Green Lentil Stew with Chorizo, a hearty and delicious recipe with Spanish flavours. It's super simple to make with a few basic ingredients that are cheap and plentiful, and perfect for a frugal meal to feed a crowd. A family-favourite dish for every season.
Lentils are one of those underrated ingredients that we seem to look down on, although they are wholesome and absolutely delicious if cooked well. They are filling and full of nature's goodness, and make an excellent choice for those on a vegan or vegetarian diet.
But add some meat or meat alternative to them, and you are in for a treat. I opted for chorizo for this recipe, not only to give it a more Spanish touch, since lentil stew is a very popular Spanish dish, but also because we all love chorizo in our house.
The veggies added are even more goodness and colour, and there is nothing more satisfying than cooking a super healthy meal that absolutely everybody enjoys.
Like any other stew, one pan is all we need, so very little effort before or after cooking it - doesn't it sound great? It actually is!
Jump to:
Ingredients needed
- vegetable oil - or any other cooking oil you have around
- onion - either yellow or red, or even shallots
- garlic
- green lentils - do not used split red lentils as they cook a lot faster
- red pepper - or any other colour
- large potato
- carrots
- chorizo ring - I used regular chorizo, but spicy chorizo could do too if you like a bit of heat
- water or broth
- tomato puree
- salt & black pepper
- fresh parsley - to garnish
Step-by-step photos and instructions
I like frying the chorizo lightly at the beginning, although this can also be added later on, but I find that this way of cooking bring the best flavours.
- in a large pan, heat up the oil on a medium heat, add the slices chorizo and fry quickly for 1 minute
- add the chopped onion, and give it a good stir, then leave it to cook together for 2-3 minutes until the onions soften
- add the chopped garlic, red pepper and carrot together with the green lentils, then pour over the water, and leave to cook with the lid on for 35-40 minutes or until the lentils are nearly tender
- add the chopped potato and more stock if needed, and continue to cook it until the lentils and veggies are tender
NOTE! I started with 3 cups of water to begin with, and added another cup towards the end of the cooking time, as the lentils weren't quite ready yet, but the liquid had all been evaporated.
- add the tomato paste, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with fresh parsley
Easy swaps
For this stew I used green lentils, but brown lentils would also work - the cooking time could be slightly different, so check if the lentils are tender after 25 minutes.
I do not recommend using split red lentils for this particular dish, as they cook way too fast and they become too mushy. They would work in a dish, but I was after a different kind of texture here.
As for the veggies used, they can be swapped for whatever else you have around: peppers of any colour can be a great addition, celery or greens. The potatoes make the stew thicker as they cook.
The stew can also be made with regular sausages, leftover meat of any kind or ham. If you want to leave to chorizo out for a vegan and vegetarian version, you can add some regular or smoked paprika to keep that Spanish flavour going.
Other lentil recipes
Red Lentil Dahl with Coconut Milk
If you’ve liked this recipe or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM , YOUTUBE, TIK TOK , FLIPBOARD and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Green Lentil Stew with Chorizo
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ½ red pepper
- 1 cup green lentils
- 1 large potato
- 2 carrots
- 1 chorizo ring (225 g, ½ lb)
- 4 cups water or broth
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Heat up the oil in a large pan over a medium heat.
- Slice the chorizo ring, and add the slices to the pan stirring gently to fry for 1 minute.
- Peel and chop the onion, and add it to the pan - leave it to fry for 2-3 minutes until it softens.
- Add the peeled and chopped garlic, red pepper and carrot, the lentils and 3 cups of water or stock.
- Place the lid on and leave to cook until the lentils are almost tender, it could take up to 35-40 minutes.
- Add the peeled and chopped potato, and leave everything to cook until the lentils and veggies are tender - keep and eye on it to add more the rest of the water if the liquid is evaporated, but the lentils are not tender yet.
- Add the tomato paste, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with fresh parsley.
Video
Notes
- For this stew I used green lentils, but brown lentils would also work - the cooking time could be slightly different, so check if the lentils are tender after 25 minutes.
- I do not recommend using split red lentils for this particular dish, as they cook way too fast and they become too mushy. They would work in a dish, but I was after a different kind of texture here.
- As for the veggies used, they can be swapped for whatever else you have around: peppers of any colour can be a great addition, celery or greens. The potatoes make the stew thicker as they cook.
- The stew can also be made with regular sausages, leftover meat of any kind or ham. If you want to leave to chorizo out for a vegan and vegetarian version, you can add some regular or smoked paprika to keep that Spanish flavour going.
Nutrition
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Leave a Reply