Lentils
Published September 30, 2024
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Total Time
- up to 35 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- up to 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 cup whole brown, green or black lentils, picked through
Salt
Nutritional analysis per serving
30 grams carbs; 169 calories; 1 gram fat; 5 grams fiber; 112 milligrams sodium; 12 grams protein; 1 gram sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium saucepan, add enough water to cover the lentils by 1½ inches. Add a big pinch of salt. Bring to a rapid simmer over medium-high, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer of slow bubbles. Cook until tender but not mushy, 10 to 30 minutes depending on type and age of lentils. Try one: It should have the texture of al dente pasta, mostly softened but with a little bite in the center.
- Step 2
Drain, rinse under cool water to remove exterior starch and shake excess liquid away before eating or storing for later.
Private Notes
Comments
The key to great lentils: don’t boil them, don’t overcook them. And you can up their flavor by using stock instead of salted water. Then toss them with dressing and roasted vegetables for a nice salad, use them as a meat stand-in in a tomato sauce, chili or some such, esp together with walnuts. ¡Buen provecho!
I cook lentils with mirepoix. Gives them a great taste boost.
Thank you. They're versatile. I like them as a small salad with vinegar and oil, thyme, shallot, S&P.
My favorite "less fail" way to cook lentils to ensure that they are not mushy is to bring them to the boil in a heavy pot, cover them, and then turn them off. Come back a half an hour later and try them and if they're the right texture you're done. If they need more time either leave them in the pot with the cover on or turn the heat up for a minute, cover, and walk away again. You can always add more heat to bring the lentils to the doneness you prefer but you can't take away heat if you've overcooked them for a minute. We eat a LOT of lentils and this works rvery time.
Covered or uncovered?
Question: My green lentils hardly ever soften sufficiently in the time cooking time suggested here, so should I look to soaking them beforehand, and if so for how long?