Start With Lentil Salad | Cup of Jo (2024)

What a fantastic lentil salad recipe – I made this today and also added pickled ramps (and used the vinaigrette they were in). This may just be the best lentil salad I’ve ever had. It is going into my recipe binder! Super easy and versatile, thank you for sharing it.

Hey, I know that this is 6 months after the original post, but I just wanted to say that this recipe is gold (if anyone is still reading the comments). I serve it to guests all of the time with grilled chicken, a green salad, and rolls. You can make it earlier in the day, and it really is just a showstopper. Everyone loves it, especially my 1.5 year old.

This was SO good, thank you for sharing. I added chick peas for some more protein.

I’ve made it many times from your first cookbook and my now teen daughter is taken over making it for our family. A summer staple in our refrigerator when no one wants to cook everyday but we still need to eat!

I made this yesterday and am enjoying leftovers for lunch. I added some peas and carrots and a splash of lemon juice. So good!

Made the lentil salad for lunch today. Used regular balsamic vinegar, and extra bell pepper. Served it over a pile of baby spinach with a chopped hard boiled egg on top. Delicious!

I came across this on Jenny’s blog years ago, when my kids were toddlers, and I went through a phase when I made it constantly. But this makes me realize I haven’t made it in years. And they’re getting close to being hungry teenagers!! Time to bring it back.

Would green lentils work here?

I used to devour big bowls of lentil salad with feta, scallions and apples plus balsamico&olive oil during my first pregnancy. my daughter is now almost eleven and she knows how to make it and can inhale a whole bowl of it no problem.

Mmm I love lentils, so tasty and nutritious and versatile. My favorite soup is an old NYT red lentil soup that is still going strong a decade later and is a recipe I’ve shared widely: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016522-red-lentil-soup

Yum yum yum! Found your recipe yesterday, made it today. :-) So good! Instead of scallions and thyme I used up all the wild garlic I had collected last week – perfect combination! Thank you for this yummy idea!

This salad is delicious! It was our dinner tonight and it will definitely be a monthly staple!
Thank you Jenny, youre recipes are always a slam dunk!

I can only hope that my son and his friends will remember me some day for my legume salads. I could live on lentil and bean salads, topped with a handful of arugula, served with a hunk of warm crusty bread with butter. Mmmm.

Trader Joe’s sells cooked lentils in the refrigerated produce section which makes making lentil salad a breeze!

Such a nice memory/story with this recipe!
I like using beluga lentils (they are little black ones that hold their shape nicely) for my lentil salad bowls. I occasionally add some sautéed leeks or mushrooms or any other leftovers I may have. Plus a boiled egg. Will be trying with your dressing next time!

Thank you Anna and Aly! I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I have been feeling very uninspired in the cooking department in the last few COVID months. I think this might be enough to get me back in the saddle :)

Just made this for a late lunch – yum! I added red bell pepper, capers, and goat cheese along with the vinaigrette because that’s what I had on hand. Love how customizable this recipe is!

You’ve also simplified it by not tossing the first boiling water. I wonder if that was a washing step that isn’t needed with lentils now or if maybe it makes a nice texture difference in the end. Thanks for this inspiration!

lentils!! I love lentils! When recipes call for ground meat I have begun subbing in lentils to make the recipe vegetarian and YUM!

I love all of Jenny’s recipes that are recipes, but also choose-your-own-adventures and permission-to-do-whatever. I wish more people wrote recipes like this to inspire home cooks to just make an attempt :) thank you!

The story around those lentils is every thing !

I’ve had a bag of lentils in my pantry for months and wasn’t sure what to do with them. I’m definitely going to try this and some feta or goat cheese. thank you!

I would love a good lentil soup recipe. I really like the one that Pret A Manger has. Does anyone have a similar one? TIA.

For some reason I never make this myself, but LOVE it when my mom makes warm lentil salad! She does basically your recipe, throws in some feta or goat cheese, and puts it on lettuce. Perfect.

Love the background story and I look forward to making this.

I love lentil salad as well! I make a version similar to this but seasoned with cummin instead of mustard; and another one featuring grain mustard, onion and shredded carrot that I first ate while travelling in France as a backpacker.

Love the mom story behind this, even though I’m not a lentil girl. Crazy to think I could have impact on my kids’ friends someday.

Would this work with red lentils as well?
I have a bag I’d bought for another recipe and am looking for ways to use it up.

I love this so much! My heart swells when I think of the mothers of my friends and the way they influenced who, and how I wanted to be as an adult. My “channel” is more spaces than food, so it my home that bears the imprint of these vibrant, creative women who had my imagination “pinning” decades ahead of Pinterest or Instagram.
*And I am totally making that lentil salad today!

In my house we’ve started saying, “Put an egg on it!” Whatever last bits of leftovers in the fridge – roasted veggies, even pasta – just throw an egg on top and it’s delicious!

Lunch plans set for today, thanks (although I am lazy and will, as always, default to Trader Joe’s ready-to-eat version)!

I feel like lentils become mushy when I’ve made them in the past. Any thoughts on why? Just cooking too long? Thanks!!

Lentils have lots of protein!

I have recently discovered that my 13 year old son has such a love for those “jammy” eggs that i can entice him to eat anything with those on top. It has been a game-changer! Even if he only eats a tiny bit of the real entree, at least he ate eggs. Warm lentil salad, here i come!