Recipe Roundup

31 Hearty Lentil Recipes to Keep You Nourished

From quick pantry dinners to a company-worthy Instant Pot stew, our best lentil recipes will keep you well-fed and coming back for more.

By Joe Sevier and The Editors of Epicurious

January 10, 2024

A bowl of lentils with caramelized onions aioli chile oil and chives on a kitchen countertop.

Lentil recipes aren’t just dinner inspiration; they’re a way to make the most of a well-stocked pantry. (And often fix a meal without a trip to the store.) Lentils can fortify simple soups and add texture to pasta sauces. Mix these quick-cooking legumes with quinoa, cabbage, and a lemony dressing, and you’ve got a tote-anywhere lunch that you’ll actually look forward to. Toss whatever mix of dals you have on hand into your Instant Pot with pearl barley, rice, and lamb to make a comforting haleem, or quickly sauté soaked lentils to make a crunchy topper for your salad or roasted veggies. Below, you’ll find a bunch of our favorite lentil recipes to try with whatever variety you have on hand.

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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
1/31
Lentil and Chicken Soup With Sweet Potatoes and Escarole
Lentil recipes don’t stop at soups, but these little legumes do improve pretty much any pot of broth you’ve got simmering on the stove. For this hearty number, you’ll pair the lentils with store-bought rotisserie chicken (or a simple roast chicken if you’re up for it), sweet potatoes, fresh dill, and lemon.
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Photo by Nik Sharma
2/31
Lentil Lasagna
Layer tender lasagna sheets with shredded mozzarella, grated Parmesan, and lentils cooked in a gently spiced tomato sauce.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Haubert
3/31
Sopa de Lentejas
“So simple and yet so delicious,” writes one reviewer of this recipe excerpted from The Mexican Home Kitchen by Mely Martinez.
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Photo by Gabriela Herman
4/31
Harira
Grab the dried chickpeas and green lentils from your cupboard—plus a jar or tube of harissa—and make this warming soup.
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Photo by Nassima Rothacker
5/31
Masala Urad Dal
You’ll use split and skinned black lentils in this ginger- and cumin-spiced dal, best enjoyed with naan or chapati.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
6/31
Lentils With Caramelized Onion Aioli and Crispy Chile Oil
Canned Puy, green, or brown lentils meet caramelized onions and garlicky chili crisp in this recipe from Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage. It’s one of the highlights of our comfort-food-focused vegetarian meal plan.
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Photo and Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
7/31
Lentil Bolognese
Here’s the smart meal prep move to make the most of your cook time: Make a big batch of marinated French lentils early in the week so you can easily serve both this simple braised celery dish and the hearty, pantry-sourced pasta shown here.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
8/31
Instant Pot Lamb Haleem
Don’t skip the frizzled ginger and shallot topping that crowns this creamy, luscious Pakistani stew. Making this dish in a Dutch oven on your stove top is pretty time-intensive, but an Instant Pot cuts the total time down by hours.
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Photo & Food Styling by Kendra Vaculin
9/31
Grilling Cheese With Sweet Peppers and Black Lentils
This beluga lentil and mini-pepper salad is a vehicle for eating crispy, melty cheese for dinner.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Erika Joyce
10/31
A Vegetarian’s Dream Sweet Potato Dinner
Featuring roasted sweet potatoes, crisp mushrooms, and tender lentils over a dill-spiked feta-tahini sauce, this flavor-packed vegetarian (and gluten-free!) dinner created by Anna Stockwell is just what we want to be eating now. The best lentil for this recipe is one that’ll hold its shape and not get mushy—beluga lentils are particularly nice. Drizzle each serving with a little olive oil before you dive in.
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Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
11/31
Lentil-Smothered Greens on Fried Bread
You’ll steam spinach, kale, or Swiss chard on top of the lentils to make this quick but deeply satisifying budget-friendly dinner recipe.
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John Kernick
12/31
Veggie Balls
Need another reason to cook lentils? These mushroomy vegetarian meatballs are it. Top with a drizzle of pesto or your favorite tomato sauce.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Stevie Stewart
13/31
Lentil Soup With Coconut
Add fresh cilantro, a little chopped garlic, and a squeeze of lime juice just before serving this coconutty lentil soup that’s scented with whole cloves. This isn’t the moment for firm types of lentils like the French green ones; we love lentils with a softer texture here.
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Photo by Galdones Photography
14/31
Instant Pot Bisibelabath
Add minced green chiles and a crushed dried red chile to this South Indian lentil and rice dish, and serve with cooing raita on the side.
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Photo by Alex Lau
15/31
Quinoa Bowl With Lentils and Mustard Vinaigrette
If you’re going to add this crunchy mix to your bring-to-work lunch plan, split it into portable containers and keep the delicate mint and celery leaves separate to add at the last minute.
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Photo by Isa Zapata, Prop styling by Tim Ferro, Food styling by Taneka Morris
16/31
Just-Keeps-Getting-Better Lentil Salad
Kale salads don’t always eat like a meal, but this one will power you through the afternoon, thanks to chopped almonds, black beluga or French green lentils, crumbled feta, and Castelvetrano olives.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
17/31
Khara Huggi
This one-pot dish, called pongal or khichdi in some regions, can be made with split, skinless mung beans or red lentils. The rice and dal cook together until creamy, and you can top with a little extra ghee.
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Photo & Food Styling by Kendra Vaculin
18/31
Spiced Lentil and Caramelized Onion Baked Eggs
Use a can of basic lentil soup as a blank canvas for spices, golden onions, and just-set eggs.
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Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton
19/31
Big Green Lentil Salad
A swoosh of garlicky yogurt is a lovely landing place for this arugula, lentil, and basil salad with crunchy sunflower seeds.
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Photo by Alex Lau
20/31
Curried Lentil, Tomato, and Coconut Soup
This easy Yotam Ottolenghi recipe has received hundreds of rave reviews. It’s a great one to deliver to a friend who could use a home-cooked meal (maybe include a little extra coconut milk for drizzling).
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Quentin Bacon
21/31
Beluga Lentil Caviar on Blini
These blini look like they’re topped with caviar, but this vegan-friendly snack is actually made with marinated lentils.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
22/31
Lentil Soup With Wheat Berries and Kale
Got wheat berries, spelt, unhulled barley, or short-grain brown rice in your pantry? As long as the grains aren’t pearled, you can use any of them in this recipe. And you don’t need to deplete your stash of homemade chicken or vegetable broth; the pot has enough aromatics to give this plenty of flavor.
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23/31
Mujadara
This classic rice, crispy onion, and lentil dish, adapted from Claudia Roden’s version, is more than the sum of its parts.
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Peden & Munk
24/31
Lentils With Cucumbers, Chard, and Poached Egg
Eat this for dinner or serve it as a breakfast bowl for those who prefer things savory in the morning. The lentils are dressed with lemon juice, dill, scallions, salt, and black pepper; feel free to adjust the seasoning to your taste.
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Photo by Sang An
25/31
Roasted Arctic Char With Orange-Lentil Salad
We love the mild flavor of arctic char, especially when served with a sunny salad of lentils, chopped mint, onion, and orange juice.
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Photo by Tara O'Brady
26/31
Everyday Yellow Dal
Sizzle cumin seeds, minced onion, garlic, curry leaves, ginger, and diced tomato in ghee to pour over this dal.
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Christopher Testani
27/31
Eggplant With Lentils and Goat Cheese
Looking for a vegetarian main for your next dinner party? Consider these eggplant halves, stuffed with lentils and mint and topped with fresh goat cheese.
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28/31
Lentil Salad With Tomato and Dill
This two-step recipe from Gourmet is the summer side dish that hits every time. It’s a great way to use up any fresh herbs growing in your garden.
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Hannah Kaminsky
29/31
Quinoa and Red Lentil Burgers
Layer with sliced tomatoes, red onion, and ketchup, add avocado if you want, or serve these veggie burgers with feta, cucumber slices, and fresh mint.
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Photo by Sarah Britton
30/31
Four Corners Lentil Soup
This nourishing lentil soup recipe from Sarah Britton’s My New Roots gets bright flavor from tomatoes and three lemon slices that are added right to the pot.
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Willian Meppem
31/31
Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil, and Goat Cheese Salad
This earthy, sweet, and creamy salad is one of those lentil recipes that easily becomes a family staple. Both sugar pumpkin and butternut squash work well with the smoked paprika and cumin seasoning used here—all you need on the side is a hunk of crusty bread.
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Following stints at StarChefs and Saveur, Joe joined Epicurious in 2016 where he’s written about how to make the very best biscuits, the singularity of third-culture cooking, and the ultimate cream cheese frosting. Currently, he works across both BA and Epi as the senior SEO editor for cooking stories, which... Read more

Senior SEO Editor, Cooking

The Epicurious editorial team develops original recipes, and publishes stories about cooking better, faster, and more creatively, sustainably, and affordably. See our full masthead, here.