Healthy Vegan Lentil Salad | Quick Easy Lunch Recipes

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A light and easy to prepare vegan lentil salad is a lunch that I’ve totally overlooked. But whenever I make it, I remember how delicious and healthy it is! This vegan salad is so easy to throw together, it’s very satisfying, and you can customize it based on your favorite veggies and what’s in the fridge!

This is one of the first recipes I’ve ever published back in 2017. When I remade it after all these years (and I don’t think I’ve made it since that time, to be honest with you! It was a forgotten gem!), it still had the same flair it had this long ago. Trust me, I’m wishing I had made it more often! This is one amazing lunch that you’ll find so tasty, satisfying, and feeling good!

Do you see the difference? The lentils on the left have their round shape but are still soft. The overcooked lentils have burst and look a bit mushy. On the other hand, lentils that are not cooked enough won’t be soft at all.

To test your lentils, take a few and try to break them between your fingers. If they’re slightly resisting, then they’re good! If they won’t break at all, they’re not fully cooked. You could also taste a few to see if they’re cooked enough.

Tools Needed

• Instant pot
• Pot
• Non-stick pan
• Wooden spoon
• Cutting board
• Chef's knife
• Measuring spoons

Ingredients for Vegan Lentil Salad

Let’s get onto the recipe! Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this lentil salad. It’s quite short, which is perfect for meal prepping!

• Green lentils
• Onions
• Zucchini
• Tomatoes
• Curry powder
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

How to Make Healthy Vegan Salad with Lentils

• To prepare in an electric pressure cooker, add enough water to cover them by an inch and cook in pressure cooker mode for 8 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
• To prepare in a stovetop pressure cooker, add enough water to cover them by an inch and let the pressure build in the cooker at high heat. Then turn heat to low and cook for 6-8 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
• To prepare on the stovetop, add lentils to a pot and cover with just enough water to cover the lentils by about 1-2 inches. Bring the water up to boil, turn down heat to low until water gently simmers. Cook uncovered for 25-30 minutes.

Heat a pan on medium heat and drizzle some olive oil onto the pan.

When the oil is hot, add sliced onions and sliced zucchini to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the zucchini starts to become soft.

Season with curry powder. Stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.

Mix well and add the cherry tomatoes.

After one minute, add in the lentils.

Cook until everything is warmed through. Serve hot and enjoy!

This Is a Warm Curried Lentil Salad, Not a Cold Mediterranean One

Search for a lentil salad and you will mostly land on the Mediterranean version: cold lentils tossed in a dressing whisked together from dijon mustard and red wine vinegar, with feta cheese, cucumbers and kalamata olives running through it. This is not that recipe, and it is worth saying plainly so you know what you are making before you shop.

There is no dijon mustard here, no red wine vinegar and no balsamic vinaigrette - there is no dressing at all. No feta cheese, no cucumbers, no kalamata olives, no avocado, no quinoa and no chickpeas. It is not served on romaine, arugula or any other salad greens, and there are no fresh herbs in it either: no parsley, no dill, no basil, no rosemary and no fresh thyme.

What it is instead: a quarter cup of green lentils, 1 cup each of cherry tomatoes, onions and zucchini, 1 teaspoon of curry powder and 1 teaspoon of olive oil, cooked together in a single pan and served hot. The curry powder does the job a dressing would normally do - 30 seconds in the hot oil is all it takes to bloom it and give the pan its savory backbone. It is one of the faster lentil recipes I make, and the whole thing is warm, not chilled.

Cooking the Lentils - Three Ways, and the Trick That Matters

The lentils cook separately before anything else happens, and there are three ways to do it. On the stovetop, put them in a saucepan with just enough liquid to cover by 1 to 2 inches, bring it to a boil, then drop the heat so it barely simmers and cook uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes until tender. In an electric pressure cooker, cover by an inch and run 8 minutes with a natural release. In a stovetop pressure cooker, cover by an inch, build pressure on high heat, then 6 to 8 minutes on low, again with a natural release.

The trick is the water level. Lentils swimming in too much liquid go soft and break apart, and once they break they will not hold their shape in the pan. Just covered is enough. Drain them properly before they go in with the vegetables, because wet lentils will steam everything instead of warming through alongside it.

Green lentils are what the recipe calls for. Brown lentils cook in the same time with an earthier flavor, and French green lentils - often sold as Puy - are the firmest of the three and hold their shape best, which suits this dish well. Canned lentils work if you are short on time: drain and rinse them and add them at the very end, since they only need warming rather than cooking. This is an easy one to make as a big batch too - cook a large bowl of lentils at the start of the week and the salad itself takes about 5 minutes.

Nutrition, and Easy Ways to Change It Up

Each of the 2 servings comes in at 218 calories, with 39 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber, against 4 grams of fat and 322 mg of sodium. The fat number is low because the only added fat is that single teaspoon of olive oil, which is mostly monounsaturated fat, and the cup of cherry tomatoes is where the vitamin C comes in. The lentils are doing the heavy lifting on both protein and fiber, which is what makes a bowl this size genuinely filling.

For extra flavor, a clove of minced garlic or a finely sliced shallot can go in with the onions, and a pinch of red pepper flakes alongside the curry powder adds heat without changing the character of the dish. Diced celery and carrots are easy additions at the same stage if you want more vegetables in it. Cooking the lentils in vegetable broth with a bay leaf instead of plain water seasons them from the inside. Sunflower seeds scattered over at the end add crunch.