Lentil Salad
This classic lentil salad recipe is the perfect side dish! It's easy to make with simple ingredients like cherry tomatoes, lemon and parsley.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on March 27, 2025
This classic lentil salad recipe features some of my favorite Mediterranean flavors, including cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives, and plenty of fresh parsley in a zippy lemon dressing. The texture is an irresistible combination of tender, crisp and chewy. If you like lentils and tabbouleh salad, this recipe is for you.
I love to keep this hearty lentil salad in the fridge for a light meal, healthy side dish, or ready-to-grab snack. Bring it to your get-togethers and picnics for all to enjoy—this recipe is dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, egg-free and nut-free! I bet your friends will ask for the recipe.
Lentil Salad Serving Suggestions
This lentil salad can round out any meal with a healthy dose of flavor, fiber and plant-based protein. Here are just a few recipes to serve it with:
- Baked Feta Dip with Cherry Tomatoes
- Broccolini Almond Pizza
- Caprese Sandwich
- Cauliflower Salad
- Cucumber Tomato Salad with Greek Dressing
- Roasted Cauliflower Steak
You can change up your servings by adding fresh leafy greens, a drizzle of olive oil and an extra squeeze of lemon juice. Crumbled feta or goat cheese on top is nice, too.
Watch How to Make Lentil Salad
Lentil Options
This salad is designed for standard brownish-green lentils, the most common and affordable variety. If you follow the recipe’s guidance, they’ll turn out perfectly—tender, not mushy. Here are some additional options.
Substitute pre-cooked lentils
You’ll need three cups, about two 15-ounce cans.
Black beluga lentils
These lentils are a pretty dark color. They’re smaller in size and a bit more firm in texture. If you choose this type, set the timer for 16 minutes.
French (Puy) green lentils
Also known as Le Puy lentils, these dark green lentils are also a bit firmer in texture. Set the timer for 18 minutes for these.
Note: I do not recommend red lentils for this recipe. They are too mushy.
More Lentil Salads to Enjoy
If you like this classic lentil salad, check out these fun alternatives. Here are more bean salads on the blog.
- Greek Lentil Salad
- Lemony Lentil and Chickpea Salad with Radish and Herbs
- Lemony Roasted Broccoli, Arugula & Lentil Salad
- Masala Lentil Salad with Cumin Roasted Carrots
- Tangy Lentil Salad with Dill & Pepperoncini
Please let me know how your lentil salad turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you and hope this becomes a new staple recipe in your kitchen.
Lentil Salad
This classic lentil salad recipe is the perfect side dish! It’s easy to make with simple ingredients like cherry tomatoes, lemon and parsley. Recipe yields about 5 cups of salad, enough for 4 hearty portions.
Ingredients
- 1 cup regular brown or green lentils
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt, divided
- ½ cup chopped roasted red or yellow bell peppers (jarred or homemade)
- ½ cup sliced cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup pitted and thinly sliced Kalamata olives
- 1 small bunch of curly parsley, chopped (about ¾ cup)
- 3 green onions, chopped (green and white parts)
- 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Fill a medium-to-large saucepan with water, leaving several inches of room at the top. Bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Meanwhile, sort through your lentils for debris. Then, rinse your lentils under running water until the water runs clear. Set aside.
- Once the water is boiling, add the rinsed lentils and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Set the timer for 13 minutes. Reduce the heat as necessary to prevent overflow and to maintain a lively simmer. Once your timer has gone off, use a fork to scoop out a few lentils and test for doneness (careful, they’re hot). Your lentils are done when they are pleasantly tender throughout (not mushy or falling apart) and taste nicely earthy (undercooked lentils tend to taste somewhat metallic). If your lentils aren’t fully cooked yet, retest every 1 to 2 minutes until they are. Once cooked, immediately strain off all the excess water. Pour the lentils back into your pot to cool.
- Meanwhile, in a medium serving bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients (the chopped peppers, tomatoes, olives, parsley, green onions, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and several twists of black pepper).
- Once the lentils are mostly cool, add them to the bowl and stir until the salad is well combined. Season with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt (more if desired) and pepper, to taste. Leftovers will keep well for up to 5 days, covered in the refrigerator.
Notes
Lentil options: If you would like to use pre-cooked lentils, you will need 3 cups. This salad is designed for “standard” lentils, which are brownish-green in color and nicely tender once cooked. Other options include black beluga lentils (set the timer for 16 minutes) or French green lentils (set the timer for 18 minutes). Don’t use red lentils here—they’re too mushy.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I love so many of your recipes, absolute favorites! This one did not disappoint. I made mine with a mix of regular brown/ green lentils mixed with black belugas. This recipe will stay on the fridge right next to my vegetable prep spot. Thank you!
Hope this are great . Will let you know. Thanks Teresa I’m by
Made this today and it is absolutely delicious. I’ll be making it over and over. So glad I learned how to roast peppers. Kate I use your recipes more than any other veggie recipe maker. Thank you.
I made this lentil salad, but I didn’t have fire roasted peppers, so I chopped and added 1/2 cup fresh yellow and orange bell peppers. I thought it was delicious and will make it again. It seemed like a tabouli with the substitution of lentils for bulgar. I love both.
Thank you, Gayle! For sure, this lentil salad has tabbouleh vibes. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe looks very interesting and I will likely try it. But am I having a bad day? I didn’t see the “Jump to Recipe” notification that is usually found at the top of most recent. My apologies if I missed it.
Hi Linda! I just checked, and the “jump to recipe” option is there as usual on my screen.
Just made it and I already know I’m gonna love it. I’m fasting so haven’t tried it yet but I love everything about this recipe and I know it’s a winner. I did add less parsley and green onion though because our bunches are huge and my green onions were monstrous too. Might add more cherry tomatoes next time. Thanks so much!
Thank you, Anisah! I hope it was as good as you expected.
Heaven! I used pickled onions for green onions. sooooooooooooooo goooooooood! Thank you. Another favorite dish. We love your recipes! Thank you.
Hi Ela, thank you for your comment! Your version with pickled onions sound next-level. Have a great day!
Hi Kate, I’m a big fan of yours, we’ve tired a lot of your recipes and they are always delicious while being nutritious. This was a nice salad to compliment your butternut squash soup. My only suggestion is that you provide a measurement for the parsley. Our bunch was very big and I ended up putting in less than half and I still thought it overwhelmed the dish. Thanks!
Hi Mel, thank you for your feedback! I love the idea of serving the lentil salad with my butternut soup. I like this salad to be parsley-heavy, kind of like tabbouleh. I’ll edit it to provide the approximate amount of chopped parsley that I used. Thanks again.
I was wondering if you’ve ever used Golden Lentils in this recipe. I just bought a large bag for a Coconut Curried Golden Lentil dish. They seem to be as firm as brown lentils from what I can tell so far. I’m looking forward to trying this salad recipe. I think I’ll top it with some feta cheese.
Hi Helga! I’ve not tried golden lentils in this recipe. I think golden lentils are often reserved for curries and soups because they are a softer variety. If yours are more firm like brown lentils, then they may work! Feta cheese would be great, for sure.
This is a perfect recipe. Added to my weekly rotation. Have also tried it with chopped raw red pepper (not roasted) and it works well, too. Many thanks.
So glad you liked it, and thanks for sharing that substitution!
Second time I’ve made this in a week. My wife said she could eat this every week. The flavors came together surprising well and loved the salty taste the Kalamata olives give the dish. It’s so easy to make and the leftovers taste almost better the second day.
I made this last night and thought the green onion was a bit overpowering. I also thought there was room for lots more of the veggies so I added those along with extra lemon juice and salt, some flat-leaf parsley for more flavor, as well as some homemade balsamic vinaigrette to add extra oomph. It was a winner, for sure!
If I know we’re not going to eat everything tonight, isn’t it better to add the dressing ingredients to the part we’re going to eat? Doesn’t it become mushy in the fridge with the oil and lemon? Especially the greens… thanks!
Hi Gloria, the flavors improve with time and the recipe is great as leftovers. It shouldn’t get mushy.
Delicious recipe, I substituted couscous for lentils and coriander and thyme for parsley- to use what I had in the cupboard, and it was so tasty!
Love your recipes
I forgot to give this recipe a star-rating so I’m including it with this question:
Is it possible to add the feature to your recipes to keep the screen turned on like some other recipe websites have? It’s so frustrating to have to keep adding my password to get back to the recipe I’m making, usually because my hands are too messy to use my fingerprint password. I feel like having to keep going back almost doubles the time it takes to finish.
Thanks a million!!!
Hi Sue! Thank you for coming back to add your rating! My website is actually set up to keep your phone’s screen on automatically (no need to toggle it on, so I removed that option), and it works as designed on my phone. I will check with my tech support to find out what could be going wrong for you.
Hi Sue, I’m following up. The tech team changed my settings so the screen should stay awake for 30 minutes (it was set to 15 minutes). Please let me know if it’s not working as designed for you, and I’ll investigate further! Thank you for your feedback.