Oh, January. Your detoxes, cleanses, juice fasts, diet commercials, and cellulite cream jeans are starting to get on my nerves. Just so you know I’m tuning you out, so don’t bother trying to lure me in with 6 easy payments or strict diet plans. It’s just not my thing. My approach to January – or any other month for that matter – is to eat food that makes me feel good and less of what doesn’t. But this approach doesn’t really sell, does it?
Soup, chili, and casseroles – these are the warm, comfort foods on my mind most days. Today, I’m sharing my take on maple baked beans, using hearty, chewy lentils for a fun twist. Lentils may seem boring to many, but I find them just the opposite. Their subtle flavour can blend into just about any vegan dish. Much like tofu, lentils are a great canvas for many different flavours, spices, and cuisines. I even adore them plain with a dusting of Herbamare and splash of vinegar. It’s a rather homely snack, but I’d devour the entire bowl before noticing.
Adding more fuel to my lentil loving fire – Canada is the world’s largest producer of lentils. It’s in my blood, eh? Their relative proximity, along with being a super cheap protein source, make them a regular staple in my diet. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they are nutritional powerhouses too. One cooked cup provides around 17.86 grams of protein, 6.5 mg iron, and 15.64 grams of fibre (source) making it a stick-to-your-ribs plant food that can go the distance. Pair them with Vitamin C rich sweet potato and you’ll boost your iron absorption even more.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Maple Baked Lentils with Sweet Potato
Yield
4-6 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
My spin on maple baked beans using hearty, chewy lentils! A bit of apple cider vinegar rounds out the sweetness of the dish and I encourage you to adjust the amounts to your own taste as you may like more or less pop from the vinegar. Serve this over some toasted bread, or even with a salad, and you have yourself a budget-friendly vegan meal during the peak of winter. To save on cook time, make the lentils beforehand and simply mix everything together and pop into the oven.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry green lentils
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 sweet apple, peeled and diced (I used Gala)
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced small*
- 14-oz can diced tomatoes (about 1.5 cups)
- 2.5 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 2 tsp regular mustard
- 1/2-1 tsp fine grain sea salt + ground pepper, to taste
- 1-2.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar, to taste
Directions
- Rinse and drain lentils. In a large oven-safe pot or Dutch oven*, add lentils along with 4 cups of water. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for about 30 minutes, uncovered, stirring often. Add more water if necessary. Lentils are ready when they are just tender (but not mushy) and most of the water is absorbed.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Add onion, garlic, apple, sweet potato, tomatoes (with juice), maple syrup, blackstrap molasses, mustard, salt, and pepper to the pot with the lentils. Stir well to combine. Add half of the apple cider vinegar (you’ll add the rest later if desired).
- Cover with lid (or tin foil in a pinch) and bake at 375°F for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover, and stir. Bake for another 8-12 minutes, uncovered, until the sweet potato is tender. Stir in the rest of the apple cider vinegar if desired and season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.
- Serve over toasted bread or with a salad.
Tip:
If you don’t have an oven-safe pot or Dutch oven, simply transfer the mixture into a casserole dish and cover with tin foil before baking.
Dice the sweet potato small to decrease cook time.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
What are your favourite vegan comfort foods?
This meal was delish! I omitted mustard & molasses and added potato. It was still great! Thanks for a great staple lentil dish!
This was so delicious, I didn’t have the tomatoes but was so good anyway! Definitely a keeper. Thanks
Made this tonite…it’s rather sweet…we had a salad with it, but we all think having it over rice would have balanced out the sweet a lot better. It makes a LOT for the 3 of us, so I froze the rest into 2 containers and noted the rice idea on the label….it will come in handy some nite!!
This was easy and Delicious. My one year old son LOVED it and gobbled it up.
Angela,
I made this last night and it was DIVINE!!! I wasn’t sure how the combination of flavors would turn out but I was pleasantly surprised….it was both savory and sweet, almost like how baked beans taste. I’m already looking forward to my leftovers today at lunch! :)
Did my husband go ‘ewwww’ at the thought of lentils for dinner? Yup.
Did I make this recipe anyway? Yup.
Was the result that I got to enjoy maple lentil deliciousness all weekend and not have to share with anyone? Ohhh yes.
Thanks Angela, you’re my legume hero.
In the oven as we speak (type?). I made a double batch…who knew 4 cups of lentils cooks up to so much?? Had to evacuate some from the dutch oven to make it all fit LOL. But it’s all good, just conformation that I need a bigger dutch oven to accommodate the quantities I like to make (I feed my family members and coworkers all the time).
On a side note, I discovered your site not even a week ago and already this is recipe #2 (made the crispy baked tofu two nights ago). Seriously good eats you’ve got here! Thanks :)
can i use canned lentils?? what the amount should i use than? thanks
Hi Angela :)
I have to say, I really enjoy reading your blog – I’m Canadian as well, so that makes your blog even more intriguing! :) I read your posts on a regular basis, however, this is the first recipe that I’ve tried from your blog and it was absolutely scrumptious. Both myself and my boyfriend fell in love with the flavors in this recipe. The only thing I did differently was I added a Macintosh apple instead of Gala, but it worked well. I will definitely make this again….very soon.
Thanks for sharing your recipe!
-Alana
Hey Alana, Lovely to meet you! Thanks for trying out the recipe. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
You had me at Sweet potatoes but adding lentils? Yep, I am a goner. Love it. It would be nice inside a wrap as well.
Angela- I just made this recipe a few nights ago and absolutely love it! My family enjoyed it too. Thank you so much for your website. I have tried several of your recipes (lentil-walnut apple loaf,potato and black bean burritos, veggie burgers, chocolate, cherry energy bites, chocolate chip cookies, banana soft serve, and probably more….) and I have enjoyed every one of them. Thank you! This is the first time I have posted on your blog- or ANY blog for that matter- and I did because I wanted to let you know you are very inspiring. I have been vegetarian for many years but I am trying to eat vegan and get back into shape. I really believe in the vegan lifestyle but have had a hard time making the switch. Hopefully, with your recipes and inspiration I will finally be able to do it! Thank you!
Hi Suzanne, Thank you so much for your lovely comment! Goodluck with all your goals :)
I made tthis dish this weekend and loved it! I have a lot of left overs…do you think they would freeze ok?
Is the bread in your pictures of this recipe your Herb and Cheese Whole Wheat Drop Biscuits? Thanks!
Nope, it’s from a bakery! But im sure the drop biscuits would be nice too :)
Thanks for replying. Your blog is terrific (and yes, “Austin” in “AustinJohn” does mean I’m from Austin, TX, the home of Stubbs BBQ -the sauce you like for your BBQ Tofu – and lots of other cool places, especially for folks who are vegetarian/vegan/plant strong).
I made this for dinner tonight!! I followed your recipe exactly! My husband and I both loved it!! Thank you so much for a delicious recipe!! I can’t wait to make it for my grandkids!!
Made this last night and ate it tonnight. My lentils were very old and took a long time to finish cooking in the oven. LIke two hours – and extra liquid. Also, I used butternut squash instead of sweet potato. Since my lentils took so long to cook, my squash was basically mush. Not pretty. So I sauteed some red/yellow/orange bell peppers and stirred that in along with some spinach. Just to pretty things up. ;-) I served it over a mix of brown rice and quinoa because that is what I had. In spite of my old lentils, and the changes I made, the recipe came out very delicious. I will definitey make it again, and would recommend it to others. Oh, 1 tbsp of vinegar, and some black pepper worked for us.
I made a double batch of these this weekend and they were a HIT with my very picky husband! I love that there is very little added sweetness the sweet potatoes and apples really liven up this lentil dish. Thanks for sharing…I am in love! :)
I made this last night and it was a hit. Especially with the pickier of my two sons, so that is really saying something. He even told me that I can make it again sometime…the highest possible compliment!
Made this last weekend. After an hour in the oven the sweet potatoes were still rock solid. I was baffled as to how that could be possible. The only thing I could think of was that our casserole dish was too small. I took a couple servings out, added a half cup of water and returned it to the oven to basically re-bake per the instructions above. After that it was fine. So I think my overall comment is to make sure your casserole dish is plenty large! This recipe makes a lot. The flavor was good, and I loved the leftovers for lunch.
I made this last night and LOVED it. Definitely in my top 3 favorite homemade meals. I’m not much of a cook so the fact that my husband loved it as well (and didn’t even try to slip any to the dog) says how easy and delicious it was :)
LOVE IT! I am using your recipes to ease my family into vegan meals with as little pain as possible. I haven’t mentioned the word “vegan” but instead announce that I am simply “trying a new recipe.” In the past couple of weeks I’ve served raw taco salad, maple baked lentils and sweet potatoes, make ahead veggie burgers, ratatouille inspired summer veg. dish, buckwheat tabbouleh, eggplant parmesan, vegetarian kale soup, and roasted butternut squash with kale. Tonight I made my own version of whole wheat burritos that the family devoured. So far there hasn’t been one single rejection or complaint about the new meals. I am writing down the recipes and keeping them in a notebook so that when we return to our jobs in Papua New Guinea this summer, I will have a family approved, wonderfully nutritious option for our continued healthy eating. THANK YOU! Keep the recipes coming!
WendyinPNG
Hi Wendy, That is great news!! Good for you. Thanks so much for trying out the recipes. :)