Lentil Roast Recipe
When the days get a little chillier and a little shorter it is time to consider Sunday dinner type meals again to warm you up and supply fuel to the body.
The obvious choice is a Sunday ‘joint’ of meat – beef, lamb or chicken. Have you ever fancied a lower cost alternative? Do you need a good idea for a vegetarian roast? Whatever your reasons for looking for something different, this lentil roast can make you forget you haven’t had meat – especially if served with roast potatoes and stuffing!!
I have served it up as a roast dinner on several occasions and most people are impressed and surprised by how good it is.
Lentil Roast is an inexpensive, tasty and easy to cook alternative to Sunday roast, whether you are a vegetarian or not!
This dish takes just 15 minutes to prepare and then goes in the oven for an hour – just the right amount of time to get your spuds and parsnips roasted! So for a fraction of the fuss and cost of a traditional Sunday roast, you will have a substantial, nourishing and tasty meal. Made with red lentils, cheese and leek, the total cost is around £3-£4 and it serves 6 people generously.
Wonderful Lentils
Lentils are a great food if you are wanting to reduce your outgoings, as they are less than £1 for 500g / 1lb, and you usually need just 200-250g to feed 4 people. Lentils are also very good for you being high in protein and some vital vitamins and minerals.
Red lentils do not require any soaking and are cooked within 15-20 minutes. Leeks are in season now and will be throughout the winter. Do buy locally grown vegetables wherever possible.
There are lots more more lentil recipes on this website.
Great For Sunday Dinner – Or Midweek Dinner
And you don’t have to wait until Sunday to enjoy this dish. It is inexpensive enough to make a warming, filling midweek supper or a Saturday tea. Because it is so easy to prepare you can make it and then pop it in the oven while you attend to other things. 
You will need a 1kg or 2lb loaf tin for this recipe, lined with greased baking parchment to ensure that the loaf comes out easily, without sticking to the sides.
And there are no worries about what to do with leftovers, either! This is a recipe that will easily reheat of you don’t eat it all. It is also delicious cold, and a slice could be taken for a packed lunch or for a picnic. It is delicious with some salad and cherry tomatoes.
Just a small tip – when cooking the lentils, do keep an eye on it as lentils easily boil over. Heat gently and turn the heat down immediately it starts to boil. It is annoying when your carefully measured liquid boils onto the hob and you are unsure how much you need to replace it.
Lentil Roast Recipe
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 225g / 8oz red lentils
- 450ml vegetable stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 90g fresh breadcrumbs
- 225g / 8oz cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 leek, chopped up small
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
- 2 eggs, beaten
Cooking Directions
- Put the lentils in a saucepan
- Pour over the stock, stir and add the bay leaf
- Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes, until all the moisture is absorbed
- Remove the bay leaf and discard
- Line a 2lb / 1kg loaf tin with baking parchment and grease it
- Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
- Mix together the breadcrumbs, cheese and leek
- Add the mixed herbs
- Stir the prepared lentils into the mixture
- Bind the mixture together with the eggs
- Place the mixture in the prepared loaf tin
- Bake in the oven for about 1 hour
- Lift out of the loaf tin and remove the baking parchment and put on a serving plate
- Slice as required
Hi, this and the nut roasts look delicious…..I just wondered if you think it might work if I subbed eggs with chia eggs and cheese with ground cashews or some other nut…..I am guessing it will hold together a bit less well, but quite keen to come up with a vegan version……
there’s always nutritional yeast I cd try firi cheese substitute, but not that keen on it.
(If I give it a whirl I will let you know what happens, I need to do some more veg shopping first!)
Many thanks for all the great looking recipes
I am honestly not sure how well this will work. It may make it looser – but still tasty I am sure!. I used flaxseed and water for an egg substitute in my Date and Walnut cake and that went well. Chia seeds may be better for this as they are probably more gloopy. Anyway if you try it I would be grateful if you comment again and let me know! Thank you for liking my recipes!
Hi there. Can this recipe be made in advance and /or frozen. If so how would you hear it back up.
I am going to cook it tomorrow and then try freezing it and reheating and will let you know how well it does.
OK I made it and froze half of it. I reheated it by thawing first (walthough ot was still very cold in the middle) placing it in a small roasting dish and covered loosely with foil (to stop the top burning or drying out). Oven was set at 180 degrees C and it took about 50 minutes but you can check if thoroughly heated through by placing a skewer or sharp knife in the middle and then feeling it (carefully) to test if thoroughly hot.
It was even more delicious second time round! Thank you for asking as I will definitely do this again in the future.
Good to cook in advance for the festive season!
Thanks for this feedback Very helpful. Trying this for Christmas lunch
Hello Penny,
Great website. I have never made a lentil or nut roast before and I would like to know if anything low in fat could replace the cheese? I have high cholesterol and my doctor has put me on a very low fat diet.
Thank you.
Hi Pearl
I will have to work on this one. I will let you know what I come up with….
Hello Penny,
Thanks for your reply. I really love your website, especially that you have recipes that are healthy as well as economical. As well as meat and poultry being very expensive, I also think we consume far more of it than is good for our health, and the ethics of animal welfare concern me too. I do eat meat but maybe two or three times per week now. I use tinned mackerel, tuna etc to make fish cakes by mixing them with leftover mashed potatoes, herbs and vegetables – a pocket friendly meal. Just to finish I find that lentils, chickpeas, beans, spices, herbs, rice etc are hugely less expensive in ethnic food shops than they are anywhere else. I got a 4kg bag of red lentils yesterday in an Indian supermarket for less than £2.00!
It is great to have found an UK website as most are American and use the Imperial System and ‘cups’ for weights and volumes – I only understand metric! I am trying your Lentil Shepherd’s Pie tomorrow!
Regards,
Pearl
Hi Penny,
I just made your wonderful lentil roast recipe and I must thank you as it was a complete success! Both my teenagers enjoyed it. Thank you once again.
Senga
May I thank you so much for this tasty lentil roast. It was so easy, economical and scrumptious, it will be one of our favourites from now on! Thanks again.
Hello
I made this loaf with 90 grams oats instead of breadcrumbs. I also added one grated carrot and a handful of almond slivers I had. What a fantastic recipe… So easy and tasty. It’d one if those forgiving recipes which can be easily adapted to individual tastes. This one is a keeper. Thanks
What alternative to breadcrumbs can I use? I have celiac disease. Can I use ground oatmeal?
Hi Lucy – I would thnk that some oatmeal would work well although I haven’t tried it. I may well give that a try myself – but of you do try it, do please let me know how you found it
Yes oats work fine.
Thank you for letting me know, Sarah.
I love this recipe
-we ate it with salad and chunky bread slices. It all disappeared.
I have been buying large fresh loaves, cutting into two (enough for four people with no wastage) and freezing them – I get them out and we have ‘fresh’ bread throughout the week. I do the same with white sliced n get it out when we need it – reduces wasted bread.
Glad you liked it – and great tip about the bread too! 🙂
Well a miracle occurred in our household yesterday….I can’t remember the last time everyone ate and enjoyed the same meal! I have a meat loving husband and a very fussy (only likes crunchy food!) four and a half year old, and an eat anything 19 month old (must take after me). We loved this recipe, had a good sized slice each and enough left to freeze (hopefully will be ok) 4 slices, so two extra meals for hubby and I. Really yummy, we’ll definitely have it again and again. Thankyou
Leek and Lentil Roast
Fabulous! My husband loved it – such simple ingredients, but they produce the most tasty vegetarian roast I’ve ever had, delicious and very moreish. This is now firmly added to my repertoire, so simple and quick to make too. Big thanks to Penny.
Thank you for your kind comment. And so glad that you enjoyed it!
How much breadcrumbs are we supposed to use?
About 90g – and this is now added to the ingredients