19 Recipes that Swap Lentils for Meat (With Delicious Results!) | Oh My Veggies (2024)
Published: · by Nicole · Updated: · This post may contain affiliate links.
Lentils are our favorite little legume rockstars. They're not only nutritious, but they add substance and structure to our favorite recipes. Whether you're a long-time vegan or a looking to transition yourself and your family to a vegetarian diet, lentils are a cook's best little helper. From chilis to burgers to tacos to meatless meatballs and hearty soups and stews, swapping lentils for meat creates satisfying recipes your family will love!
BBQ Crock Pot Lentil Chili // The only thing we love more than a hearty, super-flavorful chili is one where we can toss its ingredients into a slow cooker and walk away. Cotter Crunch answers our chili-cooking dreams with this BBQ-seasoned lentil chili.
Croatian Stuffed Peppers // With a gently spiced filling, a rich tomato gravy, and a puff of mashed potatoes, these vegan stuffed peppers from Yumsome are heavenly scented comfort food.
Vegan Beanball Sub With Sautéed Kale Marinara // When you love lentils like we do, it's so easy to not miss meat. But ... sometimes we really miss the delivery system. These beanball subs from Veggies Don't Bite satisfy all of those old cravings. This is the kind of meal even omnivores will love.
Vegan Lentil Loaf // If you miss the nostalgia of Mom's meatloaf, this lentil loaf from Yummy Mummy Kitchen will bring back all the good childhood feels. Lentils provide the proper structure and texture, and don't forget the yummy glaze!
Crockpot Sweet Potato Curry // Red lentils, sweet potatoes, and vibrant spices send this curry from Salt and Lavender into crazy-delicious territory. Another slow cooker recipe we can't wait try out on the next chilly, lazy weekend!
Vegetarian Cobb Salad Lentil Bowl // The classic Cobb Salad becomes a bowl of veggie goodness when SoupAddict replaces chicken with awesome black beluga lentils (and bacon with smoky tempeh!).
Panera Broth Bowl With Lentils, Quinoa and Veggies // Sometimes, we just need the cozy comfort and restorative powers of a rich, nutritious bowl of broth-based soup. Avocado Pesto maxes out flavor and healthy lentil goodness in this wonderfully colorful Panera copycat recipe.
Enchilada Lentil Tacos with Lime Slaw // The beauty of tacos is that they're universally crave-worthy, whether plant-stuffed or meat-stuffed. Cooking the lentils in a rich enchilada sauce makes A Virtual Vegan's lentil tacos irresistible.
Spiced Baked Cauliflower with Spicy Lentils // It's never too early to start planning holiday dinners, and this show-stopper from Lauren Caris Cooks, well, we just can't stop looking at it. This exquisite lentil and cauliflower dinner is a prime example of how plant-based recipes can be successfully elevated to main-dish status that will impress vegans and omnivores alike.
Vegan Lentil Sloppy Joes // These quick-cooking, veggie-stuffed sloppy Joes from Healthy Happy Life make weeknight cooking a total joy.
One-Pot Red Lentil And Butternut Squash Chili // We absolutely love a good, hearty one-pot meal for those super busy nights when we need sustenance, stat, without a lot of fuss. Yay! for Food's red lentil version makes us say, Yay for chili!
BBQ Lentil Veggie Burger With Mango Carrot Slaw // Lentils make incredible vegetarian burgers, and we love Vegan Richa's BBQ spiced version, especially when topped with her tangy-crunchy slaw.
Spicy Potato Lentil Pies // There's a 99.7% chance that you're not reading this post on actual National Pi Day (March 14th, natch), but we don't care. Spabettie's adorable individual lentil Pi pies are perfect all year round.
Curried Green Lentils And Kale // Curried anything is so warming and comforting as the days and evenings chill down, and this delightfully spiced lentil stew from Girl Heart Food is a slow cooker set-and-forget meal.
Lentil Taco Soup // We love tacos of all kinds, including this cozy soup version from The Garden Grazer that almost (almost!) makes us wish we had a driveway full of snow to shovel, just so we could refuel ourselves with a big bowl of this colorful, protein-packed lentil-and-bean goodness.
Sloppy Lentils Sandwiches // Another version of one of my favorite veganized sandwiches ever, these sloppy lentils sandwiches from Veggie Inspired are pure comfort food on a bun, featuring a rich, smoky tomato sauce base.
Slow Cooker Lentil Shepherd's Pie // Fans of the Shepherd's Pie can look forward to coming home to a cozy meal, ready to eat, any day of the week, thanks to The Muffin Myth's slow cooker version.
Lentil Enchilada Pasta // A hearty pasta dish made extra flavorful with a homemade Mexican spiced lentil enchilada sauce, Sweet Simple Vegan brings us an irresistible, weeknight-easy meal.
Creamy Vegan Mushroom Soup With Lentils & Brown Rice // Lentils and mushrooms are a favorite combination in soups, and this hearty, protein-packed, stick-to-your-ribs version from Cadry's Kitchen shows off both to their best advantage.
1 cup of dried, uncooked lentils = 1 pound of ground beef
Try them in burgers, meatballs, meatloaf, sloppy Joes, tacos, burritos, marinara sauce (for a quick, meatless Bolognese), shepherd's pie, or stuffed peppers. It's an easy, cheap, and nutritious swap-in regardless of whether you're vegetarian or not.
Half a cup of cooked split red lentils has more than 270 milligrams of potassium. Their high protein level also makes lentils a great substitute for red meat, which has the bonus of helping you keep your blood pressure under control.
Lentil soup: You can substitute black beans, pinto beans, or kidney beans for the lentils in lentil soup. Lentil stew: You can substitute chickpeas, black beans, or kidney beans for the lentils in lentil stew. Lentil salad: You can substitute black beans, pinto beans, or kidney beans for the lentils in lentil salad.
Brown and green lentils hold up well to cooking and can be used interchangeably in recipes, since they have similar cooking times. Red and yellow lentils are often sold in split form, so they cook faster and break down easier.
Add 1 cup of dry lentils plus 2 cups broth or water when the tomatoes/tomato sauce are added to the pot, then simmer until the lentils are tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Red lentils work well because they break down as they cook and thicken the sauce, but brown or green lentils could also work.
Lentils. A mere 1.5 cups of lentils contains just as much protein as a 3 oz chicken breast, but lentils contain the dietary fiber, copper, phosphorus, and manganese that you can't get from meat.
If you are sensitive to fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyol (FODMAP) foods, lentils can cause discomfort, as well as bloating and gas in the colon.
Best of all, black lentils are the most nutritious variety of lentils, boasting the highest amount of protein, plus high levels of calcium, potassium, and iron.
Studies demonstrate that regularly eating lentils reduces your risk of chronic disease such as diabetes, obesity, cancer and heart disease. This is thanks to their rich content of protective plant compounds called phenols – lentils being amongst the top ranked legumes for phenolic content.
Beans, peas, and lentils (also known as “pulses”) include the dried seeds that can be eaten of legumes and are a MyPlate vegetable subgroup. Legume is the scientific term that describes a type of plant that includes pods.
However, because they are good fats, we're willing to declare Chickpeas as the winner when it comes to fats. Fats from plants and vegetables in particular tend to be healthy. Chickpea and lentils both only contain what scientists consider "good fats." Therefore, Chickpeas are better as they have more "good fats."
Summary: Replacing potatoes or rice with pulses can lower your blood glucose levels by more than 20 per cent, according to a new study. Researchers found that swapping out half of a portion of these starchy side dishes for lentils can significantly improve your body's response to the carbohydrates.
Black Beluga lentils have the most flavor, adding a rich, earthy taste and a firm texture that holds up well during cooking. Black lentils will be ready in 20–25 minutes; however, they will fall apart like their brown, green, and red partners once you cook them for too long.
The best part is that black lentils are the most nutrient-dense type of lentil, including high quantities of calcium, potassium, iron, and protein. According to the USDA, a half cup of raw black lentils has 960 mg of potassium, 100 mg of calcium, 8 mg of iron, and 26g of protein.
The switch works for everything from sloppy joes to pasta sauce. Replace 1 pound of ground meat with 2 cups of cooked, drained lentils. Keep cooking time to around 30 minutes (reduce it if necessary) so the lentils stay whole and firm.
She goes on to report that you'll get about 18 grams of protein in a one-cup serving of lentils. Not too shabby, right? Meanwhile, a steak will give you about 22 grams of protein per 3-ounce serving.
Whole lentils with husks intact take longer to cook and will retain their shape; split lentils without husks cook very quickly and break down into a puree. These differences in texture will determine in which recipes they may be used. Lentils are available dried or canned.
**Chicken Vs Dal: Protein Comparison** Chicken contains 25% protein, which means that every 100 grams of chicken will give you 25 grams protein. On the other hand, lentils (dal) is 20% protein, which means you would need to consume about 125 grams of lentils to get the same amount of protein.
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