Cardamom and Tea

Looking for a lentils and rice recipe so simple it practically makes itself? This is the one! No fussy steps or long list of ingredients—just the classic, cozy combo done exactly right.

This one comes straight from my mom’s kitchen, and it goes to show: an easy recipe does not have to be boring.

With just four main ingredients, lentils and rice can either turn out bland and mushy or absolutely perfect. The difference? It comes down to technique, and this recipe walks you through exactly what to do.

What makes this recipe the easiest

It’s made with just 4 simple ingredients

You probably have all 4 on hand: rice, lentils, olive oil, and onion. (And also salt and water, but do those even count?)

You don’t have to caramelize the onions

Just a quick sauté adds a ton of flavor. Don’t get me wrong, I love mujadara too, but a long caramelization process is not weeknight-compatible.

It only uses one pot!

Cutting down on dishes is always good. And this recipe only uses one pot! The downside of using one pot is that the scum from the lentils sometimes mucks things up. But my mom taught me a great technique for eliminating the lentil scum, while still just using one pot.

Tips for lentils and rice sucess

1. Rinse it like you mean it

I’ve done everything possible to eliminate any redundant steps in this recipe. But the rinsing step? That’s totally essential. Without it, you end up with a mucky mess. This is the difference between fluffy and gunky.

So rinse the lentils after boiling them. Rinse the rice thoroughly before cooking. And wipe down the sides of the pot before combining everything.

The good news is that you can reuse the same strainer for all of this, so don’t throw it in the sink just yet!

2. Nail the timing

Lentils and rice don’t cook at the same pace. This recipe staggers the cooking times so each component turns out just right. And I include tactile cues in case your lentils are a little different than mine.

The lentils might take longer to par-cook, but the key is to catch them when they’re “unpleasantly al dente”—technically cooked through with a little bit of a bite, but pretty gross and raw-tasting on the inside. At this point, they should cook right alongside the rice to perfect doneness.

3. Do not peek. Do not stir.

While the lentils and rice are cooking, do not peek inside the pot. Having said that, I know some people will not listen to my instructions. That’s not ideal, but not the end of the world.

However: if you do not listen to my instructions and happen to peek, for the love of all that is good in this world, do not stir them. Once you’ve stirred and shaken the pot into an even layer and placed them over heat, you should not stir them again. Stirring leads to a pot of lentils and rice that is somehow gloopy and undercooked at the same time. It’s truly the worst of both worlds.

Likewise, once the pot comes off the heat, do not peek while it rests for 10 minutes. They need the residual steam to coast to doneness, and they’re actually cooking under there. If you lift the lid, they may not finish cooking through all the way.

All that said, this recipe is super easy if you follow the instructions. All of the above advice is baked into the recipe below. Hope you enjoy this recipe and that you do something fun with all that time you saved not having to caramelize the onions. 😎

Easiest Lentils and Rice

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5 from 1 review

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 pound lentils (brown or green)
1 cup basmati rice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cups boiling water
2 teaspoons kosher salt

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Instructions

Rinse the lentils and sort through them for little pebbles. Add enough water to cover the lentils and rice by about 3 inches.
Turn the heat to high. Once the pot of water and lentils comes to a boil, turn the heat to medium and boil uncovered for about 10 to 15 minutes.
While the lentils are cooking, rinse the rice until the water runs clear and set it aside.
Start testing the lentils for doneness around the 10 minute mark. The lentils are ready once they are unpleasantly al dente. You should be able to chew one (it should be somewhat soft and no longer hard in the center), but it should still be gritty and mealy.
Once the lentils are ready, strain them and rinse them until the water runs clear. *
Use a damp paper towel to wipe down the sides of the pot that you cooked the lentils in until the scum is completely gone.
Add the olive oil to the pot, turn the heat to medium and add the diced onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens (about 5 minutes).
Add the lentils back into the pot, along with the rinsed rice, kosher salt, and 3 cups boiling water. Stir together and shake everything out into an even layer.
Turn the heat to high. Once the water comes back up to a boil, cover, lower the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes. Do not look inside the pot while the lentils and rice are cooking. If you do look, absolutely do not stir.
Once 15 minutes have passed, open the lid, do not stir the lentils and rice, and take a taste. If they taste done, cover, continue to heat for another 30 seconds, and then turn the heat off, keeping them covered.
Keep the pot covered for another 10 minutes after you’ve turned off the heat.
After 10 minutes of resting, fluff the lentils and rice with a fork and serve.

Whenever I’m writing a recipe, I try to make the ingredient list as flexible as possible. I know that there is nothing more annoying than having to track down an unfamiliar ingredient, paying extra to have it shipped, then having to wait for it to show up before you make the recipe, for which you only need one tablespoon, which leaves the rest of the bottle to languish in the back of the pantry until spring cleaning two years later, when it gets the Marie Kondo treatment, along with all those CDs, mismatched socks, and collections of old National Geographics. It’s just the worst.

And while I’ll usually list lots of possible substitutions, there are a few ingredients that just can’t be replaced. That’s why I’ve dedicated this whole post to sumac—I really believe it’s worth it to have a jar in your pantry, especially if you want to regularly cook Middle Eastern food.

Sumac (also spelled sumaq or sumach) is made from the ground-up pods of the sumac shrub. It adds a wonderfully tangy, subtly bitter flavor to whatever it’s dusted over. It tastes acidic, but without tasting like citrus or vinegar. An added bonus is the dramatic color, which ranges from tawny red to burgundy, and adds a pop of color to a humble plate of hummus or labneh. It’s a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine (as well as many other cuisines around the world) and can be used wherever a little extra tartness is called for.

But all of this is not to say that sumac is never replaceable. In certain recipes, lemon will add the necessary tartness, and the sumac won’t entirely be missed. But sumac adds a distinctive flavor that just isn’t exactly the same as lemon. Some dishes, where sumac is the star, simply can’t be made without it. Take fattoush. If you don’t have sumac, you might as well choose another salad (although you shouldn’t worry, because there are plenty of Middle Eastern salads that don’t require sumac).

But the good news is that sumac is relatively inexpensive and easy to find online, and once you buy it, you will start putting it on everything (popcorn, garden salads, grilled veggies, grilled meats, burgers, fish, cheese sandwiches, lentil soup, even dessert!). When I want to treat myself, I like to shop at the Spice House (my top recommendation), which sells phenomenally high quality goods at a very reasonable price. If you can find it in a Middle Eastern grocery store, it will be even more affordable. The market near me sells sumac for a couple dollars for a decent-sized bag.

Feel free to check out my sumac archives for a full list of recipes, or try one of my favorites below: