Saucy Moroccan-Spiced Lentils

As far as I can see this recipe doesn’t say to cook the onion capsicum mixture. I cooked mine for about 5 mins bc there’s no way I’m eating half a raw onion with raw garlic as well and it was still quite oniony so I can’t imagine what it would be like without cooking at all.

I’ve tried many lentil recipes and this is my favourite. It has so much flavour. Thank you!

Thanks for this delicious and very favorfful recipe. I initially omitted the salt and sweetener,, but when it was cooked I added tamari and ketchup. Btw, I put it all in the instant pot and cooked 8 minutes on high, then quick release after 10 minutes. Great recipe!

Absolutely amazing!!! So much flavor!!

Made this tonight (a day ahead) as I am having friends over for dinner tomorrow and it’s Moroccan cuisine night. Used red lentils (you were right about the mushy) and followed everything else from your recipe to the dot. Totally delicious. I sautéed the red onions and garlic and added a little extra cayenne pepper. Hopefully it will be a hit tomorrow night!

I roasted the pepper and onion before blitzing them. I’m not a fan of the raw veg in this as I think roasted gives it a better flavour

This was so yummy. I’ve been trying to get my family to eat more lentils. They’re a tough sell so far. My husband actually liked these. The kids said they were a little spicy, but I wasn’t expecting much from them. It’s the only lentils so far my husband actually said was tasty. Thanks for a good recipe. Will be making again.
I didn’t have red pepper so I added a little extra tomato paste. Tastes good.

As the recipe is written I found the raw onion and garlic flavor a little harsh. HOWEVER, I mixed the lentils and sauce with another cup of water and simmered it until it was nice and thickened again and now I have a delicious lentil stew. Perfect with some pita and plain yogurt. I’ll be making this again soon!

I made it! Very delisious and quick to made 😊😁

Made this tonight and it was delicious! We didn’t have any bell peppers so I subbed tomato sauce and it worked great. We ate it over polenta.

Made this (with just a few small tweaks) and loved it!
I omitted the coconut sugar as I tasted the sauce before adding and it tasted balanced to me without it. I also mixed a few chopped carrots to the sauce and lentil mixture and let them simmer in the saucy lentils on the stove until slightly tender. I served over cauliflower rice that I sautéed in ghee w/ cumin seeds, ground coriander, cardamom, turmeric & black pepper, and topped with avocado and pickled Fresno pepper. (If you’re looking for a way to eat these lentils, highly recommend this way, lol.)

I made this recipe with only one change (no cayenne) and served it with cauliflower rice. What a wonderful recipe. It surprised me that with so little effort, there was so much flavor. I took one bite and declared this one a keeper. Thanks so much for the great recipe. Also, thanks for the nutritional content you include–very helpful.

Next time I’ll try it with mushrooms and top with chopped tomatoes. I’ll make a double-batch to freeze. If I don’t have cauliflower rice, I’ll serve it in a sweet potato.

I’ve made these a few times and always thought they were delicious on their own or over salads. This morning, I used these lentils along with sautéed mushrooms to fill empanadas (or pasties) made from puff pastry dough. It was so, so good!

Thanks for the recipe! I love lentils!

Nice recipe. It’s quick and easy to make and tasty and wholesome. Thanks!

This was a great recipe! I took some others’ advice of cooking up the garlic/onions, but went further and roasted the red pepper too. I was pleasantly surprised how spicy it was and even a nice small portion is filling and satisfying.

I decided to cook some lentils today, but I wanted to try something different from my usual recipe. This one seemed like the ideal one to try out since I had all of the spices in my pantry! The sauce tastes really good, and it makes me want to try using it with meatballs next time.

Brilliant tasty recipe and so quick. Open a can of chickpeas, red beans or any such thing to make it even speedier. I do fry all the spices with the onions and garlic in a little oil because I am not keen on the raw curry flavour.

I’ve made this several times, and it’s always a winner. I agree with other reviewers that I prefer to cook the onions/garlic before mixing into the sauce. I like to make this when my partner bakes his homemade bread, because the saucy lentil goodness just begs to be scooped onto a crusty piece of bread.

Great recipe! I followed it as written but cooked the garlic and onion, and I tossed the pepper into the skillet for a bit as well. I then put some of the sauce into a skillet with the last of the pumpkin purée from last weeks sugar pumpkins, added lentils and brown rice, and then mixed in the cilantro. Delicious way to use up the end of the pumpkin and perfect for a slightly cool evening in early fall!

My house smells amazing after cooking this! I dont know if I just measured wrong, but I didnt feel like there was enough sauce to go with the amount of lentils so next time i might cut back on the lentils and/or double the sauce. Overall, the recipe was tasty and very easy to make. I will definitely be making this again.

Wow, this turned out amazing! I used maple syrup, uncertain about how it would turn out, and it was delicious. I used a red onion because that’s what I had, and I added carrots because I found this recipe while looking to a recipe to use up left overs (tomato paste, red bell pepper, parsley). Served with sour cream and avocado. Yummm!

Cook the onions and garlic first. I did raw and it was inedible

An easy, flavorful and light recipe (especially if subbing sugar with Stevia). I’m serving this dish with with cottage cheese, which keeps the dinner calories to a minimum, and maximizes the tastiness of the dish! Thanks for this awesome recipe!

This was very good and quick! The flavors reminded me of Thomas Kellers romesco sauce.

Just made this. Delicious. I substituted silan, date honey, for the sweetener. I cut down on the apple cider vinegar to 1 Tbs.

Love your recipes. Nothing ever takes me as little time as posted!! Maybe if I had my food processor at the ready and all my spices out, and worked super quickly. I have learned to adapt the time for me.

5 stars here. :)

definitely need to sauteé the onions first
I did the raw version and had to cock the lentils with the sauce, not ideal, but it improved a lot the dish

otherwise, absolutely delicious, nutricious, and quick

I have been looking for new ways to prepare lentils. This recipe is very excellent. Lots of flavor and the color is gorgeous!

Loved it. Less lentils, no cayenne, lots veges not as a sauce, and used it as a side dish with chicken drumsticks. I slow cooked onion, garlic, capsicum, carrot, celery, in olive oil and bacon fat …. yummm!

Love this combination of spices! So flavorful. I used about half as much cayenne because some of my family do not appreciate “heat” (poor souls…hahaha).
My new favorite lentil recipe!

I made this recipe. It was very good! I did have to swap out some ingredients. It came out hotter than I expected, but I think this is because I substituted hot paprika without reducing the amount. I served it with brown rice and diced tomatoes and cucumbers, which offset the heat well.
Two comments I would make:
1) The recipe never specifies that the red bell pepper should be chopped prior to adding to the blender. While this may be obvious, it would be helpful to know.
2) 2 cups of water to 1 cup of lentils does not seem like enough. Mine boiled dry in 20 minutes.
However, it made a different and satisfying main dish. I will definitely make it again, tweaking the recipe to my preferences.

This has been my go to recipe for lentils for a year now! I make a big batch and keep it in my fridge for lunch or dinner. SO simple and delicious. I do not substitute any ingredients as I always have most of them all the time.
I love this recipe as it is, it is so tasty and healthy, great protein and so filling! I eat this with roasted aubergines (like suggested) or with zoodles!

Loved this! Easy, delicious and healthy. Will 100% be making again.
Changes made:
– Cooked the garlic and onions
– Heat was too much for me so I added 1 can of tomato sauce (I think crushed tomatoes would work amazing too), 1 more cup of lentils, and more of the other spices to minimize the cayenne.

It was top notch with great left overs. Thank you!

I first made this red pepper sauce a couple of months ago. Now I make sure I always have some in my freezer to take out on a rainy day:)
The pepper sauce is beautifully seasoned, so much flavour and sooo easy to make. I actually use the sauce as topping on my tacos or Mexican style wraps. I’ve also used it as dressing on a simple bean sallad with raw veggies. Basically I think it works on everything. Thanks for this!

Made this last night. It was delicious over brown rice. You totally nailed the balance of flavors in the sauce. Will definitely make this again.

I do prefer this if onion/garlic sautéed first. Still delicious without cayenne pepper if no heat is desired. I added sliced chicken frankfurters for the meat eaters in my family, and put a dollop of sour cream on top.

Delicious. I pre-cooked the peppers, onion and garlic and used roasted red peppers. Even my 18mo old gobbled it up. Thank you Dana!

Made this last night. Sooooo easy. I followed the recipe but was generous with my spice measures, especially the yummy cayenne. I was hesitant about not the cooking onions and pepper first after previous comments. But decided to try it anyway, (one less pan to wash) My partner normally can’t tolerate raw red pepper but gobbled this down with no stomach upset afterwards. It was a total success and as delicious as I expect from your recipes. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I made this last night , and we all agreed that this recipe is a keeper. I didn’t have a pepper, so I just omitted that. We only had red onions, so I used a half of that. Oh, I also didn’t have coconut sugar, so I just used regular sugar. I did not precooked anything, as per the recipe. I was a little concerned, because we only had a large blender, so it seemed like the garlic and onion weren’t getting completely blended. We had left over pasta, so i threw the lentils ( after cooking and draining) in a big skillet with just a touch of oil, along with the spices mixture and pasta. I heated it until the pasta was warm, and served it as a main dish. The flavors were out of this world. We all loved it. I will definitely make this again, hopefully with all the right ingredients.

Wow this was so delicious!!

Such a satisfyingly simple yet healthy and delicious recipe. Comfort food without the sleepy hurtlocker at the end of the meal. :) Used this for the stuffed eggplants recipe but plan to do so with tomatoes, peppers, etc., etc. Chock full of nutrients for ultra-endurance type athletes and professionals. Will add this one into regular rotation. Bueno!

Thank you for inspiring me to make lentils! I love lentils and had some in the cupboard. I am embarassed to say that I had never made them before. The lockdown is forcing me to use things I have on hand and I found your recipe that sounded delicious. I doubled the recipe and followed it fairly closely. However, I didn’t add the sugar or apple cider vinegar and I used some organic ketchup that no one really liked instead of the tomato paste(thank you previous reviewer for this tip). I did sautee beforehand the onions and red bell pepper, plus one lonely carrot I had in the fridge. I also added some tiny pasta towards the end of cooking the lentils to make it a bigger dish since it was dinner for four adults. It was a huge hit with my family! They want to know when I will be making it again :)

I used Red Lentils, toasted some buns and made Sloppy Joes. DELICIOUS!!!

I sauteed the bell pepper, onion, and garlic. When I put it all into the food processor, I went ahead and pureed the lentils, too, and made it into a dip for some home made pitas. Absolutely delicious! I told my 7yo that it was Moroccan sloppy joes, he gave it two thumbs up. Your site is amazing, everything I’ve tried has been excellent! Thank you!

This recipe is pretty forgiving! I sautéed the veggies first and added yellow instead of red pepper. I think it would be great on pita with toum.

The recipe was recommended by our daughter. We used the 1/2 tsp. of cayenne pepper and wished we hadn’t! One bite was enough – couldn’t continue. Tomorrow we hope to take the sting out by mixing the lentils with rice. Fingers are crossed.

I was really looking forward for this recipe, however, I really don’t like the taste. I can feel the crunchy onion and it is too sweet and at the same time bitter. Really weird.

This was AMAZING! I used raw garlic and onion, and it tasted great. I might be more used to the flavor because I’m Korean and we use a lot of garlic. After tasting the sauce, I ended up adding a little more salt and ACV, but it was so good I was eating it by the spoonful. For dinner, I added the lentils and some sourdough bread cubes over mixed greens. Thanks for the wonderful and easy recipe!

I cannot believe how fabulously strong, yet light and airy this recipe is (due to lemon)! My boyfriend made it, and we added it to our permanent recipes list. We didn’t add the sweetener, but it was great all the same.

Thank you so much! I love this recipe, I’ll definitely try it!

I hesitate to post a review because I had to do a few modifications, due to my wife’s allergies, and it kind of became a different dish perhaps? However, it was inspired by this recipe and its comments, and came out amazing! My wife is allergic to red Bell pepper and vinegar, which I’m sure is a *huge* piece of the flavor. I ended up looking at the Moroccan stuffed eggplant lentil recipe, and making a mashup. I substituted a 14.5oz can of petite diced tomatoes instead of red bell pepper, and lemon instead of vinegar, which is offered as an idea here. I also took the suggestion of sauteeing the shallot and garlic, and made the sauce all over the stovetop In one pan. I ended up adding a cup of vegetable stock, and water As needed, as the flavor seemed very concentrated and thick (I followed the spices exactly). I also added some spinach for some extra veggies. It came out great!! I served it with sweet potatoes (mashed) and roasted brussel sprouts. A Moroccan Lentil mashes sweet Potato and brussel sprout plant based meal delivery service came up in my newsfeed and it called to me!! That’s how I stumbled on this recipe, for the lentil piece, to make my own. Super delicious! We both enjoyed it and it will become a staple.

I made this recipe tonight. I skipped the sweetener, but otherwise followed the recipe. I loved the flavor, but the raw onion/garlic I found harsh. I wish I’d taken some of the other reviews into account and cooked them before the food processor or maybe cooked the sauce before adding it to the lentils.

Yum and unique! Merci beaucoup :)

Amazing recipe. It was very tasteful and everyone enjoyed it

Loved this sweet and tangy. Im putting it over pasta in place
of mince.

Delicious, but that’s a lot of cayenne – I started with 1/4 tsp and it was plenty heat for me! The rest of the spices give it such a unique sweet/tangy/spicy flavor. I tossed it with cauliflower, spinach and barley for a main course bowl.

I’ve made this more than a few times, and told friends. So smoky and delicious, I eat it with a spoon on its own. I will keep coming back to this recipe (although there are so many to try from Minimalist Baker!) Keep the yummy recipes coming!

Amazing dish, doubled the sauce as I am making it as a vegetarian main for Thanksgiving. Followed amounts but sauteed veg/spices/paste together before blending. Mixed with lentils and I’m thrilled with the results! Will probably add a little water to thin it out before serving over roasted squash halves. Will serve topped with feta, mint, and barberries (as my inlaws can’t eat cilantro).

Minimalist baker is my go-to for yummy, plant-based food that isn’t insanely expensive or complicated.

Delicious recipe! A bit on the spicy side. It can be served with flatbread and makes a wonderful speedy lunch.

I made this lovely dish today. I suggest seasoning the ground (masala) spices in a bit of oil first and then adding the cooked lentils with a bit of water, and cilantro.
I loved it and plan on making it for my friends lunch next week, thank you!

Cut the sugar if you don’t like sweet. I had to use real sugar, and I only used half the amount but it was too sweet (maybe because my paprika was sweet). Still pretty tasty though, and fast! I’m eating this over boiled yellow potatoes. Yum!

absolutely love this! thanks for such a flavorful recipe!

This recipe is really delicious and versatile. I leave out the sugar/maple syrup and the vinegar. The last time I made this I subbed chickpeas for lentils and sautéed some Swiss chard.

Super delicious! I left out the ginger, and fried the onions/garlic/pepper and spices rather than having them raw. Will definitely make this again.

This recipe is outstanding. The only suggestion I would make is to try making it with French lentils as opposed to regular green lentils which can get mushy.

Cut the coconut sugar to 1.5 tsp and cooked down the spice and pepper mix, then added it to the lentils. Ate this with yemeni style jasmin rice (Cumin, cinnamon, cardamon, tomato paste, onion, garlic, chicken stock). Topped it with some homemade hummus, fresh from the garden veggies and avocado. SOOOOOOOOOOOO good! The combination with the seasoned rice was phenomenal! This will be a repeat in the kitchen.

My husband liked this, but like several other commenters I found this to be super bitter. I wonder if something is happening where some combination of the spices triggers a bitter taste in a minority of people? Kind of like how some people think cilantro tastes like soap? Who knows. My other half is more than happy to eat there leftovers.

Well, I’m here for a second round of these deliciously spiced lentils! I did not use a red bell pepper but the other flavors did great without it. My husband keeps telling me to make them again, and so I’m back… With a review!

Not a veggie…had mine with chicken…..wow great simple way of spicing lentils..only addition waz to roast the veg for 20 mins first( i know against the rules)
Thanks for website keep it up !