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.
Recipe Card
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 (1 or 2 tsp) lime juice
- zest of 1/2 a kaffir lime or regular lime
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) tamarind concentrate optional
- 2 to 3 teaspoons (2 to 3 tsp) Sriracha sauce or asian chili sauce to taste
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) or more cayenne
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 1 Tbsp or more sugar
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) sesame oil
- 1 cup (226 ml) coconut milk
For the lentils:
- 1/2 cup (96 g) masoor dal, quick cooking split lentils washed and drained
- 1.5 cups (375 ml) water
For the Veggies:
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/3 cup (4.67 g) sliced red or white onion
- 1/2 cup (74.5 g) thinly sliced red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup (32 g) 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
Amanda
Delicious! Didn’t have basil on hand and so omitted it. No coconut milk in the house either (rare!), so used Ripple unsweetened original milk in its place. Turned out great. Terrific recipe, though your never disappoint!
Richa
awesome!
nixter
hi richa
i amde this tonight ut when i blended the peanut sauce ingredients my sauce when green du ti the cilantro ? should i not have added it in ? it tasted nice but i felt i was lacking something maybe as i dont have that sweet a tooth i should have used less cocounut milk and added something more tangy – i put a bit more peanut butter in then the recipe – what could i do and how does yours not go green ! i checked the recipe again in case i had missed anything but i hadnt , mmmm?
Richa
its the additional peanut butter, that will need more flavor in terms of salt, tang etc. I use loosely to moderately packed cilantro. with lesser amount the color is less green. Color doesnt really matter. Alsocheck your peanut butter, some pb have sugar added in, which will increase th sweetness of the sauce
GB
I have both peanut and nut allergy….what do you recommend as substitutions?
Richa
sunflower seed butter is a great sub
Christine
I have a bag of key limes, do you think they could be used instead of kaffir or regular limes? Thanks!
Richa
yes
Emma Jane
I made this last night. Delicious recipe, Thank you x
Richa
yay
Kristina
WOWZA!!! Amazing recipe! Couple of modifications I made: I used powdered peanut butter (2:1 ratio PB2:peanut butter), light coconut milk and I added kaffir line leaves to the sauce. Holy moly. My new fave. THANK YOU!!!
Richa
awesome!
Lauren
Made this two weeks in a row – SO good!!!!
Richa
yay!
Deanna
This recipe is sooo good! It has become a staple in my house. Sometimes I will add kale and/or cauliflower to the mix too.
Richa
yay!
Jade edmundson
The sauce is quite good, but the lentils made it pasty and gritty which, IMHO is not a texture that compliments this flavour of sauce. I will use this sauce with a peanut or cashew stir fry, and replace the lentils with tofu or shelled edamame for protein, and pair it with rice or noodles. I found that the sauce recipe made enough to double the vegetables called for, otherwise the veggies were swimming in the sauce, which is super high in fat, so for me, the less sauce per serving the better.
I also doubled the garlic called for, replaced the cilantro with italian parsley.
Richa
yes, definitely use the sauce however you like. I wouldnt describe the lentil texture as gritty, and lentils might get pasty if you overcook. once just cooked, they are a great addition tothe sauce for me. You can use anything in the sauce based onyour texture preference. People have also made it with brown lentils which dont get pasty.
Linda
This is so good but very spicy and makes a LOT of sauce. I used cauliflower instead of zucchini and it was great
Richa
Reduce the sriracha and other heat ingredients. There is a lot of overall flavor, so you can omit or reduce the heat
Courtney
I LOVE this recipe so much I make it at least once a week. Like some other readers though I just heap in the sriracha.
Christina Papulis
Loved this dish. I have made many recipes from your book and all have brought pleasure. You are opening the taste buds of this Greek girl to the flavors of the world.
Marc
Made this tonight, it was amazing! Tasted the sauce before combining with lentils and it was honestly as good as or better than the Thai we get at restaurants. Found your recipes through Insta, glad I did. Don’t need animal products when you can eat this well plant based.
Sheri
Disregard my confusing peanut vs almond question…was comparing 2 different recipes.
FYI, made this for Sunday lunch. Delicious!
Sheri
Love your recipes; haven’t tried one that hasn’t been great. As a newly hatched vegan, I find myself searching for your recipes first. Quick question – if choosing almond butter as an alternative, would swapping peanuts for almonds make sense or does the flavor suffer?
Jen
Made this tonight – with roasted cauliflower, eggplant and carrot. The sauce is spicy and fresh – delicious. Going into the regular rotation.
Richa
awesome!
Chandra
The BEST vegan recipe I’ve made to date, thanks so much
Richa
awesome! Thanks!
Molly
Wow, I loved this so much! Thank you!
Jackie
Absolutely delicious! We have used the sauce with Tofu or with Quorn…and with veggies. Gorgeously tasty.
I had forgotten to buy Sriracha sauce, so used Tabasco sauce ( hope that is not sacrilidge!!!).
Also have gone half and half peanut butter and home-made cashew cream.
This is our favourite vegan dish since we went vegan. Love your site 🙂
have just bought your book. My non Vegan husband loves your food.
Michelle
This has been a regular in our dinner rotation for years and I thought I should leave a comment. It’s delicious! We really love it. We just use a bag of California blend veggies (broccoli, cauliflower and carrots) along with peppers and onions. I like the idea of blending in dates mentioned above. I’ll try that next time. Thanks for an awesome, healthy and hearty meal!!!
Jacquelyn
Recipe looks delicious! Can I use canned lentils?
Richa
yes
Rosa
Is this good for lowering high cholesterol?
Richa
dont know
Kelli Adams
Do you prefer the canned coconut milk or coconut milk in the carton for this recipe? Thanks!
Kelli Adams
I just saw your response above regarding the coconut milk. My apologies, I must have missed that the first time I read the comments.
S
One word. Delicious!!!!!
Thank you!!
Hannah Cho
Would it be ok to omit the sugar? I am trying to minimize added sugars in my diet right now and was wondering omitting the sugar would significantly alter the taste of the dish.
Richa
It does add a balance to the flavor. You can blend in 2 dates or some maple syrup
Sarah Louise
This is absolutely delicious. My partner kept saying our home spelled like a yummy restaurant. I didn’t have time to cook up lentils so I used chickpeas. I also put in cauliflower. I will definitely make this again.
Richa
Thats awesome!
Sonia
I made this and it was much appreciated by the everyone. Lentils make this super filling and a satisfying recipie altogether. Thanks so much!
Sonia
Thank you so much for this recipie! I got all the ingredients to make this for dinner tonight. I will be posting this and leaving your website for information (instagram:Instacleanfoods); this was so thoroughly informative. Thanks again!
Liz
This is the BEST peanut sauce recipe I have ever made – I was literally dancing in my chair. Thanks Richa for the delicious vegan recipes!!!
Richa
this pb sauce is so good!!
Val
Ummmmm ….. wowzers!!! I’m in love 🙂 So simple and flavourful … thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
Mina
Third recipe of yours I made with success. I didn’t have tamarind, so I used rice vinegar like someone mentioned. I cheated by using ginger paste and minced my garlic that way I didn’t have to wash a blender. Ingredients for the Almond sauce blended well with the heat. All the flavours came together beautifully and taste phenomenal. Thanks for sharing your delicious recipes.
Richa
Awesome!! yes this nut butter sauce is amazing even with adjustments!
Megan
Soooo goood!! Meat eater husband goes back for seconds every time I make it!
Anu
Made this for dinner last night. It was amazing!
Richa
Awesome!
Sarah
I make this every couple months! A favorite in my rotation! Thank you so much!
Kristen
Absolutely delicious!!! So flavorful and filling!
Esme
Hi is there a chance I could get the amount of calories in this dish? By the way I cooked it today and it was super delish, it’s going to become a family meal for sure x
Richa
If you have my second book, it has this recipe with the values. i am updating the blog recipes and the newer recipes all have values. Hoping to get some in december.
Mary
For months I have been fantasizing about making a full flavored dish in a spicy peanut butter sauce. Today I tried this recipe. Love ❤️ the recipe and result . Will definitely make it a part of my practice. Thank you.
Kat
Used the sauce on kelp noodles with steamed veg. Super good.
Haeli
This was too good to NOT comment. Holy moly!! I had low expectations because most of my home made “coconut curry” attempts have failed, but this recipe was full on resteraunt quality! So creamy, so flavorful. This will be a new staple!
R Hershey
I can not tell you how many times I have made this recipe since you first posted. I crave it regularly and it is in my usual cooking rotation! Great recipe – thanks!
Jenny
I have made this recipe a few times now. Doubled it last night and still had only a tiny bit leftover. So incredibly delicious! My kids usually complain when I serve lentils, but not with this dish!
Janean
Do you have any suggestions on how to keep this dish flavorful for someone with a hot pepper allergy? The reviews are amazing and I would love to try it.
Richa
the dish is pretty flavorful without heat too. If you are ok with black pepper or white pepper then you can use those. Or just add more of red bell pepper.
Jocelyn
I LOVE this recipe!!! It’s one of my new staple vegan dishes!!!
Samantha Thomas
I’m currently eating this and I must say it is to DIE for! Has a delicious flavor. I’m not a big spice person so I left out the sriracha sauce, so it now has the perfect amount of spice (for me). Thanks so much for this recipe, will definitely be making it again!
Adrienne Y
Amazing recipe!! Pinterest win! Reminds me of a Thai red curry
Jasmin - veeatcookbake
I definitely will try this recipe. Maybe I would try both variations. I love almonds and my hubby loves peanuts. Maybe I will mix the two ingredients.
Susan M
Made this last night to use up some coconut milk left from a Thai recipe earlier in the week. I used almond butter, but will try it with peanut butter next time, and add more cilantro. Thank you for sharing, I know I will make this again!
Marilin
Wow this was so tasty! Thank you for sharing! The sauce is so good, I could see myself having it with so many different things! I used brown lentils so the colour wasn’t as appealing as yours but the taste made up for it many times over. I also swapped the zucchini for a whole small broccoli which worked well because the sauce is rich enough to have even more veg in there.