Simple delicious, Braised Lentils with Beets – a healthy vegetarian stew that can be served on its own, or as a side dish to fish, chicken or meat. Vegan adaptable and Gluten-free!
Why we love Beets!
Add the beet juice or broth, taste for salt, add more if necessary, and continue simmering on low for 10-15 more minutes or until tender. If you feel there is too much liquid for your liking, keep the lid off, and increase the heat, letting it reduce. ( I like this braise slightly juicy, personally, so I just replace the lid.)
Stir in the balsamic vinegar and taste again, adjusting if necessary.
Serve with optional browned butter or goat cheese crumbles. If going vegan, a little drizzle of olive oil is nice.
Serve as vegan main dish or as a side dish to fish, chicken or meat.
Braised Lentils with Beets
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Vegan main, side dish,
- Method: Braised
- Cuisine: Northwest
Description
Beet braised lentils – a healthy vegan stew, soup or side dish, that is full of incredible flavor! Serve this on its own as a vegan main, or a along side fish, chicken or meat.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, butter or ghee
- 1 cup diced red onion (1/2 a red onion)
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 cup peeled and diced beet (one large beet, plus 2 more for juicing-optional )
- 4 cloves garlic-rough chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 1/2 cups black caviar lentils , beluga lentils or Puy lentils (soaked overnight if possible)
- 4 cups vegetable stock ( or chicken stock)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, more to taste
- 1 cup fresh beet juice (either purchase from a juice bar, or juice 2 extra-large beets) or sub more broth or stock
Optional Garnishes 2- 3 tablespoons browned butter (optional but delicious) or crumbled goat cheese
Instructions
Add the beet juice, taste for salt, add more if necessary, and continue simmering on low for 10-15 more minutes or until tender. If you feel there is too much liquid for your liking, keep the lid off, and increase the heat, letting it reduce. ( I like this braise slightly juicy, personally, so I just replace the lid.)
Stir in the balsamic vinegar and taste again, adjusting if necessary.
Serve with optional browned butter or goat cheese crumbles. If going vegan, a little drizzle of olive oil is nice.
Serve as vegan main dish or as a side dish to fish, chicken or meat.
Notes
I normally scrub the beets but do not peel. Or feel free to peel.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 278
- Sugar: 6.4 g
- Sodium: 263.4 mg
- Fat: 7.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.6 g
- Fiber: 7.2 g
- Protein: 13.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Delicious. Have made a couple of times. I like to roast the beets first for more flavour and serve with goats cheese or feta and some toasted pinenuts. Great recipe. Thankyou.
Thanks so much! Love that you roasted the beets… yum.
We are in the midst of trying to get this figured out. 🙂
Love lentils and beets, when I saw this recipe had to try it, super delicious, thankyou! keep up the good work.
Thanks so much, glad you gave it a go!
Another recipe that sounds nice. But do you really have to use cups rather than either metric or Imperial measures? Or at lease put one of those measures as well as the amount in cups. Yes, people who are really into cooking might have a set of cups, but for those who don’t it simply means they will move on and find a recipe somewhere else.
Sorry Paul- the majority of us use cups in the US. Just get some! So easy. 🙂
Finally an ingredient that gives justice to the shiny beluga after it’s cooked! It was delicious.
Yay!
This was definitely a keeper, and a great way to use up extra beets! Very adaptable (came out great even without added oil, vinegar or bay leaf, and with added chrysanthemum greens) and was terrific with crumbled feta on top. Thank you again for another nourishing and delicious recipe!
I made this last night, with a few minor adjustments–my grocery store only had golden beets this week, so my version didn’t look quite as beautiful, and I couldn’t find beet juice, so I used extra stock as suggested–and it was amazing!! We were really blown away. I love lentils, and I love beets, but I was not expecting the combination to be so much greater than the sum of its parts. I served this as a main over rice. It was so flavorful, it didn’t even need the goat cheese crumbles I’d bought to use as a garnish. Definitely adding this to our regular rotation of recipes.
hello there ,was happy to see a lentil recipe ,mom used lentils in some kinda soup on meatless Friday that was many years ago Many Im 76. all I can remember is grain a hand full shoving them in my mouth case I walked by her heading out the door , den when I was out blowing them outa my pea shooter ,a straw , fun till next spring when lentils were growing every where , I am ordering them on line cause Im not going out , got beets in da garden will post results when I cook , thanks for the memories and dis recipe. PEACE. Joseph
thanks Joseph!
Lentils and beetroot are indeed a heavenly union. Had it with goat cheese potato cakes. Too delicious! Thank you for sharing your find, Sylvia.
Are the beets pre cooked so they can be peeled?
I have never peeled raw beets… Thanks
Scrub them well, and no need to peel.
Looks fantastic! I’m planning a party for my husband’s birthday…16 people. He requested salmon, but we have one guest who is vegetarian. I’m planning to use this as the side and he can enjoy as a main. Question: Can this be prepared the day before?
Thank you for an amazing recipe. It’s so good……I don’t want to stop eating it!
RF
For me this was a total game changer! Not only stunningly beautiful, but so, so delicious. The combination of lentils with beets is brilliant! As I don’t have a juicer, I shredded the beats rather than cube them. I sprinkled the finished dish with pomegranate seeds, for some extra drama and served Greek yogurt mixed with lemon peel and dill as a little “side”. I am pretty sure I will make that dish often. Thank you for your wonderful recipes Sylvia.
Im so glad you liked this- I love your additions- perfect!
Made this dish twice now, its very good. I eat it on its own, as a meatless lunch or dinner. I tend to prefer warm dishes, but I was surprised to find this dish tastes very good both hot and cold. I used Puy lentils and they work well, but the colour is not as nice as with the black lentils. My first flavour impression reminded me of ukranian borscht, but it has no tomato flavours or meat, and is generally less tangy unless you’re very generous with the balsamic. Anyways, really nice recipe. I’ve been cooking a lot with pulses recently, and this was a nice change in my repertoire, which is otherwise unsurprisingly heavy on indian-flavoured dishes.
Thanks, Urszula
Im so glad you are enjoying it!!!
Ahhh I had the –apparently brilliant– idea of cooking lentils with beets a few months ago, but drained them after braising and didn’t know what to do with them. Half ended up in a (horrible) attempt at an Indian-inspired curry, and the other half got chilled and mixed with minced red onion and coriander (plus simple OO/ACV/salt vinaigrette) to make a rather nice salad… Wish I’d thought of chicken and goat cheese! Will definitely give this a try if I can convince the husband to give the lentil-beet combo another chance 😛
The salad sounds great- always a good combination!
I have made this a couple of times now and it is DELICIOUS!! The rich beet color of this dish is nourishment for your eyes. Thank you:)
Yay!!!! Im so glad you like it…its one of my favorites!
I think they would taste great, but not sure if the beautiful color would be the same? And just an FYI, we do sell these locally grown lentils at our store…www.bowlandpitcher.com 🙂
I love lentil and just recently started liking beets. I am still a bit timid about them. Pretty brave when they are in salad. Lol. But the color on this dish is grand, no matter what.
This is such an interesting recipe. I absolutely have to try making it. And your photos are simply stunning, as always.
Wow, absolutely love this recipe – what an original idea. Beets are among my favorite vegetables, can’t wait to try this. Beautiful photos too!
Will try this asap!
I never thought of cooking beets and lentils together but that’s a great idea. The color is lovely and your photos are wonderful. Thanks!
The colour is beautiful!! I also love lentils and they seem to go fabulously with the lentils!
Loving this recipe! The color is gorgeous! Can’t wait to try it out!
Thanks Liz…appreciate it!
Holy beautiful lentils, batman! Moments like this are when I curse the fact that I have a beet-hating husband. Oh well, more for me!
Ha ha…you are funny!