This recipe is long overdue. It’s so good I’d recommend abandoning your current dinner plans and making this instead. You won’t regret it.
I first started with a dry lentil stew mix, which I soaked overnight to decrease the cooking time.
The mix had multiple kinds of beans (black, white, soy, kidney, pinto), lentils, and barley.
After soaking, the 1 cup of dry mix grew to nearly triple it’s original size!
Once cooked, the yield was just over 3 cups.
Meanwhile I pulsed walnuts in the food processor. I wanted them to be more than chopped. I got them to a soft mealy consistency, just before it reached the paste stage.
Then I added in the lentil, bean and barley mix…
And blended until it was semi-smooth (but with some chunks).
I tossed in seasonings half way through, and once it was ready, I scooped it into a PAM sprayed loaf pan.
Even the uncooked mix was delicious (because obviously I sampled some).
Then I smeared a ketchup & BBQ sauce mix on top. Don’t be afraid – cake it on.
Oven ready.
I cooked it for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.
Perfection! At this point, the kitchen smelled like heaven on Earth, and all I wanted was to dig in. I waited all of 20 minutes for it to cool before going to town on it.
The first slice was hard to get out of the pan and crumbled a bit, but by the third fourth slice I was in a groove.
It was soft on the inside and not too dense, but still very hearty. The ketchup and BBQ topping was so good.
The combination of beans and lentils with the barley grains and walnut blend was like all the best things that I love to eat combined. The beans offered a hummus like flavor, while the lentils were textual variety. The walnuts added healthy fats, a yummy flavor, and the sticky consistency to hold it all together. And the barley packed the whole grain carbohydrate punch to hold my appetite over. I think this recipe could be the perfect veggie burger, too (if molded into patty shapes instead of a meatloaf pan).
I swear this recipe is so simple and so good.
Next time I may jazz it up with onions and mushrooms, but if you’re looking for a quick and easy recipe that’ll wow everyone, let this lentil loaf be your ally!
True story: growing up, my least favorite dishes that my mom made were spaghetti with marinara and meatloaf. I’m still not a big on spaghetti, but I will definitely be adding this non-meat-loaf into frequent rotation.
Lentil and Bean Loaf (vegan)
- 1 cup dry beans (your choice in the mix – black, white, pinto, kidney – the more variety the better)
- 1/4 cup dry lentils (I used green, but French should work too)
- 1/4 cup dry barley
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
*If you don’t want to use dried beans, add double the amount of the canned form
ENJOY!
PS Check out my guest post on the lovely and inspirational Gena’s blog
Yum! That is one of the tastiest-looking vegan loafs I’ve seen.
i can’t wait to make it. i might add some celery and onions for textural variety but it looks SOOO good. gotta get me some lentils and walnuts!
This looks so goooood. I really wish I had access to an oven and the necessary ingredients so I could make this for dinner tonight!
good call on the celery. try mushrooms too – thats what i plan to do next time.
This looks awesome! Do you think I could sub something for the barley? Quinoa perhaps? It’s what I have on hand.
i think so. just blend it once it’s cooked because thats how it stays together best.
That looks so good! Bookmarked!
That looks sooo good! I’ve wanted to make a lentil loaf for awhile. Paired with mashed potatoes = YUM
I normally think anything that is in loaf form that isn’t bread is disgusting, but that actually looks delicious! Definitely putting that one on the grocery list.
I will ABSOLUTELY make this! I love the ingredients and I love the ease (I can cook those beans up in no time in the rice cooker or pressure cooker). Thanks for a fabulous recipe!
Oh yeah, I am all over this…
Un. B. Leave. A. Bull. I can’t wait for my lentils to soak! That sounded incredibly nerdy but I really can’t! 😉
This looks great! I’m thinking a lentil loaf sandwich is in order this weekend!!
Whoa. This looks like a loaf version of my favorite spread, the lentil-walnut pate from Real Food Daily and Angelica Kitchen. (The only spread I hold above hummus.)
I had some leftover grilled onions and portobello slices so I whizzed those up too. I forgot the barley so added a slice’s worth of toasted Ezekiel bread crumbs.
Just took this out of the oven and it is delicious. Especially the parts with the bbq sauce. Can’t wait to try this in patty form, perhaps crumbled over a salad.
wow. brilliant work!!! way to take it to the next level. im gonna try your suggestions next time bc that sounds soooo good!
this sounds A-mazing! do you think subbing buckwheat for the barley would work? i was looking to make a gf version 🙂
Yum! There’s an amazing recipe for a lentil loaf over at Eat, Live, Run. Yours looks fabulous too 🙂
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my first time cooking with dried beans, so this may be obvious to most people, but how long did you cook the beans after soaking them overnight?
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It took about 45 mins to an hour. Lentils alone take way less time, but with beans it’s a longer process. Still shorter than without soaking them first, though.
I’m in the same boat as Christi- I’ve never cooked with dry beans before. I bought all the ingredients for this last night (except the barley, any substitution suggestions?). How do you know the beans are cooked after 45 min-an hour, just by taste?
I’ve been drooling over this for the last couple of days. Finally, made it tonight. Delicious! Thanks for the great recipe. 🙂
To sub for the barley you could use brown rice or quinoa – probably even oats (but those would require far less cooking tme so if you do use them only add them in for the last few minutes or cook them separately). You’ll know the beans are done because they won’t be hard…there’s not a real way to test them aside from removing a few and pinching them. If they are a bit al dente though it won’t matter since you are putting them in the food processor and grinding them up.
I’m so glad you liked it!!
SUCCESS!!! Such a great vegetarian patty for my hawaiian sliders. Next time, I won’t be sharing and instead eating this as a dip. SOOOO GOOD!
wahoooo
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made this again tonight…added carmelized onions and mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and fresh chopped spinach…amazing!
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I have been SEARCHING for a meatloaf sub recipe, and this looks awesome!
hooray! enjoy 🙂
I made this tonight, with a few changes, and thought it had the best texture of any veggie loaf yet. I added 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups gluten-free oatmeal (did not use barley), a handful of finely diced baby carrots, one stalk of finely diced celery, a handful of fresh diced spinach, 1/2 caramelized onion, 1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed, Tbsp. parsley, tsp. thyme and oregano. Topped it with homemade bbq sauce and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for the inspiration. I love the walnuts and the mixture of beans and lentils. This will make a wonderful sandwich tomorrow.
yay!
glad you enjoyed!!!