I'll admit, I sometimes find lentil loaves a little dry, and a little bland - but this easy vegan lentil loaf is anything but! It couldn't be simpler to make (basically: cook the lentils; mix; bake; eat), and it packs huge flavour. Plus, it's soft and moist in the middle, and perfectly crispy around the edges. It's perfect served with some mashed potatoes and a bit of gravy!
This simple vegan lentil loaf would make an amazing vegetarian main course for Christmas or Thanksgiving - or just any other cosy Sunday lunch throughout the year.
The recipe makes a good sized loaf - enough for about 6 people, so it's just the thing to serve to guests, and carve up in the centre of your dinner table. Everyone loves a centrepiece, right?
❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's an easy recipe that you can make any day of the year, but it also feels special enough for a celebration (perhaps Christmas dinner!).
- The flavours in this vegan lentil loaf are wonderful - although you could easily adapt the recipe to use different spices, or different vegetables, if you prefer.
- Any leftovers keep really well, and can easily be reheated in the microwave.
- We vegetarians don't need to miss out on the usual roast dinner trimmings, like roast potatoes and gravy - this lentil loaf will sit alongside them beautifully!
🥗 Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this recipe. You'll also need a few cupboard staples, like oil, salt and pepper. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
- red lentils. Unlike some other kinds of lentils, red lentils cook down nice and soft, and they bring a lovely moist texture to the loaf.
- oats
- red onion
- carrot - I grated my carrot into the loaf mixture, but you could dice it nice and small instead, if you'd prefer a chunkier texture.
- garlic
- veggie stock - I used a stock cube, but jelly stock or liquid stock would be fine too.
- herbs and spices - dried thyme, smoked paprika, curry powder and ground cumin. The flavours are delicious, but will still blend in nicely with the other elements of your meal.
- fresh chives
👌 Top tip
If you're planning to serve your lentil loaf in a different way, feel free to play around with the spices you include. For example, you could try using your favourite Tex-Mex spices, and serve the lentil loaf with some crispy potato wedges and salad instead.
🔄 Ingredient Changes
Feel free to make this recipe your own - it's really easy to customise with extra vegetables. As long as you don't add so many extras that they stop the loaf from holding together properly, you should be fine.
You could try adding:
- grated courgette (zucchini)
- frozen peas
- frozen sweetcorn
- sautéed mushrooms (finely diced)
- chopped green beans
- sautéed diced peppers
Different combinations of vegetables will bring different flavours and textures to the lentil loaf, so why not try something new each time!
🔪 Equipment
The only 'unusual' equipment you'll need to make this vegan loaf is a loaf tin (it's kind of in the name) - nothing too crazy, but it's something you probably don't use every day, and you may not already have one if you're new to cooking.
My loaf tin measures around 9 x 5 inches, and it's made of metal (rather than ceramic). I find metal tins are best for spreading the heat around the whole loaf, and giving a nice crispy crust.
Here's a metal loaf tin with great reviews on Amazon UK - or, here's a set of two on Amazon US.
📋 Instructions
Here's how to make this recipe - see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.
Step 1: Begin by cooking the carrot and onion with all the spices, then simmering with the red lentils until it's all cooked down into a seriously tasty mixture.
Step 2: Mix in some oats, to thicken up the mixture.
Step 3: Spread the mixture into a well oiled loaf tin, and bake until crispy.
Step 4: Carefully turn the lentil loaf out onto a board. As you can see, the front corner of my loaf crumbled ever so slightly, but generally this loaf holds together really well! The metal tin definitely helps to give a crispy crust, which makes the loaf more stable.
Step 5: Slice, and serve.
👌 Top tip
If you've got a bit left after your meal, thin slices of leftover lentil loaf make a really amazing vegetarian sandwich filling!
💭 Recipe FAQs
No, you need red lentils for this recipe. They cook down to be a lot softer than brown or green lentils, which helps to hold the loaf together, and also gives the loaf its soft, moist texture.
Everyone's definition of 'healthy' is different, but this vegan lentil loaf is high in fibre and protein, and very low in saturated fat and cholesterol, so that makes it a pretty healthy option in my view.
Yes! Just prepare the mixture and transfer it to the loaf tin, then store it in the fridge until you're ready to bake it. It will take slightly longer to bake if it's cold from the fridge.
I prefer using the microwave to reheat leftover lentil loaf. It does lose a little of its crispiness this way, but it's quick and convenient, and makes sure the loaf doesn't dry out.
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📖 Printable Recipe
Easy Vegan Lentil Loaf
If you've cooked this recipe, don't forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 1 red onion, diced fairly small
- 1 medium carrot, grated
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 200 g (~ 1 cup) dried red lentils
- 1 litre (~ 4 cups) vegetable stock
- 150 g (~ 1 ½ cups) rolled oats
- Small bunch fresh chives, chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan (not frying pan), and add the diced onion, grated carrot and minced garlic. Cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, until slightly softened.
- Add the smoked paprika, curry powder, thyme, cumin and black pepper, and cook for a further minute or two. If you’re planning to use low sodium stock, you might also want to add a little salt.
- Next, add the red lentils and the veggie stock. Bring to a simmer, and cook for around 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until the lentils are soft. Towards the end of the cooking time, preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4 / 350°F).
- Next add the oats and chopped chives, and mix thoroughly to combine. The mixture should be moist, but not runny.
- Thoroughly oil a metal loaf tin (mine measured 9 x 5 inches), and transfer the mixture to the tin. Smooth out the top of the mixture until flat.
- Place in the centre of the oven and cook for around 40 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before turning out the loaf and slicing.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Laura says
Is this able to be frozen?
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
I haven't tried freezing it myself but I think it's worth a try - I can't think why it wouldn't work :) Let me know how you get on!
Shirley says
I made the vegan lentil loaf this morning, taking care with the consistency of the mix. I also added some tumeric and two extra garlic cloves. I narrowly avoided disaster when I took the loaf out of the oven, after testing it first with a metal skewer to see if it was done, only to find that it wasn't completely done when I turned it out of the loaf tin onto my cooling rack. The bottom was sloshy and I lost a little of it. However, I quickly put it all back in the tin, smoothed it over the top and it has turned out brilliantly. When I looked at the pictures of the loaf slices I could see that they are thin. Therefore my problem was putting too much mixture in the tin, so next time I will make 2 small ones, or halve the ingredients,
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Ah yes, I think I did use quite a wide tin for mine! Sorry, should have been clearer - I've learned a lot about writing recipes in the last 4 years! I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway :)
Wendy Stauffer says
The broth cooking with everything called for in it was amazingly tasty. The spices went together so well. Seems like a fantastic base for a great soup also. I made this with French lentils and I really messed it up. Nothing stuck together. So I believe that the red lentils would be what I need to do as you have called for.
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Ah yes, red lentils cook down a lot more than other lentils - they go quite mushy, so they help to stick everything together into a loaf. I hope you enjoyed it anyway, even if it wasn't really a loaf!
MarylandGal says
Is this supposed to be like JD Wetherspoon's Sunday Lentil loaf? I visited England last summer and tried that and have been looking EVERYWHERE for a copycat recipe.
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Not specifically no! I don't see many copycat recipes here in the UK to be honest, I think that's more a US thing! I don't think I've ever had the lentil loaf at Wetherspoons but you could definitely try this and let me know how it compares :)
Lejla says
This sounds great. Any way the oats can be substituted for something Paleo approved? Coconut flour or almond flour?
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
I'm afraid I've no idea! I haven't tried either. Worth a try though!
Pedrinaa says
Hello there Becca! Thank you very much for the recipe, cooked for new year's eve dinner and it was delicious! : ) happy new year
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Hi! :) Thanks so much, really pleased you liked it! :)
Hannah says
this is my first vegetarian christmas, and after a very underwhelming first vegetarian thanksgiving, i decided i would try to make a vegetarian entree for myself this time. im so happy, this is delicious and saved my christmas dinner!! thank you! :)
Hayley says
Hello Becca :)
Would green lentil work in this dish?
I only have split red lentils and feel they would go too mushy.
Recipe sounds delicious and I can't wait to try it :)
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Hi Hayley, split red lentils would be fine! You kind of need a bit of mushiness to help it all stick together, since there's no egg or anything to bind :) Enjoy!
Dave says
Success! Loved it!
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Yay thanks Dave! :)
Kathy Swanwick says
How do you make gravy for this lusciuos-lookng dish?
Thanks!
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Hi Kathy, I'm afraid I'm a total cheat and I usually just use Bisto ;) Perhaps I'll make a gravy recipe to share in the lead up to Christmas!
kathy says
Hi, again!
I'm going to make this today but am not sure I have converted correctly from metric.
I have:
900 ml of broth = 30 ounces
100 grams of oats = 3.5 ounces
150 grams of lentils = 5.29 ounces.
Could this be accurate?
Many thanks,
Kathy
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Hi Kathy, a cup is around 250ml, so 900ml of broth would be around 3 2/3 cups. Maybe start with 3 1/2 cups and see how you get on. And grams to ounces is just a very simple conversion, your results look right to me :) Enjoy!