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:
What are some other good substitutes for the mushrooms and the zucchini? I don’t like either, so could perhaps put in more bell peppers…? THANKS!
You can pretty much use whatever you like! Definitely more peppers, or some grated carrot, other grated root veg, sweetcorn, peas – whatever you fancy :)
Can’t wait to try it this week. Can’t use cheese due to significant food sensitivities in our house and vegan cheeses just make the gang turn up their noses. So, am going to try to substitute with Nutritional Yeast (for the flavor, realizing I’ll be missing the gooey texture). Would love to hear if anyone else has tried the same or made it without the cheese altogether. Any feedback would be appreciated!
I haven’t tried it with nutritional yeast but I bet it would be fine! :) I’d sprinkle some garlicky breadcrumbs over the top, or add some big slices of tomato, since you won’t be getting the cheesy topping :)
This was a huge hit in my house!!
Yay thanks so much Danielle!
I love this dish! I also add eggplants to this when I make it for the family. It truly is versatile and delicious no matter what I do to it.
Thanks Mone, glad you like it :)
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this! I actually got 5-6 servings and ate 3 and froze 3. Tastes wonderful and it’s nice to have some freezer meals for when I don’t want to cook. Thanks so much for the recipe.
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it! :)
Just made this today and it was delicious. I love that the veggies inside can be changed around based on what I have on hand. Think I’ll try adding some corn inside next time.
Thanks Becca :)
Thanks Jeremy, glad you liked it! :)
Delicious!
Being on vacation of course didn’t have your spices listed. Just seasoned it like a southern squash casserole. Used zucchini, yellow squash, carmelized onion, mushrooms and half vegan cheese half regular cheese. Delicious. Half of us are allergic to dairy. I just couldn’t look at another bowl of lentil soup, but I love lentils. Perfect! Will be a very versatile casserole. I’m thinking next one will be gluten free pasta. Oh, did I mention food allergies. Thanks for posting a great recipe. Have you ever cooked the rice and lentils separate as if using left overs? Thank you
Thank you, glad you liked it! :) I haven’t but I’m sure as long as you end up with everything being cooked before you assemble, it will bake up fine together! :)
I LOVE THIS!!! Question: Do you think this is something I could assemble the day before and then bake the next day? Or perhaps better to make it ahead and just reheat in the oven? Cooktop space is limited on Christmas but I’d love to make this for my veggie husband for Christmas dinner. THANKS!!!
Hi Katharine, thanks for your lovely comment! I think either of those options would work fine – it might be slightly better to bake it just before serving, as it might dry out a little if you reheat it. Merry Christmas! :)
This is so delicious! I used a scallion instead of leek because it’s cheaper and it was delicious.
Thanks Amanda, glad you liked it!
With so many positive comments I just had to try this recipe. I am not keen on smoked paprika so just used standard paprika. I also put some carrots in. Served with broccoli, Naan bread and mango chutney. Lovely recipe – really nice! Will be doing it again very soon! Thank you!
Awesome! Thanks Alistair :)