Lentil Patties – The Plant Based School

Introduction

If you guys are looking for a quick and wholesome dinner, look no further 👀 !

Lentil patties—or lentil fritters—are tasty and fulfilling, and best of all, they are SO EASY to make, with canned or cooked dried lentils.

These are strongly inspired by chickpea fritters and falafel, which we also recommend.

I know, we are obsessed with mediterranean food, we might need an intervention soon 🫠.

Basically all you have to do is blend everything in a food processor, choose your favorite cooking method like skillet, oven, or air fryer, and you are DONE!

Almost done actually. We think these are best with a sauce. You can go 🇬🇷 Greek with a garliky tzatziki sauce, or 🇮🇹 Italian with a rich marinara sauce.

Louise loves these next to to fluffy saffron rice (her new favorite rice dish). I’m more for stuffing a pita to the brim with lentil patties and sauce so that’s almost impossible to eat.

Ingredients

• Lentils: you can use green, brown, or French lentils. Both canned or cooked from dried.
• Flour: all-purose flour or chickpea flour.
• Egg: substitute 2 tablespoons of water for the egg.
• Grated parmesan: substitute 4 tablespoons nutrutional yeast.
• Fresh parsley: substitute fresh coriander.
• Onion
• Garlic
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Salt & black pepper
• Lemon: for serving them.

Instructions

1. Pulse ingredients

To a food processor, add drained lentils, flour, egg, grated parmesan, chopped parsley, chopped onion, grated garlic, ground cumin and coriander.

Season with salt and pepper and pulse a few times until the ingredients are coarsley chopped and well combined. Don’t overblend!

Tip: when making meatballs of any sort it’s best to either avoid garlic, or, if you like us can’t live without it, grate it very finely so that it cooks properly. I made a mistake here as you can see in the picture, I didn’t grate the garlic. The result is that we smelled like garlic for a week because the sliced garlic didn’t cook properly. Learn from our mistakes. Grate the garlic, best with a microplane 🧛.
Tip: Wanna make it egg free? No problem. Substitute 2 tablespoons of water for the egg.

2. Shape patties

Shape the lentil mixture into 12 small patties and put them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

You can do so by hand, pressing the mixture between the palms of your hands, or with a cookie cutter, press down the mixture with the back of a teaspoon.

3. Cook patties

PAN-FRIED: heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Add the fritters and fry them on medium heat for 5 minutes on each side, turning them once.

OVEN-BAKED: brush patties with olive oil, and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F or 200°C for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

AIR-FRIED: brush your air fryer basket with olive oil to prevent the patties from sticking.

Arrange the patties in the basket, brush with oil, and air fry at 400°F or 200°C for 10 minutes or until golden brown (more brown than golden).

Honest opinion: the pan fried ones are the tastiest. Air-fried ones are also good. Oven-baked patties are less crisp and drier than the others.

Similar recipes

As you guys can tell from this site, we love lentils! They are easy and quick to cook and super versatile. If you liked these patties, we think you’ll like…

Lentil Patties

Lentil patties are excellent for a tasty and wholesome weeknight dinner because you can make them with little effort in less than 30 minutes.

We love their Mediterranean-inspired flavor with spices, fresh herbs, and garlic.

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 20 minutes mins

Servings: –+ patties

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Instructions 

• To a food processor, add 2 cans (15 oz each) lentils (drained), 1 egg, ½ cup parmesan, 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour, ¼ cup parsley, 1 medium onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper.Pulse a few times until coarsely chopped and combined. Don’t overblend.
• Shape mixture into 12 patties and arrange on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.You can make the patties by hand or with a cookie cutter, press down the mixture with the back of a teaspoon.
• PAN-FRIED: heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Add the fritters and fry them on medium heat for 5 minutes on each side, turning them once.OVEN-BAKED: brush patties with olive oil, and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F or 200°C for 20 minutes or until golden brown.AIR-FRIED: brush your air fryer basket with olive oil to prevent the patties from sticking.Arrange the patties in the basket, brush with oil, and air fry at 400°F or 200°C for 10 minutes or until golden brown (more brown than golden).
• Serve with 4 wedges lemon to squeeze on top. They are delicious with tzatziki or marinara sauce, next to saffron rice, couscous, or with pita bread.

Notes

The video shows the egg-free version of the recipe. The steps are exactly the same.

TIPS

• Garlic: grate it very finely so that it cooks properly. I recommend using a microplane grater. I made a mistake here as you can see in the picture, I didn’t grate the garlic. The result is that we smelled like garlic for a week because the sliced garlic didn’t cook properly. Learn from our mistakes. Grate the garlic, best with a microplane 🧛.
• Chop before processing: chop the onion and the parsley before adding them to the food processor to avoid large pieces in the patties.

SUBSTITUTIONS

• Lentils: we recommend green, brown, or French lentils for best texture. You can use canned or dried lentils that you previously cook in water until tender. Red lentils are not best for this recipe, however, if you want to use them cook 1 cup of dry split red lentils in plenty of lightly salted water or vegetable broth for about 10 minutes or until tender but not mushy. Drain excess water well.
• Parmesan: substitute nutritional yeast, about 4 tablespoons.
• Egg: substitute 2-3 tablespoons of water.
• Flour: substitute chickpea flour or breadcrumbs. Chickpea flour is gluten-free.
• Parsley: substitute chives, dill, or cilantro.
• Cumin: substitute smoked paprika.
• Coriander: substitute turmeric or a grating of lemon zest.
• Black pepper: substitute red pepper flakes or chili powder.
• Onion: substitute shallots or onion powder.
• Garlic: substitute garlic powder.

STORAGE

• Make ahead: This is an excellent recipe for meal prep, as the lentil fritters keep well for 3 days and can be frozen.
• Refrigerator: Keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 days.
• Freezer: Shape and freeze before cooking by arranging the patties on a baking tray with parchment paper, freeze for 2 hours, then transfer into a freezer-friendly bag to save space in the freezer.
  You can also freeze leftover cooked lentil fritters. Let them cool down completely, transfer them to a freezer-friendly bag, and freeze for 3 months.
• Thaw & Reheat: Defrost them in the fridge over several hours or bake them from frozen. Reheat in the microwave or air fryer.

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