4.00)
2 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes ($2.90)
2 cans corn ($1.20)
2 cans black beans ($1.20)
1/2 lb. lentils ($0.63)
1 head garlic ($0.50)
I was able to complete this meal prep in about an hour, but if you want to speed up the process you can purchase cooked canned lentils, frozen peppers, and use garlic powder rather than fresh garlic! You can also easily swap out ingredients based on what you have on hand. You could use any combination pinto beans, kidney beans, white beans, or any other bean in lieu of the black beans and lentils. In place of the lentils you could also use tvp, barley, or millet. Instead of corn you could use hominy, diced celery, zucchini, or onions. You can serve this vegetarian chili as is, which is how I ate it, or you can serve it with tortilla chips, put it over rice, or top it with cheese, sour cream, onions, or cilantro.
When it comes to spices I used: salt, pepper, onion powder, smoked paprika, chile de árbol, ancho chile powder, guajillio chili, fresh garlic, and arabic 7 spice. I realize many people do not have all of these spices, but that’s ok! To simplify the seasonings I recommend using any bouillon you have, a basic chili powder blend (or “taco seasoning” blend), garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne if you like heat. You could also add things like lime juice, fresh onions, cilantro, oregano, cajun spice blends, or crushed red peppers. This recipe isn’t fussy- experiment away!