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You really wont miss the meat in these flavorful, filling, and healthy Instant Pot Lentil Tacos! Ready in 20 minutes, and easily adaptable to use ingredients and toppings you already have, this vegetarian instant pot recipe is a WINNER.

I'm a big fan of mixing up our dinners with some meatless meals. I'm not a vegetarian (far from it 🙂 ) but I also don't like my family eating heavy servings of meat every single night.
One of my favorite vegetarian meals is black bean burgers — so dang easy and TASTY! I love that I usually always have what I need to make them.
I feel like Mexican flavored dishes are even easier to make meatless because of all of the delicious flavor and spices you can add to the dish. These sweet potato and black bean enchiladas, and these black bean and corn quesadillas, for example, always leave us feeling satisfied.
What I really love about these Mexican inspired lentil tacos are how hearty the mixture is–you wont even miss the meat! They are soo flavorful, and delicious, and one of my absolute favorite vegetarian instant pot recipes.

The Instant Pot makes this meal even more genius. Throw everything in the pot, and give it a stir. That's it! Cook it for 15 minutes on high pressure, and you're ready to eat. No babysitting the lentils, no stirring the pot. You don't even need to let the pressure naturally release!

This Instant pot lentil tacos recipe is also really easily adaptable to what you have on hand.
Substitution Ideas:
Chopped onion for onion powder.
Use the saute function on the instant pot to saute 1 cup chopped onion in a little bit of oil, before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Water for chicken broth.
You can use water if you don’t have chicken broth. I just like the extra boost of flavor that the chicken broth adds. Or you could add 4 teaspoons/4 chicken bullion cubes to the water.
Tomato sauce instead of salsa.
Additional veggies:
Try adding corn, diced green chilies (if you like it spicy), or another chopped vegetable, like zucchini.
More great Instant Pot Dinner recipes:
Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls
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Instant Pot Lentil Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry lentils, , green or brown
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, (or vegetable broth)
- 1/2 cup salsa
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
Topping ideas:
- corn or flour tortillas, , for serving
- shredded cheese
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- avocado, , chopped (or guacamole)
- fresh cilantro
- green onion, , chopped
- olives
- sour cream, (or plain Greek yogurt)
- salsa, , or hot sauce
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to instant pot and stir to combine.
- Close the lid and move valve to sealing position.
- Cook on manual (high pressure) for 15 minutes.
- Once the timer beeps, cover the valve with a towel and switch it to quick release to release all of the pressure.
- Open lid and gently stir.
- Allow to cool while you prepare toppings.
- Serve warm, inside corn or flour tortillas, with desired toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Recipe adapted from My Plant Based Family.
Nutritional label is based off a ¼ cup servings (to fill 1 taco). Does not include toppings.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE this recipe and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.



How is this considered vegetarian if you use chicken broth??
Feel free to use vegetable broth instead.
Clearly says you can use water. How about saying “thank you for your wonderful recipe” and then adjust to suit your self imposed dietary restrictions?
I have a question. Do the lentils still need to be soaked overnight? I’m brand new to using the instant pot so sorry if this is an obvious one!? looking forward to trying this recipe. Thank you!
No, they dont 🙂 Enjoy!
these look so yummy- mixing it up right now, and i was curious…my hubby can’t do tomatoes…what do i sub for the salsa? thanks!!
Hope you enjoy it! You could substitute a green salsa verde or green enchilada sauce instead…
These were fantastic! We are a mostly-vegan household, so I used vegetable broth in place of chicken and adapted the condiments accordingly. Having tried a variety of recipes for lentil taco filling, I must say this is hands down the best: the lentils are perfectly tender, the filling thickens on cooling, and the spices are just enough for those who are heat-averse (and the rest of us can add more salsa as needed). We’ve so far used the filling in tacos, burritos, and nachos, but I have a feeling it will be outstanding in cornmeal and tortilla-based casseroles, as well. Thanks so much for posting the recipe!
Hi! I’m going to make these tonight 🙂 I was wondering, is the serving size 1 taco?
I’d love to hear what you think! Yes, the serving size is for 1 taco
Yum! Thanks so much for this recipe! Just made them and my lentil came out a little hard. Should I add a few minutes to the instant pot? Thanks! 🙂
Yes, I would just add 1-2 more minutes 🙂 Enjoy!
I was skeptical but thought i would give these a try – I am SO glad I did! Thanks for a great recipe!
Delicious and so easy!! Will definitely be added to our rotation!
These are our new addiction! We ate them 3 times last week and I am now making another batch! Thank you for bringing this into our life!!
Wonderful! I’m really happy to hear that. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I just made these for dinner and they’re sooo good! So easy and full of flavor!
Thanks so much Daniele! So happy you liked them 🙂