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If you love lentils like I do, make these asap! Sweet and sour and spicy and completely different from how I usually make my lentils. Lentil Dals are usually very savory or spicy. The Sweet and sour sauce has almond butter and other ingredients to simulate hoisin sauce and works amazingly well with the cooked lentils.Â
Loaded up to some crisp lettuce leaves with these lentils, topped it with some mango. and yum! Add cilantro or peanuts, mung sprouts, carrot ribbons or all! All plant based, whole food protein, gluten and grain free meal. If you have cooked lentils, this is ready in 10 minutes!
Happy Wednesday!
What am I listening to today. A R Rahman again :).
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More asian inspired dishes on the blog
This Spicy Orange Tofu
Teriyaki Tempeh with Soba
Crispy Orange Cauliflower
Veggie Bao- steamed buns
Shumai/Siumai Dumplings filled with zucchini and broccoli in garlic sauce
General Tso’s Tempeh
Steps:
Soak and cook the lentils with salt and pepper until tender crisp.
Mix the sweet and sour sauce ingredients
Add to lentils and cook until it thickens.
Serve in lettuce wraps, or over rice or other grains!
Sweet and Sour Lentils
Ingredients Â
For the Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, Use tamari for gluten-free or coconut aminos for soy-free.
- 1 tablespoon almond butter, or peanut butter or tahini
- 1 tablespoon sambal oelek
- 1 teaspoon sriracha, optional, or add more sambal oelek, to taste
- 1/2 inch ginger, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
For the Sweet and Sour Lentils
- 15 ounce can of brown lentils, drained and rinsed, or 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils. See recipe in notes for making the lentils from scratch.
- 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper, optional
For Garnish
- chopped ripe mango, or other juicy fruit, such as oranges
- cilantro or green onion
- sesame seeds, or chopped peanuts
InstructionsÂ
- Add the sweet and sour sauce ingredients to a skillet and cook over medium heat, and warm for a minute. Press and mix the almond butter until it mixes into the sauce. Stir in the lentils and bell pepper, and bring to a good boil for 3-4 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and flavor, if needed.
- Serve the sweet and sour lentils at room temperature stuffed into lettuce wraps with garnishes of choice. Or, serve them hot over rice with garnishes on top!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
this is still a quick, easy and very flavorful family favorite. Thanks again Richa.
So glad you like this classic!
I still love this recipe! Thanks Richa for an oldie but goodie.
Some things never get old.
These are delicious. Left out the garlic powder and didn’t soak the lentils, but otherwise followed exactly. Will definitely make again.
PS This recipe uses about half the sugar of other sweet & sour lentil recipes. Yet they were plenty sweet enough. Definitely a plus in my mind..
Awesome
Can the lentils be simply cooked without being soaked first?
Hello. What a delicious looking recipe. I would love to make this for dinner tonight but I dont have Asian chili paste. I have sweet chili sauce and lee kum kee brand chili garlic sauce. Would either of these work instead?
i think those 2 would be a perfect alternative
This was excellent! I will be adding this to my lunch rotation. I didn’t use the Lee kum kee brand garlic chili sauce and it worked out beautifully. Thank you for such an awesome recipe. I will be purchasing your book!
Oops. I meant I did use the chili sauce 😄
Super tasty! Used up some leftover French green lentils and served with some coconut brown rice on the side. The perfect summer dinner and sooo easy and quick. Will be putting this into my rotation!
thank you ! Yay
Is it going to be spicy if I leave out the sriracha? Should I also leave out, or use less of, the sambal oelek? I’d love it to still be flavorful but not too spicy for a kiddo to eat. Thank you,
Yes leave out sriracha and use less sambal oelek
I used Korean gochujang for the chili paste, which is definitely a different flavor than sambal, but it seemed to go well. I was nervous about putting peanut butter with lentils but it was great! I had it over rice and substituted a tablespoon of lemon juice for the mangoes (though it sounds awesome with mango!) and brown sugar for the maple syrup.
Awesome!
This recipe is delicious! And easy! The first time I made it, I brought it to a neighborhood pot luck. The next day, three neighbors emailed me asking for the recipe 🙂 Each time I have made it since, I have gotten a similar response. Thank you!
I had to post again, because the first time it didn’t take my five stars
Thanks!!
This recipe is delicious! And easy! The first time I made it, I brought it to a neighborhood pot luck. The next day, three neighbors emailed me asking for the recipe 🙂 Each time I have made it since, I have gotten a similar response. Thank you!