Vegan Picadillo (with Lentils, Peppers, and Green Olives)

Vegan Picadillo is a delicious lentil stew with peppers, green olives, tomatoes, and just a hint of chocolate. And this tasty lentil picadillo recipe is a tasty meatless main dish whether or not you’re vegan!

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Vegan Picadillo (with Lentils, Peppers, and Green Olives) is a recipe I first made with my nephew Jake when he cooked with me for the blog for many years. And from the first bite this was one of Jake’s favorites out of all the recipes we tried together. 

I loved the sound of the inspiring stew recipe with lentils, sweet bell peppers, green olives, onion, garlic, chile powder and a hint of cocoa powder. Then when we tried the recipe Jake and I kicked it up a little, adding oregano, some canned tomatoes, a bit of Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link) and extra green olives. We ate this with a generous shake of green Tabasco, and the Vegan Picadillo was a satisfying meatless dish that we both loved.

And recently I made this again and took new pictures, which show off the recipe a lot better! And this time I added a little green olive juice to the Picadillo for even more flavor, plus I had the idea of garnishing the stew with sliced green olives, which probably appeals to all the green olive fans like myself!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• dried brown or green lentils
• Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
• salt
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• onion
• red bell pepper
• ground Ancho chile (affiliate link) powder
• Dried Oregano (affiliate link)
• canned tomato sauce
• canned petite diced tomatoes, not drained
• Cocoa Powder (affiliate link)
• granulated Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or other sweetener of your choice
• green olives
• Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link), or other Jalapeno hot sauce
• green olive brine

What is Picadillo?

The word “picadillo” means to mince, referring to small pieces of meat that usually make up the bulk of this dish, and of course in this Vegan Picadillo the meat is replaced with lentils. Picadillo is a traditional dish all over Latin America where it’s usually made with beef and includes things like raisins, tomatoes, and olives.  Read more about Picadillo to find out what recipe variations are used in different countries.

Is the Vegan Picadillo recipe low in carbs?

Lentils do have some carbs of course, but they’re also a good source of fiber, and this delicious Picadillo made with lentils only has about 14 net carbs per serving and it has 8 grams of protein.

Is this Vegan Lentil Picadillo gluten-free?

This delicious Picadillo recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free.

How to Make Vegan Picadillo (with Lentils, Peppers, and Green Olives):

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Rinse lentils and pick out any broken ones.
2. Then simmer with garlic, salt, and water until lentils are soft. Drain over a pan to catch the liquid.
3. While lentils cook, chop the onions, red pepper, and green olives.  
4. Brown onions in a little olive oil in a pot that’s large enough to hold all the stew.
5. Add the minced garlic, diced red pepper, ground Ancho chile and Dried Oregano and cook a few minutes more.
6. Then add diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, cocoa powder, Monkfruit Sweetener, and diced green olives and simmer about 10 minutes.
7. Add the cooked lentils, 1 cup (or more) of the lentil cooking water and simmer 20-25 minutes on low heat.
8. Add the Green Tabasco Sauce and 1-2 T green olive juice and stir.
9. Serve the Vegan Picadillo hot. I loved this with some sliced green olives for garnish, so pretty!
10. You can top the Picadillo with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream if you don’t care whether it’s vegan.

More Meatless Recipes with Lentils:

• Mexican Red Lentil Stew
• Curried Lentils
• Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Weekend Food Prep:

This Vegan Picadillo recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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Yield: 6 small servings

Vegan Picadillo (with Lentils, Peppers, and Green Olives)

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

This Vegan Picadillo (with Lentils, Peppers, and Green Olives) is a delicious meatless stew with a hint of chocolate and just a touch of spiciness.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups dried brown or green lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 4 tsp. minced garlic
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced medium
• 1 T ground chile power (see notes)
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• one 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• one 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes, not drained
• 2 tsp. cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. granulated Monkfruit sweetener (see notes)
• 1 cup diced green olives
• 1 cup or more lentil cooking water
• 1 T Green Tabasco Sauce, plus more for serving if desired
• 2 T green olive brine

Instructions

1. Pick over the lentils to remove any that look too dark or too light, rinse the lentils and put them in a medium-sized saucepan.
2. Add minced garlic, salt, and 6 cups hot water, and bring lentils to  a boil.
3. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook uncovered until lentils are soft, about 20-25 minutes.  (If you have old lentils that have been in the pantry a while they make take significantly longer to cook, so try some to see when they’re done.)
4. When lentils are soft, drain them into a colander placed over a bowl or large measuring cup to catch the liquid.
5. While lentils cook, chop the onion, bell pepper, and green olives.
6. Heat oil in a heavy dutch oven type pan that’s large enough to hold all the stew.
7. Add the onions and saute over medium-high heat until onions are just starting to brown.
8. Add the minced garlic, diced bell pepper, chile powder, and oregano, and cook 3-4 minutes more.
9. Add diced tomatoes and juice, tomato sauce, cocoa powder, Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice, and diced green olives and simmer about 10 minutes.
10. Then add cooked lentils and 1 cup or more of lentil cooking water, and simmer 20-25 minutes more on low heat.
11. Stir in the Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link) and green olive juice as desired.
12. Serve hot, topped a generous dash of green Tabasco sauce if desired.
13. If you don’t care about the recipe being vegan, this is also good with Greek yogurt or sour cream.

Notes

I used ground Ancho chile (affiliate link) for this recipe, but any flavorful ground red chile or  chili powder will work.

I would use Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) for this recipe, but use any no-calorie sweetener you prefer.

Recipe adapted from The South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook. (affiliate link)

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 194Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 0mgSodium 1200mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 9gSugar 6gProtein 8g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Lentils have some carbs but they also have a lot of fiber, so if you check the nutritional information you might find this is lower in carbs than you think, although too high in carbs for Keto. Vegan Picadillo is loaded with low-glycemic ingredients, and it would be approved for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. Remember that serving size is limited for the South Beach Diet Phase One. 

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soups and Stew Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index  to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This Vegan Picadillo recipe with lentils was first posted in 2012. The recipe was updated with better photos in 2017 and last updated with more information in 2025.

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