These vegetarian lentil patties are crispy outside, tender inside, and packed with flavor. Serve with flavorful Zhoug Sauce – a simple, tasty vegan dinner recipe that is high in fiber and protein!
These lentil patties have been on repeat around here! Made with hearty lentils, walnuts, and oats, they are a satisfying plant-based protein option that's naturally vegan with ground flax (or you can add an egg if you prefer).
Crispy on the outside, tender inside, and full of savory flavor, these vegetarian lentil patties are delicious served over your favorite grain. For an extra burst of flavor top with sautéed mushrooms, over your favorite grain (we love farro or this quinoa recipe) with our Lemony Kale Slaw and either Green Tahini Sauce or my new favorite Zhoug Sauce!
Why You'll Love These Lentil Patties
- Packed with plant-based goodness - These lentil patties are hearty, satisfying, and full of nourishing ingredients like lentils, walnuts, oats, mushrooms, and fresh herbs. They're naturally vegan (with an easy egg option) and full of protein and fiber.
- Perfect for meal prep - Make a batch ahead and enjoy them throughout the week. They reheat beautifully and make an easy lunch or dinner when you need something quick and nourishing. Yes, you can even freeze them.
- So versatile - Serve them over grains, tuck them into pita, or enjoy them like veggie burgers! These vegan lentil cakes are delicious topped with sauces, slaws, or your favorite fresh toppings.
- A shortcut when you need it - To save time, use pre-cooked lentils (available at Trader Joe's and many grocery stores). This simple swap cuts the cooking time nearly in half while keeping the recipe easy and flavorful.
- Crispy outside, tender inside - A quick pan sear creates a golden crust while keeping the center hearty and flavorful.
Lentil Patties Ingredients
- Cooked lentils - The hearty base of these vegetarian patties. Use black, brown, or green lentils for the best texture-they hold their shape while creating a satisfying, protein-rich bite.
- Onion, garlic, and mushrooms - Build a savory, umami-rich foundation that gives these lentil patties incredible depth and flavor.
- Rolled oats and nuts - Add structure, texture, and a little crunch while helping the patties hold together.
- Cumin, coriander, and salt - A warm, earthy spice blend that gives the patties a delicious Middle Eastern-inspired flavor.
- Flax and water (or egg) - Helps bind everything together while keeping the patties tender.
- Bragg's Liquid Aminos or soy sauce - Adds a savory boost and deepens the flavor.
- Fresh parsley or cilantro - Brings brightness and freshness to balance the earthy lentils.
- Zhoug yogurt sauce - A creamy, spicy finish made with yogurt and zhoug, a vibrant herb chili condiment that adds heat, freshness, and a little tang.
How to Make Lentil Patties
Cook the lentils: Simmer whole lentils until tender, then drain well. You'll need 2 cups cooked lentils.
Sauté the vegetables: Cook onion, garlic, and mushrooms in olive oil until deeply tender and the moisture has cooked off. Set aside.
Make the mixture: Pulse oats into a coarse flour in a food processor. Add walnuts and pulse briefly. Add half the lentils, half the mushroom mixture, spices, flax, water (or egg), and soy sauce. Pulse until combined, leaving a little texture for the best bite.
Shape: Transfer to a bowl and fold in the remaining lentils, mushrooms, and fresh herbs. Form into small patties or larger burger-style patties with damp hands.
Sear: Cook the patties in a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat until golden and crisp. Let them form a crust before flipping-this helps them release naturally from the pan.
Serve: Top with the reserved mushrooms and a spoonful of zhoug yogurt. To make the sauce, simply stir zhoug into yogurt and adjust with lemon and salt to taste.
How to serve Lentil Patties
- Top them with sautéed mushrooms
- Drizzle with Zhoug Yogurt
- Drizzle with Green Tahini sauce
- Drizzle with Everyday Tahini Sauce
- Turn them into a burger with your favorite fixings.
Here is a recipe for Zhoug, an Israeli condiment made with spicy green chilies that can be made at home, and can also be found at many upscale markets as well as Trader Joes. Here it’s mixed with vegan yogurt, mellowing it out a bit.
We use this a lot at home!
This lemony Everyday Kale Slaw with a simple lemon dressing is an easy tasty side dish for these lentil cakes and can be made ahead, and then used daily with other meals throughout the busy week. Serve the Lentil Cakes over your favorite grain or try this Everyday Quinoa!
Storage
The Lentil Patties can be made ahead, refrigerated for up to 4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. They can be reheated for healthy midweek meals.
Hope you enjoy these tasty Lentil Patties and please leave your comments below!
xoxo
More recipes you may like:
- Sagey Mushroom Walnut Roast
- Our 25 BEST Lentil Recipes!
- Emerald Dal
- Vegan Lentil Meatballs with Coconut Curry Sauce
Lentil Patties
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10 cakes 1x
- Category: vegan main
- Method: stove-top
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These vegetarian lentil patties are crispy outside, tender inside, and packed with flavor. Serve with spicy zhoug yogurt for an easy healthy meal.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked lentils (black, brown, green- do not use split lentils)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 red onion, diced (or sub 1 large shallot)
- 4-6 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup rolled oats- gluten-free if you prefer
- 1/2 cup walnuts (or sub pecans or cashews)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 3/4 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 Aminos (or 2 teaspoons soy sauce)
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
- 1/2 -1 cup plain yogurt ( or vegan yogurt)
- 1-2 tablespoons zhoug - a spicy Israeli condiment available at Trader joes and upscale markets
- salt and lemon to taste
Instructions
- Cook ¾ cup dry whole lentils (do not use split lentils) in simmering water until tender. Drain. You will need 2 cups of cooked lentils.
- In the meantime, sauté the onion, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Turn heat down to low and cook until very tender and cooked through and the liquid is cooked off. Set aside.
- In a food processor, blend the oats into coarse flour. Add walnuts, pulse 10 times. Add half of the lentils, half of the mushroom mixture, salt, spices, ground lax, water, (or egg and no water) and soy sauce, and pulse repeatedly until it’s well combined and forms a thick dough. If mixture seems overly wet pulse in a little more oats. It doesn’t need to be smooth…a little texture is good here! Scrape into a medium bowl and stir in the remaining cooked lentils and fresh herbs. ( Save the remaining mushrooms for serving time.)
- Using wet hands form into 8-10 little cakes or 4-5 burger patties.
- Sear in a skillet, with a little olive 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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 259
- Sugar: 3.6 g
- Sodium: 447.8 mg
- Fat: 11.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Fiber: 9.2 g
- Protein: 12.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Delicious recipe. The whole family loved it!
Awesome and great to hear!
This recipe was delicious! It makes a good vegetarian/vegan burger, too. I highly recommend making it with the zhoug sauce.
thanks Carrie!
I was recently diagnosed with celiac disease, so was looking for good gluten free meals. This was delicious! I also made your zhoug recipe. I felt like I was eating at a nice restaurant. I doubled the recipe and froze some for later. I am thinking of freezing the zhoug, but am wondering how it will do.
Glad this worked for you Lamar! Haven’t tried freezing the zhoug- just worry about it losing its green color?
I tried freezing it. It works great! The color, flavor, and texture were fine.
Thanks Lamar!
What kind of lentils did you use? What types of lentils or deal would you recommend using for this recipe? I have some split pigeon peas, split chickpeas, split mung bean and hulled split black mayor beans. Wondering if i can use any or a mixture of these.
Hi Sankar! Please use whole lentils- black, brown or green. Split lentils will not bind as well here. 😉
Hi
Can you tell me what the grain is that is served with the lentil cakes in the photo ?
Sprouted, steamed farro. 🙂
My husband is a super picky eater and he LOVED these. We’ll definitely make them again!
Great to hear Marina!
Are these dry? Every other lentil party that I’ve made have been dry so I’m hesitant to try these…
Not overly. The sauce helps too.
Should the nuts be toasted/salted? Or raw?
Either will work here!
Oh wow.. these were just amazing!!! I had loads of leftover cooked lentils from badly measuring for a previous meal and these were just perfect thank you! There’s a hatch gone into the freezer for another meal too!! I also appreciated the tip of leaving them till crispy to turn… will definitely cook them again! 🙂
Where is the 1/4 parsley (or cilantro) used?
When you add the lentils. 🙂
The flavor was great but the texture was a little pasty for us. Did I overcook the lentils perhaps? I’d love to make them again, just improving the texture. Thank you!
Perhaps? Did you leave a little texture when you blended them up? that could also be it.
This recipe is absolutely delicious. The best vegan burger we have ever had! This will be the standard in our house against which all other veggie burgers compete! I omitted the oil completely, and used green tahini sauce instead of zhoug as my husband does not like hot spices. Thanks so much for the recipe!
I made these tasty lentil cakes today for lunch. I love all of the ingredients and the spices were perfect. Definitely a recipe I will make again. : )
Great to hear!
I didn’t have any lentils, and can’t find them in stores right now, but I had some dried chickpeas from other feastingathome.com recipes. So I made this with chickpeas instead and everyone in my family loved it. Thanks for the tip about letting it get the crispy crust before flipping.
Great to hear!
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.