Q&A for How to Cook Red Split Lentils

I recommend cooking them in a base like mirepoix (onion, carrot, and celery) and some chicken stock. This will create layered flavors and heartiness in red lentils.

Lentils can be flavored with many seasonings, so it’s worth trying your favorite ones first, to see how they work. For some ideas to guide you, you could try one or more of the following seasonings with lentils: Tomato purée, chili powder, thyme, rosemary, nutmeg, garlic (fresh, granules or powdered), ginger (fresh or ground), cumin, oregano, curry powder, turmeric, bay leaf, ordinary or flavored salt, pepper, cream, yogurt, etc. You might also like to try cooking them in broth, stock or tomato purée instead of water.

Lentils do not need soaking before cooking. However, they usually need to be rinsed to ensure they’re clean and free of small stones or other debris, depending on where you’ve sourced them from.

The green, brown and puy varieties of lentils are better at keeping their shape after being cooked but if they are overcooked or over-mixed, they can break down and combine with other ingredients. If using in a salad, don't overcook and be sure to stir gently with salad ingredients. The red and yellow or golden lentils will go mushy once cooked but you can stop cooking earlier in order to have slightly less mushy lentils, although they’ll still blend into other ingredients.

You can grind lentils using a blender or food processor that has a powerful motor. Alternatively, you could use a coffee or spice grinder or even a flour mill. Ground lentils can be added to flour to boost the protein, or even used as flour itself. Or, use it as a protein-boost in various dishes, especially for vegetarian and vegan meals.

Red lentils have many uses. Red lentils can be used in such dishes as: Stews, casseroles, soups (great for thickening), curries, sauces, etc. They can be mixed with other ingredients to make fillings for wraps, baked potatoes and other such foods. See the steps above for recipes for lentil dhal and lentil curry. Since red lentils turn mushy after cooking though, avoid using them for any dishes you would rather the lentils stayed in shape (brown, green lentils would be better for such cooking).

Properly stored in an airtight container, the red lentils should keep for up to a year.

Place the lentils in a strainer and pick through to remove any small pebbles or other debris, if present (this will depend on what brand or bulk source you’ve purchased, some are cleaner than others). Then hold the strainer under cold, running water to clean the lentils. Give the strainer a small shake to remove excess water, then the lentils are ready for cooking.

It depends on how soggy you want them. Expect a ratio of 4 to 10, and add as many different spices as you can for a healthy replacement for meat.