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 am making this right now, as my husband and I are making the switch to vegetarianism this month. (We are phasing meat out by the end of the month. Anyway, I’ve doubled the recipe, because I had a huge casserole dish, and it’s in the oven now. Now there will be plenty left over for lunch tomorrow. It smells unreal! I can’t wait to taste it.
*Tip* To reduce the amount of dishes, mix the lentil mixture and veggie mixture together in the casserole dish, then mix in half of the cheese while mixing in the spices. Then, top with the rest of the cheese. This saves you from having to use the mixing bowl.
I can’t wait to check out your other veggie recipes!
Awesome to hear you’re going veggie! I hope you love it as much as I do :) And hope you enjoyed the lentil bake!
I made this last night, with brown rice and it was delicious! Also instead of using cheddar cheese are used a mix of Swiss and gruyere cheese. Great recipe to experiment with!
Definitely, you can put your own spin on it :) Glad you enjoyed!
Do you think brown lentils would work in this recipe? i know they take longer to cook but i couldn’t find red lentils at my grocery store. Thanks!
Brown lentils don’t cook down as much as red, so the texture would be different, but you could give it a go!
Great recipe. Do you know the amount of lentils after they are cooked at all? I’m definitely going to try this! Thanks.
I’m not sure, sorry! To be honest though the exact quantities don’t matter too much in a recipe like this :)
Thanks for putting this in your recent round up of recipes – I made it recently and loved it – made it with vegan cheese which worked well
Thanks Johanna, glad you liked it! And it’s also good to hear that it’s as good with vegan cheese :)
Just made this for supper tonight and it was so yummy! I had already started making it when I realized I didn’t have any rice! So I substituted quinoa for the rice and it worked great. This one’s a meatless Monday keeper! Thanks!
Ooh good idea! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Hi! Could I use mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar? Would that work?
I don’t see why not! :)
Made it this evening and LOVED it. Perfect for the cold Chicago day!
Yay! Thank you! :)
Made this tonight and all the family are enjoying it, I added broccoli instead of mushrooms as I don’t like mushrooms and I had broccoli in the fridge. I am trying to cook more vegetarian food for my family this year as my 5 year old just does not like the texture of meat. I am no longer going to put it on his plate, the whole family might as well eat the same as him right!
Thanks Cristin, glad you all enjoyed it! I agree, there’s nothing wrong with cutting down your meat intake a bit even if you don’t give it up completely :) I hope you find plenty more recipes you like here too!
I would like to make this with brown rice but the red lentils woul overcook since brown rice takes so long. Any advice?
I made this tonight, using vegan cheese. I don’t use oil so sauteed the veggies in a little vegetable broth. Also prefer brown rice, so I doubled the red lentils and then added some leftover cooked brown rice after the lentils cooked. Didn’t miss the oil. This recipe is so delicious!
Thanks Deborah, glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Deborah, I know you’ve already made this, and made it work – but if I’d got here in time, I would have just said to boil the rice for a little while before adding the lentils :)