Easy Classic Vegan Lentil Loaf Recipe
This veggie-loaded vegan lentil loaf is the perfect meatloaf alternative for your holiday table or weeknight dinner! Easy to make and super nourishing.
The lentil loaf recipe to please even meat-eaters!
Yes, I truly do mean it. This vegan lentil loaf is a *triumph,* if I do say so myself. Deliciously flavorful, tender, and downright mouthwatering, this lentil loaf recipe is all vegan, no eggs, no meat, and yet all eaters love it. Yes, including the meat-eating ones!
If you’re looking for *the* main dish to serve at your vegan Thanksgiving dinner, then this is it. Not only is the lentil loaf super easy to make (we’re talking you just blend some of the ingredients, mix it all together and bake!), but it truly does have a flavor similar to meatloaf…only BETTER.
Whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, or like to eat meat, this vegan and vegetarian meatloaf will be the star of your holiday table (I love serving this for Christmas dinner as well, along with my Vegan Wellington Recipe!).
And guess what? This vegan meatloaf is also naturally gluten-free!
Don’t forget to serve the sides though! Make sure you have a heft serving of vegan gluten free stuffing, crispy roasted Brussels sprouts, unbelievably creamy vegan mashed potatoes, and of course vegan sweet potato casserole and vegan dinner rolls to go with this vegan meatloaf!
What is a vegan lentil loaf?
A lentil loaf is a vegan and vegetarian version of a traditional meatloaf.
Traditionally, lentil loaves use lentils, along with other vegan ingredients, to mimic the texture of a meatloaf. Many lentil loaves contain walnuts and flour, making them not suitable for those with nut allergies and who are gluten free.
However, this vegan lentil loaf proves that you can have a super flavorful, rich, and classic homemade vegan lentil loaf without the nuts and the gluten.
This lentil loaf is packed with not only lentils, but loads of veggies and a whole bunch of herbs that give it both the flavor and texture of a traditional meatloaf… yet it’s completely vegan, vegetarian, dairy free, and gluten free.
Simple plant-based ingredients:
Making a vegan lentil loaf is an incredibly easy vegan Thanksgiving recipe that will be a great option for both meat eaters and non meat eaters, so if you, a friend, or a family member needs vegan or vegetarian accommodations for your Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving , this is the recipe!
To make this loaf, you’ll need:
- Cooked lentils: About 1 1/2 cups dry lentils will make 3 cups cooked. You can use brown lentils for a more authentic look, but I’ve also used green lentils with great sucess!
- Oat flour: You can make your own here, or purchase at a store. If you can’t tolerate oats, you can use a gluten free all purpose flour, like King Arthur Measure for Measure.
- Olive or coconut oil
- Onions and garlic
- Carrots and celery
- Herbs: rosemary, thyme, sage work wonderfully here!
- Marinara sauce: You can also swap in ketchup. I like to use a sugar free version, but feel free to use your favorite!.
- Sea salt
No need for flaxseed, mushrooms, walnuts, vegan Worcestershire sauce, or even vegetable broth. This vegan lentil loaf is as simple as it gets, yet we’re not sacrificing any flavor!
Overview: how to make an easy vegan lentil loaf:
Now onto making your vegan lentil loaf. The whole process takes just 15 minutes to prep start to finish. Then you’ll bake!
- Use a food processor to pulse the lentils, soy sauce, ketchup, and oat flour together until it becomes a thick “batter,” then set that aside.
- Next, sauté the garlic, onions, celery, and carrots with the herbs together in a pan with the olive or coconut oil.
- Finally, combine both the lentil batter and cooked veggies together in a large bowl, along with the marinara.* Alternatively, you can blend all ingredients together in a food processor or high speed blender!
- Place the lentil loaf batter into a loaf pan, top with a little extra marinara, and bake!
That’s it! And what’s yielded is the most aromatic, delicious, and jaw dropping lentil loaf.
I’m not kidding you. My jaw was on the floor when I first tried a bite. I went through multiple recipe tests of this just so that we could continue having it for lunch and dinner haha!
What to serve a vegan meatloaf with:
Well, if you’re making this for Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving, which I highly recommend you do, you’ll definitely want to pair with the standard Thanksgiving accompaniments! I have a few favorites here that I’ll list:
- Vegan gluten free dinner rolls
- Garlic & herb dinner rolls
- Vegan Mac n’ cheese
- Steamed green beans
- Roasted brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes
- Steamed or roasted broccoli
- Roasted brussels sprouts
- Easy roasted red cabbage
- Fall or winter harvest salad (add some chopped apples too!)
Your whole family is just going to love this vegan lentil loaf recipe! It seriously is such an easy and delicious main for everyone to enjoy 🙂 If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes down below in the comments section!
As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Pinterest and Instagram, so be sure to tag me there!
Happy loafing and Thanksgiving!
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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9-Ingredient Vegan Lentil Loaf that even meat-eaters love! (Gluten free + Nut Free!)
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This veggie-loaded vegan lentil loaf is the perfect meatloaf alternative for your holiday table or weeknight dinner! Easy to make and super nourishing.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dry brown lentils (cooked in either 3 cups of water or vegetable broth)
- 1/2 cup oats or oat flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour or all purpose flour
- 4–5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 tbsp vegan butter or olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh rosemary
- 1/4 cup fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce or ketchup
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup marinara sauce or ketchup, for topping
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 375F and line a 9″ loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Cook: Bring the water or veggie broth to a boil, then add in the lentils. Cook them covered for 4-5 minutes, then turn off heat, and let the lentils sit covered for another 3-4 minutes. Drain the liquid.
- Make the lentil puree: In a food processor, pulse the cooked lentils until they become a puree. Add in the oat flour, soy sauce, ketchup or marinara, and sea salt, and pulse again until smooth. Set that aside while you prepare the onions and carrots.
- Make the carrot and onion mixture: In a medium skillet or pan, heat 1 tbsp coconut or olive oil on medium heat and add in the minced garlic, and onions, cooking until the garlic is fragrant and the onions are translucent. Add in the carrots and celery, and cover to cook on medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Add in the thyme and rosemary, and sauté for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat.
- Finish the lentil loaf: Combine the pureed lentils and cooked carrot and celery mixture in the pan. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour the lentil loaf batter into the loaf pan and smooth along the edges of the pan. Top with 1/4 cup of marinara sauce or ketchup.
- Bake: Place the loaf pan into the oven to bake for 45-50 hour. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing the lentil loaf from the pan.
- Serve: Serve warm! Slice and enjoy. Store any leftovers in an airtight container of up to 4 days in the fridge.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Gluten free: If you’re not gluten free, you can swap in all purpose flour.
Please read blog post for full instructions!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 190
- Sugar: 3.8 g
- Sodium: 154 mg
- Fat: 4.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.9 g
- Protein: 9.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0.3 mg
Hi Britt! This looks great! I was wondering if you think I could make this “batter” ahead and just bake it the day of, or if it needs to all be done the same day. Or if I could make it, freeze it, and reheat it? What do you think is best for reducing kitchen chaos? Thanks for your help!
Hi Elaine!
So I would recommend making it the day before and then storing it in the fridge before reheating it to serve, or you can make it a few days ahead, freeze it, and then let it thaw for 15 min before reheating it in the oven! I hope that helps, and I hope you love it!! 🙂
She asked about the ‘batter’
Ok you just took Thanksgiving to a whole new level for plant-based eaters! Thank you for this brilliant creation 🙂
I am so happy to hear that! Enjoy and happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Britt! This recipe is wonderful! I’ve a question: it’s work without oat flour?
Hi Debora! Aw I’m so happy to hear it! And yes it will! You can use any GF flour or regular flour even if you don’t want to do gluten free!
BEST “meat”loaf EVER!!!!!!!!! I dream about this dish. So delicious.
You are too kind!! I’m so happy you enjoyed!!
I made this recipe as directed for the first time. The flavor of this loaf is terrific! While I baked as instructed the loaf never “set”; came out with consistency of mashed potatoes, more raw than I expected! I know for a fact my oven temp is spot on. I baked it for an hour. Is this consistency normal?
Hi Robin! I’m so sorry that the consistency was a bit off! The texture should be much like a traditional “meatloaf”- you can slice it and it’s sturdy and holds its shape. I’m wondering how cooked your lentils were? If they were over-cooked, they might have caused this issue?
Thanks for your reply. I will try again because the flavor is that good!
Absolutely! Let me know how it goes!
Loved the taste but it did not hold it’s shape, just like mashed potatoes.
i did use a can of lentils, could that be the reason?
I again think there is confusion about the word batter. I think if you create a homogeneous paste it’ll never set.
It’s not quite a homogeneous paste. Maybe “mixture” would be a better word for it! But just process the lentils until almost smooth- like a puree! That should do it!
What size container re Sabra Hummus? Thanks.
Hi Brenda! You can use a 10 oz. container!
Can I use almond flour or regular flour in this Vegan Hummus Lentil Loaf recipe? My husband became a vegan and I’d love to try making this.
Hi Anna! You can use regular flour in here 🙂 Hope you both love it!
I have all the ingredients, but I’m still wondering how much to actually puree the lentils. Your pictures don’t look like a batter but still a little chunky.
Hi Johanna! You’ll just puree the lentils in the food processor (so just pulsing on high speed!). It won’t come completely smooth, but it will look more like a puree than just lentils. Hope that helps!
💕 love. How did you get the brown, crispy look on the mashed potatoes?
Aw thank you!! It’s actually browned vegan butter with sautéed garlic!! So good!! I used Miyoko’s to brown it!
Hi! This looks fantastic. Or kind of lentils did you use?
Sorry. *What
So happy to hear it!! I’ve used True Roots lentil blend and the store bought trader joe’s prepared lentils- both work!
Hi! This looks amazing, I’m making this for my 15 yo daughter who’s been Vegan for 2 years now! Question…do you salt or season the lentils while cooking them, or using just water?? TIA!!
Aw that’s wonderful!! Yes, you’ll salt the lentils while cooking! I typically just follow the directions for cooking the lentils on the package of lentils I bought! Enjoy!
Made this for Thanksgiving dinner & it was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much. Xoxo.
Tried your lentil loaf recipe today. The flavor was super good, but it was pretty mushy in the middle after an hour of baking. Maybe baking it longer, adding more oat flour or adding Just Egg would solve the problem. Next time I will try one of those options and also purée only half of the lentils to make a chunkier loaf. I still think it’s worth the 5-star rating!!
Hi Diane! Oh I’m so sorry for the mushy middle! That could work, but another thing too, make sure there isn’t any liquid from the lentils going in! That sometimes an happen (it’s happened to me before when I accidentally didn’t drain it well enough!). Baking uncovered can help as well! So glad you still loved the taste though! 🙂
Made this fabulous loaf yesterday. It is great. I just had some (cold) for lunch at work today, with a salad. Very good hot or cold. So easy to make and tasty. Will definitely make this again.
Delicious! Thanks Britt!
Made the lentil loaf and we loved it. The middle is a little mushy but I think choosing a 9×9 dish will solve that issue. But the edges were crunchy so the soft middle was still super yummy.