Addictive Black Lentils with Spinach
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This recipe for black lentils with lightly caramelized onions and spinach is super simple and delicious. The key? A hefty splash of balsamic vinegar that reduces in the pan, offering both sweetness and acidity. Served over a schmear of lemony Greek yogurt sauce or labneh, this has become a favorite weeknight meal.
Black lentils cook quickly, hold their shape, and have a nice texture and flavor. They behave very similarly to French green lentils but cook more quickly. Friends, do you know about black lentils?
I bought them on a whim, and then immediately made this spinach recipe from Stacy Adimando’s Piatti, which calls for garnishing the lentils with a plump ball of burrata. As Ina says: How bad can that be?
I first made the lentils for my parents who were visiting, and in place of the burrata, I served them atop creamy, tangy labneh (also known as labnah or labne: essentially strained yogurt or yogurt “cheese”).
This has become one of my favorite weeknight meals, another great one to add to your repertoire of lightning fast lentil recipes.
How to Cook Black Lentils
- Place black lentils in a pot. Cover with water by at least an inch.
- Add a teaspoon of salt.
- Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer 23-25 minutes.
- Drain, and use as desired.
Make Them Ahead
This dish comes together super quickly, but here are a few things I have been doing to get ahead:
- Put the lentils in a pot, bring it to a simmer, cover the pot and slide the pot off the heat. I’ll do this before we head out to afternoon activities with the kids. When I get home, the lentils are nearly cooked; I just need to bring to a simmer and cook briefly.
- Sauté the onion ahead of time and just leave it in its pan on the stovetop.
- Make the entire recipe up until the point when you add the spinach. Hold the spinach till you are ready to reheat the lentils. Once they are warm, fold in the spinach.
Change it Up
I’ve mostly been using, as the recipe suggests, tender baby spinach, but I’ve also used beet greens (and roasted beets). I think any number of greens could work here: Swiss chard, turnip greens, mustard greens, etc.
Stacy prefers to serve these lentils with burrata, which makes sense — the texture and sharpness of the lentils balances out the creaminess of the burrata. I image fresh ricotta or whipped goat cheese would also work well here. When I can’t find labneh, I’ll stir together a simple yogurt sauce made with Greek yogurt, fresh lemon, and salt. It works beautifully.
Once you make this dish once, you’ll find countless ways to adapt it with various greens, vegetables, and creamy schmears. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Here’s the play-by-play: Gather your ingredients.
Simmer the lentils in one pot; sauté an onion in another.
When the lentils are finished, add some vinegar to the onions and let it reduce.
Combine the lentils and onions.
Add spinach.
Fold it in.
Get ready to serve.
Smear some labneh across a plate. If you can’t find labneh, you can stir together a lemony yogurt sauce, which works well here: Greek yogurt + fresh lemon + salt.
Spoon lentils over top. I could eat this every night.
Addictive Black Lentils with Spinach
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
Description
Adapted from Stacy Adimando’s Piatti.
Scale this recipe up as needed. I find a half cup of lentils feeds two of us and leaves us with a teensy bit of leftovers. One cup of lentils would feed 4 people comfortably.
Labneh or burrata or Greek yogurt: The original recipe calls for burrata, which of course is delicious. I am loving using labneh here, but if you can’t find it, you could use this lemony Greek yogurt spread: 1 cup Greek yogurt + 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice + 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt — this is how I’ve been making it most recently as I haven’t been able to get my hands on labneh.
You could also use homemade ricotta, or even goat cheese whipped with some milk to thin to a spreadable consistency.
Ingredients
For the lentils:
- 1/2 cup black lentils (or French green lentils)
- kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- labneh or burrata (one 8-oz ball) or lemony-yogurt sauce (recipe below)
- flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, for finishing
For the lemony-yogurt sauce:
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Place the lentils in a small pot and cover with water by at least an inch. Add a teaspoon of kosher salt. Bring to a simmer. Simmer till done. Times will vary considerably. My black lentils have been cooking consistently in about 23-25 minutes. If you are using French Green lentils, they’ll likely need a little more time. Taste before draining them.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Stir. Cover the pan and immediately turn the heat to low. I like to cook the onions super slowly for the entire time the lentils are cooking. Open the lid to check on the onions periodically, allowing any water trapped in the lid to drip back into the pan.
- When the lentils are done, remove the lid from the onion pan and turn heat to medium. Add the vinegar and cook until it reduces and becomes almost syrupy. Add the lentils and stir to combine. Add the spinach and a pinch of salt, then turn off the heat. Leave the spinach alone for a minute or two, then use tongs or a large spoon to incorporate the leaves into the lentils. Taste. Adjust with sea salt as needed or a splash more vinegar if necessary.
- To serve, smear some labneh across a plate. Spoon the warm spinach and lentils over top. Alternatively, if using burrata, break up the ball of burrata and drop spoonfuls of the creamy cheese over top. Or, if you are making the lemony yogurt sauce, stir together the yogurt, lemon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth; then smear that over a serving platter, before topping it with the spinach and lentils.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: lentils, black, labneh, burrata, onions, vinegar
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
120 Comments on “Addictive Black Lentils with Spinach”
Delicious, Easy to make, Definitely a keeper. Will make again!
★★★★★
Great to hear Marjanne! I love this one this time of year 🙂 🙂 🙂
Followed the recipe exactly other than substituting rice wine for the white balsamic vinegar. Delicious, easy, and nutritious. We are always looking for healthy, real food, inexpensive recipes and this is a keeper, thank you.
★★★★★
So great to hear this, Kathryn 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing.
omg this was sooo delicious, thank you! can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
★★★★★
Great to hear this, Maya! Hope you find some more recipes you love as well 🙂
This was delicious! I decided t take your advice and served with roasted squash, which I tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, thyme and cayenne before roasting.
Yum! Great to hear, Ellen 🙂 🙂 🙂
I made this for dinner last night, and it definitely is addictive. I added a box of sliced shiitake mushrooms to the onions as they caramelized, and we were happy with the addition. I also added some chopped cilantro and some garlic powder to the yogurt sauce. This meal will go into regular rotation for sure.
★★★★★
Great to hear this, Meg! Mushrooms with the onions sounds amazing. And yum to cilantro + garlic powder to the yogurt powder. I love how this base recipe can be used as a jumping-off point for so many variations.
Super lecker, delicious. Just made it. Thank you for this recipe. Ewa
Great to hear, Ewa!
I’m on Noom and Would like to have calories per cup without yogurt.
I loved it!!
★★★★★
Hi Renee! I don’t have that info unfortunately. Check out My Fitness Pal dot Com to calculate the nutrition info.
This is well wooth trying. It is a lovely dish.
★★★★★
Great to hear 🙂 🙂 🙂
“I could eat this every night!” Eye roll, my husband says that all the time, but it’s TRUE. This was super easy to make, and delicious. I added a handful of cherry tomatoes from my garden just because they were there. This recipe does not need any changes. I made ours with my home-made Greek yogurt (added lemon juice, lemon zest and salt).
Don’t think about it, just do it. This recipe will be a regular at our house.
★★★★★
So nice to hear this, Patricia 🙂 🙂 🙂 Love the idea of adding cherry tomatoes here. I’ve mad it with roasted beets, too — the combination of the lentils, greens, yogurt, etc. is so good with many another vegetable. Jealous of your homemade yogurt!
I made this recipe the other day. It’s easy, healthy, and delicious. But as one person, a recipe serving four, no matter how delicious, can get a bit boring over four days. Cutting it would have been easy, but I decided not to do that. No need. It’s quite adaptable. I didn’t have white balsamic, but the red worked perfectly. The first two days, I ate it hot with the lemony yogurt sauce. For the final two days, I ate it cold with a room temperature Greek salad on top. The Greek salad consisted of cherry tomatoes sliced in half, cucumber chunks, crumbled Feta cheese, thinly sliced onion, sliced Kalamata olives, chopped fresh oregano, pepper and olive oil. The combination was delicious! I will definitely make it this way again.
★★★★★
So nice to read all of this, Penny! I love the idea of topping off these lentils with a Greek salad, and I love that you were able to stretch this over four meals. Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. It all sounds delicious 🙂 🙂 🙂
New batch of black lentils from Rancho Gordo. Wanted a quick, non fussy way to prepare. WOW!! This recipe was unbelievably easy. The taste is incredible. Addictive and indulgent, OMW.
★★★★★
Great to hear, Lily! This is such a staple for me: fast, tasty, healthy. So glad you approve!
LOVED this! I could eat it every day. I accidentally bought vanilla flavored yogurt. Was so bummed. But it was great any way without the yogurt sauce and wonderful with grilled salmon.
★★★★★
I’ve done that! It is such a bummer. So glad this was good even without the yogurt… it’s a staple around here!
Never expected such an easy dish to be this phenomenal! Added Anaheim peppers and mushroom to the onions, and used Indian Urad beans (black lentils). Truly amazing.
★★★★★
Yum! That all sounds amazing. This recipe is such a staple for me.
Addictive is right. We loved these black lentils and spinach! The reduction of the white balsamic with the onion was genius. We made the yogurt, lemon, and salt variation of the spread which worked very well. Thanks once again.
Oh, and I’ve been making your bread recipes from your book and your granola for many years now.
So nice to hear this, Sunie 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing. I could live on those lentils this time of year.
made this AGAIN. So good! It is such a great recipe to play around with. Did not use the labneh and used a splash of champagne vinegar and just a splash of sherry vinegar.
And plated it with halibut on top. So So Good. Thank you Alexandra!
Lorilei
★★★★★
Yum to all of this, Lorilei! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
What a flexible, tasty recipe!
I’ve made this many times, with whatever veggies and vinegar I have on hand, and they’ve all turned out great.
Last time I didn’t have yoghurt so I used a bit of feta and it also worked great. I tossed in some leftover roasted veggies (broccoli and cauliflower) and they were also perfect.
The caramelized onions are non-negotiable though.
I am trying to get more legumes into my family but they aren’t wild about curries. This they love.
★★★★★
Great to hear all of this Monica! Thanks for writing 🙂
Gorgeous, simple dish. I will need to add some heat to this when I make it. We are into spicy. Love hearing your daughter in the background 🙂
★★★★★
Heat will be a wonderful addition! Thank you, Michelle 🙂 🙂 🙂
Ali-when do you use cast iron and when d you choose to use stainless steel? I have been cooking in all cast iron recently because food gets a nice even char or crispiness. Stainless seems to cook the food quickly and not evenly but I am not sure. Thank you!
★★★★★
I love my cast iron skillet for searing meats or making high-heat stir fries or low-heat grilled cheeses. Apparently, you shouldn’t use cast iron with tomato-based dishes because the acidity can react, but I have definitely done so without any adverse effects, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the “rules”. There is so much lore out there that doesn’t really hold water.
O wow. This is delicious and super simple to get it fixed for dinner or lunch. Great recipe.
★★★★★
Great to hear, Adriana! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
This is a combination that I never would have come up with on my own and it is completely delicious!
★★★★★
Great to hear, Gary! Thanks for writing 🙂
I loved this recipe so much when I made it that I got a hankering for it a couple months later so here I am. Luckily, I had bookmarked it. I’m not a baker or I’d buy your cleverly named cookbook, “Bread, Toast, Crumbs”. That is how I have always cooked – nothing goes to waste and in making use of everything even if it is a half bunch of parsley, I find that I get to eat such a variety. Thank goodness for wonderful cooks like you that take the time to share your good cooking. Thanks for this quick delish lentil recipe.
★★★★★
Thank you Maggie 🙂 🙂 🙂 You are kind. So glad you love these lentils… they’re a favorite of mine, too!
This was absolutely delicious-everybody loved it. I cooked the onions longer into get them more caramelized and browned. I used French green lentils and I sautéed mushrooms and added them in. Definitely a keeper recipe!
Served with a separate rice pilaf and salmon.
★★★★★
Yum! Sounds amazing!
this is incredibly good. thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Great to hear, Lisa!
Delicious! I made this last night with a couple twists. I started the onion phase with pancetta and instead of onions, I used leeks. I used the burrata option. This was so good and filling. I could not stop eating!!!
★★★★★
Yum! That all sounds outstanding, Lisa!
I made this last night and it was superb. I will be adding this to the rotation!!
★★★★★
Great to hear, Kemile!
Another 5 star recipe and a keeper for sure. Fixed it with mushrooms because I like them with spinach, used the yogurt sauce, and served with a baked sweet potato. A delicious dinner! Thanks for something delicious to add to the dinner rotation.
★★★★★
So nice to hear this, Jan! This is one of my favorite fast go-to meals… love the idea of adding mushrooms.
Another home run! I had brown lentils on hand, and they worked great. I look forward to using black next time. We just love your recipes, Ali. I’ve been trying to cut our grocery bill by making more legume-based meals (it’s working), and your website is always my first stop for new recipes.
★★★★★
Awww, so nice to hear this, Alison. Thanks for writing. If you haven’t made this one yet, I highly recommend: One-Pot Curried Chickpeas… we all love it!
Made this tonight but I had to use canned black lentils (could not find dried). Also used regular dark balsamic and used the last of the chard from my garden. I made labneh using your recipe (but could not resist adding some garlic😊). I served it with crumbled and cooked hamburger seasoned with Santa Maria tri tip seasoning and fresh tomatoes. A winner! Thankyou for such an interesting and delicious way to use up chard!
★★★★★
So nice to read this, Julie! All sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Made this last weekend and it was delicious!! I used burrata for this, truly amazing!
Do you think this can be frozen? Would love to make 8 to 10 portions and freeze it for a later use when I don’t feel like cooking.
Thank you so much for lovely recepies!
Alejandra
Hi! And possibly… I would freeze only the lentil + spinach… add the burrata post re-heating. Is that what you were thinking, too?