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:
I have always loved this recipe, but used to alternate between this and what was called your “easy cheesy lentil bake”, It had a layer of tomatoes at the bottom, grated carrot and cashews if I remember correctly. I have been trying to find it – but haven’t been successful. Any chance you can point me in the right direction?
Hi, sorry about that! That recipe is no longer on the site but I managed to dig it out for you:
Easy cheesy lentil bake
Serves 2-3
75g red lentils
50g white rice
1 vegetable stock cube, made up in 500ml boiling water
1tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
100g mushrooms, diced
1 carrot, grated
1/2tsp dried sage
1/2tsp paprika
1/2tsp hot chilli powder
50g cashews, roughly chopped
2 large tomatoes, sliced
50g grated cheddar cheese
Boil the lentils and rice for 15-20 minutes in the vegetable stock, stirring occasionally, especially during the last 5 minutes to ensure they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Once they are cooked, do not drain the water, but instead, continue stirrinng over the heat until enough water has boiled off for the mixture to resemble thick porridge.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion, garlic, mushrooms and grated carrot for 10 minutes. Add the sage, paprika and chilli powder.
Add the cooked vegetables and the chopped cashews to the lentils, and mix well.
Heat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
Layer the sliced tomatoes in the bottom of a baking dish (it does not matter if they overlap), and then top with half of the lentil mixture. Add a layer of grated cheese, and then the remaining lentil mixture. Press out the mixture to the edge of the dish, and smooth the surface. Bake for 30 minutes, until a slight crust forms on top.
I love this. I followed the recipe the first time but left out the mushrooms. My husband is a very fussy vegetarian. He like it, but the peppers and courgettes, where to much, so fussy. But I loved it so much I had to find away for him to eat it. So took out the mushrooms, pepper, and courgette, and add carrots. I have found this recipe to be very flexible. So a win win for me.
Just one thing though, can you freeze want is left. I only ever cook this for 2 and we eat half each, but I’m on a diet. Many thanks.
Thanks Katie! I agree, it’s very flexible. Glad you managed to make it work for you :) I think freezing the leftovers should be no problem!
I’ve made this twice now and it will definitely be a “regular” in our house. My carnivorous husband loves it! I made the bake exactly as the recipe the first time but the second time I used brown rice as we try to avoid white. I boiled it for 15 minutes in the stock before adding the lentils and it turned out really well. Thank you for your inspiring recipe ideas :-D
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback Nicola! And for the tip about how to adapt it for brown rice! :)
We love this recipe. But, my husband is trying to avoid rice. Do you think farrow would work in this?
Hi Linda, I’m afraid I’m not at all familiar with farrow, so I can’t advise. But to be honest if you cook it separately (to allow for any differences in cooking time), I would have thought you could pretty much use any grain you like.
Could you do riced cauliflower or broccoli in place of the rice? Barley is a lower glycemic option too.
Everyone in my family loved it, even my meat loving dad! I added a little more cheese because I’m a fanatic. Also, I would recommend cutting the cayenne in half if people are spice sensitive, this has a kick.
Thanks Karen, glad you all enjoyed it :D
This is delicious! I’ve vegan and all I had to do to adapt this recipe was to use vegan cheese. It is so good.
Thank you! So glad you can make it work for you :)
Hello, Could you recommend a replacement for the rice please
Cheers
Hi Kristine, I’d just skip it altogether to be honest, maybe replace it with some more lentils! Or you could try thinly sliced potatoes (might need to be pre-boiled!).
@Kristine, How about Quinoa?
Cauliflower rice, you can find it pre made in the frozen Veggie section at most grocery stores
@Barbara, quinoa works just fine.
A lovely recipe! Instead of the zucchini & mushrooms, I added colored bell peppers & leeks. Followed the same steps but increased the amount. Used one cup of lentils & one cup of rice. With them, I added 5 cups of liquid. Turned out delicious. A definite keeper.
Thanks Sally, glad you liked it :)
We love this recipe. My husband says it’s one of his favorites! Win!
Amazing! Thanks Lisa!
Hi Becca,
This recipe looks awesome. What size of dish did you use please? Thanks
Hi Nancy, it’s about 8 x 8 inches :)
@Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian, Many thanks for your reply. Tried it. It was fantastic!
Great news! :)
@Nancy, would it be OK to prepare the day day before a party? X erica
That should be fine, just leave it uncooked in the baking dish, then bake when you’re ready :)
I don’t think I cooked mine properly because after the boiling of the rice and lentils they were complete mush. At that point I only baked the dish for about 10 min but it was still too much. I think next time I would just cook the rice and lentils separately according to their package instructions but stop a few min early since the dish is baked after cooking. If the lentils and rice had held their form I think this could have been tasty.
Hi Michelle, yes I would stop boiling the rice and lentils as soon as they’re cooked, you don’t need to continue boiling them if they’re turning mushy!
@Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian, cook rice and lentils separately