This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Veggies and Lentils in Peanut Sauce. Easy weeknight meal. Yes, add lentils to Thai Peanut Butter Sauce! Use other nut butters. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Yeast-free Corn-free Recipe
You know what goes well with that delicious peanut sauce, yes lentils! Red lentils cook up super quick. Meanwhile, stir fry some veggies, blend up the peanut sauce, throw everything in the same skillet and serve unsuspecting people! Serve over rice or grains of choice or wide noodles of choice. You want to pick up as much sauce as possible!
You know this was coming right? Lentils in everything! Lentils are much easier to digest and ready within minutes. You can also make this with cooked brown lentils, cooked chickpeas etc. Simmer in the sauce longer so the bigger beans pick up the flavors. Or add Tofu or steamed tempeh and simmer for a bit.
More Lentil and Peanut Recipes from the blog
- Crunchy Salad with Firecracker Chickpeas and Peanut sauce
- Vegan Carrot Peanut Soup
- Thai Layered Dip. Vegan Recipe
- Kung Pao Lentils
- Sweet and Sour Lentils and Peanut Mango Lettuce Wraps.
Don’t miss a post. Follow the blog’s feed on RSS readers like Feedly or BlogLovin!
In other news, Where does a 300 lb NFL Player who is vegan get his protein and calorie intake?
This video of a rooster at the Happily Ever Esther farm. The rooster is digging to make a place to sit, which is so like what our pom Chewie does on the bed. All animals, so much alike.
There’s a new vegan gameshow on the webz. A live, weekly food trivia gameshow called “The Sexy Vegan’s Flex Your Foodie” on Periscope.tv app. Join in Brian @thesexyvegan every Thursday at 7:45 pm.
Veggies and Lentils in Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
For the peanut or almond sauce:
- 4 tbsp or more peanut butter or almond butter, I usually use almond butter
- 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or use coconut aminos to make soy-free
- 1 to 2 tsp lime juice
- zest of 1/2 a kaffir lime , or regular lime
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1/4 tsp tamarind concentrate, optional
- 2 to 3 teaspoons Sriracha sauce or asian chili sauce, to taste
- 1/4 tsp or more cayenne
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp or more sugar
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 cup coconut milk
For the lentils:
- 1/2 cup masoor dal, quick cooking split lentils, washed and drained
- 1.5 cups water
For the Veggies:
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/3 cup sliced red or white onion
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup sliced carrots
- half a zucchini thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp fresh basil sliced
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients under peanut sauce until smooth. Taste and adjust salt, sweet and spice if needed. Keep aside.
- Cook the lentils in 1.5 cups of water with a dash of salt and sugar, over medium heat for 10 minutes. The lentils will cook to just about done. If they are crunchy, cook a minute or so longer. Drain and keep aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, add oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until translucent. 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add bell peppers and carrots and cook for another 2 minutes, Add in the zucchini and basil. Add some baby greens like spinach if you like.
- Add the peanut sauce and mix well. Add the lentils and mix in. Reduce heat to medium and bring the sauce to a boil. About 4 minutes.
- Taste and adjust salt, sweet and spice. Check if the lentils are cooked to preference. Cook longer for softer lentils. Take off heat. Cover and let sit for another few minutes. Garnish with pepper flakes or cayenne and serve over rice, grains or wide noodles of choice.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this for dinner last week and eating leftovers for lunch today. This is so delicious, thank you very much for the recipe! I used cashew milk (about 1/2C) instead of coconut milk since it’s what I had. Will definitely make it again. My husband loved it as well!
Awesome!
I love your Indian cookbook and your recipes Richa. Thanks so much for sharing with us. Do you think almond milk can be used successfully in the red lentil peanut dish? Or would it be too thin? I can’t wait to try this.
Hi Sita, yes you can use almond milk. If the sauce is too thin, you can add some ground cashews and cook for another few minutes to thicken. or cook longer so the lentils start to disintegrate and the disintegrating lentils will thicken the sauce.
This was such a big hit! I’m going to make it tonight with tofu for a couple friends. Thanks for the great vegan recipe!
Yay!!
This was great! The lentils break down and thicken the sauce! Love these flavors!
My suggestion: since it calls for 1 cup of coconut milk… if using a can of milk (which is 1 1/2 cups), make more sauce (increase the other ingredients by 50%) and use the whole can so you don’t have just half a cup in the fridge waiting for another recipe. Use 2 cups of blended sauce for this recipe and store the remaining 1 cup of sauce in the fridge for tossing on veggies or salads during the week for a quick meal.
thats a great suggestion Laura.
Delicious blend of flavours, and so easy to do!
Thank you Joanne
This is a great peanut sauce! Subbed out the sriacha sauce with mango hot sauce, and coconut milk with water and came out DELICIOUS! Also, I poured it over noodles yum yummy yum
Awesome! Thanks.