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!
We had this for dinner abd really liked the refreshing taste. I added some chopped, cooked chicken to round it out to a mire filling meal rather than a side dish. The leftovers were still great the next day.
Can I used canned lentills?
Yes, they would probably work well for this salad. :) Just drain them very well!
Best lentil salad i have ever done. Try it with germinated lentil for another taste (really good too).
I added a third clove of garlic, a little extra parsley (about 2/3 bunch total) and half a cucumber. It’s just what I needed between all the holiday junk food.
Delicious …. i use cilantros instead of parsley…. so yummy …
Finally made this today, exactly as written.s Yummy! The recipe will be residing in the “tried and true” folder on my desktop from now on. What I particularly like about this is that it is so flexible. I’m already planning for next time; will definitely add diced seedless cucumber, as someone suggested, and add a touch more EVOO – or will I marinate the lentils overnight with some rotisserie chicken and add couscous heated up in chicken broth for a full meal – or will I just throw in a can of oil-packed tuna – Needless to say, .I’ll be using this recipe a lot.
P.S. Couscous is pasta, not a grain.
SO yummy!! I’m trying to eat more protein and iron so I added white beans (and a little dill) and it’s just to die for!! Great summer salad!
I’m trying to find ideas to use leftover cooked green lentils and came across this. About how many cups cooked does the 1 cup dry yield?
Probably about 2.5 cups.
This is an amazing recipe! I also added some cucumber. So good! My husband is Lebanese so we make Mujadara often. This is a nice new idea with lentils.
I love your site! Your garlic creamy mushroom soup is now a family fav. Headed over there to comment right now.
Made mine vegan for two:
1. Halved the recipe
2. Omitted parsley and onion since I didn’t have them on hand. Added a bit of dried parsley to the dressing.
3. No feta to make it vegan
4. Stirred in about two cups of arugula at the end and served as an entree salad
Do you think it would work with red lentels? I have some and would love to use up
I don’t suggest red lentils for this recipe because red lentils break down and get mushy very easily when cooked, as opposed to brown and green lentils which hold their shape.
That’s why you only cook red lentils for 10 minutes. Delicious! and it would be pretty, too.
I will make this salad today and come back to rate the results.
I’ve actually made this with red lentils, and the other reply is right but you can still use red lentils by cooking them carefully and for not very long, only just until tender. I’d google times for them but it is doable.
Good recipe! I followed it as written and found it to be very salty. Next time I think I’ll skip the added salt and then add as needed. I would also probably use less parsley next time I make it. Awesome way to use lentils though!
I made a bit of an oopsie with the recipe and used spinach instead of parsley.
I looked at the recipe while at work on my cell phone, made an assumption that the green stuff was spinach, and then made a mental note that I needed to pick up feta cheese at the supermarket after work. When I got home, I started cooking my lentils, and then chopping the rest of my veggies. I pulled my container of spinach out of the fridge and chopped that up, looked at the recipe to get the measurements for the dressing and realized I needed parsley instead of spinach. Oops. My mistake turned into a nice change in the recipe.
If you’re a bonehead and make the same mistake, it will turn out nicely in your favor, that is of course, if you like spinach, and think it’s a wonder food such as myself.
This recipe reminded me a lot of tabbouleh, even without the parsley in it.
I bought a big bag of lentils at the Farmer’s Market a week ago and have been scowering the site looking for other recipes, tomorrow I’m trying the Dav Nirvana! Cannot wait!
Amazing recipe, 2 thumb up!
Spinach would be awesome in this! I love happy mistakes! :)
How long does this keep in the fridge?
About 4-5 days.
So good! I also discovered it’s pretty good heated up with some pasta and parmesan, oddly enough.