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:
I’m excited to try this recipe! I was wondering if you’d ever tried cooking the rice and lentils in a rice cooker together so you don’t have to stir constantly? I’m always looking for ways to cut back on time over the stove.
Hi Misty, good question! I don’t have a rice cooker and have actually never used one (they’re not at all common here in the UK) but if you have one that you’re comfortable experimenting with then it definitely sounds worth a try! Please do report back if you give it a go :)
Cook this on a regular basis, easy, tasty, healthy and I always give some to my daughter as it’s one of her favourites 😊
Thanks Irene, glad you both love it! :)
This is my go-to recipe to use up whatever veggies I have hanging around the fridge. It is simple and oh-so-tasty. It is different every time, depending on what veggies I have around.
Thanks Susan! I love how versatile it is too :)
I’d like to make this, but would like to make it either with brown rice or quinoa. Is that possible? I’m just not sure of how long to cook the rice/bean mixture if I did.
Hi, yes you can use brown rice or quinoa. Just check the cooking instructions for your chosen grain and the lentils, and then cook accordingly. So for example if your packet of lentils says they should take 20 minutes to cook, and your brown rice says 30 minutes, cook the rice for 10 minutes before you add the lentils to the pan :)
This has way too much Cayenne pepper. So hot my stomach is burning and could not eat it without eating salad or something with it. I certainly will cut the amount of pepper in half at least. Couldn’t taste anything but the pepper.
Sorry it was too spicy for you Barbara! I wonder if your cayenne was hotter than mine, as for me half a teaspoon between 4 portions is barely noticeable!
Love this – my go to dish.
Some things I have added at different times:
– frozen spinach and peas in with the rice and lentils
– cherry tomatoes, basil and grated mozzarella and parmesan on top layer
– always cook the mushrooms separately in a bit of butter for extra flavour
Wonderful ideas! I wonder if I could get my kids to eat this one with the tomatoes and cheese… call it pizza ;)
I’ve made this dish several times now and we love it. Husband is reluctantly cutting back on meat but asks for this one because he likes everything in it.
Thanks!
Great to hear, thanks Helen :)
I was amazed at how tasty this was. I added extra veggies and cut down on the cheese and it was still delicious!
Thanks Nancy!
Delicious and filling
Thanks Elena!
Absolutely delicious!! Took a little longer than 50 mins but was easy to put together and baked up beautifully. Highly recommend this one to anyone trying to eat more veggies and legumes but wants to eat comfort food!
Thanks for the lovely comment Aisha!