Best! Vegan! Lentil! Recipes!

August 26, 2022 4:35 AM

My wife and I are strangely lentil-resistant! We cook great vegan meals with other legumes all the time: black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans... but somehow, when we look in the pantry and see the lentil jars, our first reaction is "ugh lentils." Do you have recipes that can help us turn the corner from lentil loathing to lentil love?
posted by Shepherd to Food & Drink (38 answers total)

Which types of lentils have you tried (green, red, pigeon pea, ...) and what kinds of dishes do you associate with lentils now and dislike, so we can avoid recommending the same things?

Any idea of what turns you off - texture, taste, ?
posted by trig at 4:44 AM on August 26, 2022 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Mujadarah will convince you. We sometime use 7 spice, sometimes just saffron with no cumin but a decent amount of salt. Sooooooo good.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:17 AM on August 26, 2022 [8 favorites]

Best answer: Lentils are my favorite legume!

My #1 lentil tip is that brown lentils are okay, but really, cook with red lentils and black lentils. Red lentils when you want the lentils to fall apart a little more and black lentils when you want them to hold their shape. My #2 lentil tip is that lentils do better with strong flavors and enough salt. Some favorites:

Egyptian-style lentil soup from the Veganomicon

Misir wot (Ethiopian lentil stew)

Masoor dal
posted by Jeanne at 5:21 AM on August 26, 2022 [5 favorites]

Anything is better if you start with a tadka! Dal tadka is usually made with red lentil or pigeon peas, but any lentil should do.
Here's a few different methods and discussion, just sub refined coconut oil for ghee and reduce cool times for canned and you're good to go.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:24 AM on August 26, 2022 [2 favorites]

I love this lentil salad from smitten kitchen -- can go all out and make everything from scratch, or just buy pre-made stuff and mix up. Is seriously good with tortilla chips!!!
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 5:29 AM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

Turkish lentil soup

Lentil chilli with black beans, sweetcorn and chickpeas
posted by knapah at 5:45 AM on August 26, 2022

A lazy lentil salad:
* Can of brown lentils
* Pieces of canned or roasted beetroot
* Feta
* Arugula
* Sundried tomatoes (optional)
Serve with a balsamic dressing
posted by kinddieserzeit at 5:49 AM on August 26, 2022 [2 favorites]

Cheap, quick & easy dal makhani (leave out the butter or sub with oil or vegan butter, or a bit of vegan cream).
posted by terretu at 5:59 AM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I love this Black Bean and Lentil Soup and make it about once a month. Very filling, easy to prepare, and it also freezes well.
posted by bookmammal at 6:14 AM on August 26, 2022

My favorite lentil recipe is this Marrakesh Express Lentil Soup, which uses red lentils. I also really like this one, which uses berbere spice. I am lazy, so I buy premixed berbere spice instead of mixing my own.

I also really like the Moroccan lentil soup in Dr. Greger's book How Not to Die. There are versions online, but they don't include how to make the spice blend it calls for, so you'd need to get that book from the library.

The Oh She Glows Vegan Lentil Walnut Loaf is fantastic. My favorite way to eat it is cold with barbecue sauce as a sandwich.

When I was learning to like lentils, I decided to become snobby about brands. For green lentils, I now buy Eden foods organic after I read that they were first in some kind of taste test (I'm thinking it was Cooks Illustrated). I've also liked these imported French lentils. Brands can make a difference, and even the most expensive lentils are cheaper than steak.
posted by FencingGal at 6:17 AM on August 26, 2022

OP's partner here! These are the lentils we currently have in the pantry:

Puys (Puis) lentils
Split Green Peas
Red lentils
Yellow split pea
Brown lentils
Urad dal?

(I do make dal A LOT with the red but I think we're getting bored of that.)
posted by Kitteh at 6:20 AM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

Lentils with a dijon mustard vinaigrette are my favorite - I usually do a version of this with extra parsley, because I always end up with parsley I want to use up, but any mustard vinaigrette is good with any lentils and some kind of crunchy vegetable diced or shredded, in my experience.
posted by the primroses were over at 6:31 AM on August 26, 2022 [6 favorites]

I cook lentils, any kind, with curry paste and a bit of honey and we use them in lentil burritos.
Cooked lentils
Toasted walnuts
Garlic yogurt (yogurt mixed with fresh minced garlic)
Spinach
Chopped green onion
Avocado
Wrapped in a tortilla - sometimes with some pepper jack cheese if we have it around
posted by hilaryjade at 6:33 AM on August 26, 2022

Vegan chili! The recipe as written is fine, but of course you can tweak the spices to your liking (in my opinion, some chipotles in adobo are required). It calls for green and red lentils, but I've used all kinds of lentils for it.

I also like this "copycat" of Amy's brand lentil soup; just watch it because you need way more water than the recipe calls for (or at least, I do for the red lentils I use). I've never tried the pressure cooker instructions, just the stovetop method.
posted by neushoorn at 6:35 AM on August 26, 2022

I converted to the Instant Pot a couple years ago. One of my staples is a very, very easy red lentil thing wherein I do not measure anything, as follows:
1 or 2 roughly chopped onions
about half a head of chopped red cabbage
one can of tomato paste or tomato sauce
hearty pour of red lentils (1.5 ish cups)
4-5 cups water or veg broth
4 frozen garlic cubes (or whatever garlic is on hand)
3-4 frozen ginger cubes or generous pour of ginger powder
several shakes turmeric
generous amount of masala curry powder

high pressure 10 minutes, natural release

alternates/additions-
chopped red pepper, can of diced tomatoes
2-3 chopped zucchini or bag of riced cauliflower instead of or in addition to red cabbage
posted by Glinn at 6:46 AM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I will also add, I have tried canned lentils and the gelatinous goo included in the can has turned me off of those. I just use bagged ones! (Or Trader Joe's used to have some cooked brown ones in the refrigerator section)
posted by Glinn at 6:48 AM on August 26, 2022

I helped my partner get over a professed hatred of lentils by making lentil sloppy joes. You could start by replacing a quarter or half of the ground meat in your favorite sloppy joe recipe with brown lentils. Let them simmer in the sauce until tender so that they soak up the flavors. You can do the same with your favorite meat-based pasta sauce.

I also used to really enjoy the "lenchili" from a restaurant in the town where I attended university. It was just a ladleful of basic vegetarian chili and a ladleful of lentil soup mixed together.

No need to soak the lentils overnight, they are small enough to cook through in a reasonable time. Like any legumes, you definitely want to rinse them before cooking and keep an eye out for any rocks or bits of field debris.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 6:57 AM on August 26, 2022

I love lentils, but I hate them in soups and I prefer them a bit al dente, so if the mush factor is what’s turning you off, ignore the cook time and start testing them after about ten minutes. A vinaigretted salad as mentioned above is my favorite way to eat them—this is my favorite recipe and when I make it for vegetarians or vegans I skip the bacon—I use olive oil to cook the vegetables and I finish the salad with a bit of smoked salt.
posted by padraigin at 7:04 AM on August 26, 2022 [2 favorites]

LENTIL POTATO Mini-Loafs/Muffins
1 can green/brown lentils (drained & mashed well)
1/3 cup dried mashed potato flakes
1 sm/med onion chopped and fried 'til brown
1 T oil
1/3 cup walnuts finely chopped & partly crushed
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t pepper
salt

Divide into small muffin tin & bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
I sometimes put a tsp or so of ketchup or bbq sauce on top before baking.
Typed from memory. Feel free to customize.
posted by i_mean_come_on_now at 7:55 AM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

One of my favorite soups is this Glowing Spiced Lentil Soup from the vegan cooking blog, "Oh She Glows". The recipe calls for red lentils, but you can probably use other types of lentils (you might need to adjust the cooking times). The recipe is good as it stands, but it's also amenable to modifications/substitutions in the spices that you use. For example, I've made it before with West African curry powder from the Teeny Tiny Spice Company of Vermont, and the result was excellent.
posted by alex1965 at 7:55 AM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I just made a variation of this farro, lentil and corn bowl thing last week, which uses French (le puy) lentils. I doubled the corn, used maple syrup instead of honey, skipped the feta, used basil in place of the other herbs, and added pepitas when serving for crunch. I kept the dressing and tomatoes separate, and mixed a portion for each meal. Delicious and essence of summer (if you are in the northern hemisphere)!
posted by esoterrica at 8:13 AM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I LOVE lentils, so not all of these might work for people who don't? But I think they're all great:

Lentil Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Red lentil daal with peas

Tacos using lentils instead of ground beef (there are probably recipes online, but just adding taco seasoning to lentils at the end of cooking works, with whatever taco toppings you like.)

Julia Child's lentil soup as typed/summarized by my father:
2 celery stalks
1 medium carrot
1 medium onion
1 medium leek (or another onion)
3 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp flour
6 cups hot liquid (broth or water)
1 bay leaf
.25 tsp thyme
1.5 cups washed lentils
2 tsp salt

Wash, peel, etc. celery, carrot, onion and leek and chop roughly. Heat butter/oil in 4 - 5 quart saucepan, stir in vegetables and cook, covered, over moderately low heat (stirring occasionally) until vegetables are just beginning to brown lightly - 10 minutes or so. Blend in the flour, stirring and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Blend in 1 cup of the liquid, stirring to mix flour (sometimes best to let sit for a couple minutes). Pour rest of liquid in and bring to simmer. Add herbs and optional diced turnip. Add lentils and salt, cover pan loosely, and simmer slowly 1.25 - 1.5 hours or until lentils are very tender. Puree. Correct seasoning. Add more liquid if it seems to thick.
posted by songs about trains at 8:33 AM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

Thai lentil soup is popular here. You can use red or green lentils with red or green curry sauce, and replace the fish sauce component with aminos.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:55 AM on August 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

You can use the urad dal to make dosa or idli. I like to stuff dosa with a mixture of masala potatoes, greens, and yet more lentils.
posted by mezzanayne at 8:56 AM on August 26, 2022

Here's Ottolenghi's take on the Thai lentil soup that I've made and greatly enjoyed. Crunchy snap peas give added texture, and their sweetness balances the savoriness of the soup.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:06 AM on August 26, 2022

Following along from Mezzanayne's dosa & idli suggestion I'd suggest also mehu vada (fried urad dal doughnuts if you will) or masala vada (made with chana dal, split chickpeas). Eat them with sambhar (made with toor dal, split pigeon peas).
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:26 AM on August 26, 2022

Seconding mujadara because the proportion of basmati rice to earthy brown or green lentils, plus the spices, prevents it from being a big lentil-forward experience. This is my usual recipe, but I usually push the rice to one cup.

Red lentils used to deeply disappoint me, because they start out a gorgeous colour and then cook into a bland-looking beige mush with a taste to match. But these two red lentil soups are now in regular rotation for me.

This soup from Middle Eats (YouTube, about 4 minutes, recipe in the description) layers lots of flavour with garlic and vinegar. You can skip the butter and just use oil or a good-quality margarine. (This soup reads as "golden" rather than "beige" to me now because I love it so much.)

Chef John's red lentil soup (Video - Print recipe) uses veggies and tomato paste to shift the colour and deepen the flavour. Veggie stock and oil will work instead of dairy. It's great even when you skip the yogurt.
posted by maudlin at 10:33 AM on August 26, 2022

I've been thinking a lot about this question, because you haven't said why you don't find lentils agreeable. Since you eat other legumes, it must be a lentil specific thing? I love lentils, but they have an earthy taste that may feel like eating dirt, TBH. And that can be enhanced in a bad way by the texture of most lentils. If this is actually what you don't like, the task is to outbalance that earthiness, and then your food friends are primarily acidic elements, with a bit of help from sugar and salt. Avoid the most earthy lentils, and also you need some textural elements with some crunch in them. Don't mix lentils with pumpkins or celeriac if the earthiness is what you don't like. Maybe you should also stay away from turmeric and cumin.

You could try this recipe for a French lentil salad (just skip the cheese, it will still be great). You could add in acidic, crunchy apple cubes along with the vegetables and walnut, for even more freshness.

In our house, a family favorite is a shepherds pie made with Beluga or Puy lentils. I make a soffrito of carrots, onions and celery, cooked gently in olive oil, add in chopped garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper, then the lentils, either from a can or dry. The main difference is the cooking time. Then I add a half cup of dry wine. If you don't drink wine, you can instead add a tablespoon of sherry vinegar. Let it reduce until there is no smell of alcohol or the vinegar is no longer harsh to smell, then add as much water as you need (depends on wether you are doing canned or dried), and thyme and bay leaf. Let it simmer slowly while you cook potatoes for the mash.

Turn the oven to 200 C. Mash your potatoes with vegan butter, put the lentils in an ovenproof dish, and spread the mashed potatoes over the lentils and make ridges with a fork. Put more vegan butter on the ridges. Bake till you have a golden top on your mash, with a few brown spots. Take out the pie and let it rest for 15 minutes.

If you are eating anything from the Mediterranean traditions, almost everything will be improved by a drizzle of olive oil, some lemon juice and salt. I just remembered as I plated my Moroccan stew right now.

I hope this works for you.
posted by mumimor at 11:40 AM on August 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

A number of suggestions from an earlier thread
posted by praemunire at 4:43 PM on August 26, 2022

For the split green peas, I like Smitten Kitchen’s split pea soup.

I recently made this lentil and porcini ragu which was very rich and delicious. This recipe contains Parmesan so not sure if you could do a sub (nutritional yeast??), leave it out or just take this as an idea, as there will certainly be vegan versions around.
posted by AnnaRat at 5:03 PM on August 26, 2022

Sweet Potato, Red Lentil, & Peanut Stew is one of my favorites. I think I discovered this from a MeFi Ask a few years ago.

Another favorite: Slow Cooker Coconut Lentil Curry. Recipe says to cook on low for 8 hours, but I've found the lentils get a little too mushy for my taste, so I usually cook about 6 to 6 and a half hours.
posted by JonathanB at 6:34 PM on August 26, 2022

I have always enjoyed this very simple Budget Bytes lentils with creamy mushroom gravy recipe. I usually serve it over a steamed kūmara (sweet potato).
posted by BeeJiddy at 9:05 PM on August 26, 2022

Mushroom-walnut-lentil pâté from David Lebovitz (originally from Rebecca Lefler’s Très Green, Très Clean). I have made the vegan version and it has turned out great each time (I leave out the rosemary because I find it overpowering). Delicious umami bomb!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:15 PM on August 26, 2022

I've made this sweet potato, lentil and coconut curry a gazillion times and it never fails to please.
posted by humph at 7:42 AM on August 27, 2022

Response by poster: I am going to cook these, working my way down, and slowly Best Answer the ones I like. Tomorrow: Mujadarah, as recommended by warriorqueen!
posted by Shepherd at 5:37 PM on August 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I'm also not being deliberately obstinate in not saying why I don't like lentils. I just... don't think of them very often, and when I do, I don't want to use them. For some reason. I don't actively dislike them that I know of. My sister decided she was going to be a vegetarian in the early 1990s and subjected my family to a lot of horrifically bland and not particularly well-thought-out lentil-based meals, so it might be a holdover from that.

But I can't say "I dislike lentils because ___." I just vaguely dislike them. I think this will change all that.
posted by Shepherd at 5:41 PM on August 30, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Solid B for warriorqueen's Mujadara recommendation! We did the first of the "three ways" recipes; I could have used even more caramelized onion, and I'm glad we chose puis lentils because it might have gotten reeeeal mushy if we'd gone with a squishier type.

It made enough for probably three meals, and then it's my wife's turn to cook, so I'll probably loop around to Jeanne's recommended lentil soup next weekend.
posted by Shepherd at 3:18 PM on September 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Of Jeanne's recipes we tried the Misir Wot (I didn't have the ingredients for the soup), and it was sadly a C -- we followed the recipe as closely as possible (we have a well stocked spice drawer) and unfortunately we both agreed that it tasted like what we stereotypically think of as a "lentil recipe".

This is actually very helpful, as it's zoning me in on what I don't like about lentils -- not the lentils per se, but I think it might be a combination of lentils + some flavour profiles that just don't hit with me. I like lots of kinds of African food, but this kind of flashed me back to a lot of vegan potlucks in my younger days.
posted by Shepherd at 6:25 PM on September 9, 2022 [1 favorite]