I've come up with the perfect game-day snack...vegan chili nachos! For me, game day is just a thing you say to sound like you know what you're talking about. I actually couldn't care less about the Super Bowl, but food? Well, I'll play along just to get down with some snacks. These lentil chili cheese nachos are a winner no matter what team you're on!
I drizzled these vegan chili nachos with my nacho cheese which you'll probably become obsessed with if you've never tasted it before. The meatiness of ground beef you'll find on traditional chili nachos is also subbed out for tasty, protein-packed lentils that are cooked into a saucy spiced chili.
The rest of the story is up to you! Top these nachos with any veggies of your choosing—pickled jalapeños, fresh herbs, or even cashew sour cream! If game day means vegan chili nachos, let's consider everyday game day. Deal?
what you need
- vegan nacho cheese
- tortilla chips
- brown lentils
- white onion
- red bell pepper
- celery
- vegetable oil
- garlic
- canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- chili powder
- paprika
- onion powder
- ground cumin
- coconut sugar
- low-sodium vegetable stock
- sea salt and ground black pepper
how to make vegan chili nachos
- Make my famous vegan nacho cheese. This can be made in advance and heated just before serving, or make while the chili is cooking or staying warm.
- I use canned lentils to save time. Drain them from the can in a sieve and rinse well under cool water.
- You'll want to have your mise en place before starting to cook the lentil chili. Chop the onion, celery, red bell pepper, and mince the garlic, and set aside in small bowls.
- Start by heating a large pan or wide pot over medium heat and sauté onion, red pepper, and celery in oil.
- Add minced garlic, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, and cumin and combine with the vegetables, stirring frequently for about 3 minutes.
- Add the lentils, fire-roasted tomatoes, coconut sugar, low-sodium vegetable stock, sea salt, and ground black pepper and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Keep the chili warm until you're ready to serve your nacho platter.
- To assemble the vegan chili nachos arrange tortilla chips on a large platter, top with warm lentil chili, and toppings, then drizzle with lots of nacho cheese.
storage
Keep the cheese and chili separate and they will keep in the fridge for up to 6 to 7 days. Both components can also be frozen. You could easily make the cheese sauce and chili ahead of time as well and just reheat both of them when you're ready to serve the vegan chili nachos.
When reheating the nacho cheese you may need to add a bit of nondairy milk or water and whisk vigorously to get the consistency very smooth again. You can also re-blend it. I wouldn't keep leftovers of assembled nachos because they will get soggy and I doubt this is a real problem anyway. You're going to devour them all!
lentil chili cheese nachos
Ingredients
lentil chili
- 1 C cooked brown lentils
- ¼ C finely chopped white onion
- ¼ C finely chopped red bell pepper
- ¼ C finely chopped celery
- 1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¾ C canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes (about ½ a can)
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoon coconut sugar
- ¼ C low-sodium vegetable stock
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
toppings
- vegan nacho cheese
- 1 bag organic tortilla chips
- ½ C diced tomato
- ¼ C finely chopped green onion
- ¼ C chopped pickled jalapeños
Instructions
- In a large pan or wide pot, sauté onion, red bell pepper, and celery in oil over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until softened and fragrant.
- Add minced garlic, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, and cumin and combine with the vegetables, stirring frequently for about 3 minutes.
- Add the cooked lentils, fire-roasted tomatoes, coconut sugar, low-sodium vegetable stock, sea salt, and ground black pepper and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer for a couple of minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for another 10 to 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Keep the chili warm until you're ready to serve your nacho platter.
- Assemble your nachos however you like. Feel free to use other toppings to your liking. Arrange the tortilla chips on a large platter, top with warm lentil chili, fresh tomatoes, green onion and pickled jalapeños, then drizzle with lots of nacho cheese. You can pile that chili as high as you want, or even think about making single serving chili nacho bowls for Super Bowl Sunday!
Meggan Powell
My husband wouldn't shut up about how much he loved these nachos. I used crushed tomatoes and a food processor instead of a blender and it turned out perfect. Figured out that if the cheese isn't the right consistency, you just have to blend it longer. I now keep cooked lentils in my freezer to have on hand for these babies. The nacho meat didn't survive long enough to make it to the freezer but I imagine it would freeze well. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
Lauren Toyota
haha we love the nacho cheese sauce... total game changer. AND we've convinced so many non-vegans it's cheese!
Sherre
Delicious! This is my first attempt at cooking vegan. Very flavorful with a wonderful mixture of spices. Thank you for posting.
Lauren Toyota
AWESOME! Glad you loved it. This is one of our faves especially with non-vegans 🙂
Niki
Just had this for dinner and it was delicious! Thanks so much for the great recipe 🙂
Lauren Toyota
you're so welcome! It's one of our top faves 🙂
paije moormann
I just made this tonight! I'm so full and I can't can't to eat MORE tomorrow!!
Mikkel Magnuson
Hi Lauren! You have shared an amazing recipe. I am vegan since a month and I have tried this week. It is really delicious, yummy in taste. I become big fan of your vegan recipes. Thanks for sharing delicious recipes.
Linda Pierre
now I'm thinking about chili-cheese fries..or a chili cheese burger...or a frito's taco pie...mmmm.
angela
Just made this in a nutribullet and it still came out great. Holy wow I couldn't believe how much it tasted like nacho cheese. YUM!
Cee
Didn't have arrowroot flour, so I used glutinous rice flour instead... Well it turned out great! 😀 When I heated the sauce, the texture was quite gooey to perfection yassssss. Love your vegan recipes as always, coming from a non-vegan reader. 😉
Dawn
This looks amazing, will have to try it! So curious about the cheese...
Rebecca
Made this recipe tonight and it was AMAZING!! Me and my whole family agreed it was the best nachos I've ever made. I've made many a potato/carrot cheese sauce too and this one is the best!! Lauren you sure have a way with sauces & flavours. Excellent recipe, I highly recommend it.
Teresa
I made this for a couple carnivore friends last night, and it was a hit! The platter was totally licked clean! I almost wish I didn't share them 😉
As I was going along, I tasted things and made some changes. My friends don't like spicy food that much, so I cut back on the jalapenos (I only used 2, but I kept the pickling liquid). I added paprika for additional spice and color, and I also added some miso paste and regular pickle juice to add more cheesy/fermented taste to the sauce.
For the chili, I doubled the recipe, skipped the peppers, and added extra onion and celery. I added a little soy sauce and vegan Worcestershire sauce to make it a bit more savory.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! This is the best cheese sauce I've made and it felt really good to see my friends enjoying something vegan so much. One of them said the cheese sauce was better than actual nacho cheese.
Cara O'Sullivan
Could you make the cheese sauce in an Instant Pot and use an immersion blender?
Tori
Your youtube channel has helped so much, when I decided to go vegan it was so hard to decide what to eat. I feel so creative these days!
Cre
I made this and loved it. I love telling people what I had for dinner and they look at me funny and then tell me I need to eat better.
Lauren Toyota
hahahaa yaaay so glad!
Jennyrrys
This is my to go meal for a game night! It's so good. Thanks Lauren. Funny story, I used cayenne pepper instead of chili powder. 😛 it was so spicy, but tomatoes and avo helped.
Wanda Edwards
Very good!
Steph
Hands down this queso with random lentils I made —> best improvised vegan dinner in a while!!! 💕
Lauren Toyota
so awesome!