With an Instant Pot and about 30 minutes, you can make perfectly cooked lentils every time! Let us show you how.
Instant Pot Lentils
Using the Instant Pot is a quick and easy way to make perfectly tender lentils! For this recipe, we are referring to green or brown lentils, which are the most common, versatile, and easy to find.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Ratio = 1 part lentils : 3 parts water
- Cook Time = 8-9 minutes
- Release = 15 minute natural release, then release any remaining pressure
Lentils go well in stews, soups, sloppy joes, lentil “meatloaf,” shepherd’s pie, salads, and much more!
Did you find this helpful? If so, be sure to check out our Instant Pot Cooking Times Guide for perfectly cooked grains and beans every time!
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Instant Pot Lentils (Perfect, Tender, No Soaking!)
A quick & simple method for making PERFECT lentils in the Instant Pot every time! No soaking and just 1 ingredient and an Instant Pot required!
Servings 4 (~2/3-cup servings)
Ingredients
- 1 cup green or brown lentils
- 3 cups water (or vegetable broth for more flavor)
Instructions
- Add lentils and water (or vegetable broth) to the Instant Pot and stir to prevent sticking. Pressure cook on high for 8-10 minutes (8 minutes for more firm, 10 for more tender // it will take about 8 minutes for the Instant Pot to pressurize before cooking begins).
- Once the timer goes off, allow to naturally release for 15 minutes, then release any remaining pressure. Carefully remove lid once steam has fully escaped and strain off any excess cooking liquid.
- Enjoy immediately in stews, soups, sloppy joes, lentil "meatloaf," shepherd's pie, salads, and much more! Store cooled leftovers in the refrigerator up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 1 month. Reheat in a saucepan on the stovetop, adding a little water, as needed, to prevent sticking.
Video
Notes
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.
*Total time includes active cook time, release time, and the time it takes for the Instant Pot to heat up (~8 minutes).
*Total time includes active cook time, release time, and the time it takes for the Instant Pot to heat up (~8 minutes).
Nutrition (1 of 4 servings)
Serving: 1 two-third-cup serving Calories: 169 Carbohydrates: 30.4 g Protein: 11.8 g Fat: 0.5 g Saturated Fat: 0.1 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.25 g Monounsaturated Fat: 0.09 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 3 mg Potassium: 325 mg Fiber: 5.1 g Sugar: 1 g Vitamin A: 18.72 IU Vitamin C: 2.16 mg Calcium: 16.8 mg Iron: 3.12 mg
emma says
Unfortunately total mush. I think the 15 minute release is too long so they keep cooking during that time.
Used water no salt. lentils were from an unopened package so maybe they retrain nite moisture? I did make a larger quantity thank the recipe but seems like that would make for longer cooking time, not shorter, if it had any effect. I’ll probably go back to stovetop cooking which isn’t longer, and just use IP for dried beans
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Oh no! So sorry this happened, Emma. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us, we’ll take a look at the timings of this recipe!
Melanie Price says
Thanks for the way to easily make dried lentils. I jsut bought my instant pot mainly for cooking dried beans and rice and of course anything that cooks quick which I’m learning so many other things too. ♡♡♡ Your directions Worked perfectly with my green sprouted dried lentils. Thanks for the share.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
We’re so glad to hear it worked well! Thank you for sharing your experience, Melanie! xo
MM says
I’ve also got hard water from southern Arizona, but I made this twice using the 10-minute cook time (once with 8oz lentils and 3 cups tap water, once with 8oz lentils and “low sodium” vegetable broth), and they were perfect each time. So the experiments continue :)
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
We’re so glad they turned out well! Thank you for sharing your experience!
Deecee says
I just made this in my brand new Instant Pot 6 qt. Ultra, and the lentils came out perfect!
I sorted and wash-rinsed the lentils, added 4 cups of water, 1 tsp. vegetable base, pressure cooked on high for 10 minutes, and used the quick release button.
I live at over 3,000 feet above sea level in Southeastern Arizona, and we have very hard well water.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Woohoo! So happy to hear this. Thanks so much for the lovely review and for sharing your experience, Deecee!
KC says
For the mush issue, I would suggest it’s an issue with water. My gram always said with beans and lentils how hard or soft your water was would vastly change your cooking times. It may be this recipe works great with hard water but not soft water.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Thanks for the tip, KC! This is super interesting!
Meemers says
Perfect every time. My Instapot and Ninja Foodi both automatically turn on the “keep warm” setting; I have to turn them off or my lentils will be mush by the time I complete the natural release. I’m wondering if the people who are reporting mush have the keep warm setting on.
Also, I’m wondering if you could include if that setting should be on or off in your recipes.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
We’re so glad it turns out well for you! We haven’t had an issue when leaving on keep warm, but perhaps if it’s kept on too long that is the issue – thanks for bringing it to our attention!
Crystal says
I did everything the way the recipe said. It almost completely released the pressure in 15 minutes; there wasn’t a lot left to release with the quick release valve. I hit the valve when the natural release time was down to 30 seconds and set my computer timer to time it. I had perfectly cooked lentils once I drained them. Once my instant pot cools, I’ll wash it, then make the vegan sloppy joes.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing, Crystal!
Alex says
Maybe the people who are having them turn out mushy are using red lentils instead of brown? Because that would do it.
Rose says
I tried instant pot lentils. I read everyone comments before making it. I decided to let it naturally release for 4 minutes. Then immediately removing them from the water and letting them drain. The lentils came out perfect not mushy.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Hi Rose, thanks for sharing your experience. Glad to hear they turned out well!
Doug says
Mushy as mushy could be.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Hi Doug, we’re so sorry that was your experience! Other readers have reported that, but we’ve tried troubleshooting and can’t figure out what’s causing that for some people while others report it works great. Did you make any modifications? Are you using lentils that have been sprouted or soaked?
Sean says
I had issues with softness, even after reducing both cooking time and depressurization time. I wonder if the difference is in how long lentils have been unsealed and exposed to air (and therefore moisture.)
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
That’s an interesting theory, Sean! Thanks for sharing that idea!
Michelle North says
Every time I try to make lentils in the instant pot they are still hard, but when I cook soup in the instant pot (with lentils) it comes out perfect every time.
I don’t know what I do wrong when I try to cook lentils without soup, but always have to put them on the stove and finish cooking. Even when I follow the recipe verbatim. Maybe because of the salt?
It perplexes me.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
That is very perplexing! Salt can make them take longer to cook, but it sounds like perhaps you’re having the opposite issue?
Amy Jones says
So easy and turned out great! I cooked them on high pressure for 9 minutes and got perfectly tender lentils. Thanks for the recipe!
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
We’re so glad they turned out well for you, Amy! Thanks for sharing! xo
Silvi says
Mine came out mushy too :( Followed directions exactly, using green lentils (not soaked). Luckily I’m adding them to something the food processor so it’s not a big deal but think I’ll stick with my stovetop method for now.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
So sorry about that, Silvi! We’re a little stumped as to why that’s happening. You could try reducing the time to 7-8 minutes. We’ll revisit this one and see if we can troubleshoot what’s going on.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Hi Silvi, we retested and can’t replicate the issue of the lentils being mushy. For us they were perfectly tender and it seemed like less time would have made them too firm/uncooked. Is it possible you let them naturally release for longer than 15 minutes? Let us know if you’re still having trouble with these!
Crystal says
Did you drain the leftover cooking liquid? If you did not, that’s why they seem mushy. It sounds like this is happening to a lot of people, but I wonder if they are draining the lentils after removing them from the Instant Pot. I’m going to try these once I do my water test. My Instant Pot should be delivered tomorrow. I want to try the vegan sloppy joes recipe myself, using pressure-cooked lentils like another user did, but I’m a new instant pot user so it will wait until I have more experience with Instant Pot and know how to use it. I did write down the recipe for later reference, though. I am going to have to find an alcohol-free replacement for the Worcestershire due to my medications.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
That’s a good thought, Crystal. Thanks for sharing! Let us know how it goes if you try it!
Jay says
I made this – 1 1/3 cups green lentils, and 4 cups water, 9 min on high, and I ended up with (tasty)Lentil mush :-(. I was thinking of now forming it into lentil patties and baking or frying them. I will try with less water again – or what other suggestions? Could it be elevation(I am in Boston)?
I did notice your quinoa instant recipe has a bit more liquid than what I use (1 1/2 cups quinoa to 2 cups water – only 1 min on high), and mine does come out wonderfully.
I do appreciate your website and all you share – thank you!
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Hi Jay, thanks for the feedback! We find that using less water can cause the lentils to cook unevenly (the top ones don’t cook fully). But if you’re scaling up the recipe, it’s possible you don’t need quite as much water. You’re at a similar elevation to us, so that shouldn’t be the issue. Perhaps you’re using fresher lentils or prefer them more firm? You could try scaling back to 7 or 8 minutes. Sorry about that!
Bee Noomin says
Similar result with brown lentils. So that makes two of us!
Jay says
I’ll give it a try – TY
Bee Noomin says
I followed your directions. I ended up with lentil mush.
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
We’re so sorry to hear that, Bee! What type of lentils were you using? How long did you cook them? Were they soaked or unsoaked? We’ve used unsoaked green and brown lentils several times with this method and they always turn out perfectly – we’re curious what the difference could be!
Bee Noomin says
Unsoaked brown lentils, 9 minutes, natural release for 15. I was going to use the tiny black lentils, which might have held up better–but I didn’t have a full cup. I used my new 6-qt. InstantPot.
Would you suggest shortening the cooking time, the release time, or both?
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Hi Bee, so strange, we’re a little stumped as to why it’s happening! We’d suggest trying to shorten the cook time slightly.
Sherry says
So, I just made these for the first time. A N D . . . the are PERFECT! I used them in your vegan Sloppy Joes, which are also perfect! Thanks for the great recipes, ALWAYS!
Wow yay!! Thanks for sharing, Sherry!!
Sherry says
Thank you! I don’t eat many lentils but have decided that I would like to work them into my diet once a week. I was thinking of potential recipes and realized that I would like to cook them in an Instant Pot, so I Googled how to do that. As I was scrolling through recipes for soups and stew, not what I wanted, I saw a MINIMALIST BAKER entry and knew I could count on you for what I was looking for–yet another time! You are one of my all time go to favorite cooks. Thank you, once again!
Support @ Minimalist Baker says
Aw, so kind Sherry! We’re so glad it’s helpful! The Instant Pot is such a speedy way to cook lentils and they end up perfectly tender. Enjoy =)