BBQ Lentil Farro Cauliflower Casserole. BBQ Casserole with Red Lentils, Farro, Veggies, Spinach, Cauliflower all layered and baked. Amazing Flavors! Vegan Nutfree Recipe. Can be Soyfree, Glutenfree with rice, quinoa or steel cut oats
Oh hey its Sunday! Although it should be getting warm and springy, we still have some cloudy and showery days. And this Casserole fits in just right. It is warm, hearty and filling and uses bbq sauce and herbs to remind us of the warm summers to come.
This casserole comes together very quickly and makes an amazing filling meal. Just layer the veggies, spinach, lentils, farro. Then sprinkle in the spices. Layer the cauliflower on top, add water/broth and bake. Just a few minutes active time to assemble, then wait for the bake. This is easily made gluten-free with steel cut oats, rice, quinoa or millet or use other grains such as freekeh or couscous for variation.
This BBQ Casserole is Easy, Delicious with amazing flavors and textures! This Casserole was supposed to be in my Book, but got missed in all the Chapter reorganization coz there weer so many meals!
More Bakes from the blog!
- Lentil Rice Casserole with Chickpea Dumplings – so fun
- Quinoa Black Bean Casserole with Cheddar Cream Sauce Hearty
- Nacho Mac and Cheese Bake with Tempeh “meat” – Wow!
- Spinach Florentine Bake
- Ziti Cheddar Bake with Crisp Brussels Sprouts Easy!
BBQ Lentil Farro Cauliflower Bake. BBQ Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon organic safflower or other neutral oil
- 1/2 (0.5) medium onion chopped
- 1/2 cup (64 g) chopped or sliced carrots
- 1 1/2 cups (61.5 g) packed baby or chopped spinach
- 1/2 cup (90 g) red lentils (uncooked)
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) farro (uncooked) , or use white rice or quinoa or millet to make it gluten-free
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) curry powder or garam masala , or use bbq seasoning or chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) paprika or smoked paprika
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) oregano
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) black pepper
- 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 10 oz or 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup bbq sauce , store bought or soy-free bbq sauce from Everyday Kitchen book
- Sliced cauliflower half a head, sliced to 1/4 inch, not thicker than 1/2 inch
- 1.75 cups (420 ml) water or veggie broth
- 1 to 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- chopped onion , cilantro, bbq sauce and lime juice for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread or spray oil on the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle onion all over. Add carrots and spinach evenly. Spread the lentils and farro evenly. sprinkle all the spices and salt.
- Spread the chopped tomatoes. Drizzle the bbq sauce. Add 1 teaspoon brown sugar for sweeter if needed. Place sliced cauliflower florets on top. Add water to the dish from the edges. Spray oil on the cauliflower and sprinkle nutritional yeast on top.
- Bake uncovered for 50 to 55 minutes. Check if the cauliflower is cooked through then Cool for 5-10 mins and serve with a garnish of onion, cilantro, lime juice. Drizzle some bbq sauce if needed. Serve with tortillas or garlic bread.
Notes
Nutrition
Its Earth Day! Here are some ways we can make a difference
ToothBrushes: 5 Billion plastic toothbrushes end up in landfills each year, clogging up this planet, not biodegrading and getting into animals and us. Choose Biodegradable or Recyclable options. I love these Bamboo toothbrushes where even the packaging is biodegradable!
Grocery: Almost everytime we get grocery delivery, everything get packed in plastic. Oranges, bananas, melons, onions etc dont really need any packaging. Reusable totes, reusable produce bags, farmers markets are some options to reduce plastic use.
Clothes: Fast fashion clothing is very resource intensive (half trillion gallons of fresh water!, materials, shipping etc), and is also responsible for toxic pollution with the materials, dyes used and then disposal of discarded clothes. Gone are the days when the piece of clothing would survive generations. I still have a few from my grandma. They are not fraying yet and fashion cycles, and I will still use them. Choose quality, fair trade, sustainable options. I usually look up our local ethical boutique (drizzle and shine) for brand options.
Food: It would be hard to counter the vast resource usage (land, water, food), carbon footprint, and pollution by animal farming compared to plant farming. A large percentage of green house gasses(CO2, Methane), trillions of gallons of water, half the worlds crops are grown to feed livestock, billions of tonnes of animals waste, Rainforest destruction. Eating more plants cuts all of these numbers down immensely. Go Vegan!
Bottled Water: Born out of convenience, these bottles have contributed millions of tonnes in environmental pollution. 50 billions bottles of water are used each year in US alone, most of which end up discarded in landfills and many end up in the ocean. They dont biodegrade, and break down and enter the food chain. The production of the bottles and all sorts of plastics for any of the above, uses billions of barrels of oil. Potable water is so easily available everywhere, we just need 1 cup, 1 bottle or any 1 holder to get some.
There is just one planet we have right now for all of us, for life, for the future us. This one beautiful place.
Things that I dont have obvious options for right now.
Online shopping. We do quite a bit of online shopping for anything from usual house supplies, grocery, clothes etc (most of it is because I cannot walk in big stores). And the amount of waste generated from the packaging is incredible.
Toxic fumes: Every other day, we encounter fumes around the community, from things like paint, stains, thinners, cleaning liquids, and what not. I am now extremely sensitive to toxic fumes so I notice them instantly. It makes me wonder the amount toxic things we are releasing into the environment, into our homes.
Have some suggestions? Do leave them in the comments below.
Sue
This was an amazing recipe. So many seemingly different flavor profiles worked together perfectly. Great textures, too. Thanks Richa.
Vegan Richa Support
yay!
Sarah
Yum yum yum! I actually didn’t have any BBQ sauce in the house but liked the idea of this recipe. So I went ahead and doubled the spices, added all the recipe ingredients as suggested including the sugar, but just left out the BBQ sauce… Omg it was sooo good! The whole family enjoyed, including my 2 year old. This one is going to the ‘keeper’ section for me! Thanks Richa!
Vegan Richa Support
it’s a keeper!
Sara
Unbelievable! So easy, nutritious and absolutely delicious. Definitely saving this one and sharing with those who don’t understand how wonderful plant-based meals can be! Thanks Richa! Your recipes never disappoint.
Vegan Richa Support
I hope they’ll love it too =)
Louise
Excellent recipe, and very flexible. The flavours are absolutely amazing. So easy to make. This is a definite keeper, I’ve already shared it! Thanks!
eric
This was really good and so, so satisfying. I used quinoa and ate it with tortillas, like a taco, topped with chopped fresh cilantro and green onions. Can’t wait to experiment with different ingredients based off of this technique. So easy to make. thanks!
Vegan Richa Support
That’s Great! Thank you so much for your review
Shiree
Would it work to use frozen cauliflower? Maybe thaw it and slice it? Or do you think it would get mushy?
Richa
it should be fine
Jill B.
EASY, one dish, delicious meal! Double the recipe and so glad I did.
Katie
What size baking dish would you recommend? What dimensions?
Thanks!
Richa
this is a 1.5 qt dish, 9 by 6 inch. You can use 8 by 8, 9 by 9 inch or similar size
Katie
Thank you!
S
Sooooooo good!! I used smokey chipotle sauce instead of the bbq gave it an extra kick. Love that the recipe servings can be adjusted too.
Richa
yay!
Keren
This was a great recipe for using cauliflower and spinach. I used green lentils and millet, all the spices mentioned and a small sweet potato in place of the carrot. Great with a bit of lemon juice squeezed in.
Richa
awesome!
Carla
My son gets stomach ailments when I cook with nutritional yeast. Will this recipe be OK without it? Should I sprinkle something else on the cauliflower? Thanks! I love your recipes!!!
Richa
yes leave it out.
Carla
Richa ~ this was an amazing recipe. Thank you!!!
Richa
thanks!!
Zach
I finally bought your cookbook so I could get your BBQ sauce recipe. Worth it! Normally I am not a fan of cookbooks since it’s so easy to find recipes along with reviews online but I’ve really enjoyed flipping though your book. Unlike many bloggers all your recipes have been winners so I’m excited to try many flavors I wouldn’t normally choose myself. Thank you for making vegan cooking so much fun!
Richa
Thank you for getting the book! I am glad you like the flavors I mix up 🙂 Happy Cooking!
Lina
I’ve been making your recipes for a while now and love them. I was wondering how this would work with broccoli instead of cauliflower?
Richa
should work fine.
Karen
Hey Vegan Richa!
I’m recovering from a nasty cold and the last thing I wanted to do was cook tonight. But since I live in the middle of no where I have no choice, especially because my refrigerator is empty all but a head of cauliflower, a few carrots and some almost too old baby spinach. So I typed casserole into my recipe search and up popped your recipe here. Amazingly I had all the ingredients except farro so I went for quinoa instead.
I choose the garam masala option (the recipe from your book). I used smoked paprika, 1 tsp oregano, and 1/4 tsp of cayenne.
It was so simple and easy to put together even my exhausted recovering self found it fun to assemble.
Then, I got to relax and drink a warm cup of tea while perfection occured and my house began to smell amazing.
Honestly, it tasted AMAZING!!! I was skeptical with the barbecue sauce and all but there was no need to be. It all cooked into one glorious dish. This will be on repeat now for an easy week night meal and a great treat to take for a potluck.
You hit it out of the park again. Thank you!!!
Richa
thats so amazing! Hope you feel better soon!
Sue
This recipe had every thing I love and looked very easy. It was surprising how the Farro and lentils were able to cook not being drowned in liquid. This is a new ‘go to’ favorite and looking forward to my healthy lunch tomorrow.
Richa
awesome!
Claire
Hi, have you tried freezing this, if so do you freeze it cooked or not. Just to add love the food you make.
Richa
Thanks! freeze it cooked and reheat. should work.
Claire
Hi, Thank you, it came out great.
Richa
awesome!
RSK
What can I use instead of tomatoes?
Richa
some pureed roasted red bell pepper and 2-3 tbsp more bbq sauce. most bbq sauces contain tomato, so if its an allergy, issue, i am not sure what you could substitute the sauce for
Diane marie
Yumm, yumm, yumm. Made this dish yesterday .. Had it again today.
Richa
Awesome!
Sue
OMG Richa, this was pure comfort food. I loved the various textures with the slight chew of the farro. This recipe is amazing!
Richa
Awesome! You must have made it from the test blog. i missed adding this in the book with all the reorgs 🙂
Jill
I have been making your recipes for several months now, and just have to take the time to thank you! Your recipes are amazingly tasty, and so many are pretty easy. I bought both your books, but hate to not try your newest recipes from this blog. I made this casserole last night, and my husband and I were in heaven! And it was so easy! Keep doing what you are doing, and know that you are making a difference in the lives of many people like me, most of whom you will never hear from.
Richa
Thats awesome!! Thank you for the wonderful note. I am happy the food turns out well and you try the recipes often! 🙂
Nicky
This look super yummy! Definitely perfect for a Sunday family brunch! 🙂
Camilla Gaudioso
you are just the best. made this for dinner tonight. DELISH!
Richa
AWesome!
Jean
Yum! I’m definitely going to make that! And I happen to have all the ingredients already! Thank you for mentioning Drizzle & Shine in your post. I appreciate your support!
Ashleigh Blenkinsopp
I made this today and added a tiny bit of cinnamon and sprinkled some vegan cheese on top. Absolutely deeee lishhhh! I love your recipes, your french toast with caramelised bananas is a favourite in our house, we have it with a good glug of golden syrup and devour the lot in sub 5 minutes!
You have inspired me to start my own vegan blog on https://froootfly.weebly.com and just yesterday I published my first ever blog post!!
I love how vegans can eat so liberally and that there is so much variety, you don’t even have to look very hard, everything is already out there! Thank you for your blog and thank you for helping me increase the variety of foods I eat!
Richa
Thats awesome!! Indeed, Going vegan and blogging has increased the variety that I eat exponentially. Good luck with blogging!
Cassie Thuvan Tran
Timing could NOT have been more appropriate! For my Food Science class, I essentially have to create a meatless dish spotlighting a certain grain, and my lab group and I got assigned to farro! I was pretty uncertain of what to make, but when I saw this recipe in my e-mail, I know it has to be the one to replicate. Thank you so much for this glorious casserole! It looks to die for and I am certain it will slay at my lab presentation!
Richa
Good Luck!
Maud Falken
I love your site & cookbooks. I am also from Seattle, have a central nervous system disorder & am vegan. I wondered if you had ever seen a book called “Medical Medium”. I am doing the program in his book and my nervous system is slowly getting better. He might be able to help you too. He’s a big believer in plant-based living. Thx so much for helping us all with your delicious recipes.
Richa
Thank you for the recommendation. I added the book to my library requests and should get it soon. Good to hear that it is helping you.
Imrose
how will the use as I intend to use rice…no use of water?? Pls help.
Richa
there is about 2 cups of water which is enough for the lentils and rice to cook.
Nina
Hi, thanks for recipe. Did you use fresh tomatoes or canned chopped in juice? Which works best?
Richa
canned. fresh will work too. Add 1/4 cup more water.
Nina
Thanks for replying. I will try canned tomatoes first. perhaps in the Summer when fresh tomatoes at their best I will try them.
Anindita Mou
Its really unique testy recipe. My mom always read your all recipe and try to make some yummy food. I appreciate your work.
Best regards
Anindita Mou
Owner| Food & Health Blogger
https://besthealthyproteinbars.com
Vegan Richa Support
thanks!
Maria Koutsogiannis
This casserole looks so simple but delicious. Can’t wait to give it a try!