Prep
30 min
Total
1 hr
Makes
4 small servings or 2 large servings
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup cooked brown lentils
- 1/4 cup white onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup red pepper finely chopped
- 1/4 cup celery finely chopped
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil (or other light vegetable oil)
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3/4 cup (approx. 1/2 a can) canned fire roasted crushed/diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup low-sodium vegetable stock
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
Nacho Cheese Sauce
- 1 cup peeled, cubed & cooked potato
- 1/2 cup peeled, cubed & cooked carrot
- 1/4 cup sunflower oil (or other light vegetable oil)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk or water
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 6 pickled jalapeño slices
- 3 tbsp jalapeño pickling liquid
- 1 1/2 tsp arrowroot flour/starch
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Topping and Extras
- 1 bag corn chips
- 1/2 cup diced tomato
- 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
- 1/4 cup pickled jalapenos
METHOD
- In a large pan or wide pot, sauté onion, red pepper, and celery in oil over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until soft and fragrant.
- Then add minced garlic, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, and cumin and combine stirring frequently for about 3 minutes.
- Then add cooked lentils, tomatoes, coconut sugar, vegetable stock, sea salt, and ground pepper and stir to combine.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer for a couple of minutes and 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 the nachos.
- To make the cheese combine all the ingredients together in a high-powered blender until very smooth.
- If you’ve added the potatoes and carrots to the blender fresh out of the boiling water then the sauce should be warm enough to serve immediately. Otherwise you can heat it up in a small pot before pouring over nachos. The arrowroot flour/starch will thicken the sauce slightly when heated.
- To assemble the nachos, arrange the corn chips on a platter. Top with warm lentil chili, drizzle with nacho cheese sauce and garnish with diced tomato, green onion, and pickled jalapenos or other toppings of your choice. Serve immediately!
Make ahead!
You could easily make the chili and cheese sauce ahead of time and just reheat the chili and cheese sauce when you’re ready to serve.