I’m trying to stock my fridge with some healthy options for the week ahead because I didn’t do so well last week. So, this morning I threw together some of my favorite flavors (garlic, lemon, feta) into an easy Marinated Lentil Salad. This salad makes a great side dish on its own, or you can bulk it up a number of ways to turn it into its own meal.
What Kind of Lentils Work Best for Lentil Salad?
I suggest a firm variety, like brown or green. I used brown lentils, which only take about 20 minutes to cook in boiling water. Green lentils take much longer, about 45 minutes. If you’re unsure of what type you have, check the cooking instructions on the package. I do not suggest using red, yellow, or orange lentils for this recipe, as they do not hold their shape when cooked.
Make Lentil Salad a Meal
If you want to bulk this up, you could add any of the following:
- chopped rotisserie chicken
- chickpeas
- chopped cucumber
- chopped bell pepper
- or even cooked and cooled rice
Serve as a salad or stuff it into a pita! I especially like to mix a dollop of hummus with the Marinated lentil salad, which gives even more garlicky flavor and a wonderful texture contrast to the lentils.
Tomato Options
The most expensive ingredient in this salad for me was the pint of grape tomatoes. They can be quite pricey, so if you want to cut costs even further just replace the grape tomatoes with about 3 diced Roma tomatoes, or whatever variety of tomato is least expensive at your grocery store. I tend to like Roma the best as a second choice here because the flesh is firm and they hold up well to the salad.
Meal Prep It!
This lentil salad tastes great right after mixing it all up, but it gets even better with time in the fridge (leftovers FTW!), which makes it perfect for meal prep! Just remember to give it a quick stir before eating to redistribute that wonderful dressing.
Marinated Lentil Salad
Servings 6 1 cup eachIngredients
LEMON GARLIC DRESSING
- 1 lemon ($0.59)
- 1/4 cup olive oil ($0.44)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano ($0.15)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly Cracked Pepper
SALAD
- 1 cup dry brown lentils ($0.40)
- 1/2 bunch parsley ($0.40)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($2.99)
- 1/4 small red onion ($0.24)
- 2 oz feta, crumbled ($1.12)
Instructions
- Cook the lentils according to the package directions. For most brown lentils, bring 3 cups of water to boil in a pot, add the lentils, then continue to boil for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Drain the lentils in a colander and rinse briefly with cool water until they are cooled.
- While the lentils are cooking, prepare the lemon garlic dressing. Use a microplane, zester, or small-holed cheese grater to remove about 1 Tbsp of the lemon’s zest (the thin, yellow, outer layer of the peel). Set the zest aside. Juice the lemon and measure 1/4 cup of the juice to use for the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Set the dressing aside.
- Rinse the parsley well, shake off as much water as possible, then pull the leaves from the stems. Roughly chop the parsley leaves. Cut the grape tomatoes in half. Finely dice the red onion.
- When the lentils are cooked, cooled, and well drained, transfer them to a large bowl. Add the chopped parsley, tomatoes, red onion, crumbled feta, lemon zest, and the prepared dressing. Stir to combine the ingredients and coat everything in dressing.
- Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat. Always stir the salad just before serving to redistribute the dressing and flavors.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
How to Make Lentil Salad – Step by Step Photos
Begin by cooking one cup of dry lentils. Lentils are incredibly easy to cook. It’s just like pasta. Bring a large pot of water to boil (for one cup lentils, make it at least 3 cups water), add the lentils, then cook until tender (20 minutes for brown lentils). Drain the lentils in a colander and rinse briefly with cool water to cool them off.
While the lentils are cooking, prepare the Lemon Garlic Dressing. Remove about 1 Tbsp zest from the lemon using a microplane, zester, or small-holed cheese grater. Set the zest aside for later. Juice the lemon and use about 1/4 cup for the dressing.
To the 1/4 cup lemon juice, add 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Whisk the ingredients together. Set the dressing aside so it has a few minutes to blend.
Prepare the vegetables for the salad. Rinse 1/2 bunch of parsley and shake off as much water as possible. Pull the leaves from the stems, then give them a rough chop (about 1 cup once chopped). Slice the grape tomatoes in half. Finely dice the red onion. I really don’t like including small amounts like “1/4 red onion” in recipes, but red onion is one of those ingredients that is very potent and you really only need a small amount. To avoid wasting the rest of the onion, consider adding it to salads, pizzas, frittatas, or pickling the onions for longer storage.
Once the lentils are cooked, cooled, and drained, add them to a large bowl along with the lemon zest, chopped parsley, tomatoes, diced onion, and 2oz. crumbled feta.
Pour on the prepared Lemon Garlic Dressing…
Then just stir everything up until evenly combined and coated in dressing. The salad is pretty irresistible as is, but it gets even better as it sits in the fridge and those lentils absorb all that awesome flavor!
This is not going to last me long… I can’t stop scooping forkfuls into my mouth! In reality, though, this Marinated Lentil Salad makes about 6 cups, so depending on how you serve it, it’s about six servings. Ideas for bulking it out further can be found in the intro! Enjoy!
This was very good with the addition of several glugs of Crystal Sauce to wake it up a little. One tip is that I found cooking the lentils for the full 30 minutes on the package made them a tad softer than I wanted. I will make this again with a slightly shorter cooking time. Another winner!
Mmmm this is my Kind of dish!! Flavorful legumes all the way… This would also be divine with cumin in place of oregano, or in addition to. I’ve got little mozzarella balls in the fridge that I think I will use up instead of the feta. Can’t way to try this. Thanks for the inspiration!!!!
I did add a little bit of cumin & ground coriander to the dressing to make it more complementary to the Moroccan Spiced pork loin I served with it. I also used fresh oregano because I had it on hand and this salad is absolutely perfect.
Beth, We made this today and everyone in my family enjoyed it very much, even the confirmed lentil dislikers! I substituted the dehydrated oregano with fresh oregano from the garden and added it with the parsley. Just for fun, next time I am going to sprout the lentils for a little more sweetness, texture and nutrition.
I must say we have made great use of your blog since discovering it a few months ago. Every recipe has been a hit! Thanks for sharing your talent for capturing the essence and sophistication of each dish with only a few simple ingredients. We’ve been enriched by it.
hi, I dont really like feta cheese, any other choice of cheese? thank you.
Goat cheese might be alright, but it’s quite soft and it might not mix in quite as well.
Ricotta salata is similar to feta yet much more mild and firm. Shaved grana padano would be excellent as well.
Looks really pretty! And delicious of course. I do a similar salad with addition of couscous. It cooks incredibly fast – just add some hot broth and let it sit in a bowl for five minutes. The texture and taste really adds to the lentils.
Yum! I’ve made a version of this forever with balsamic and basil instead of lemon and parsley. I’ll try it your way next!!
LOVE how you’ve been adding so many vegetarian friendly recipes recently. Looking forward to adding this one to my collection.
This looks great. I’ve always wanted to try lentils but they always seem so difficult to cook with but this one looks really simple. Is there something you could suggest if I don’t want to put tomatoes in it?
Red bell pepper would be equally as pretty and “fresh” tasting. :)
Yum! I added cucumbers, black olives, and chicken, and left out the red onion (since I want to eat it for lunch at work and not feel like I’m wafting awful breath at my coworkers). Fresh-tasting, simple, and tasty!
i just discovered your blog yesterday & so glad i did… i just made this salad & it’s SO DELICIOUS & fresh. thanks for sharing!
Made this last night so I could have it for lunch today. Flavors are even better after being together for a day.
Really nice recipe to show how great fresh ingredients really are.
I just started eating lentils this year…this is definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing =)
Yum, yum! We’re eating more vegetarian and this looks both nutritious and delicious. I also want to tell you, Beth, that I made your sweet and sour stir fry with fresh veggies and mushrooms last night. It was a hit. My only substitution was orange juice for the water. Thanks for the great recipe – it’s a keeper.
Another awesome recipe-full of flavor and very budget-friendly!
This looks awesome! I might skip the feta (since I can’t have dairy) and add some hummus to the dressing to give it a little creaminess and tartness.
I can’t wait to make this! Thank you!
we don’t do dairy either, so instead of the feta we used goat cheese. it’s fabulous.
And goat cheese is not dairy apparently
LOL