Instant Pot very veggie lentil bake
My hugely popular very veggie lentil bake, adapted to be cooked in the Instant Pot! Even easier than the original.
Food blogging is a funny thing – sometimes I’ll publish a recipe that I think is incredible, but you guys don’t really seem that blown away by it. Other times, I’ll publish something that you go unexpectedly crazy for! My very veggie lentil bake was definitely one of those recipes. It’s been viewed over 400,000 times, and literally every day I get an email, a message or a comment from someone telling me how much they enjoyed it – it makes me so, so happy! I knew it was a yummy recipe, but I didn’t know lentils could get people so excited.
Anyway, a few weeks ago I gave in and bought myself an Instant Pot – and I decided my very veggie lentil bake should be the first thing I use it for. A few little tweaks, and the recipe is good to go!
What is an Instant Pot?
The Instant Pot has been a must-have gadget for the past couple of years, but just in case you’ve missed all the hype, I’ll give you a quick run down.
It’s basically an automatic electric pressure cooker. You add your ingredients, program it to cook for a set amount of time, and then just leave it to do its thing. It generally takes 10 minutes or so to reach pressure, but once that’s happened, it cooks things super quickly – almost everything I’ve made in it has cooked in 10-20 minutes, even things that I would usually bake or simmer on the hob for a full hour. So it’s not quite ‘instant’… but it’s pretty quick.
After your food is cooked, you just release the pressure, and it’s ready!
I’m sure I’ll be sharing more Instant Pot recipes over the coming months – if you want to get yourself one so you can cook along with me, you can get them on Amazon (UK* / US*)!
Very veggie lentil bake in the Instant Pot
My very veggie lentil bake is one of my favourite dinners – it’s got a cheesy mixture of lentils, rice, and tons of veggies – all my favourites in one satisfying meal.
The original recipe requires the lentils and rice to be cooked up together in a pan, and you also need to fry off the veggies separately. Then you mix everything together, and transfer to a baking dish to stick in the oven. It’s an awesome recipe, but it does require a bit of effort – there are a few different steps to it.
With this Instant Pot version, you don’t need to do any of that. You obviously still need to chop a few veggies and grate some cheese, but that’s 100% of the prep – just add some veggie stock to help it all cook together, and you can go and relax while it cooks everything for you.
How long does it take to cook?
The original recipe takes the best part of an hour to make, about half of which is hands-on prep time.
This Instant Pot version takes just ten minutes to prepare, then 20 minutes to cook (plus an extra ten minutes or so for the Instant Pot to come to pressure).
It may not seem like a huge time saving, but in terms of hands-on time, it’s much quicker to use the Instant Pot.
My favourite thing about having an Instant Pot is that it encourages me to make healthy dinners from scratch more often. Usually, if I only have the energy to spend 10 minutes cooking dinner (i.e. almost every day of the week), I’ll resort to opening packets of processed food, and will just throw something in the oven. But with the Instant Pot, you can spend just a few minutes chopping vegetables, and in no time you’ll have a freshly cooked, healthy meal – no need to stand over the stove while it cooks.
Are there any disadvantages to using the Instant Pot?
The only disadvantage to this Instant Pot version of my lentil bake is that the cheesy topping doesn’t crisp up. It does all melt down and gives a nice cheesy layer, but it’s not a crispy one. In my opinion, this minor disadvantage is well worth the time and effort you save by using the Instant Pot – I’ll definitely be making this version from now on! Crispy cheese is worth a lot… but it’s not worth an extra half an hour in the kitchen.
What veggies can I use in my very veggie lentil bake?
I can never follow a recipe to the letter, even when it’s my own, so when I adapted my lentil bake for the Instant Pot, I did make a few minor changes to the original recipe. I added some diced carrot, for example, as I knew a hard vegetable like carrot would hold up well to being pressure cooked. I also grated the courgette (zucchini) instead of dicing it, so it melts right into the lentils as it cooks, keeping everything nice and moist.
Feel free to switch up the veggies if you like, but remember that not all vegetables are going to be tasty when they’re pressure cooked – I imagine broccoli, for example, would turn to mush, so you might want to avoid that one!
How should I serve my lentil bake?
I love to serve my very veggie lentil bake with garlic bread – the crunchy bread is amazing at scooping up the soft lentils, and who doesn’t love a bit of extra garlic in their life? There are already plenty of veggies in the bake itself (it’s kind of in the name…), but you can serve a bit of salad on the side too if you’re feeling virtuous.
Then just dig in! I promise you’ll love it.
Instant Pot very veggie lentil bake
Ingredients
- 250 g (~ 1 1/8 cup) red lentils
- 100 g (~ 1/3 cup) white rice
- 1 medium courgette (zucchini), grated
- 1 small leek, or 1/2 large leek, diced
- 1 medium carrot, diced fairly small
- 5 medium mushrooms, diced
- 200 g cheddar cheese, grated (~ 2 cups when grated)
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp hot chilli powder
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- Black pepper
- 850 ml (~ 3 1/2 cups) vegetable stock
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of the Instant Pot, just holding back about a third of the cheese. Mix thoroughly, and scrape down the sides so that everything is just submerged in the liquid. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top.
- Place the bowl into the Instant Pot, and close the lid. Make sure the valve is set to 'sealing'. Set the Instant Pot to 'pressure cook' - high pressure, normal mode. Set the Instant Pot to cook for 20 minutes (it will also take an additional 10 minutes or so to come to pressure), and leave it to cook.
- When the Instant Pot has finished cooking, carefully perform a quick pressure release, and remove the lid. Serve warm.
Notes
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/4 of the recipe.
My cheesy bean bake is also super popular – give this one a try too!
* Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I will receive a tiny (tiny!) payment, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for the support!
love this! We omitted the cheese as my partner is vegan, but tastes great without it too! I top mine with some cheese once cooked, and he adds some vegan cheese to his if he wants. Both love it and best bit it that is is so easy to make in the instant pot. happy days :-)
Thanks Cheryl, that’s so lovely to hear!
Hi. I’m sorry but Kraft cheddar cheese is not vegetarian. It has animal rennet in it. I would suggest these vegetarian cheddar cheeses: 365 Whole Foods, AppleGate, Boarshead, Cabot, Crystal Farms, Dutch Farms, Happy Farms Aldi, Kerrygold, Kirkland Signature Costco, Kroger, Organic Valley, Sargento, Stella cheese, Taco Bell, Trader Joe’s. I got the list off the internet.
Hi Lila, I didn’t mention Kraft cheese anywhere so I’m not really sure what you’re referring to?
I am another person that rarely if ever comments but felt I had to on this one. My daughter recently decided to eat vegetarian. I made this for her expecting her to not like it but she ate 3 plates! This is incredibly easy to prepare and I was thrilled to open the pot to a perfect dish. Thank you so much for optimizing this for the IP. I am certain this will get made many more times!
Amazing!! I’m so happy she enjoyed it – hopefully you’ll find lots more on the site that will help her transition to vegetarianism! :) I don’t know if the rest of your family eats meat, but if you do, this might be helpful! https://www.easycheesyvegetarian.com/vegetarians-and-meat-eaters/
Love, love, LOVE this recipe! Tonight was the 4th time I’ve made this and I’m going to have to double.. hmm maybe TRIPLE the recipe because everyone wants second helpings and there’s always arguments over who gets to take the tiny amount of leftovers for their lunch the next day. It’s gone to the top of the favourite meals list!
Wow amazing, thank you!! :)
Followed the recipe exactly and got a burn message. The bottom of the pot is now covered in scalded food and I have a half cooked bowl of mush and a hungry toddler with no dinner. Avoid this recipe unless modified.
Sorry this one didn’t work for you! :(
Thanks for the reply, and sorry for the grumpy reply in the heat of the moment. I learned afterward that my wife actually finely diced the zucchini rather than grating it, so that could be a factor. We also put in the white rice without rinsing it, which likely caused excess starch which could have contributed to the burn error. Feel free to delete my 1 star review, I would like to try again with the above corrections.
Ahh thanks for the feedback! You could always try adding an extra splash of water too, just in case – I think that can sometimes be a reason for a burn error? Certainly won’t hurt :)
So excited to see an Instant Pot recipe on your blog! I got one for Christmas and was so excited but then was a bit disappointed to have so much trouble finding vegetarian recipes for it. Hoping there are more to come!
I’ll try to share another one soon!
Hi, Becca! This sounds fantastic and something that both me and my 13 month old would eat.
Question- could I substitute quinoa for the rice?
I’m sure you could! I have no idea how the texture would turn out – quinoa needs less cooking than rice, so it might end up a bit mushier if you cook it for the same amount of time. But I’d give it a try and maybe adjust the cooking time next time if needed :)
Would the cooking time be the same if I do this pot in pot? Also, you really do not have to pre cook the mushrooms and zucchini to keep it from being too watery! Thanks!
Not sure about the pot thing, sorry! But no, you don’t need to pre-cook any of the veggies :)
Don’t normally comment on blogs but had to stop to say this turned out amazing and I will definitely make again!
Thank you so much! I love it when people take the time to comment on recipes they’ve enjoyed – it makes such a difference to us bloggers :) Glad you enjoyed it!
website wont let me comment
It did let you comment! ;) I just have to approve comments from new people to avoid spam!
this recipe is even better in IP l added diced celery and used white onion (didnt have any leek) and chilli flakes instead of powder put all the cheese to cook and served with parmesan this was very tasty love this recipe so easy and only one pot to wash
So glad you liked it, thanks Marian! :)
Hi! I made this for the first time and the only thing I switched up was the seasoning, and I got the dreaded burn notice! Any tips to prevent this for next time?
Oh dear! I didn’t get that on mine :( This blog post seems pretty helpful! https://www.paintthekitchenred.com/instant-pot-burn-message/
I think my first advice would be try try adding a dash more water, see if that helps :)
I love my instant pot, and use it most weeks, usually for cooking beans! It’s also brilliant if you’re cooking a casserole of some kind, as you can pre-fry the vegetables in the same pot. I don’t like it so much as a slow cooker – I prefer my original one – but as a pressure cooker it is wonderful! I use it far more often than I used to use my old one – which now lives in our motor home for the occasional bean meal! As for your recipe, I think I’d do as another commentator suggests, and crisp the cheese topping under the grill for a few minutes, otherwise it might be a bit too moist.
I really enjoyed it as written – the main selling point for me is that it’s quicker to make than the original version, and creates less dishes! So I wouldn’t want to then faff about with a dish and the grill. But it’s tasty either way! :)
The veg lentil bake is so good, I’ve even got the mother in law making it every week! What recipes do you think are incredible that didn’t get as many clicks as you thought? I want to try them!
Haha thank you! Good question… this is a recent one that comes to mind! Apparently not everyone finds gooey chocolate cookies as irresistible as I do?! :’D https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/gooey-deep-dish-choc-chip-cookie-bakes/
Haha I’m on it!
I don’t have an Instant Pot but make a lot of use of my pressure cooker. With this recipe, I would leave the cheese out, then pop the cooked lentil bake into a dish, sprinkle the cheese on top then put it under the grill for a few minutes for the crispy topping. My man loves this bake but would not be happy without the crispy cheese topping so worth that extra minute to crisp the cheese! Also adding the cheese afterwards means I can easily serve this to our Vegan son. :)
I don’t have an Instant Pot but make a lot of use of my pressure cooker. With this recipe, I would leave the cheese out, then pop the cooked lentil bake into a dish, sprinkle the cheese on top then put it under the grill for a few minutes for the crispy topping. My man loves this bake but would not be happy without the crispy cheese topping so worth that extra minute to crisp the cheese!
You could definitely do that, it just seems like a lot of effort, considering the whole point of using the Instant Pot was to cut down on time and dishes! I thought the cheesy topping was nice as is :)
.We have a Vegan in the family so would sometimes have to add the cheese afterwards anyway. :). Thanks for all the recipes you make available they are brilliant. :)
Thanks so much Doreen, that means a lot! :)
I have had an Instant Pot for over a year but still keep using my good old Crockpot. Yesterday I had to double the Crockpot Mac & Cheese I was taking to Thanksgiving and did it in both the Crock and Instant Pot. I still have it out so I will definitely give this a try. I will be looking for more recipes to use it with!
I hope you like it Megan! I’m sure I’ll be sharing another Instant Pot recipe soon :)