Very Veggie Lentil Bake
One of my most popular recipes ever, with almost entirely 5 star reviews! Its appearance doesn’t do it justice – this lentil bake is incredibly tasty, and so easy to adapt!
Note: In 2018 I made an Instant Pot version of this recipe! If you have an IP, you can check out that version here: Instant Pot very veggie lentil bake.
As a food blogger who needs to come up with new vegetarian recipes on an almost daily basis, I don’t often have a chance to revisit old favourites – I think you guys would have a riot if I just posted the same four recipes over and over (…do any of you actually care that much?). But occasionally I just think stuff it, I’m going to repost something I’ve made before. Because sometimes I just want to. You’ll cope.
This very veggie lentil bake is basically a revamped version of a really old lentil bake recipe I posted way back in February 2012 (who even remembers that far back anyway? Back when our biggest problem was the impending end of the world… ah, those were the days).
The recipe was so unbelievably good and the old photos were so unbelievably not good that I thought it deserved a revival. With a new, but equally silly, name. Back then, it was pretty much my favourite recipe in the world, and not much has changed.
💬 Recipe Reviews
A lovely reader recently reminded me of this recipe, and I was inspired to make it again. They tweeted me a photo and called it ‘absolutely their favourite dish’ – colour me chuffed! So just in case you think my own raving about this recipe sounds insincere, rest assured that at least one person agrees with me.
Of course, since I can never follow a recipe to the letter, even if it’s my own recipe, I did make a few minor changes to this version. I made it bigger, for one (it’s that good, you’ll be happy to have extra), and used slightly different veggies, because I was too lazy to go shopping. It’s pretty adaptable – just use whatever veggies you have on hand (I do love a good fridge clearer!).
You can skip the cheese if you’d prefer a vegan lentil bake, but it does add a lovely flavour and gives that crispy topping, which is always a major plus. It’s not exactly an attractive dish, but crispy cheese goes a long way to making anything look enticing.
Whatever you put in it, this very veggie lentil bake is a brilliant way to enjoy some of the most simple store cupboard ingredients!
Very Veggie Lentil Bake
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Print Pin Comment(if you suffer from allergies, please double check all ingredients before eating)
Ingredients
- 110 g red lentils (~ 1/2 cup)
- 75 g white rice (~ 1/4 cup)
- 650 ml vegetable stock (~ 2 1/2 cups), or 2 stock cubes made up in 650ml water
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 small leek or 1/2 large leek, sliced
- 1 bell pepper, diced fairly small (I used orange)
- 5 medium mushrooms, diced fairly small
- 1 small courgette (zucchini), or 1/2 large courgette, diced fairly small
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- Black pepper
- 90 g grated cheddar cheese (~ 1 cup)
Instructions
- Boil the lentils and rice for 15-20 minutes in the vegetable stock, stirring occasionally. You’ll need to stir constantly during the last 5 minutes or so, to ensure they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Once they’re cooked, don’t drain the water, but instead continue stirring over the heat until enough water has boiled off for the mixture to resemble porridge.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan, and add the chopped leek, pepper, mushrooms and courgette. Cook over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft.
- Heat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
- Combine the cooked lentils and vegetables in a large mixing bowl, and add the paprika, cayenne pepper, and plenty of black pepper. Mix well.
- Transfer half of the mixture to a baking dish, and sprinkle over half of the grated cheese. Add the remaining lentil mixture, smooth out the top, and finish with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for around 25-30 minutes, until the cheese topping is golden brown and crispy.
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.
Love lentils? There are loads more vegetarian lentil recipes to inspire you here:
This looks awesome! Such a great alternative to a pasta bake. Got to love lentils.
I’ve never thought of this as an alternative to pasta bake but you’re right, it’s the same hearty, comforting kind of dinner. Just a bit healthier :)
This looks SO good! Definitely making it for dinner soon :)
This looks delicious! I can see why it is so popular
Can I replace the rice with the same amount of lentils?
I’m sure you could just use twice the amount of lentils and skip the rice, yes :) It’s not a particularly specific recipe so it doesn’t really matter how accurate you are. You might just want to add a touch less liquid to begin with until you can see how much the lentils are soaking up – you can always add a dash more afterwards!
Just wanted to check if it would be ok to make in advance? Does it reheat ok?
Thanks!
You could definitely assemble it in advance and then just bake it before serving. Or if you’ve already baked it and you’re just wanting to reheat the leftovers, I’d just pop it back into the oven for ten minutes or so until it’s hot all the way through. Enjoy! :)
is cheddar cheese vegan , Cheddar cheese is a concentrated form of milk. please explain.
Nope it’s not vegan!
The original was the first recipe I ever made of yours and the one I have made the most. I look forward to trying the revamped version!
It’s so funny, in the last 24 hours loads of people have told me that they’ve made the old version a lot, I never knew anyone had ever made it! Who knew it was so popular! :)
I love this recipe, came just in time as I am currently getting bored of the same lentil dishes I eat regularly. I need to try something different like this dish as I know it would make my meals more enjoyable..
Hope you enjoy it Petra, it’s really easy to make it your own too :)
Ooooooh! Yummy! I absolutely love lentils and put them in everything (much to the dismay of my family). This looks so delicious! Love that there is rice in there too, another added texture!
Haha people seem to either love or hate lentils! They’re so good – it’s easy to make them tasty, and they’re reeeally cheap and healthy!
That looks like such a perfect “cold evening” kind of dinner (that’s a good thing!!) and it sounds so scrummy! Think I’ll have to make this in the next few weeks as the temperature drops, I’ll just sub the cheese for a dairy free one :D
Yes definitely! It’s been so cold here and we’re still resisting putting our heating on, so something like this is perfect :)