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Plate showing three types of lentils: brown, red and green
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5 from 72 votes

How to Cook Lentils

Learn how to cook lentils for any recipe type. This tutorial will teach you how to cook brown lentils, red lentils and green lentils perfectly for soups, stews and salads!
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 169kcal
Author Yumna Jawad

Ingredients

  • 1 cup lentils

Instructions

  • Rinse lentils well and set aside.
  • Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil, add lentils.
  • Cover, reduce heat and simmer the lentils, stirring occasionally for 15-40 minutes or until tender and fluffy textured on the inside. In general, red lentils will take 15 minutes, while brown will take 20 minutes and green lentils will take up to 40 minutes.
  • Drain any extra water and serve, or cool to use in a salad

Video

Notes

Storage: After cooking the lentils, make sure to allow them to cool completely to room temperature, then store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to one week.

Nutrition

Calories: 169kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 458mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 19IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 4mg