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.
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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.
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Nutrition
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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 is a fantastic recipe! I made it pretty much as written, except I left out the tomatoes and lemon zest (personal preference). I found this did not inhibit the taste at all; in fact, this is one of the tastiest salads I’ve made, and I was looking forward to eating it the next night for supper, it was so good! Pretty easy to prepare too. Don’t hesitate to give this recipe a try, it’s delicious!
Really good! Don’t care for red onion so left that out and added extra parsley to make it more like tabbouleh. Great, quick, healthy recipe.
this was really good. we used dried herbs and lemon juice from a bottle because i didn’t want to go to the store. also was good with hummus mixed in! i accidentally overcooked my lentils in the IP but that didn’t bother us.
Beth OMG- this recipe is delicious! I had a sad 1/2 bag on lentils sitting in the pantry and was looking for a recipe to work them into. I made this by the recipe but threw in a 1/2 cup on black beans I needed to use up. I thought the flavor was a little ‘meh’ when I stirred it up initially, but after a night in the fridge it was AMAZING. I packed this for lunch for three days with a huge handful of fresh spinach. Then the last day I realized I was a little short on the lentil salad so I cooked and added 1 cup cooked pasta twirls (cooled before I mixed together) and a small handful of spinach to bulk things out. It was so good- I will definitely be adding this to my regular rotation. With the pasta it would be a great BBQ side.
Ooh, I bet the pasta was really good in there! I love how you kept stretching it to make it last longer. :D
I had almost none of these ingredients except for the salad dressing ingredients and some tomatoes from my yard, so I made the dressing with vegetable oil (instead of olive oil) and added it to white beans, the tomatoes, and olives. I added purple onion to my second batch, and will probably throw in some feta to the third batch, as I cannot stop eating this! I also added some sugar to the dressing as I felt it needed it, and left out the zest. I have long been trying to find something good to make with my homegrown tomatoes & lemons, and now I have this awesome recipe! Thanks Beth!
Simply delicious! I added some couscous to bulk it out a bit and ate it with some leftover turkey breast. Thank you for the recipe!
So delicious! I normally stay away from salads because I just cook for myself and I find leftover salad doesn’t keep well in the fridge, but this really was even better the next day!! I did leave out the parsley though as I don’t like it much. Still very tasty and so so easy to make :)
YOU ARE AMAZING, I coordinate the food bank at my University and I can’t wait to tell our clients about this website.
Thank you so much for all that you do :)
Love this salad! Made it last night and subbed goat cheese for feta just because it was what I had on hand. Also had a few leftover carrots so I chopped them up really finely for some added texture and volume. So delicious and healthy — topped it with some grilled chicken for a full meal. Held up really well for lunch and was even more flavorful!! Will definitely be making again :)
I just made this today and it is a-mazing! Just like anything else I’ve made from your site! I did have to sub for the feta since my market didn’t have any. I used queso fresco instead. I’m sure I’m missing some of the flavor punch from the feta but, mine turned out delicious nonetheless. Now I’m wondering how this would taste with Mexican seasonings and cilantro instead of oregano and parsley…
I made this over the weekend – it was SO GOOD! I used pre-cooked lentils from Trader Joe’s, added cucumbers and cooked quinoa to bulk it up, and used ciliegine/mozzarella (since I don’t like feta). It was so fresh and delicious! Thank you for another winner, Beth!
Wow! I have everything but the feta in my pantry, fridge, and garden. Can’t wait to showcase the last of my garden’s cherry tomatoes & parsley in this delicious salad.
I’m experimenting with keeping the salad parts separate: Lentils & dressing together (I added some sauteed kale), cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, feta chopped up and added fresh each time I eat it… mostly so the cucumbers and peppers stay crunchy and flavorful
I’m a parsley hater, as much a I try. What would be a good herb to substitute?
Basil, although that would be more expensive. You could even just do some chopped up fresh spinach to get that green. :)
What about a bit of shallot in lieu of the red onion? A little less bite, but also less waste if you don’t have plans for the rest of the red onion.
That would be perfect!