As a child I despised anything with lentils. I propbably would have run screaming away from this Red Lentil Salad Recipe. I still can't say that I haven't found a whole lot of ways to get my children to eat lentils, other than the beluga lentil burger recipe I made a while back. However, after I once again read the extensive health benefits of lentils I realized that I need to incorporate them into my diet more often. Hence the reasons for this delicious red lentil salad recipe :)
Here a just a few of the amazing benefits:
- Naturally low in fat
- High fiber food that is a great source of soluble and insoluble fiber! Just 1 cup cooked lentils has 16g or 68% of your daily fiber needs. Soluble fiber helps lower blood cholesterol. Insoluble fiber prevents constipation and other digestive problems such as irritable bowel syndrome.
- Great Vegan source of protein with 18g in 1 cup cooked lentils
- High iron and manganese food
- Perfect food for pregnant and breastfeeding moms - 1 cup cooked lentils has 358mcg of folate (needed during pregnancy -600mcg, breastfeeding - 500mcg)
I find that one of the easiest ways to incorporate a healthy ingredients into my diet is by making a 
This red lentil salad recipe makes about 10 servings. Feel free to just make half if this seems like too much.
📖 Recipe
Red Lentil Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked Red Lentils
- 10 Cherry Tomatoes quartered
- 5 tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Red Bell Pepper finely diced
- 3 Scallions diced
- ½ cup or large handful Fresh Parsley chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons Cumin
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
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Rinse lentils under cold running water to remove any debris. Add lentils and 6 cups of water (no salt added) to a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain lentils, run under cold water to cool, and drain again.
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Add lentils to a large serving bowl and stir in olive oil, lemon juice, and cumin.
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Dice bell peppers and scallions, quarter tomatoes and chop parsley. Add to lentils and add salt and pepper to taste.
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Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
1) Don't overcook your lentils! Red lentils are fragile and will easily turn to mush if cooked for too long. However, some of the lentils will split while cooking, this is normal.2) Store lentils salad in refrigerator covered. It will keep for up to 5 days.3) If you are planning on only making half of the recipe or twice as much, remember that lentils need to to be cooked in water with a 1:3 ratio. So 1 cup of dry lentils in 3 cups of water.4) Feel free to substitute red lentils for other lentils in this recipe as well :) The options are endless.
Amy says
This salad looks so delicious and easy to prepare. I LOVE lentils and I think red lentil might be my favorite. I am thinking about trying your recipe but omitting the salt and replacing some or all of the olive oil with low-sodium vegetable broth. Do you think it would be too watery this way?
Vanessa says
Hi Amy,
You should be able to skip the olive oil all together without a problem. Adding vegetable broth to it might make it too mushy. Some people don't mind it being mush but I think it just looks like cat food then :)
If you really don't want to use any salt, I would suggest maybe adding some dry roasted garlic to it instead. It seems silly to substitute salt with garlic but it actually works!
Sarah M. says
This red lentil salad tasted great. I loved how easy it was to make. Even my daughter liked it! Thank you for the awesome recipe!
Monica P. says
Made this recipe for a pot luck for health conscience folks, and it was a hit! I modified boiling the red lentils with some garlic salt for taste and instead of parsley I used cilantro. Also, used half of a red onion finely chopped, instead of green onions.
It was delicious and refreshing!
I followed the cooking instructions given and lentils cooked perfectly. Not too soft and not too hard.
Thanks for the recipe! I will make it again.
:)
Vanessa Croessmann says
Thanks Monica, I'm so happy to hear everyone liked it! Using cilantro in this red lentil salad recipe actually sounds delicious! I'll have to try it that way next time ;) Thanks for stopping by!
Paige says
Can this be eaten cold?