Are you ready for the new recipe? Today I made lentil burgers!

I made them with red split lentils + very few other ingredients, just a carrot, a potato, and a small piece of onion.

Then (actually, before 😃) I made some simple rolls, rustic enough to pair well with these delicately flavored red lentil burgers.

I really love veggie burgers; I prefer them to meat ones. For years, when my kids were little, I “tricked” them with chickpea and potato burgers 😁 but, for some reason, I never tried with lentil burgers.

Now, the perfect occasion to make them and serve them to my twenty-year-old son 😃 came from Light and Tasty, which asked us for burger recipes this week. Lentils are always available in my kitchen because, fortunately, they are one of those ingredients that the whole family agrees on without any “tricks,” and since I could choose between green and red split lentils, I chose the latter because they cook very quickly and become creamy without needing any gadgets, just a simple fork or spatula.

And here they are! My red split lentil burgers are already on the table! See how quickly they get prepared? 😃😃🍔🍔

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Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Cheap
Preparation time: 15 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Stove
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Seasonality: All seasons

Ingredients

7 oz red split lentils
1 carrot
1 potato
red onion (a small piece)
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semolina flour
5 oz liquid sourdough
7 oz water
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (to grease the dough during rising)
as needed milk (to brush the rolls before baking)

Tools

Hamburger Press
Non-Stick Griddle
Casserole
Kitchen Spatula

Steps

To prepare the rolls (leavened with the liquid sourdough), you need to knead the dough the night before and let it rise overnight.
For these rolls, the dough is very simple, made only with liquid sourdough, water, and half all-purpose flour and half semolina. With the quantities indicated in the ingredient list, you can make 6 rolls.
For baking the rolls: oven at 356°F for 25-30 minutes.
To prepare the lentil burgers:
Wash the lentils well in a bowl, changing the water a couple of times (no soaking needed), and cook them in a casserole with a potato and a carrot cut into pieces and a small piece of red onion.
Cook with a drizzle of oil for a couple of minutes to brown the onion, then add enough water to cover everything, close the casserole with a lid, and cook for 10 (maximum 15) minutes.
Once cooked, uncover and let the excess moisture evaporate.
Adding a bit of breadcrumbs is also useful to dry the mixture.
Mash the pieces of potato and carrot with a fork.
Season with paprika. I used smoked paprika. The one I’m using now is very mild, and the smokiness is hardly noticeable, so I recommend dosing it to your taste. Alternatively, sweet paprika is also fine.
Form the burgers using the appropriate hamburger press, or simply make patties and flatten them with your hands.
Cook the burgers on a griddle brushed with oil until they are golden on both sides.
👉 Turn them gently using a spatula.
Cut the rolls in half and heat them on the griddle.
You can serve the lentil burgers alone, as a simple main dish,
or you can assemble the rolls just like classic hamburgers by adding your preferred vegetables (I used arugula, tomato, red onion, and a few spinach leaves), and, if desired, the classic sauces.
But this is a Light and Tasty recipe, and maybe I shouldn’t tell you about sauces! 🤪🤭
Anyway… yes, I confess, in my roll, after photographing it, I added a teaspoon of mayonnaise and one of mustard! 😃
Enjoy!

Salt-Free Tips

I remind you that I cook without added salt, so no salt in these lentil burgers, nor in the roll dough. I got my salt intake from the two teaspoons of mayonnaise and mustard. 😃

If you’re interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Decrease salt gradually, the palate must get used to it slowly and shouldn’t notice the gradual reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruit. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking methods that don’t lose flavors (griddle, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Allow yourself an occasional exception. It’s good for your mood and helps you persevere.
If you don’t want or can’t give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes and salt according to your habits.

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Light and Tasty:

Here are other burgers cooked by the Light and Tasty Team:

Carla Emilia: Minihamburgers with Rosemary
Claudia: Veggie Burgers with Spinach and Cannellini Beans
Daniela: Corn Veggie Burgers
Elena: Potato and Zucchini Burgers

Delicious Recipes

Red Split Lentil Burgers