Slow Cooker Chicken and Lentil Stew with Moringa 🌿
I get off work at five, and by 5:05 somebody in this house is asking what's for dinner.
Growing up in a Haitian household, dinner was not something anybody scrambled over. There were grandmas in the kitchen, cooking and helping, and the food that took hours got made because there were hands to make it. Most of us are not living like that now. It is just mom and dad in the house, no grandparents down the hall, so the same person getting off work is the same person who has to have dinner ready.
In my house, that scramble turned into eating at 8, and for a while that was just our norm. As we work on our health, eating better is one goal. Eating earlier has turned out to be the bigger one.
That is why I am leaning into slow cooker meals, and honestly I do not know why it took me this long. They have to be one of my favorite ways to cook. You do a little work up front, the pot does the rest, and dinner is on the table at a decent hour instead of at bedtime.
This stew is the one I reach for when somebody here is not feeling well, and it is just as good when everybody is fine and you want a warm bowl of comfort. Tender chicken, green lentils, vegetables, and greens I picked off my own tree.
One pot, start to finish
I use a 5 in 1 slow cooker, so the searing happens right in the same pot. No skillet, no extra pan in the sink.
Now, you do not have to sear the chicken, and you do not have to marinate anything first. But I have a thing about dropping raw chicken straight in with everything, and those browned bits on the bottom are flavor you would just be throwing away. A few minutes on the sear setting and the whole stew tastes like it cooked longer than it did. If your slow cooker does not sear, brown the chicken in a pan, or skip it. The stew still works.
After the sear, everything else goes in. Lentils, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, broth, and the seasonings. Lid on, and I walk away. Three and a half to four hours on HIGH, about six on LOW. When I come back, the chicken shreds with two forks and the lentils are tender but still whole.
The moringa finish
Right at the end, I stir in fresh moringa leaves the same way most recipes finish with spinach. A few minutes under the lid and they wilt right down.
That handful is doing real work. Gram for gram, fresh moringa leaves carry more iron than spinach and more calcium than milk, with vitamin A and C on top. If you have never cooked with moringa, a stew like this is the easiest first try, because in a seasoned pot it just reads as greens.
Everything you need is in the card below.
Slow Cooker Chicken and Lentil Stew with Moringa
Chicken thighs seared and slow cooked with green lentils and vegetables in one pot, finished with fresh moringa leaves.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 cup dry green lentils, rinsed well
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth, plus more if needed
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp salt, then adjust to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Oil for searing the chicken
- 1 to 2 cups fresh moringa leaves, loosely packed, stripped off the stems
Instructions
- Sear the chicken thighs in a little oil right in the slow cooker insert if yours sears, a few minutes per side. Otherwise use a pan, or skip the sear.
- Add the lentils, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, broth, Worcestershire and all the seasonings. Stir once.
- Cook on HIGH 3 1/2 to 4 hours or LOW about 6 hours, until the chicken shreds easily and the lentils are tender.
- Remove the bay leaf and shred the chicken right in the pot.
- Stir in the fresh moringa leaves, cover, and let them wilt for a few minutes.
- Taste and adjust the salt. Thin with extra broth if the stew is thicker than you like.
Notes
Green or brown lentils only. Red lentils dissolve into the broth.
Strip the moringa leaves off the stems. The stems do not soften.
No moringa? Stir in 2 to 3 cups of fresh spinach the same way. Moringa powder works too, 1 to 2 teaspoons at the end.
Chicken breasts work but check them an hour early. Thighs are more forgiving.
Recipe by Toni Jefferson · Rooted In J's
© 2026 Rooted in J's LLC. All rights reserved.
Please link back to this page instead of reposting the full recipe.
About that tree
The moringa in this pot came from my yard, and it is one of the easiest things we grow in Florida. It shrugs off our heat, it grows fast from seed or a cutting, and the more you cut it, the more it gives you. One tree makes more leaves than one family can eat.
If you want to grow your own, the garden side of Rooted In J's is where I share all of that, starting with In the Garden.
Grow the greens, not just buy them
The free Florida plant guide is 61 pages of what to plant and the month to put it in the ground, for all three regions of the state. If you want food growing in your yard by winter, it starts there.
Get the Free Plant GuideWatch the VideoThe 5 in 1 slow cooker I sear and cook in is on my Amazon storefront. If you buy through it I make a small commission and it costs you nothing extra.
A recipe or a garden journal entry goes up every week on Patreon for five dollars a month.
If you make this one, come tell me. And if it got dinner on your table before seven, I want to hear about that too.
Toni