I discovered Mujaddara probably about ten years ago at this little Lebanese lunch spot in Baton Rouge, called Serop’s Express. I didn’t know what the brown mixture was, but I ordered on a whim and I was instantly in love. The soft grain-like mixture was earthy, flavorful, and had an intoxicating blend of seasoning. I immediately googled the recipe, determined to make it myself.
(I added chopped cilantro for garnish and to add color to the photo. Cilantro is not needed for the recipe.)
What is Mujaddara?
Mujaddara is a simple, filling, and flavorful Arabic dish made with rice, lentils, and caramelized onions. There are many ways to make it, with each region and family having their own spin, but the common thread among them all is rice, lentils, and caramelized onions. However it’s made, though, it’s usually extremely delicious, filling, and very inexpensive. So, in other words, it’s definitely a budget byte!
My Interpretation
Despite trying several times over the past ten years, I’ve never been able to replicate Serop’s magic recipe. I’ve even had friends question members of the restaurant’s family about what’s in the dish, only to get the answer “rice and lentils”. *sigh* I’ve had mujaddara at other Lebanese restaurants, but none of them compare to what Serop’s serves up. I don’t know what kind of magic they put in there, but it’s way more delicious and intoxicating than just rice and lentils.
The version I finally settled on is as close to Serop’s as I can get. It has plenty of caramelized onions to give it a deep, rich flavor, vegetable broth to make the flavor a little more complex, and a healthy dose of aromatic spices to keep things interesting. This recipe makes a big batch of about 6 cups, but this recipe will freeze very well, so any leftovers can be saved for later.
What to Serve with Mujaddara
I’ve been eating mine plain in a bowl, but it goes great with sautéed greens, roasted vegetables, or even topped with a fried egg. It’s kind of one of those all-purpose dishes that can be eaten at almost every meal. No wonder it’s been around so long!
Try the Authentic Version
As you can see, I’ve played around with the basic mujaddara concept quite a bit here, so you may want to try an authentic recipe first. Plus, you’ll probably get to learn a lot about this dish’s rich culture and history while you’re at it. Here are some great authentic mujaddara recipes to try:
- Lebanese Mujadara from Feel Good Foodie
- Mujadara from The Mediterranean Dish
- Mujadara from Cardamom and Tea
Mujaddara
Servings 6 (1 cup each)Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 4 yellow onions ($1.59)
- 1 tsp cumin ($0.10)
- 1 tsp allspice ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves ($0.03)
- 2.5 cups vegetable broth ($0.30)
- 1 cup long grain white rice (or jasmine) ($0.33)
- 1 cup brown lentils ($0.68)
Instructions
- Thinly slice the onions and add them to a large pot with the olive oil. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently for one hour, or until they are deeply golden brown, sticky, and caramelized. Remove half of the onions and set them aside to top the pilaf after cooking
- Add the cumin, allspice, and cloves to the pot with the remaining onions. Sauté for about one minute to lightly toast the spices. Add the vegetable broth and stir the pot well to dissolve any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the rice and lentils to the pot. Cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat up to high. Allow the contents to come up to a boil. As soon as it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest for 10 minutes without removing the lid. Finally, remove the lid, fluff with a spoon or fork, then top with the reserved caramelized onions. Serve warm.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Mujaddara – Step by Step Photos
This recipe starts with caramelized onions, which lend a lot of flavor to the final pilaf. They take a long time to make, but are well worth it. Begin by thinly slicing four yellow onions and adding them to a large pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Cook the onions over low heat, stirring frequently for one hour. You can stir less frequently at first, but will need to keep a closer eye towards the end. I did chores around the house during the first part, remembering to walk back into the kitchen every few minutes to stir.
After an hour or so, they should be deep golden brown, sticky, and caramelized. If you don’t like the stringy texture of caramelized onions, you can dice them instead. They will probably cook a little faster when diced and will blend into the pilaf a little better.
Remove half of the onions and set them aside to top the pilaf later. Add 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp allspice, and 1/4 tsp ground cloves to the pot. Sauté the spices with the remaining onions for about a minute. This toasts the spices slightly, which enhances their flavor.
Add 2.5 cups of vegetable broth to the pot and stir to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom. All that browned onion sugar will help give a lot of flavor to the Mujaddara.
Add one cup of long-grain white rice and one cup of brown lentils to the pot. I used jasmine rice because it’s my favorite, but you can use plain white rice if desired. You’ll want to use brown lentils and not French or “green” lentils because those take twice as long to cook as brown lentils. If unsure, check the packaging to see the recommended cooking time. It should be 20-30 minutes.
Add the rice and lentils to the pot, place a lid on top, then turn the heat up to high. Let the pot come to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn it down to low heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest with the lid in place for 10 more minutes. After the ten-minute rest, you’ll have this (see photo above).
Fluff it up with a spoon or fork (looks more appetizing now, for sure). The rice and lentils should have absorbed all the broth and be soft and tender all the way through.
Top the Mujaddara with the reserved caramelized onions and serve! YUM.
Made this tonight, added a dollop of greek yoghurt and a fried egg on top. Total comfort food.
A quick tip for those who can’t find brown lentils: I’ve found that brown is the default color for lentils. The companies I’ve seen in stores only mention the color for the other varieties. Get a bag labeled “lentils” and compare them to Beth’s handy photos.
Thanks for the tip! Trying the recipe today :)
The flavors in this recipe are on point! Unfortunately i decided to follow the advice of other commenters and increase the liquid in the recipe. As a result my rice turned to complete mushy paste. However, my lentils were just barely perfectly cooked. Next time I might try pre-soaking or cooking the lentils to try to even out the cooking times for the rice and lentils.
Another thing to note, the onions took 1.5 hours to caramelize properly on medium heat on my stove.
Yum! I had this for dinner. I only had green lentils, so I pre-cooked them for about 10-15minutes first. I also added in some steamed broccoli and green beans at the end to get in some veges. I have been making caramelised onions in the slow cooker and freezing them. It’s super easy and it’s so handy to be able to grab them out, defrost them in the microwave and chuck them into dishes like this, or onto pizzas. A great time saver!
How long do you typically put the onions in the slow cooker for?
LOVE this recipe!! I’ve made this three times so far (within a span of 4 days — no one’s complained yet ;)) and it’s delicious every time. Thank you especially for that excellent tip about the color of lentils! So glad I know that now. In my latest rendition of your mujaddara, I added chopped shiitake and spinach, and used the shiitake soaking liquid to cook the rice/lentils in. Mmm… Anyway, thanks so much for your awesome site, Beth! I love that your meals are economical yet packed with flavor!
I used something called “Eston Lentils”. I used a bit of extra broth and put in a small (but extremely hot) chili pepper to add certain picante accent to the dish. It worked really well.
Making this tonight. Having to use barley instead of rice, though. That’s the only grain I have on hand besides instant brown rice, which would turn to paste if I cooked it as long as the lentils take. Caramelizing onions right now and house smells fantastic!
Update:
It came out great! As others have said, I had to increase the broth. My flavors were different, but I really enjoyed it. I did the whole caramelized onions/broth/lentils/grain thing, but decided to do different seasonings. After all the crazy stuff I’ve been hearing about peanuts in cumin (I have a peanut allergy), I rarely use it. I wasn’t so sure about the other spices. Ended up using thyme, rosemary, garlic, and fresh black pepper to is season.
Since I’m not sure whether this is supposed to be a side dish or main meal, I’m treating it as a main meal. Had 1/4 of it tonight instead of 1/6 and divided the rest into three for later this week.
Love this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing. Whole family scarfed it down.
I made this earlier in the week and it came out great! I read the comments about adding extra liquid but figured that a “crumbly” mixture would be okay with what the recipe said. So I rinsed my rice like I always do and added only a tiiiiny bit extra liquid to the recipe to play it safe. I regretted adding the bit of extra liquid, since the rice was a bit softer than I would have liked. The lentils had a bit more texture, which balanced it out well though. And it smelled GREAT while cooking!
Thanks as usual Beth :)
Another top notch recipe. I can’t seem to find brown lentils anywhere, so I ended up using green lentils. Still turned out great!
This is so delicious!!! I bought a 900ml box of Veggie broth and ended up using the entire thing so it wouldn’t be too dry. Turned out perfect! Love your site! Thanks for all the great recipes. :)
And how is 2.5 cups of broth even remotely enough liquid to cook a cup of rice and cup of lentils? You need a ratio of 2 parts liquid to one part of rice or lentils at the minimum! I certainly had to add 2 more cups of liquid very quickly as all the broth got absorbed.
Also, the onions took more like 2 hours to caramelize, not one hour. I’m thinking medium heat rather than low.
I wish I’d read all the way through about brown lentils not being the same as green lentils. My Whole Foods doesn’t stock brown lentils and I just assumed they called them green lentils. :/
Great recipe! I’ve found that the rice/lentils can cook together in the rice cooker, you can even use the broth in replace of the water, super simple and delicious!
This is awesome – I’d never heard of mujaddara before. I did the lentils separately (could only find brown) and subbed the ground cloves for cinnamon. Served with Greek yogurt, harrisa and cilantro. (we bought harrisa in a jar for pretty cheap at Whole Foods and need every reason to eat it up!) I was thinking of the many ways I could screw with this – with roasted mushrooms/veggies? Could you throw toasted nuts in here? Love this! Thanks, Beth!
(sorry – could only find green lentils, I meant.)
I bet toasted nuts would be amazing!