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Stellar, grain-free lentil loaf made with ease and humble pantry ingredients. Packed with flavor, it is vegan, gluten-free, high in protein (8.5 grams) and only 150 calories per jumbo slice!
Table of Contents
- A Better, Simpler Lentil Loaf
- A Lentil Loaf with More Protein and No Grains
- Recipe Benefits
- Step by Step Directions
- Step One: Cook the Lentils
- Step Two: Preheat Oven & Prepare Pan
- Step Three: Cook the Vegetables
- Step Four: Partially Chop Ingredients
- Step Five: Combine All of the Lentil Mixture
- Step Six: Shape Loaf
- Step Seven: Bake
- Storage
- More Easy, Plant-Based Meat Recipes to Try:
- Grain-Free Lentil Loaf (Vegan, High Protein) Recipe
A Better, Simpler Lentil Loaf
The first time I made a meatless meatloaf of any kind was in my tiny, windowless, graduate school kitchen.
It was freezing outside, I was missing home, and I needed dinner, Sadly, long days in the classroom and library, coupled with a tight student budget, meant my refrigerator and pantry pickings were limited to a short list of dried goods, the most basic of condiments, and a limp bouquet of carrots and celery.
But I had a recipe that fit the bill: a Lentil No-Meatloaf, saved months earlier from an internet search for cheap, healthy and meatless meals.
Dried lentils, carrots, celery, oats, and ketchup? Check, times, three! I didn’t have an onion, nor garlic, but I did have powdered forms of each. The recipe had 22 steps (22 steps!), but I whittled them to far fewer as I cooked.
The results were delectable. It should have lasted for days, but I think I ate a third of the loaf that first night.
A Lentil Loaf with More Protein and No Grains
The original recipe I comprised is long since gone, but today’s recipe is darn close. I’ve whittled the steps (22 was a bit much), but I’ve kept the ingredients humble.
I’ve also made the loaf grain-free and even higher in protein than the original, or other recipes I’ve come across (which use wheat and/or oats). Humility aside, this loaf is pretty darn great.
Recipe Benefits
- Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free)
- Grain-free
- Gluten-free
- Oil-free option
- High protein
- High fiber
- So delicious!
Step by Step Directions
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
Step One: Cook the Lentils
To make this modest loaf, you’ll need to cook some lentils to the point where they are falling apart, but not complete mush.
You can use any variety of lentils (red, brown, green, split or whole), but it will take a bit longer to cook whole lentils (vs. split). This time around, I used split red lentils. Here they are, cooked to the “beginning to fall apart” stage I indicate in the recipe.
I do not want the photo above to be misleading in that there should be leftover liquid in the pot when the lentils are finished cooking (I lifted them with a slotted spoon onto the plate). You will want to keep the liquid (do not drain).
Step Two: Preheat Oven & Prepare Pan
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Oil or spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan; line with parchment paper, leaving a paper overhang.
Step Three: Cook the Vegetables
While the lentils simmer away, go ahead and get the vegetables cooking.
Specifically, sauté chopped onions, carrots, celery and bell pepper (red or orange) in 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil (or use the oil you prefer). If you do not eat oil, leave it out and steam or microwave the vegetables until soft.
Near the end of cooking, add the seasonings: rosemary, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
Step Four: Partially Chop Ingredients
Combine the vegetables and ALL of the lentils (plus remaining liquid) in a large bowl, and then transfer about 3/4 of the mixture to a food processor. Pulse until blended but not smooth.
More finely chopping a majority of the lentil-vegetable mixture helps to hold the loaf together. Leaving a fraction of the lentil-vegetable mixture unblended gives the finished loaf a hearty, toothsome texture.
Step Five: Combine All of the Lentil Mixture
Add the processed lentil mixture back to the bowl with the remaining lentil mixture.
Stir in the flours (chickpea and coconut) and flaxseed meal. The batter should be somewhat stiff, but still plenty moist. If it is too dry or too wet, add a touch more water or coconut flour as needed.
Taste the mix and add more salt and pepper, or other seasonings, as desired.
Step Six: Shape Loaf
Spoon the batter into the pan and smooth the top before slathering with either barbecue sauce or ketchup. The sauce or ketchup will caramelize as the loaf bakes, resulting in a deep, dark glaze.
Step Seven: Bake
Bake the lentil loaf in the preheat oven for 45 to 50 minutes until the glaze on top is caramelized in color and the loaf is firm to the touch. Isn’t this a gorgeous loaf?
This is so delicious on it’s own, minutes out of the oven, but leftovers (simply rewarmed, or as part of a sandwich) are every bit as good.
You can change out the seasonings, and even some of the vegetables (mushrooms are a fantastic addition) in all kinds of ways, too.
Happy eating, everyone!
Storage
Store the cooled loaf, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for 1 week or the freezer (place wrapped loaf in an airtight zip-top bag or container) for up to 6 months.
More Easy, Plant-Based Meat Recipes to Try:
- Vegan Ground Beef
- Vegan Oat Mushroom Ground Beef
- 3-Ingredient Almond Flour Vegetable Nuggets
- Mushroom Almond Flour Ground Beef (2 ingredients)
- Vegan Lentil Taco Meat
- Lentil & Mushroom Meatballs
- Lentil & Vegetable Kefta
Grain-Free Lentil Loaf (Vegan, High Protein)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed (any variety of lentils)
- 3 1/4 cups water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, (any oil, or use water to sauté for oil-free)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 large celery stalk, chopped
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, or orange bell pepper
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, sweet or hot smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste, as needed
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper, more to taste, as needed
- 2/3 cup chickpea flour, sifted as needed
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 3 tablespoons flaxseed meal
- 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce or ketchup, (certified GF, as needed)
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, combine the water and rinsed lentils. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes until very soft and falling apart. Transfer the lentils and remaining liquid (do not drain!) to a large bowl to cool.
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Oil or spray a 9×5-inch (22.5×12.5 cm) loaf pan; line with parchment paper, leaving a paper overhang.
- While the lentils cook, heat the oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and bell pepper. Cook and stir for 6 to 7 minutes until softened. Add the rosemary, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl with the lentils, stirring to combine.
- Transfer about 3/4 of the cooled lentil-vegetable mixture to a food processor; pulse until blended but not completely smooth; return to bowl with remaining lentils and vegetables.
- Add the chickpea flour, coconut flour, and flaxseed meal to bowl, stirring until blended, The batter should be fairly stiff, but still quite moist. Taste and adjust salt & pepper as desired.
- Transfer mixture to the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Spoon and spread the sauce over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes until well-browned and firm at the center.
- Cool slightly before removing from the pan and serving
Could you please let me know how to use orange instead of bell pepper? Should I peel the orange? It sounds more delicious to me to use orange. Should I drain the juice of the orange?”
Hi Nahrin! Apologies, my directions were confusing as written. I had “orange or red bell pepper,” meaning use either an orange bell pepper or a red bell pepper. Not an orange. I’ve changed the wording to be more clear.
Easy to follow. Great and simple recipe
Great, Donna Lee, I’m glad it was a success!
Just made this recipe. It is wonderful! Thank you for sharing it. I am excited to make it again.
That’s great, Anne! So glad to know it turned outw ell and (better still) that you like it!
Looks great! Can I use oat flour? I can not eat coconut, nut or seed flours. Thanks!
Hi Gina! Yes, I think oat flour will work. You may need up to twice the amount of oat flour (2/3 cup) as coconut flour, as the latter is used in much smaller quantities compared to most every other flour. I’d love to know how it works out!
I just wanted to thank you for this recipe, I made a loaf this week and it was brilliant! Such good texture, and really filling considering how low calorie it is too 🙂 Cheers!
Wonderful, Lauren, I’m so glad you like it! Thank you, too, for the kind compliments.
Would pea protein powder work for the coconut flour?
I think that could work for some, but not all, of the coconut flour. Coconut flour has a lot of fiber (pea protein does not), so perhaps some pea protein and some oat flour or almond flour.
Hi! Can I sub chia seeds for the flax? If so how much chia seeds should I use? Thank you!
Hi Meghan! Yes, a chia seed substitution should work fine. Use the equal weight of chia seeds as flaxseed meal (by volume, use half the amount of chia seeds compared to flaxseed mea. I tablespoon flaxseed meal by weight is 7.5 grams, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds is 13 grams).
Too much water. It’s been baking for over an hour and still not set, not brown, don’t know if it will ever firm up. Very sad ????
Hi Cindy,
I am sorry you are having problems with the lentil loaf. There definitely should not be excess water in the loaf–was the mixture stiff, as indicated in the recipe, once you added the coconut flour and flaxseed meal? The lentils should absorb most of the water when they first cook, but remaining liquid should be absorbed by the coconut flour and flaxseed meal. Just checking that you started with dried lentils? It sounds like there must have been a lot of excess water after cooking. Did your loaf look like my photos of the steps? It sounds like there may have been an accidental over addition of water.
Can spelt flour work instead of coconut flour?
Hi Terry,
No, spelt cannot work as a replacement here. Almond flour or sunflower seed flour (see my DIY version here) would work, using about 2-3 times the amount of coconut flour.
Can’t wait to try this! Can I use 1 C chickpea flour and omit the coconut flour (or 2/3 C chickpea flour and 1/3 C almond flour)? Don’t have coconut flour on hand. Thanks!
Hi Janet,
I’m sorry, but no, this particular recipe will not work without the coconut flour.
This is amazing. I ate 3/4 of it right after making it because I was addicted to it. Ha! I tried what you said in the comments about flour subs and I did 1/2 cup almond flour and 1/2 cup walnut flour (I ground up walnuts in my coffee grinder). I also skipped the food processor step because I’m super lazy. I found I had to let it sit in the fridge overnight to solidify. Thank you so much for posting this. I loved loved loved it.
Hi!
Would you recommend an alternative to the lentils, I am allergic to lentils, would split peas or some other legume work in this recipe?
Hi Jason! Yes, I think split peas would work well and, like lentils, do not need to be pre-soaked. I prefer yellow split peas (milder flavor; I cannot find them in regular supermarkets but my Mexican grocery store always has them). But the green split peas will also work.
Can I sub coconut flour for additional chick pea flour?
That could work! I have not tested, but I think that should be fine here. Just be sure to use a lot less (about 1/3 as much; coconut flour is super absorbent, you need far less than chickpea flour or almond flour, for example)
Could you please suggest an alternative for the chickpea flour? This looks great and I would love to try it but cannot find the flour.
Hi Carol,
You could use almond flour or , if you do not have almond flour, finely ground nuts or seeds made in a food processer should work just fine.
can anything be subbed or the flax?
ground chia seeds would work perfectly.
Gorgeous, spot on for flavour, nutrients and budget!
A lot of your whizz, pour + cook recipes are making my life easier too.
That sounds like a great cookbook title :)! I would definitely pick that up! So glad this was a hit!
Just found your site this weekend and passed it onto 2 other friends. This looks delicious, I’ve had lentil loaf with gravy a few months ago and have been craving it ever since. Plan on trying this week for sure.. I love your site and look forward to making many of your recipes. Thank you
Thank YOU, Christina!