Filled with delicious flavors and nourishing ingredients, lentil bowls offer incredible versatility, making them easy to customize based on your fridge contents or seasonal produce. While the instructions and recipe card features the ingredient combination used in the provided photographs, the post also includes a range of adaptations and suggestions in both the main content and the blog post notes. The following recipe is designed to yield two hearty dinner-sized portions.
The essential element in crafting a satisfying lentil bowl, like good grain bowls, lies in the combination of textures and complementary flavors. This nutritious lentil bowl serves as a great meal prep option.
Ingredient Notes
Lentils
You can use brown Lentils, black lentils, french green lentils, or even canned lentils. Yellow or red lentils will not work well for this recipe because they soften quickly and break down. You want a lentil that will hold its texture. Lentils are one of my favorite kitchen staples and plant protein. A serving of lentils (1 cup) has 17 grams of protein! I make a big batch of lentils almost weekly to add to this recipe. If you are short on time, use canned lentils, drained and rinsed. Check out my post all about lentils and their health benefits.
Greens- any kind of greens will work. Spinach, arugula, kale, swiss chard, or micro greens. Even shaved cabbage or brussels sprouts.
Roasted Veggies- I used roasted sweet potatoes today, but it is also great with roasted cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, jalapenos, brussels sprouts, and carrots. Don't be afraid to mix and match combinations of veggies.
Crunchy- nuts and seeds add a lovely rich, salty element.
Crisp- Add fresh veggies for crispiness to balance the hearty earthiness of lentils. You will see thinly sliced cucumbers in the pictures, but fresh peppers, red onions, shredded carrots, and snap peas work well, too.
Sauce-Tahini and green tahini sauce are my go-to sauces for lentil bowls. You can also use pesto, roasted pepper relish, cilantro garlic sauce, and tzatziki.
Creamy- goat cheese, feta cheese, avocado, and hummus are excellent creamy elements.
Tips, Tricks and Alterations
- Add whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, farro, or barrel
- Add some pickles onions, celery, or carrots.
- Add some spice with fresh or pickled fresnos, habaneros, or serrano peppers.
- Make a lentil burrito bowl with black beans, taco meat, and sour cream with a side of tortilla chips.
- Make a Greek lentil power bowl with roasted red peppers, olives, feta, and greek yogurt.
Instructions
Cook the Lentils:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the rinsed 1 lentils and 3 cups water.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until lentils are tender but not mushy.
- Drain any excess water and season with olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes, and black peppers.
Roast the Sweet Potatoes:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Toss the cubed sweet potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Roast for 20-25 minutes or until golden and tender, stirring halfway through.
Make the Tahini Sauce:
- In another bowl, mix together tahini, water, lemon juice, and salt until well combined. Adjust consistency with more cold water if needed.
Assemble the Lentil Bowl:
- Add cooked lentils, roasted sweet potatoes, chopped bell pepper, red onion slices, fresh herbs, crumbled goat cheese, and sunflower seeds in each serving bowl.
- Add dollops of tahini sauce on top.
I have a full category of lentil recipes including, Lentil taco filling, lentil soup, and what to do with leftover lentils.
If you’ve tried this Lentil Bowl recipe or any other recipe on BalancingBowls, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to see more tasty meals and anything else I’m up to.
Recipe
Lentil Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked french lentils
- 1 bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 sweet potato peeled and cubed
- Handful of fresh herbs such as parsley, mint, green onions and cilantro, chopped
- ½ cup crumbled goat cheese
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- 3 tablespoon olive oil 1 for lentils, 2 for roasting sweet potatoes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon Red pepper flakes
- ¼ fresh ground pepper
For the Tahini Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons Tahini
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cumin
- 4-5 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
Cook the Lentils:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the rinsed 1 lentils and 3 cups water.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until lentils are tender but not mushy.
- Drain any excess water and season with olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes, and black peppers.
Roast the Sweet Potatoes:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Toss the cubed sweet potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Roast for 20-25 minutes or until golden and tender, stirring halfway through.
- Make the Tahini Sauce:
- In another bowl, mix together tahini, water, lemon juice, and salt until well combined. Adjust consistency with more cold water if needed.
Assemble the Lentil Bowl:
- Add cooked lentils, roasted sweet potatoes, chopped bell pepper, red onion slices, fresh herbs, crumbled goat cheese, and sunflower seeds in each serving bowl.
- Add dollops of tahini sauce on top.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!