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Total time: 50 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 people
4.92 from 236 votes
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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 recipewas so unbelievably goodand the old photos were so unbelievably not goodthat 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.
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 youthinkmy 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, butcrispy 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
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!
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
4.92 from 236 votes
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 326kcal
Author: Becca Heyes
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
Nutrition Facts
Very Veggie Lentil Bake
Amount Per Serving (1 portion)
Calories 326Calories from Fat 106
% Daily Value*
Fat 11.8g18%
Saturated Fat 5.3g27%
Cholesterol 24mg8%
Sodium 157mg7%
Potassium 577mg16%
Carbohydrates 39.5g13%
Fiber 10.5g42%
Sugar 3.8g4%
Protein 16g32%
Calcium 210mg21%
Iron 4.5mg25%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
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Love lentils? There are loads more vegetarian lentil recipes to inspire you here:
Vegetarian Food Blogger
Becca Heyes has been a vegetarian food blogger, recipe developer and cheese eater extraordinaire since 2011. She's been a vegetarian for significantly longer, after having stopped eating meat out of pure stubbornness at the tender age of 9. She spends her life testing recipes, sharing them with fellow veggie-lovers, and trying to think of new ways to say 'cheesy'.
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Fabulous recipe! I did add quite a bit more vegetables and added kale, corn and broccoli (which goes so well with the cheddar). I also added tumeric and cumin. Love how this recipe can change or evolve depending what you have on hand. Making it again for the 2nd time :)
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Thanks Michelle, glad you enjoyed it!
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This is the next dinner I’m making. Would this work with precooked rice and lentils? If so, would I use less stock? Thank you!
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If your lentils and rice are already cooked, I would actually just skip Step 1 altogether :)
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Excellent recipe and all the family loved it. It is do quick and easy to make from pantry ingredients I had in my store cupboard. This dish gives you the opportunity to experiment and add a few other ingredients. You can play around with this dish which I like. This will definitely be added to my favourites cook folder.
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Awesome to hear, thanks Morag! :)
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Would this freeze well? I’m always looking for freezer dinners for my Mom.
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Absolutely!
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Definitely going to try. Thinking about using nutritional yeast then just too with a scattering of cheddar. Have you ever tried this and how much nutritional yeast would you use?
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Have you tried this with brown rice ? Trying to work out the cook time and liquid ratio would need to be adjusted ???
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I haven’t tried it with brown rice myself, but I think there are some comments from people who have. I would probably cook the brown rice for 10 minutes or so before adding the lentils, and then just keeping an eye on it – add a splash more water whenever it looks like it’s drying out too much.
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way too much cayenne! i like spice but 1/2 tsp is twice as much as needed. so i mixed plain yogurt with lemon and put a good dollop for cooling. next time not so hot!
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Sorry about that Suz! I think perhaps the heat of cayenne differs depending on location / brand / how long you’ve had the spice, etc! So if any quantity seems like more than you would usually add, definitely start with a little, as you can always add more afterwards. Glad you’re still talking about a next time though :)
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Really easy to make and full of protein. I sometimes add different veggies to it, depending on what I’ve got in the fridge.
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Thanks Keah, glad you enjoy it!
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Can this be made with cheese alternative? I am dairy free.
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Absolutely :)
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Hi! Love this recipe and have it regularly.
Can anyone tell me what the calories are per the grams?
I know that it is 326 calories per portion – but how many grams per portion?
Trying to track my calories and I always have a bit more than one portion as it’s too good! Thanks 😊
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Hi Jessica, thanks for your comment! I don’t think I’d be able to give a calorie count per gram, because the exact weight of the dish could vary depending on what veg you use, how much water gets retained in the lentil mixture, etc. It’s never going to be exact in terms of weight. But the 326 calorie count is based on 4 portions, so there’s approximately 1304 calories in the entire dish. So if you end up getting only 3 portions from the dish instead of 4, that would be 1304 / 3 = 434 calories. Hope that helps a bit! :)
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Thanks so much :)
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