This filling and flavorful lentil salad with tahini dressing is made so easy by using jarred lentils. It’ll come together in 10 minutes, and is an absolutely showstopping salad that will feed a crowd. Full of nutrients and and delicious Middle Eastern flavors!
Jump to:
- What’s so good about this Mediterranean Lentil salad?
- Ingredients you need:
- How to make this easy jarred lentil salad:
- Storing leftover lentil salad:
- Making lentil salad in advance:
- What to serve this with:
- Recipe tips and tricks:
- Lentil salad FAQs:
- For more delicious salad recipes:
- Lentil Salad with Tahini Dressing
What’s so good about this Mediterranean Lentil salad?
- It’s made using jarred or canned lentils, so you don’t have to do any cooking. This makes the process much easier and less time consuming.
- The tahini dressing is delicious, with garlic, lemon, honey and cumin. It’s so full of flavor, and really simple to make.
- Lentils are so good in a salad, a different take on more traditional lentil main dishes. The combination of the lentils with the tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers and fresh herbs gives a beautiful appearance and lots of flavors that complement each other.
- Because lentils are so filling, this works as a main dish as well as a starter salad.
Ingredients you need:
Lentils: I used green lentils, and I used jarred ones. All I needed to do was rinse and drain them and they were ready to go! If you have dry lentils you prefer using, you can absolutely do that, just cook them until they are a little tender but still with some bite, 15-20 minutes.
Cucumber/carrot/bell pepper: All these should be diced into small pieces, so it’s easy to fit them into a mouthful. I used a yellow bell pepper, and the color is so vibrant, but you can substitute with green or red if you prefer.
Cherry tomatoes: You can also go with regular diced tomatoes, but I love the sweetness and little pop that halved cherry tomatoes give
Green onions: A great way to get a little bite, but with a milder type of onion than typical white or red onions. These also give a lovely color.
Dill and parsley: Fresh herbs that give lots of fresh color and flavor
Tahini: The base of this delicious dressing! Lentil salad with tahini dressing is next level.
Lemon Juice: I’d go with freshly squeezed lemon not the bottled stuff
Olive Oil: Good quality extra virgin olive oil
Honey: You can also sub with maple syrup if you’d rather keep this a vegan lentil salad
Garlic: A little crushed garlic to really enhance the flavor of the dressing
Salt, black pepper, and cumin: A really basic way to season the dressing. In the Middle East we always add cumin to lentils for both the flavor, and because cumin is known to ease digestion.
How to make this easy jarred lentil salad:
- Start the prep by cutting the carrot, bell pepper, and cucumber into small pieces. Chop the parsley and dill, slice the cherry tomatoes and green onions, and rinse the jarred lentils.
- Combine all these ingredients together in your serving dish.
- Separately, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, garlic, salt, pepper and cumin to make the tahini salad dressing.
- Pour over the lentils and toss to combine.
Storing leftover lentil salad:
Since there aren’t any leafy greens in here, this actually stores pretty well. It’ll last for about 3 days tightly covered in the fridge- although I do prefer storing it without the dressing tossed through if you know you might have leftovers, it’ll still be good after dressing.
Making lentil salad in advance:
You can do a lot of prep in advance. You can chop the herbs and veggies and store in an airtight container for up to 2 days in advance.
You can also make the tahini dressing for the lentil salad a few days in advance and store in a jar or tightly covered. Right before mixing, toss everything together.
What to serve this with:
I like this as is, as a light but filling lunch. You can also serve this alongside grilled chicken, salmon, or protein of your choice for an even more fulfilling meal.
Recipe tips and tricks:
- Rinse the lentils well, to get rid of any of that jar residue.
- Taste the creamy tahini dressing after mixing, and adjust seasonings as you like!
- Add crumbled feta cheese, a handful of leafy greens like arugula, grilled chicken strips or flaked salmon, drained canned tuna, some chopped walnuts or slivered pistachios for extra oomph. You can also add in some cooked quinoa, couscous or brown rice.
- Cut the cucumbers, bell peppers, and carrot into small pieces so it’s easy to grab a mouthful of the salad and get a little of everything.
Lentil salad FAQs:
Yes, a good 2-3 days in advance, but I’d recommend storing the dressing separately and tossing it through right before serving.
Of course! Just cook them until they are tender but with a little bit of bite and drain.
If you substitute the honey in the dressing for maple syrup, then this will be a great vegan salad option.
For more delicious salad recipes:
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Lentil Salad with Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
For the salad:
- 1 jar cooked lentils, drained 14.5 oz /400g
- 1 cucumber, diced small
- 1 carrot, diced small
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced small
- handful sliced cherry tomatoes, about a heaped 1/2 cup
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup dill, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
For the dressing:
- Whisk together all the dressing ingredients until smooth and combined. Set aside.
For the salad:
- Combine the lentils, cucumber, carrot, bell pepper, tomatoes, green onions, chopped dill and parsley in a serving dish. Toss well to combine.
- Add the dressing to the salad, toss well to combine again and serve immediately.
Nancy says
I would like to make this using dried lentils. How much dry lentils would be equivalent to “one jar”? One half cup? more?
Farah Abumaizar says
I’d say about 3/4 cup of dried lentils would equal a 15oz jar of lentils!
Paula says
I had never had lentils in a salad before but this was absolutely fantastic. And that dressing was incredible!!!
Farah Abumaizar says
So happy to hear that!! Thanks Paula