Crispy, flavorful little Lentil Cakes with an easy 5-minute dairy-free Garlic Sauce. These vegan lentil fritters are a great topping for salads, kid-friendly snack, and main course idea! Gluten-free, hearty, and loaded with plant proteins.
I cannot say enough great things about these little Lentil Cakes! (And don't worry, I won't say much. I'll get to the recipe very soon 🙂)
We love these lentil cakes because they are:
- Crispy
- Totally snackable
- Loaded with healthy ingredients (mushrooms, quinoa, walnuts, flax seed, and of course high-protein lentils)
- Freezable
- Packable
- Perfect for topping salads or as the "main course" next to some baked cauliflower
- Great as a lentil falafel substitute in a pita
- Gluten-free
- So tasty!
How good would these be as lentil falafels in pita??
Ready to make them??
Ingredients
For the lentil cakes:
- 2 cups cooked green lentils
- 1 + 1 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ½ onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup cooked quinoa - this is a GREAT recipe for using up leftover quinoa!
- ½ cup walnut meal, (see ingredient notes below for making your own, or use cashews, but I prefer walnuts for this recipe because of the texture)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dry parsley (or 1 tablespoon fresh parsley)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed +2 tablespoons water, combined
- 3 additional tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce (use coconut aminos if gluten-free)
It might seem like a lot of ingredients, but I promise you these are so worth it! Besides, isn't it great to get so much nutrition from one recipe??
For the dairy-free garlic sauce:
- 1 cup of soy milk
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 chopped garlic (or ½ tablespoon garlic powder)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or tapioca starch, or flour)
- Salt, to taste
- Lemon juice, to taste
You'll also need:
- An immersion blender, or a small food processor
- A large bowl
- A large skillet to sauté the mushrooms and cook the lentil cakes
- A small saucepan to make the garlic sauce
Instructions:
Step 1: Get your ingredients together: Cook the lentils according to the package directions, until tender. You will need 2 cups cooked lentils. Cook the quinoa according to the directions. You will need ½ cup cooked quinoa. Combine the ground flax + 2 tablespoons water in a large bowl and let it sit - this will be the bowl where you prepare the lentil cake mixture. This is your "flax egg."
Step 2: Sauté the diced onion, chopped garlic, and sliced mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add a little water if it gets too dry, or simply cover with a lid to keep the moisture in. Turn heat down to low and cook for another 5 minutes. Set aside.
Step 3: Add about half of the cooked lentils, the mushroom mixture, the cooked quinoa, walnut meal, ground cumin, smoked paprika, dry parsley, salt, 3 tablespoons water, and soy sauce (or coconut aminos) to the bowl with the flax egg.
Step 4: Use an immersion blender to mix everything together until you get a thick dough.
Now stir in the remaining ~1 cup cooked lentils. Taste the mixture and add more salt, if needed.
Step 5: Use your hands to form 12-15 small lentil patties. Tip: wet your hands in cold water between every few patties, to prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands.
Step 6: Preheat a large skillet. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Carefully place the lentil cakes into the skillet and sear for 2-3 minutes per side, allowing them to brown and form a crispy crust before flipping.
Step 7: Serve warm with garlic sauce. These would also be amazing with my homemade tahini dressing, or with the creamy avocado sauce I made for my lentil burgers.
Make the garlic sauce:
Add the soy milk, nutritional yeast, garlic, and cornstarch to a small saucepan. Whisk together, then cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for about 3-5 minutes, or until thickened. Season with salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Remove from heat and server over the lentil cakes (or use as a salad dressing!).
Ingredient substitution notes:
→ Lentils: Use any kind of green or brown lentils for this recipe! DO NOT USE SPLIT RED LENTILS! Anything from the cheaper Goya bag of green lentils to fancier French Le Puy lentils will work just fine. Just make sure they're whole lentils and not split lentils (green lentils are typically whole, so no need to worry about it), because split lentils cook faster and get mushier faster.
→ You can make your own walnut meal by processing walnuts in a small food processor or blender for a few pulses or seconds. Or just buy walnut meal and use it as a replacement for ground beef in Bolognese sauce and other dishes that can benefit from a little meaty texture!
→ If you don't have smoked paprika on hand, feel free to use a few drops of liquid smoke and regular sweet paprika (or add spicy paprika for some spice). But smoked paprika is a really great ingredient to have on hand!
→ For gluten-free lentil cakes, use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, or use gluten-free soy sauce.
Recipe tip:
→ If your lentil cakes are falling apart, it can be one of two things: they're either too dry, or too wet. If they're crumbly and not sticking into small patties (too dry), add a tablespoon of water at a time to the lentil mixture and mix well. If they're too wet and fall apart while cooking, add a little bit walnut meal or cooked lentils to the mixture (a tablespoon at a time), until you get a better mixture. If you're all out of lentils or walnuts, you can also add a tiny bit of quick-cooking oats or flour, just to soak up any extra liquids.
What to serve with lentil cakes:
- With veggie-loaded Instant Pot vegan rice pilaf
- A side salad, for a light high-protein lunch
- In pitas, with freshly sliced cucumber, red onion, and tahini dressing (sort of like lentil falafels)
If you’ve tried these lentil cakes or any other recipe on my blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I LOVE hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food!!!
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Lentil Cakes
Ingredients
For the lentil cakes:
- 2 cups cooked green lentils
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ½ onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic , rough chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
- ½ cup coarse walnut meal, (see notes to make your own)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dry parsley, or 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed , +2 tablespoons water, combined
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons coconut aminos, or soy sauce
For the dairy-free garlic sauce:
- 1 cup soy milk
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 clove garlic, chopped or ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, or tapioca starch, or flour
- Salt, to taste
- Lemon juice, to taste
Special equipment
- Immersion blender
- Large bowl
- Large skillet
- Small saucepan
Instructions
- Get your ingredients together: Cook the lentils according to the package directions, until tender. You will need 2 cups cooked lentils. Cook the quinoa according to the directions. You will need ½ cup cooked quinoa. Combine the ground flax + 2 tablespoons water in a large bowl and let it sit - this will be the bowl where you prepare the lentil cake mixture. Make the walnut meal, if not using store-bought (see notes).
- Sauté the diced onion, chopped garlic, and sliced mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add a little water if it gets too dry, or simply cover with a lid to keep the moisture in. Turn heat down to low and cook for another 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Add about half of the cooked lentils, the mushroom mixture, cooked quinoa, walnut meal, ground cumin, smoked paprika, dry parsley, salt, 3 tablespoons water, and coconut aminos (or soy sauce) to the bowl with the flax egg.
- Use an immersion blender to mix everything together until you get a thick dough. Now stir in the remaining ~1 cup cooked lentils and mix well. Taste the mixture and add more salt, if needed.
- Use your hands to form 12-15 small lentil patties. Tip: wet your hands in cold water between every few patties, to prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands.
- Preheat a large skillet. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Carefully place the lentil cakes into the skillet and sear for 2-3 minutes per side, allowing them to brown and form a crispy crust before flipping. Repeat until lentil cakes are cooked
- Serve warm with garlic sauce.
Make the garlic sauce:
- Add the soy milk, nutritional yeast, garlic, and cornstarch to a small saucepan. Whisk together, then cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for about 3-5 minutes, or until thickened. Season with salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Remove from heat and serve over the lentil cakes (or use as a salad dressing!).
Notes
- Make your own coarse walnut meal by pulsing a rounded ½ cup walnut halves or ½ cup chopped walnuts in a small food processor or blender.
- You can use a large food processor to mix together the lentil mixture, instead of an immersion blender.
- Lentils: Use any kind of green or brown lentils for this recipe! DO NOT USE SPLIT RED LENTILS! Anything from the cheaper Goya bag of green lentils to fancier French Le Puy lentils will work just fine. Just make sure they’re whole lentils and not split lentils (green lentils are typically whole, so no need to worry about it), because split lentils cook faster and get mushier faster.
- If you don’t have smoked paprika on hand, feel free to use a few drops of liquid smoke and regular sweet paprika (or add spicy paprika for some spice). But smoked paprika is a really great ingredient to have on hand.
Nutrition
See the web story to make these lentil cakes!
I am making these now....the recipe does not state when to add in the cooked quinoa and the walnut meal. Do you suggest adding it before using the immersion blender or afterwards when adding the remaining lentils? I added it in after blending...just wondering what you intended.
Hi Sherrie, I added the note to add it before blending, but it should work just fine after too, since quinoa and walnut meal are pretty fine and not chunky.