Vegan Lentil Cakes made with walnuts and mushrooms topped with flavorful Zhoug Sauce! A simple tasty vegan dinner recipe that is high in protein!
This simple tasty recipe for Vegan Lentil Cakes is easy to make and full of great flavor. Serve them up as a hearty vegan main alongside your favorite grain and Everyday Kale Slaw for a healthy nutritious meal. For an extra burst of flavor top with sautéed mushrooms, Green Tahini Sauce or my new favorite Zhoug Sauce!
And a little time-saving tip – pre-cooked lentils can be found at Trader Joes and other upscale markets, cutting the overall cooking time in half.
The Vegan Lentil Cakes also make great veggie burgers!
Top them with sautéed mushrooms… or try Zhoug Yogurt.
Zhoug, an Israeli condiment made with spicy green chilies can be found at many upscale markets as well as Trader Joes. Here it’s mixed with a vegan yogurt, mellowing it out a bit.
The Everyday Kale Slaw with a simple lemon dressing is a easy tasty side for these lentil cakes and can made ahead, and then used daily with other meals throughout the busy week.
Vegan Lentil Cakes
Simple tasty Vegan Lentil Cakes topped with optional Zhoug Sauce and served with Everyday Kale Slaw!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10 cakes 1x
- Category: Vegan Main
- Method: Stove-Top
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked lentils
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ red onion, diced ( or sub 1 large shallot)
- 4–6 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup rolled oats- gluten free if you prefer
- ½ cup walnuts ( or sub pecans or cashews)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground flax ( or sub an egg)
- 3 tablespoons water ( leave this out if using the egg)
- 1 tablespoon Braggs Liquid Amino’s (or 2 teaspoons soy sauce)
- ¼ cup chopped parsley or cilantro
Zhoug Yogurt
- ½ –1 cup plain yogurt ( feel free to use vegan yogurt)
- 1–2 tablespoons zhoug – a spicy Israeli condiment available at Trader joes and upscale markets
- salt and lemon to taste
Instructions
Cook ⅔ -¾ cup dry lentils in simmering water until tender. Drain. You will need 2 cups cooked.
In the mean time, sauté the onion, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add a little water if it gets too dry. Turn heat down to low and cook until very tender and cooked through. Set aside.
In a food processor, blend the oats into a course flour. Add walnuts, pulse 10 times. Add half of the lentils, half of the mushroom mixture, salt, spices, flax, water, (or egg) and pulse repeatedly until it’s well combined and forms a thick dough. It doesn’t need to be smooth…a little texture is good. Scrap into a medium bowl and stir in the remaining whole lentils and fresh herbs.
Using wet hands form into 8-10 little cakes or 4-5 burger patties.
Sear in a skillet, in a little oil, over medium heat, taking care to let them brown and form a crust, before flipping. (FYI This will ensure they don’t stick to the skillet. As they form a crust, they release from the pan almost naturally.)
Serve with the remaining mushrooms and optional Zhoug Yogurt ( vegan adaptable).
To make zhoug yogurt simply stir a 1-2 tablespoons zhoug into to the yogurt to taste. Add salt and lemon if you like.
Notes
Serve with your favorite grain, Everyday Kale Slaw, Green Tahini Sauce, Mexican Secret Sauce or Zhoug Yogurt.
Keywords: lentil cakes, vegan lentil cakes, vegan lentil recipes,
I made these for dinner and they were delicious! I cooked the lentils in my Instant Pot while I was getting the other ingredients ready and it didn’t add too much time. And now I have enough lentils left over to stash in the freezer for next time. And there will definitely Bea next time. Thank you for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Glad you gave this a go- one of my favorites too! and thanks for the Instant Pot tip!
Another solid recipe! I make this one for family dinner frequently and usually a double batch either for the freezer or for lunch prep for the week. Excellent.
★★★★★
So YUMMY!!! SPOT ON with the flavors! My husband and I LOVED this recipe. We only used 1 teaspoon of cumin but other than that followed the recipe exactly. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Audrey! So happy you both liked it and thanks for the comment and rating!
Discovered this recipe and your website after purchasing Zhoug sauce from Trader Joe. Your lentil cakes were amazing! So excited to discover so many tasty vegan recipes here. Dinner inspiration has return, thank you!
★★★★★
YAY- Im so glad you are feeling inspired and liked them!
Really delicious, best lentil recipe I’ve had for a while! I subbed in some dried shiitake mushrooms I had lurking in the cupboard as well as some fresh ones which seemed to work. I ouodnt find zhoug at any of my local stores so I googled it and made my own, it was fabulous with the yoghourt. Overall this is a great recipe I will be returning to!
★★★★★
I made this today. Excellent. I didn’t make the salad. I bought the zhouq sauce from Trader Joe’s. I will make again for sure
Hi, made these this afternoon and they are pretty darn good! Too much on the soft side to be a “burger”, so calling them a cake is perfectly apt. Made the mistake of not salting because I thought the soy sauce would add enough salt, but it still needs that little bit extra. Made a double batch and got 9 good-sized patties, some of which I intend to freeze. Will definitely make again. Thank you!!
Looks great, Sylvia! What would you recommend as a substitute for walnuts?
Pecans!
Can you recommend a Gluten Free substitute for the oats? Thank you!
I use gluten free oats!
is there a recipe for your Everyday Kale Slaw ?
It’s coming out later today! Sorry Im behind this week!
Sounds like it is full of all of my favourite flavours ! Would love to make it this Sunday.
– https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/maja-harder-18257183