Bean and Lentil Salad Recipe (2024)

This bean and lentil salad recipe features chickpeas and lentils tossed with sliced tomato, fennel and herbs in a simple yet flavourful coriander-cumin lemony dressing. It’s easy to put together and keeps well in the fridge for later. Serve this delicious salad as a side or hearty main dish, take it to a potluck, BBQ or picnic.

Is it me or do lentils often get forgotten about? I can’t remember ever having eaten lentils as a child and it’s only been in the last couple of years that I’ve been living in Europe that I’ve discovered how marvellously versatile lentils can be.

We all know how nutritious lentils are, though I think for me their strong flavour took a bit of getting used to. If you’re not yet using lentils in regular rotation at your house, you should be; they’re cheap, cheap, cheap! They’re great in salads, of course, but also great in recipes calling for ground meats. I made them into a spicy vegan chorizo for these vegan breakfast tacos and they can be rolled into killer balls like for this vegan meatball sub.

Not only are lentils cheap, they can be cooked from dried in just 30 minutes and, contrary to popular belief, they do not need to be soaked overnight. That makes them a great choice when you’re on a budget and don’t have time or didn’t think ahead to soak and boil any other kind of dried bean.

For this bean and lentil salad recipe I chose chickpeas, since I had some leftover from my chickpea avocado salad the other day, but any kind of beans will do – use what you have on hand. I made a simple lemony dressing spiced with toasted coriander and cumin seeds, both of which pair wonderfully with lentils and beans.

Since it’s winter, I took advantage of fennel being in season and added some thinly sliced to the salad. If you’re making this in summer, you could replace the fennel with a teaspoon of fennel seeds toasted and ground along with the cumin and coriander seeds.

This bean and lentil salad recipe is hearty and filling enough to be a meal in its own right served with some crusty bread on the side, or a great side dish for dinner, a BBQ, potluck or picnic. It refrigerates and packs well so make it ahead on Sunday to take to work during the week.

Got leftovers? Use them in these recipes:

Chickpeas and tomatoes: Chickpea avocado salad; Baked beet falafel vegan quinoa bowl

Lentils and tomatoes: Make-ahead vegan breakfast tacos

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