Yesterday, I somehow found myself depleted of my hummus stash, which let me tell you, I rarely let happen. Hummus addicts must have a stash at all times! Normally, I wouldn’t be able to blame Eric for this one, but he has recently fallen in love with hummus after years of me pestering him to try it. Now, I’ve created a monster who eats all my hummus. It’s karma, clearly.
I was also out of dried chickpeas and canned chickpeas, so making the hummus that changed everything was out of the question. That was when the red lentils caught my eye hidden in the back of my messy cupboard.
Knowing how fluffy and soft red lentils get when cooked, I figured that I could use them for a base in a spread, very similar to hummus. Red lentils have a fairly neutral taste (although a bit earthier than chickpeas), but I figured they would blend well into the other ingredients. Plus, they cook extremely fast so I knew it wouldn’t set me back much time.
It looks just like hummus, right?
After adding some lemon juice, tahini, sea salt, garlic, and a touch of olive oil, I had a spread that was very similar to hummus. It doesn’t taste exactly the same, but it’s delicious in its own unique way. Best of all, this dip took me about 15-20 minutes, and that includes cooking the lentils. Not too shabby!
I now had a lovely base for my wrap! I gathered some random veggies in the crisper (green onion, tomato, avocado, kale, red pepper, pea shoots) and went to town.
You can use this recipe below as the “base” recipe and leave it as is (think of it as a classic hummus) or have fun playing around with mix-ins. I could see Indian and Mexican flavours working very well here. I added in a couple sun-dried tomatoes and some smoked paprika, but to be honest I preferred it best plain.
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Sneaky Red Lentil "Hummus"
Yield
1 heaping cup
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Make this spread as a fun alternative to chickpeas! It’s not only similar in appearance, but taste too. Red lentils also tend to be easier to digest, so if you have problems with chickpeas I encourage you to give this a try.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup uncooked red lentils + 1 & 1/4 cup water
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- water to thin out, if needed
- Herbs & seasonings of choice, if desired
Directions
- Pick through the lentils to make sure there are no pebbles and rinse in a small colander. In a medium-sized pot, add the lentils and 1 & 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover, simmering until the water is absorbed or about 10-13 minutes. Stir the lentils frequently to prevent them from sticking to the pot.
- With the food processor running, drop in the clove of garlic to mince. Add the cooked lentils, along with the lemon juice, tahini, and olive oil. Process until smooth. Add a touch of water if necessary to thin out.
- Add salt to taste and other herbs and seasonings if desired.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Have a great weekend and goodluck to Nik Wallenda tonight! Anyone going to watch?
This is amazing! I’m pretty sure I like this better than regular hummus. And it was so easy. It was my first time using red lentils and I will definitely be using them again. Thank you so much!
YUM. I often add hot sauce to my hummus (both chickpea and lentil varieties) for an extra kick of flavor (just 5/6 squirts really makes a difference!)
wow….i love this!! will try it :)
This looks so yummy! Lentils don’t do well with me… do you think this could work with split peas?
Not sure…worth a shot probably!
That looks so gorgeous and great for summer!
I was thinking of making a dip today until this popped up on somebody’s post on faceB. I have some big split pea lentil in the cupboard at the mo. Was gonna use that in a curry (at some point) but might just use it for a dip like this. Might be interesting…hmmmm. Thanks for the idea oh glow-y one :-)
I’ve done a similar wrap (with store bought hummus) and put sunflower seeds on it.. so good! can also drizzle with balsalmic!
I hope this thickens as it cools because right now I have a nice soup! Tastes great, tho. I boiled the lentils longer than called for, but it still seemed pretty watery to me. Since I wasn’t sure how liquidy they should be, I went ahead and used them. Next time I’ll cut down on the amount of water. If this batch doesn’t thicken, I’ll just throw in a can of chick peas or, if I have time boil some more lentils.
This was great tasting! I recently was trying to think of a way to put my red lentils to good use. This was the perfect recipe! :)
i just made this with pumpkin seed butter instead of the tahini, and added in some fresh ginger for zing. licked it right out of the bowl!
Make this with any kind of beans – esp butter beans – heavenly :)
mine turned out like soup.. what did i do wrong? overcook the lentils?
Mmmm I can not wait to try this out!!
i just tried this, and wow! for me that is way too much lemon. i added some more tahini and salt to balance the lemon, but next time i’m going to maybe halve the lemon juice and go from there. you can always add more, but you can’t take it out. i wish you had mentioned how lemony it was. i juiced my own lemons for it, so maybe if you used that bottled lemon juice it would be less potent and 5 tbsps would be right on the money. just leaving this comment here so that future readers will know to add lemon at their own peril :))
Why did mine turn out so runny? Soupy runny.
This was delicious, thank you!
I made this today. SO good!! Thanks for the great recipe!
a restaurant in town that we love (boxwood) has this stuff but they drizzle roasted garlic olive oil on top. it’s sooooo good. i much prefer it to chickpea hummus. thanks for the recipe!
Love your website and story!
I have decided to use this veggie wrap on the Health & Fitness Vacation I am hosting this Nov. in St. Augustine, FL! It will be a perfect addition to our menu! Check it out on my blog. Spots are still open :)
Love this recipe… I added some cumin and paprika for a hint of spice, but I’m sure it’s just as good without it.