Try this delicious black beluga lentil salad! It’s full of crunchy veggies and tastes wonderfully fresh. The protein-packed lentils make it a nutritious and satisfying standalone meal as well as a great make-ahead side dish!
With hearty lentils, carrots, red peppers, celery and red onion, this is a vibrant and colourful salad. The salad dressing is also really simple and quick to make with extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar, lemon, salt and pepper.
This lentil salad is perfect for a make ahead meal, lunch on the go or as a side dish for a summer party or BBQ. Plus it's naturally vegan and gluten-free.
Lentils are packed with protein and other good stuff, so they are a staple in many vegan diets. They also add a lot of flavour to this salad and make it a satisfying, filling meal.
Our lentil salad is:
- Simple
- Quick
- Nutritious
- Satisfying
- Colourful
- Fresh
- Tasty!
Ingredient tips
Here's everything you need for this easy lentil salad recipe:
Black lentils - We use black beluga lentils when we make this lentil salad. Beluga lentils are a small variety of lentils with an amazingly yummy earthy flavour. They work especially well in salads because they don't go mushy when cooked.
Don't confuse them with urad dal which are also sometimes called black lentils, and are more like a small variety of bean commonly used in Indian cooking.
We mostly use dried black lentils and cook them ourselves, but canned black lentils will also work fine and make this recipe even quicker!
To cook dried black lentils:
- Rinse and check over to make sure there's no stones
- In a saucepan, add the lentils and cover with 3 times the volume water
- Cover with a lid and bring up to a simmer and cook for around 20 minutes until tender
- Drain before using
You don't have to soak black lentils, but if you do you can reduce the cooking time by about half. You can also cook them with vegetable stock, herbs or spices to add extra flavour.
Conversion tip: 1 can of lentils is approximately 1 ½ cups cooked lentils or ¾ cups dried lentils
Substitutions and variations
If you don’t have black lentils, there are other types of lentils you can use to make this salad. French green lentils, also known as Puy lentils are a good choice, but you could also use brown lentils. Yellow or red lentils won't work as they have a totally different flavour and softer texture that won't work well in this salad.
Vinegar. If you don't have apple cider vinegar, then vegan balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar are also great options.
Try out different vegetables. You can swap the red onion for green onions or spring onions. Cherry tomatoes, radishes, green beans or raw courgette (zucchini) make a nice addition. Just go for it, but try to keep the lentils to vegetable ratio about equal.
Fresh herbs. We’ve used coriander greens (cilantro), but parsley or basil are also a great addition depending on what you like.
Bulk it up. Add some grains like couscous, quinoa or small pasta.
Leafy greens: Arugula or rocket leaves, chopped spinach or massaged tuscan kale are all great options for a nutritional boost. However, I only recommend adding them to the salad just before serving, so that any greens don't go too soggy.
Other additions: You can always throw in some kalamata olives, fried tofu cubes, vegan feta cheese or sun dried tomatoes. Make it your own and change it up to suit you.
Serving
This mediterranean lentil salad is delicious served with some homemade crackers or crusty bread, a slice of lemon and a green salad.
At a summer party or BBQ it also goes great with other dishes like our:
- Vegan Souvlaki Skewers
- Vegan Tzatziki
- Vegan Pasta Salad
- Mustard and Herb Potato Salad
- Kale and Quinoa Salad
Storage
This black beluga lentil salad keeps well in the fridge for up to three days in a covered bowl or airtight container.
If you have added leafy greens then I recommend using it up on the same day so the greens don't go mushy.
This salad is not suitable for freezing.
More vegan lentil recipes
I hope you enjoyed our easy black lentil salad recipe! Try these other delicious recipes using different kinds of lentils:
Vegan Lentil Ragu - perfect with pasta
Lentil Risotto with Butternut Squash - a nutritious one-pot meal
Red Lentil Flatbreads - a really easy recipe!
📖 Recipe
Colourful Lentil Salad
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 ½ cups (265 g) black lentils cooked or canned
- 1 carrot
- ½ red pepper
- 1 stick celery
- ½ red onion
For the dressing
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp salt or to taste
- 1 pinch pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Drain and rinse your cooked or canned lentils.1 ½ cups (265 g) black lentils
- Dice or finely slice all the vegetables.1 carrot, ½ red pepper, 1 stick celery, ½ red onion
- Mix the dressing ingredients - the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. If you are using lentils that contain salt already, add extra salt only to taste.2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, ¼ tsp salt, 1 pinch pepper
- In a salad bowl, combine the lentils, veggies and salad dressing
Notes
- Rinse and check over to make sure there are no stones
- In a saucepan, add the lentils and cover with 3 times the volume of water
- Cover with a lid and bring up to a simmer and cook for around 20 minutes until tender
Nutrition
This information is calculated per serving and is an estimate only.
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