With easy to find ingredients and a simple process, you won’t be able to get over how incredible this vegan lentil loaf recipe really is! It’s sure to impress even the biggest skeptics!
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I’ll be honest, this vegan lentil loaf recipe is insanely convincing that meatloaf that contains no meat can be good. I say this as someone who didn’t really care for meatloaf prior to being vegan either.
We’ve been asked to create a vegan meatloaf for awhile now and I’ve always put it off because I didn’t think I could do it any justice. However, this year I set out to create recipes that we’ve been asked for and do right by them.
I wanted this lentil loaf recipe to be easy, budget-friendly, minimal ingredients, and of course, have an amazing texture and flavor.
I used a few techniques like sauting the veggies first, reserving some of the lentils, and creating an epic basting sauce to make sure that this is a deserving vegan meatloaf recipe for any occasion.
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Why This is the Best Vegan Lentil Loaf
- Easy to Find Ingredients – The ingredients we chose for this recipe are things that we often use and consider pantry staples. For most people, you may have to go out for one or two things at the most, but we tried to stick with normal, everyday ingredients for this recipe.
- Perfect Texture – We really wanted to focus on getting the texture perfect. One complaint we often hear about meatloaf is that it’s too dry, so we really tried to be mindful of that and have a moist, cohesive texture that was easy to replicate.
- Budget Friendly – This recipe uses a lot of ingredients that are easy on the wallet. We specifically designed this recipe to be mindful that you can have an awesome, filling and comforting recipe without costing a lot.
Ingredients for Vegan Lentil Loaf
Tips for Ingredients
Lentils
Lentils are an amazing source of protein that is super budget friendly. We love that these little legumes are so powerful. We are using brown lentils, but green will also work.
Substitute: This will drastically change the recipe flavor, but you could swap out the lentils for a neutral bean like great northern, or butter beans. Additionally, you could use chickpeas. If doing that, we recommend that you don’t reserve some on the side for texture and instead just blend them all.
Sauce
We made a maple sweetened glaze that has ketchup, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. This delicious by itself, but when baked the sweetness really comes out and only heightens the flavor of the loaf itself.
Substitute: For a super quick alternative, you can use your favorite BBQ sauce or spaghetti sauce. It will be different flavor that this, but will have you able to skip some steps.
Oats and Flax
Oats and flax are helping us bind the ingredients together. We are using old fashioned or rolled oats for this recipe. Quick oats WILL NOT work in the same way.
Substitute: You can just use oats if you want.
Vegetables
We’re using carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in the recipe, not only for nutrients, but to add variations, texture, and flavor to the recipe.
Substitute: Feel free to use vegetables that you have on hand to swap or add in, just being mindful or flavor changes.
Spices
If you’ve seen some of my other recipes, you know I like to use spices. While many people may recommend a blend, I really like to get in there and create the perfect balance of flavors every time which is why you see such a list.
How to Make Lentil Loaf
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
- Heat oil over medium heat in a medium sauté pan and cook onions, carrots and celery until they’ve softened and become fragrant. About 4-6 minutes. Add garlic and let cook for 30 seconds. Once cooked remove from stovetop to cool.
- While sauteing, you can toast walnuts by spreading them onto a baking sheet and toasting in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. *Alternatively, you can do this in the same skillet as above.
- Reserve ½ cup of the lentils to the side. With the remaining lentils, add to a food processor with the cooked veggies, toasted walnuts, oats, tomato paste, ground flaxseed, vegan worcestershire sauce, ketchup, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and spices (oregano to salt). Pulse until mixture is just combined and the texture is to your liking. You want the mixture to be combined enough to stick together, but you don’t want it to be completely pulverized.
- Stir in the reserved lentils and press mixture into parchment lined 9×5″ loaf pan. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes. While baking whisk together all the glaze ingredients. After 30 minutes, remove loaf, uncover andspread the glaze over the top. Return to oven and bake for about 10 more minutes. Let the loaf rest 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
- Store cooled leftovers in a sealed container for up to 5 days in the fridge. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
What to Serve with Lentil Loaf
We like to serve this with a carb, vegetable, and some sort of bread for a full meal. Here’s our personal favorites:
How to Store Vegan Lentil Loaf
Leftovers, once cooled, can be stored in an air tight container for up to 5 days. To reheat, place on a microwaveable safe plate for 1-2 minutes or until desired temperate. Alternatively, you can heat back in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 350˚F.
If you’d like it to last longer, you can freeze up to 3 months. We prefer to cut the loaf in slices first and then freeze.
Other must try vegan main dish recipes to impress:
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The Best Vegan Lentil Loaf Recipe
Ingredients
For the Lentil Loaf
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ large onion (about 1 heaping cup), chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 ¾ cups cooked brown lentils (½ cup cooked from dry, or from 1 15-oz. can of rinsed/drained lentils)
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 2 tablespoons Vegan Worcestershire sauce (or steak sauce)
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
MAPLE SWEETENED GLAZE:
- ¾ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon of sea salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
- Heat oil over medium heat in a medium sauté pan and cook onions, carrots and celery until they've softened and become fragrant. About 4-6 minutes. Add garlic and let cook for 30 seconds. Once cooked remove from stovetop to cool.
- While sauteing, you can toast walnuts by spreading them onto a baking sheet and toasting in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. *Alternatively, you can do this in the same skillet as above.
- Reserve ½ cup of the lentils to the side. With the remaining lentils, add to a food processor with the cooked veggies, toasted walnuts, oats, tomato paste, ground flaxseed, vegan worcestershire sauce, ketchup, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and spices (oregano to salt). Pulse until mixture is just combined and the texture is to your liking. You want the mixture to be combined enough to stick together, but you don’t want it to be completely pulverized.
- Stir in the reserved lentils and press mixture into parchment lined 9×5" loaf pan. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes. While baking whisk together all the glaze ingredients. After 30 minutes, remove loaf, uncover andspread the glaze over the top. Return to oven and bake for about 10 more minutes. Let the loaf rest 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
- Store cooled leftovers in a sealed container for up to 5 days in the fridge. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions:
There are only walnuts in this recipe that need to be considered. You can swap the walnuts with sunflower seeds or pepitas if you can’t have nuts.
This lentil loaf is great for meal prep! You can make up to 3-5 days in advance.
Yes! Let cool completely and then freeze in an air tight freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Alternatively, if you only need a slice or two at a time, place wax paper between the slices and then you can just pull out what you need.
What can I substitute for nuts? I have an allergy.
Hi! You could swap them with sunflower seeds or pepitas seeds. You could also do mushrooms if you’d prefer. Lastly, you could omit the nuts, and do 3 tbsp more oats or use breadcrumbs.
Being Indian, I grew up eating dal. Up until then, that was the only way I enjoyed eating lentils. But this recipe looked so good, I had to give it a try and it turned out DELICIOUS!! And I had most of the ingredients on hand. It smelled so good even the cats came to investigate lol. My doctor has been trying to get me to eat more high fiber foods since I had a few diverticulitis flare ups so I am happy to have this in my rotation. Thank you!!
This is so awesome to hear! We’re so happy to know that not only did you enjoy the recipe but that it could fit into a meal rotation your doctor recommended. Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try!
Is it at all possible to use red lentils instead?
Unfortunately, No, they won’t hold as well.
Love your recipes! Do you have a substitute suggestion for the oatmeal?
Yes, almond flour!
Hi, the written instructions does not include the first step, cooking the lentils.
Hi! They say cooked lentils in the ingredients, so you should be starting with them already made. Sorry if that’s confusing
Delicious recipe!
Thank you so much!
Délicieux !!!
Danke schön! (translation provided by google translate)
We love it. Thank you.
So happy to hear that you love it! Thank you for giving the recipe a try!
do you have nutritional Information?
So sorry that was missing. It’s been fixed and is right below the recipe.