Description
This savory, nutrition-packed, easy Vegan Lentil Kofta with Tzatziki celebrates beautiful, delicious Middle Eastern foodways. You can create this lentil kofta recipe without added oils, salts, or sugars, and gluten-free to fit into many diet preferences.
Ingredients
Scale
Lentil Kofta:
- ½ cup brown lentils, uncooked
- ½ cup red lentils (whole, do not use split lentils)
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 small onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
Vegan Tzatziki:
- 1 cup plain, unsweetened vegan cultured yogurt (i.e., soy, almond, coconut, make your own here)
- ½ small lemon, juiced
- ½ small cucumber, peeled, shaved
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint
- Pinch salt (optional)
- Pinch black pepper
Serve with (as desired):
- Leafy greens
- Cucumber slices
- Tomato slices
- Onion slices
- Olives
- Lemon slices
Instructions
- Place brown and red lentils in a medium pot, add broth, cover, and cook over medium heat until very tender, about 25 minutes. Drain any excess liquid. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a small sauté pan or skillet and cook onions and garlic for five minutes.
- Add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan or skillet, along with parsley, mint, paprika, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, and red chili flakes and sauté for an additional 1-2 minutes while stirring to toast spices. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Place cooked lentils in a large mixing bowl and mash with potato masher until smooth. Add onion-garlic-spice mixture, tomato paste, and bread crumbs and mix well to make a smooth mixture. Cover and place in refrigerate to chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Remove kofta mixture from refrigerator and scoop up about ¼ cup of mixture per kofta. Shape with hands into a cylindrical shape (or may shape into round patties). Should make 12 kofta. Arrange on baking sheet.
- Place baking sheet in the center rack of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until sightly browned on surface and firm.
- While kofta is baking, make tzatziki by mixing together yogurt, lemon juice, cucumber, garlic, parsley, mint, salt (optional), and black pepper in a small bowl. Chill until serving time. Makes six 1/4-cup servings (or about 1 ½ cups) of tzatziki.
- To serve, arrange two kofta with ¼ cup tzatziki on each plate. Alternatively, arrange kofta on a serving platter with leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives and lemons (as desired), and serve tzatziki in a small bowl on the side.
Notes
Make this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Make this recipe with no added salt, oil, and sugar by omitting the olive oil and salt, and sautéing onion and spices in broth.
Make your own cultured soy yogurt for this recipe here.
- Prep Time: 6 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 179
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 362 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 27 g
- Protein: 9 g