If you’ve read this blog for a while you know that I love comfort food. After struggling with my health and weight almost my entire life, falling into almost every yo-yo diet possible (in case you’re wondering the cabbage soup and grapefruit diet don’t really work – trust me) and finally having the courage to change my lifestyle altogether (and losing almost 70 pounds in the process!), I vowed to never fall into restriction diet gimmicks or give up the things I love baking and making in the kitchen.
Because restriction doesn’t have to be necessary in a healthy lifestyle. In fact, it should have no place here at all.
And that is exactly how I got started with this blog in the first place. Comfort food reinvented.
Food that tastes and makes you feel great.
I am not sure exactly what I find sooo comforting about this Red Lentil Mash. Maybe it’s the fact that this dish is warming, savory, lightly spiced, creamy and kind of reminds me of the mashed potatoes and veggies that seem to only appear around Christmas time. It is something I made by fluke and have been enjoying as an easy side for dinner almost every night of the week since.
And a powerhouse of a side this Red Lentil Mash is.
17 grams of protein.
20 grams of fiber.
30% of your daily iron intake
Tons of delicious nutrients and minerals to boot.
And inexpensive. Lentils are a staple in this I’m-on-a-budget-student-household. One entire bag of red lentils will keep you full and satisfied for many meals and will only set you back a couple of bucks.
Like most of my recipes, this Red Lentil Mash is thrown together in a cinch. Rinse and boil your red lentils with a couple of dried herbs and nutritional yeast. Once your lentils have absorbed all the water, add the coconut oil, additionally season, stir and mash until your savory and comforting Red Lentil Mash is formed.
It’s really that easy. And in case your wondering Red Lentil Mash is super difficult to photograph. If you’re not sold by the photos, I promise you’ll be sold by the taste. In my experience, sometimes the most comforting foods are the least photogenic!
- 2 cups red lentils, rinsed
- 2¾ - 3 cups water
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper or paprika
- 1 tsp onion and garlic powder
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional but recommenced)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Thoroughly rinse red lentils and pick out any pebbles found in lentils.
- Add lentils, water (only 2¾ cups), spices and nutritional yeast to a medium size pot.
- Bring lentils to a boil over medium high heat. Once the lentils are boiling give the lentils a stir, reduce heat and simmer over medium heat until all the water is absorbed. If needed, slowly add additional ¼ cup of water. You want the lentils to be soft enough to mash but not in any way shape or form soupy (this is not lentil soup!).
- Once all the water is absorbed, with a wooden spoon or masher, mix in coconut oil while mashing and mixing the lentils until desired consistency is formed. The warmth of the lentils will met the coconut oil. The lentils should easily fall apart when mixed.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper and additional spices if desired.
- Leave to sit for 5 minutes in a covered pot. The lentils will thicken up upon sitting.
- Serve as a nutrient packed side with dinner or lunch. Enjoy!
36 comments
When you say “simmer” do you mean with a cover or without one?
Why won’t any mashed lentil recipes give us just a little clue as to how long to cook the lentils? I know we need to check on them, but when do we need to check on them? After 10 minutes? 20? 30?
I LOVE THIS RECIPE! i just tried it today and it’s so versatile.
SENDING TO YOU ALL MY LOVE
Made this today for a baked potato filling! My son and I gobbled it up, so good!
I had to come check this out….oh my word…so healthy and so delicious!! I know this tastes the bomb and I definitely need to try this! I love, love lentils and love the spices you added. Great recipe, can’t wait to try this. I bet it’s amazing on toast too, yum!!
I made this tonight….OMG SO SO SO YUMMY! New favorite lentil dish!! I think I’ll bring it as a side to my family’s Thanksgiving 🙂 Super simple too! I split the recipe in half, added so diced tomatoes and used a tsp Italian seasoning instead of the basil and oregano and added about a tsp salt as well. Also used green lentils so it didn’t look quite as pretty as yours hahaha But looks don’t matter when the taste is great!! Thanks for the recipe!
SO happy you loved it and thanks for letting me know 🙂 It’s one of my fave lentil dishes too! I love your addition of diced tomatoes and italian seasoning – I’ll have to try that next time! 😀
This is a really good idea! Anything which you can get away eating a spoon with = comfort food IMO 😀
COMFORT FOOD is my favorite thing in the world! Exactly… food that tastes and makes you feel great!!!! What a lovely red lentil mash…I must top this on bread…mmmm or tons of shiitake gravy!!!
Omg shiitake gravy sounds all kinds of amazing – need to try that ASAP!
I miss eating lentils! I can’t wait to the weather gets bit colder here.. We are still in the 100’s! I can’t wait to have soups and lentil stew! I am so jealous!! Yum! 🙂
I love how easy this red lentil mash is, plus the protein!!!! Oh ya!! This is a great idea, and congrats on your weight loss and lifestyle change! Amazing!!! 🙂
Thank you Karen! Love red lentils for their protein as well!!
I knew lentils had a lot of iron but that is a lot of fiber, too! I throw some in for protein in a vegetable soup I make, but just on their own, like you did here, sounds great, too! This would make a good filling for a burrito, as well! Great stuff!
In a burrito sounds like a wonderful idea Lori! 🙂 Thanks!
Wow, congratulations on losing 70 pounds, that is truly amazing and a huge accomplishment! I absolutely adore pureed lentils, especially dahl, so these look great to me! Comforting and satisfying with no guilt!
Dahl is one of my absolute favourite foods Denise! 🙂 Thanks!
This really does look and sound so comforting! It has been cool and rainy here the whole week and I’ve been craving a dish exactly like this! I love red lentils so much and they are so pretty! This lentil mash is so up my alley and I see it be a staple in my diet this winter 🙂
Thanks Isadora! And lentils are a great staple to have!! So versatile, yummy and healthy!! 🙂
Ceara, I am enjoying your delicious recipes for a healthy way to manage my weight. I love lentils and this recipe is an addtion to my lentil repertoire. Thank you for sharing.
So happy to hear that you are enjoying my recipes dear Hadia! Thanks for the kind words!
It looks yummy. What is the serving size, 1/3 of a cup? What are rage total calories per serving? I’m confused on the provided numbers. Checking on ‘my fitness pal’ a cup of lentils provides 18 g of protein and 16 g of fiber so I’m confused how the protein is so high from 1/3 of a cup.
Hi Andrew, thanks for stopping by! When you put the recipe into the following “recipe analysis” to count the nutrition and calories (http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php) 1/6 of the recipe = approximately 250 calories! It’s most accurate to calculate the recipe using dried lentils because when cooked the lentils double in size! Approximately, each serving is around one heaping cup.
Here are the detailed nutrition facts just in case you were wondering!
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 178 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories 253 Calories from Fat 28
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3.1g5%
Saturated Fat 2.1g10%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 8mg0%
Potassium 663mg19%
Total Carbohydrates 39.5g13%
Dietary Fiber 20.1g81%
Sugars 1.3g
Protein 17.4g
Vitamin A 3% • Vitamin C 5%
Calcium 5% • Iron 29%
Nutrition Grade A
Hope this helps! Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Thank-you that useful information. Also thank-you for the recipe analysis link. I did not know that it existed.
Lentils have seriously not crossed my mind in ages! This does look like the perfect comfort food with a side of warm cornbread!
Yum! Because everything IS better with cornbread 🙂 😀
This mash is comforting! I know it would make me feel good from the inside, out.
It totally is that kind of mash – totally feel food 🙂 Thanks Erin!
I love how you state comfort food reinvented, Ceara! I love your way of thinking. This lentil mash sounds like the perfect combination of healthiness and comfort food! I’ve never actually baked with lentils, so i definitely have to change that! And I’ve never seen nutritional yeast before either, I have to check that out! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Gayle! I think you’ll love lentils if you try them 🙂 Let me know if you give them a shot! I just started cooking with Nutritional Yeast recently (had no idea what it was before either!) and they are basically these little flakes that dissolve when cooking with them. They give a wonderful cheesy taste to food with tons of nutrients without a lot of calories! 🙂
Fantastic idea! I never would’ve thought of a lentil mash!!
Also, the recipe plugin you use looks fabulous – I love the pink 🙂
Thanks for the kind words Claudia 🙂
Yum! I love cozy and comforting meals like this—Pretty sure I have red lentils in my pantry too! 🙂
Glad to hear it Sarah, lentils are something I seem to always have on hand 🙂
This is definitely my kind of comfort food too! So yummy 🙂
Thanks Katrina 😀