Vegan Lentil Nut “Meatloaf”

I substituted beetroot for the sweet potato and 4 tspns of chai seed for the bread, as a lower carb alternative. Followed other advise re not over processing and skipped the tomato sauce on top for less sugar.
So delicious – winner winner will make for Christmas Dinner!

I made this last night along with a butternut squash soup also from this website. Did not disappoint! Super moist, but still kept it shape. I had it for lunch today and it’s just as delicious!

So delicious! Even my meat-loving husband loves this. I made it pretty much as is, except omitting the bread crumbs because I didn’t have any on hand. Instead, I ground up 4 tsp of chia seeds and let the loaf sit for 30 minutes to bind it together. Next time, I want to try it with the bread crumbs. It had the right balance of savory and tart, with a bit of sweetness that I love in a loaf, It was amazing! Thank you for this recipe.

Delicious and healthy!

Definitely my new go to Christmas loaf recipe from now on! Turned out beautifully, earthy, cooked through, so much flavour! Thank you very much!

I made it for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it and were grateful. I made it the day before and it was perfect warmed in the oven. I will make it again–do not worry!

Hi I halved the recipe and was amazed at how much I still made, 1 loaf pan full and a half pan baked also…I threw in an egg, added 1/2 yellow pepper, 1/2 white onion and tarragon, basil. I also added fresh ginger and ginger juice. It is delicious. Oh and a little Coconut Aminos, a few drops of Tamari sauce . Thanks for the recipe.

This is my thanksgiving go-to! Can’t wait to make it again this year, thank you!!

I made this using olive oil instead of coconut/avocado oil, and used barbecue sauce for the glaze. It was delicious, and it freezes really well!

Forgot the bread crumbs and rounded up on the nuts. Newly vegetarian 10-year-old gave it a 7 out of ten where a 10 would be cats and a 0 would be a plastic wrapper. 39.5-year-old husband, who did all the work, also thought it was pretty good. 34.5-year-old meat eater added some chicken and buffalo sauce and was very happy. We served this with kale and a Tempranillo. Thank you for creating such a fun recipe!

Love this recipe! Have made this numerous times and thought I better thank you for this recipe. This is such a satisfying and tasty meal, love it. Thank you.

Wow what a scrumptious loaf this is !
Thank you kindly for making our roastless dinner so exciting !
First day into lockdown here in New Zealand for 6 mths so we are all feeling like our good luck has run out 😩
No Mushrooms and no way of getting any so I used black beans from a can and that was perfect !
I also used flakey food yeast for extra flavour.
You will love it !

Oh man, this is so incredibly good. I made it last Thanksgiving for my roommate and I, and we decided to make it a second time for our Christmas dinner as well. I don’t think we modified the recipe at all, and it was definitely my favorite thing on my plate both times. I’d highly recommend this recipe. It’s well worth the bit of time (which isn’t even that long) to make.

I will definitely be making this again for my holiday dinners this year and many years after, and probably soon here because it’s such a good recipe! Do yourself a favor and make this ASAP, I don’t care if it’s the middle of the summer!

Omg soo good! Thank you

This meatloaf is soooo yummy. I added sage as well as thyme and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
I kept taking little fork bites and I hadn’t even baked it yet!😏 I made a glaze for the top with maple syrup, yellow mustard and a spot of balsamic vinegar. We will be making this anytime we crave meatloaf.
Thank you again for great recipe.

I made this recipe today I love it very good I used gluten free rice crumbs from Trader Joe’s will make this again in the near future. Thank you. I highly recommend this recipe

This recipe is perfect! The loaf turned out moist and delicious. We enjoyed it the first day and then fried slices in a little olive oil the next night. Excellent!

This recipe was gorgeous. Full of nutritious ingredients & so moist. I added an onion & garlic & thought it look a bit dry but once cooked was more than perfect. I had a bit left over & the next day made them into 4 burgers which were also delightful. I will be making this again to impress my friend.

I tried this recipe for the first time, following it exactly. (I am an accomplished cook, so following a recipe exactly goes against the grain for me!) I was concerned because it seemed so dry going into the loaf pan. I had cooked the lentils myself, so did not use the canned lentils that were used in the recipe. I am now wondering if canned lentils are the “secret” to this recipe, that they are somehow more moist. The whole mass seemed to look gray and unappetizing going into the pan. Came out of the oven pretty much the same. At any rate, if it were not for the mushroom vegan gravy (delicious!) this loaf would have been completely unpalatable. The leftovers went into the trash. Any suggestions as to what went wrong?

Great recipe-very easy, filling and delicious! Had to make a few substitutions because I was missing a couple of ingredients- used rolled oats in place of oatmeal (threw it in to get whizzed up with the nuts), oregano instead of thyme, and half mustard half ketchup in the glaze since I was scraping the last of my ketchup out of the bottle! It tasted great and the texture was spot on – I only pulsed a few times after adding lentils to the mixture, but everything else was pretty well blended. I’ll probably just use oatmeal from now on because I rarely use breadcrumbs so never have any on hand. This recipe is definitely going into the rotation – thanks for another tasty, easy, healthy recipe!

So so so delicious!

Made this tonight and, wow, it is delicious! I had a little of each ingredient left over after making the recipe, so made a mini version and divided it up to make burgers. Yum! I also added some shredded carrots and sun-dried tomatoes to the mix.
Love your site. I’ve tried a few recipes now and they’ve come out great. Being new to vegan cooking, I’m happy to get some guidance in the kitchen.

I LOVE this recipe! One of my vegan friends made it for Christmas and I loved it. It is a great meal prep item! I am not vegan, but I like to eat a majority plant based diet and this is such a great dinner/lunch staple.

I know some people have had issues with the texture. I put about 3/4 of the lentils in the food processor and then mixed the other 1/4 in. Additionally, I only blended the nuts (I used walnuts, pecans, and cashews) a little bit in the beginning, until they looked very roughly chopped, as they get much finer when the other items are mixed in.

Good flavor but 45 minutes was not enough to cook it through. The texture ended up like liver paté rather than a texturized loaf. If it was meat, I would say it came out “raw,” bc the doughy lentils were so thick and pastry. I just wasn’t a fan.

This is really a great recipe, so flavorful and healthy! Made two of these so I could freeze one butI think it wont make the freezer! Paired it with some couscous and spinach salad, delicious!

I would suggest using the food processor to blend the ingredients separately so that you get a better texture. The food processor couldn’t handle it and made the loaf too creamy. I found that I enjoyed the leftovers even more after I fried the slices with a bit of oil. So good on a bun! The texture was much better. The flavour was really good. I would make this again.

This is delicious! I make this for a vegetarian Thanksgiving option and serve with vegan gravy. I didn’t have any nuts this year and so just omitted them and think I like it better without! I add extra tomato paste because I like a richer tomato flavor. I sometimes top it with home made bbq sauce, which is delicious!

The flavors in this loaf are killer! The first time I made it, I think I over processed it because I didn’t love the texture. The second and third time, I stirred more often and processed less. Definitely better. My mom talks about this loaf all the time. Making it for her for thanksgiving :)

This took me longer than an hour and half and I didn’t have a food processor so I made do with a blender. Other than that this was a really simple recipe just took some time. I’m really happy with how it turned out!

I followed the recipe nearly exactly – I used some sprouted brown lentils because that’s all I could find and a white sweet potato. It is delicious! I kept tasting the batter because it was so good. My food processor was too small to handle it all, so I had to pulse in batches, but it worked out perfectly. I did add a touch more woozy and tomato paste towards the end; all of the thyme is so fresh and tasty as well. It’s currently baking in the oven and I can’t wait to serve this for Thanksgiving. I topped it with ketchup but will still end up putting some herb gravy on it, too. YUM.

I made this last night and it is the best lentil loaf I have made! I subbed the breadcrumbs for some oat flour because that’s what I had. Mixed some bbq sauce with the ketchup glaze. It was my first lentil loaf that actually stayed together! Yay! Trying to think of a thanksgiving glaze, cranberry bbq sauce? Or gravy would be great, thank you for a great recipe!

Made this tonight – It was delicious! While it took some time to prepare it was worth it. I’ve tried many vegan “meat” loaves in the past and have been disappointed. Happy I finally found one for the recipe box. I’ll be making a double batch next time and freezing for later. Love your recipes! Thank you!

I made this Nut Lentil Loaf 2xs and really liked it. The second time the texture and taste was much better. The first time I did not know you could buy canned lentils (LOL) so I cooked my own and they turned out a mushy. The second time I used cashews and pecans and it was just as good. The texture was better.

I’ve tried this with some minor changes and it tasted great!

I reduced the amount of nuts to only 20g for a lighter dish and used red lentils and still came out delicious! The ketchup glaze is key

Unfortunately, I was not a fan of this recipe :( It took lots of time to prepare and I did not enjoy the taste very much. It’s definitely healthy though with the lentils and walnuts, so I encourage people to try this and see how they like it.

Just made this for the first time and it’s amazing!
I made a mistake, I cooked 2 cups of dried lentils so I had to double all other ingredients to compensate for it.
I did not need any bread crumbs for some reason so it turned out a little lighter in calories :-) I did not use ketchup for glazing or gravy. I’d add gravy to a roast dinner though.
Truly brilliant we all love it and it will probably be our Christmas nut roast. Thank you so much for sharing x

Will you have any other loaf recipes in the near future? They’re so satisfying and easy to reheat for a quick meal paired with a side salad, but I’ve yet to find much variety in flavour. You have so many lasagna recipes!! I think the loaf needs as much attention :) :) Maybe a smokey chipolte inspired loaf using blackbeans instead of lentils….thai inspired..? pretty please :)

Delish! Don’t hesitate. Make it today.

This recipe was good, but not one of my favorites. The loaf was very dense and didn’t hold well when cut into slices (not sure if it’s supposed to though?). I found myself adding ketchup to get through each slice.

Wow this ‘Meatloaf’ is absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly but added sautéed onion & garlic to the mix. I think to get the best texture is to make sure you don’t blitz it in the food processor too much. It shouldn’t be a smooth paste but slightly chunky. I’m so glad it didn’t have cumin or chilli in it, as I find too many non meat recipes tend to taste like falafel. I have made this a few times & think it’s best cooked in the morning & eaten for dinner. That way the flavours & texture improves quite a bit. 5 stars!

5 star recipe! Very delicious… With this dish I discovered coconut aminos. Thank you for providing us with so many tasty and healthy dishes.

Incredibly delicious recipe! With this dish I discovered coconut aminos! Thank you for providing us with so many tasty and healthy dishes.

Absolutely delish!

This was the BEST vegan “meat” loaf recipe I’ve made and I’ve made many over the years. In fact, this is the ONLY vegan “meat” loaf recipe my 10 y/o granddaughter actually liked & ate all of and she’s tried each loaf recipe I’ve made. We’re not vegan, however we don’t eat any land based meat….only fish & shellfish. I am half Italian so meatballs & sauce, meatloaf & mashed potatoes, fish & seafood, chicken, etc were common meat based meals I ate growing up. Given I loved meatloaf as a kid, I tried to get a similar taste and texture to what I grew up on so I made just a few small changes. I added half a grated onion and several minced garlic cloves and sautéed them with the mushrooms. Instead of the bread crumbs the recipe calls for, I used half a cup of vital wheat gluten flour so the loaf would have a consistency closer to ground meat based meat loaf. It was delicious served with Italian style garlic & olive oil mashed potatoes, homemade vegan gravy and mixed vegetables.

I have made so many recipes from this site and loved them but this one really was amazing. I could not find the w sauce so instead I used soy sauce and liquid smoke and it was great , but of course I never made the original so I cannot say how it compares. I will say though that it fell apart for me quite a bit. I should have pressed it down harder in the pan, but it was great overall.

This lentil loaf was incredible.

Made as written with the addition of half an onion and a few cloves of garlic, which I sautéed with the mushrooms. Also added some cumin and chili crisp (my go to secret spicy umami injection for many dishes). Topped it with Trader Joe’s Black Summer Truffle Ketchup. SO GOOD.

I’ll be making it again for sure. Next time, would be nice with a side of mustard greens. Seems like it would take substitutions well. I loved the mushrooms, but think carrots and celery could also work for those who don’t.

Also, 3/4 cup dried green lentils and 2 1/4 cup water made 2 cups of cooked lentils.

I made this when I was first debating whether or not I could go fully plant-based and it is INCREDIBLE. My food processor is definitely not at-least 7 cups so the combining piece did not go well at all but even with that hiccup the end result was simply delicious. I froze the leftovers to eat when I didn’t feel like cooking – they held up and reheated very nicely. Thanks so much for the great recipe! Having this in my back pocket has made my transition to veganism much easier.

Yummy and satisfying nut loaf! Heats up very nicely for next day lunch.
I made the recipe as described but omitted step 4 when you but everything in the blender. I prefer a bit more texture so kept the mix
lumpy. Worked very well just the same with. Thank you for another delicious recipe Dana!

I was recommended this recipe by a longtime vegan athletic friend. I trust her opinions because she has tried a lot of different recipes. This is totally delicious! I added just a hint of garlic and onions my second time around and made it with pecans/almonds because my husband is allergic to walnuts. It’s just the two of us now so this recipe makes great leftovers. The time it takes to make is about twice as long as suggested but maybe I will be bolder and use my food processor to do more of the prep work. Still, will make again and so glad to have this in my repertoire.

This was delicious! I used raw pistachios instead of walnuts and sun-dried tomato pesto instead of tomato paste because that’s what I had and it turned out great! The loaf was rather large for two people so I used some of the leftovers to make a shepherd’s pie which worked wonderfully.

I’ve made it, time consuming but we like it very much, thank you!

Tastes delicious, but unfortunately very crumbly and fell apart upon presentation even after resting 15 minutes. This recipe seems like it might need a more substantial binder?

Loved this recipe! Only used 1tbsp of tomato paste, swapped out the ketchup for bbq .. and added lots of liquid smoke! I real hit for my quarantined Easter dinner! Thank you!!

Great flavour but I wasn’t a fan of the texture. Too mushy. Will try tweaking with some tofu crumbles for body.

I used mostly macadamia nuts….because that is what I had. Turned out great!! Very tasty!!!

This is amazing! I made slight accommodations: mung beans instead of lentils (cooked from dry beans because I find canned beans too mushy) and I caramelized an onion and 3 cloves of garlic before adding cubbed sweet potatoes instead of rounds. I also used half walnuts and half pumpkin seeds.

I coarsely mashed the cooked sweet potatoes (+ onion and garlic) but pulsed everything else in the food processor as the recipe calls for. I didn’t put the tomato topping because I made the “Easy Vegan Gravy” instead- they go super well together!
https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-gravy/

Will definitely make again!

This was absolutely delicious! I had been looking for new ways to use lentils since we have a ton in the pantry, and this was a winner!

Absolutely delicious!!

This came together so easily and perfect for a night in! I added a heavy squeeze of sriracha to the ketchup glaze, and it was amazing. I can’t wait to eat it again tomorrow :)

I read a LOT of reviews before making it, and it’s a solid 4/5.
PROS:
– Taste is AMAZING!
– Recipe made at least 6-8 servings, so I was able to freeze half
MODIFICATIONS:
– Based on other reviews I did not put the lentils in the food processor to try and avoid mush.
– I made half of the recipe in a muffin tin, and the other half as a more shallow loaf. My hope here was that a more shallow loaf would be less mushy.
– I used coconut aminos instead of the worcestershire sauce because that is what I had.
CONS:
– Still a bit mushy, despite my efforts above to avoid mushiness.
– Pretty labour intensive. I’d say it took about two hours total.

Not sure if I would make again due to how intensive it was, but it was very tasty and hearty!

One more thing: ohhh I wish I could add photos so you could see how beautifuly it turned out! I will definitely make sure to mention/tag you when I upload to Instagram!