Mediterranean Inspired Lentil Patties An Easy And Tasty Dish

You’ll love the Mediterranean-inspired flavor of this dish with cooked lentils, spices, fresh herbs, and garlic. Lentil patties are satisfying and nutritious, rich in protein and fiber that will keep you healthy and satiated. Dietary Note: this recipe is suitable for a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diet if prepared with chickpea flour.Don’t have time to read the full blog post? JUMP TO RECIPE HERE!

What are lentil patties?

Lentil patties video

Ingredients and substitutions for lentil fritters

How to make lentil patties

Serving suggestions

Salads to go with lentil patties

Storage & Make ahead

Similar recipes

More lentil recipes

They are inspired by two of our most popular recipes: chickpea fritters and falafel. You can make them with canned or dry lentils. If you are interested, here’s our guide on how to cook lentils at home. They are seasoned with fresh herbs, spices, and vegetables, are flavorful, and rich in minerals, plant protein, and gut-healthy fiber. Also, lentil fritters are easy to make in a food processor and cook fast in a skillet, oven, or air fryer. Like our zucchini fritters, they are excellent as a main course or appetizer. Dip them in other Mediterranean or Middle-Eastern dips and spreads like hummus, chermoula, baba ganoush, muhammara, and tzatziki sauce. Add some Moroccan couscous on the side or even pasta with marinara sauce to complete the meal. Finally, you can stuff them in a sandwich with warm pita bread, quick pickled red onions, sliced tomatoes, cucumber, and plenty of tahini sauce.

Lentils

You can make lentil patties with canned lentils, rinsed and drained well to remove excess liquid. You can also use dry lentils—best if black, green, or brown lentils—cooked in water until tender. Here, we used cooked, dry brown lentils. This is our guide on how to cook lentils if you need guidance. Can you make red lentil fritters?Sure! For red lentil fritters, you’ll need to cook 1 cup of dry split red lentils in plenty of lightly salted water or vegetable broth for about 10 minutes or until tender but not mushy.Drain excess water well and add lentils to the food processor with the other ingredients.Pulse a few times, then shape the red lentil fritters. You might need to add more flour until you can shape them.Alternatively, check out our “How to cook red lentils” guide, which includes several of our favorite red lentil recipes.

Fresh herbs

Fresh flat-leaf parsley and fresh cilantro (fresh coriander) are delicious with lentils. We recommend using at least one of the two herbs. Substitute dill and chives for parsley and cilantro.

Spices

We season our lentil patties with ground cumin and ground coriander. You can also use smoked paprika, turmeric, curry powder, cinnamon, chili flakes, or chili powder. Optionally, you can add a grating of lemon zest for freshness.

Onion

You can use red, white, or yellow onion. Substitute shallots, green onions, or spring onions for onions.

Garlic

Fresh garlic is best for a more fragrant aroma. Substitute garlic powder for fresh.

Nutritional yeast or parmesan

Nutritional yeast or grated parmesan cheese are excellent ingredients to add flavor and umami to the lentil fritters. Pick your favorite; they are both delicious in this recipe. Nutritional yeast is vegan.

Flour & Water

Flour is needed to bind the fritters. You can use all-purpose flour or chickpea flour. Chickpea flour is gluten-free. We also add two tablespoons of water to help the cakes stick together.

Salt & black pepper

We recommend sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Before you start: If you are baking the patties, preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. This is unnecessary if you air-fry them or cook them in a skillet.

1. Blend all ingredients

To a food processor, add drained and rinsed lentils, coarsely chopped parsley and cilantro, coarsely chopped onion, chopped garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, flour, salt, and black pepper. Pulse for a minute or two until the ingredients are well combined and coarsely chopped. Don’t overblend! Tip: Stir in 1 – 2 tablespoons of water if the mixture is too dry to be shaped into a patty.

2. Shape the lentil patties

Shape the lentil mixture into 12 small cakes and arrange them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. You can do so by hand, pressing the mixture between the palms of your hands. Or you can do so with a round cookie cutter. Put some of the mixture in the cutter and press down with the back of a teaspoon. Tip: This method is cleaner, and the lentil fritters look prettier.

3. Cook the lentil patties

You can cook them in the oven, air-fryer, or skillet. OVEN-BAKED: Arrange the lentil patties on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F or 200°C for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Optionally, you can brush them with olive oil for extra flavor. Note: Oven-baked patties are less crisp than pan-fried or air-fried ones. PAN-FRIED: Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a nonstick skillet or frying pan for every 4 fritters. Add the fritters and fry them on medium heat for 5 minutes on each side, turning them once. Note: Pan-frying yields the crispiest lentil fritters. AIR-FRIED: Brush your air fryer basket with olive oil to prevent the patties from sticking. Optionally, you can brush them with olive oil for extra flavor. Arrange the patties in the basket and air fry at 400°F or 200°C for 10 minutes or until golden brown (more brown than golden). We recommend serving the cooked patties with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a dipping sauce or spread, a salad, and a grain. Here are some ideas.

Dips and sauce for lentil patties

Marinara sauce Tzatziki Avocado spread Hummus Tahini sauce Red pepper hummus Baba ganoush or mutabal Muhammara

In this case, we recommend adding our delicious avocado spread, vegan mayo or chipotle sauce, and some sliced tomato. Refrigerator: Keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 days. Freezer: Shape and freeze before cooking by arranging the patties on a baking tray with parchment paper, freeze for 2 hours, then transfer into a freezer-friendly bag to save space in the freezer. You can also freeze leftover cooked lentil fritters. Let them cool down completely, transfer them to a freezer-friendly bag, and freeze for 3 months. Thaw & Reheat: Defrost them in the fridge over several hours or bake them from frozen. Reheat in the microwave or air fryer.