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
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
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:
Terrific, zipped it up a bit with some dehydrated veg flakes and lemon , served over cauliflower mash. Really great!
Thanks Barbara! :)
I forgot about this recipe, but pulled it out last night when my vegetarian sister came for dinner… and we both marvelled at how much we adore this dish! It freezes and reheats like it’s fresh, which is ideal because the batch is fairly big for one/two people. I didn’t have mushrooms but it didn’t matter, which is also a great aspect of this meal — you can throw in whatever you have and it’ll still be great!
Thanks so much Kim! Glad you love it as much as I do :)
Just wondering if you’ve ever added potatoes? I have some to use up! Really like this recipe!
I haven’t, but I bet they’d be great in this! Most veg work well :)
I absolutely adore this! It’s a regular in my cooking rotation. To save cooking time I use canned lentils,and I also combine the kale in with the bake rather than serving on the side, it goes nice and crispy in the oven!
Thanks Mel, glad you enjoy it! :)
Looking to make this tonight. I have brown lentils, rather than red. Will that work?
They’ll need a bit more cooking than red, so I’d probably boil them for a while before adding the rice. The texture will also be a bit different, as they don’t cook down as soft as red lentils.
This is so good, I’ve made it loads of times, one of my favourites and healthy too, what’s not to like ,yum 🙂
Thanks Helen!
Yes, this recipe is baked in the oven! You do need to start it off on the stovetop though.
Hi there! This looks delicious.
I’m just wondering if I could leave the cheese out as I’m dairy free and hate the taste of dairy free cheeses
Absolutely! The cheese does give a bit of flavour to the dish though, so if you’re skipping it you might want to add some extra herbs and spices just to make sure it’s still tasty :)
After reading some of the comments on this recipe I halved the cayenne, but think I should have halved the paprika too as at was still a bit too spicy and my 2 year old only managed a few mouthfuls as a result. Will definitely try it again though with less spice. Added shredded carrot also t9 pack in even more veggies!
Great idea to add carrot! Sorry you found it too spicy – I hope you’ll try it again :)
Doubled the quantity as suggested. The Cayenne I only used 1/2 teaspoon and it still had a bite. Added chopped celery,baby spinach, capsicum,mushrooms and zucchini. This is a real keeper. Thanks for the recipe
Thanks so much Dianne!