This fun taco dish is both healthy and delicious. It will be a hit with the entire family! Serve with your favorite taco fillings, such as sour cream, chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and Cheddar cheese.
This is so much better than it has any right to be, and has quickly become one of my favorite recipes! It's very friendly to dietary restrictions and easily becomes vegan. Be sure to stir in the salsa with the lentils at the end... it has a significant impact on the overall flavor and texture.
Read MoreWith my changes this is 5 stars. 25/30 minutes was not long enough for the lentils to be softened. I cooked the lentils for 30 minutes and they were still incredibly. I had to cook my lentils for at least 45-50 minutes and even then I could've cooked them longer but I was too hungry to wait any longer! Because I had to cook my lentils longer I added more water and sprinkled in more taco seasoning.
Read MoreThis is so much better than it has any right to be, and has quickly become one of my favorite recipes! It's very friendly to dietary restrictions and easily becomes vegan. Be sure to stir in the salsa with the lentils at the end... it has a significant impact on the overall flavor and texture.
I love lentils, and this was a good way to use them. I added chopped veggies like green peppers, zucchini, and cauliflower, some corn and a can of green chilies. I froze servings in a muffin pan and popped them out in a freezer bag to have for later. Thank you for this recipe!
Great use of lentils. Didn't change a thing. Turned out great. Will make it again and again.
We really enjoyed this dish. I used Taco Seasoning I (AR). Easy and yummy served this with Easy Authentic Spanish Rice (AR). My lentils took about 40 minutes before they softened up. Even my kids and hubby really enjoyed these. Great for a "Meatless Monday" dinner :)
We are not vegetarian by any means, but even the kids agreed this is a pretty good taco! Another good meatless meal choice. BTW...red lentils are the quickest to cook. I used 1 c. of lentils instead of the 2/3 c. and used 2 c. of chicken stock and it came out perfect. And the lentils completely cooked in 15 minutes! Also, red lentils tend to disintegrate when cooked so they're perfect for this recipe since you don't have to mash them! If you use green lentils you can count on doubling the stated cooking time.
Great texture. That is normally the hang up with me and my family. The taste can be amazing but if we don't like the texture I won't make it again. My youngest son, the pickiest, thought this mimicked ground beef exactly. My husband, the omnivore, thought it was good...drowning in condiments. I served these as nachos instead of tacos. Made pico de gallo and guacamole to go with it and we scarfed this down! I cooked my lentils down with brown rice and I think that was a good choice for us. 3/4 cup lentils 3/4 cup brown rice 4 cups 'beef' broth. I will most certainly be making this again and again.
Who thought in a million years that I could turn my meat loving husband into a now HUGE lentil taco lover!? Oh my did he ever love this. I'd made it before so I already knew it was amazing and was so anxious for him to try it. My only change was making my own taco seasoning to help cut down on the salt. I feel so good serving this to my family and especially to my daughter who is seven month pregnant. Nothing healthier than legumes! Thank you so very much for a great recipe!
With my changes this is 5 stars. 25/30 minutes was not long enough for the lentils to be softened. I cooked the lentils for 30 minutes and they were still incredibly. I had to cook my lentils for at least 45-50 minutes and even then I could've cooked them longer but I was too hungry to wait any longer! Because I had to cook my lentils longer I added more water and sprinkled in more taco seasoning.
With the exception of having older lentils which required more cooking time, this turned out extremely well! I, too, used homemade taco seasoning and veggie broth for our Meatless Monday dinner. Since I was serving this to our 5 year-old DD, I used an organic mild salsa from Muir Glen to taste. Meat-loving hubby enjoyed this too, and we both thought the lentils would also make a yummy filling for bean quesadillas as well. Used soft taco shells (personal preference), quesadilla queso (what I had on hand), shredded lettuce, guacamole (and a little extra hot salsa for me & the hubby), these were delicious, nutritious, and a cinch to get on the table. Will 100% make again and will happily recommend to others!
I wanted to like this more than I did, but it could have just been expectations vs reality so no real points off for that one. My reason for giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because it was extremely watery! I followed the directions exactly and even after letting it simmer uncovered it was still more like a stew/chili than a taco. I ate it that way anyways and then strained the rest in a colander, which resulted in a much better consistency. I'll probably reduce the broth next time by 1/3 cup and see how that goes.
I love this recipe. I make it exactly as written. I usually use it for tacos but have used it as a vegetarian taco dip at a party. I put it in a shallow bowl, melt cheese on it and add jalapeño peppers, black olive, sour cream etc... To the top. Served it with chips.
we used lettuce leaves for shells, and subbed vegan broth, and daiya shredded cheese, and vegan sour cream. I also used red bell peppers in place of half of the onions. We topped it with raw bell pepper, tomato, cilantro, red onion, and cucumbers. It was delicious! We didn't have any salsa, so I didn't add that in, but the end result was phenomenal.
I usually make a from scratch version of this but I admit I love Taco Bell taco seasoning so this is a perfect use of their taco kit. I do sub beef broth for chicken and triple the garlic.
Excellent taco filling. I suggest this to anyone who is learning to replace meaty meals with tasty meatless options either for health or to save money...this is not only tasty but extremely cheap to make, and lentils are a good source of fiber and protein too! I added organic frozen corn kernels and some black beans to the filling as well. Just be sure to check your package of lentils: mine called for 40 minutes of covered simmer time. I checked them at 30 minutes and they were still a tad hard so let them go the extra time. I don't think I'll ever make tacos with ground meat again!
This is my new favorite recipes...so easy and SO DELICIOUS...I add a can of beans also, either refried which will make it a thicker filling or regular black or pinto and it is just as yummy!
I am participating in Weight Watchers and was looking for good lentil recipes as it's a low point food (1/2c = 2pts) and came across this. Wrapped it in a lettuce leaf, with one stick of string cheese shredded, and salsa on top - divine!
Okay I am kicking myself for not trying this sooner. Everyone on the buzz was raving about it! It is so easy and makes just enough! And tastes GREAT! I was buying the "Tasty Bite" brand "Madras Lentils" These give those a run for the money! I followed the recipe as written only changing 2 things, aded extra garlic and onion "personal taste" We all loved it! Will definitely be making this again, and again! Thank you so much for this wonderful meatless Recipe!!
This was a very good base recipe for me. I made it exactly like the recipe the first time and it was very good, however; my lentils were a bit crunchy despite cooking for almost an hour. The reason was that if you add too much salt to lentils while they are cooking, they won't soften. Next time I make these I will cook the lentils first using a low-sodium or no sodium added broth first until they're tender and then add my other ingredients. Aside from that minor change, they were awesome!
I was very skeptical cuz I'm a meat eater but these are absolutely fantastic! I tripled the recipe in order to use up a whole bag of lentils. They cooked perfectly & were a big hit with us, even my picky son who chose to eat these over regular taco meat at our taco bar. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious. I make a batch of these on Sunday and have over a week's worth of lunches. Swapping out the chicken stock for veggie makes them vegetarian, too! I generally try to have some sort of spicy vegetable to go in there too. I've made a jalapeno/carrot/cabbage slaw that was delicious, and most recently some escabeche veggies I canned.
Add me to the list of people who can't believe how good these are! I am fairly shocked at how much we enjoyed them. The only change I made on purpose was subbing olive oil for the canola. In my haste to get dinner on the table, I didn't read the recipe closely enough, and I dumped the whole packet of taco saesoning in rather than the tablespoon called for. I was concerned, but it turned out wonderfully! I followed the recipe other than those two things, topped them with shredded cheddar and sour cream, and we devoured them! My daughter recently had her braces tightened, so I served hers over rice rather than in a shell, which she said was very delcious. A great recipe- thank you for sharing :)
I omitted the salsa and added 1/3 cup more water :) SO delicious and my husband went crazy over them! What a savings on my wallet this week, lentils sure are a lot less expensive than ground beef or turkey! Enjoy this recipe, there is no reason not to try it!
I wish I could have given this more stars! This was fantastic!! I used the filling recipe for a taco salad, and my carnivorous husband devoured it! So did my two little picky eaters! I would't change anything, but if your lentils are a little old, you may need to add more water and simmer a bit longer, as I did. Is definitely going to be added to the family cookbook!
I was surprised how delicious this was. It didn't taste like ground beef tacos, but it was so flavorful that I didn't miss the beef! I will definitely be adding this one to my regular recipes.
WOW! Learned of this recipe from my "Buzzer" friends and WOW! What a great recipe!!!! After step#2, I threw in the slow cooker on low for the afternoon. Mashed and added salsa, took the lid off for the last half hour to help evaporate the liquid. I used the "taco seasoning I" from this site. I also doubled the recipe and used half red and half brown lentils. This is one of my favourite recipes I've ever tried from this website. YUM! Thank-you MK!
I've been making these about once a week now for several months. They are so good. I like them better than any meat! My husband loves them too. I use flour tortillas instead of taco shells and use just over 2 T of taco seasoning instead of just one. Delicious!
I've made these tacos for several years now, and prefer them greatly over meat tacos - not as heavy or greasy, just GOOD.
As someone said already, this has NO BUSINESS being as freakin tasty as it is. I didn't change much except using veggie stock (to keep it vegetarian) and I forgot to mash the lentils a little. I don't think it's necessary.
These were really yummy. I added cumin, chili powder, and cayenne in place of the taco seasoning. The taste is very much like taco meat, just with a different texture. I made homemade taco shells in the oven, and we topped ours with cheese and fat free greek yogurt (in place of sour cream. Will make again!
Easy make-ahead meal. Made tostadas. Layered fried corn taco shells, cheese and lentils, baked till melty! Soooo delish!
I loved this!!! So much better than I expected. I've been basically vegan for a while now (not strict)so making dinners my kids like too can be challenging. They still want meat and I'm fine with that as they are growing boys. Lately when I've made tacos I'd use ground turkey but then I would just use refried beans in mine and avoid the taco meat altogether. Tonight dinner was amazing! So much better, fresher, tasting than any meat. Boys both scowled when they saw the replacement but after a few bites admitted that it wasn't bad at all. High praise around here. I couldn't stop eating it. I made it exactly as directed. I used the same Garden of Eaten taco kit I get in the organic section at Kroger and just used 1 TBS of the seasoning from the box. It felt a little wasteful when I could have made the seasoning from scratch but Garden of Eaten only sells kits and I'm not going back to cheap taco shells with all the addtional additives in them. I used the Kroger Simple Truth mild salsa and 2 (1cup cartons of chicken broth - will try veg broth next time but wanted to ease kids in slowly. lol ). The lentils were still a tad crunchy at 30 min but the liquid was gone. They mashed up fine and you don't even notice the bite to the beans since the shells are crunchy too. There is only a little left over from making 12 shells and I'm looking forward to lunch tomorrow. Thanks MK! Will have to check out your other recipes.
I'm really surprised at how flavorful this turned out. I added a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis and the whole thing turned out amazing. I will say that I cooked the lentils a lot longer than 25-30 minutes but it turned out great regardless. Super healthy, very filling with tons of protein, and incredibly easy to make. Definitely adding this to the regular dinner rotation!
I am newly vegetarian and I LOVE a good taco. This recipe was perfect! When you mash the lentils, it gives them a nice consistency for a taco. I used taco seasoning and also added Black and Red seasoning from Penzey's (I like spicy food). Next time I will add cilantro as another reviewer suggested. For topping I used romaine lettuce and more salsa. Normally I would have put a bunch of cheese on it but it was not necessary. :-) Overall this is a great recipe!
Absolutely (and surprisingly) delish! Added tomato and guac for that extra zing. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
We just tried these for lunch and they are exceptional! Can't believe something so quick and easy tastes so good.
This recipe is easy to make and tastes good. I had it as is and loved it. I was afraid my husband and son would not eat it without meat so I threw a pound of ground turkey into a double batch. I fooled my husband who thinks he hates lentils. He said they were really good. Of course he still doesn't know he had lentils. Our son took one bite and then refused anymore but he thought it was the turkey meat that made them tast "funny". Next time I'm doing it with no meat. I think this would be great for enchiladas as well.
This is a great way to use lentils. Very easy and filling. We enjoyed them a lot.
Good, but salty. I suggest skipping the broth because the taco seasoning has plenty of salt. I added a squeeze of lime, hot sauce, and put avocado in the shells. Didn't wow, but is a nice change from the black bean tacos I normally make.
I used this for a taco salad - really yummy! Very filling for a meatless meal, too. Served over shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes, and garnished with avocado, jalapeños, olives, and a little cheddar and sour cream. YUM!
Easy and tasty but not super quick. This recipe needs time for the lentils to soften so don't rush it. Used Pace mild picante sauce which was perfect for kids - not too spicy. Used hard shell tacos but think this would be an excellent filling for burritos. I prefer vegetarian food so I really enjoyed this. My carnivore eating family ate it with no real complaints but they asked for meat tacos next time.
We love these lentils and make them often. Five big fat stars for being an inexpensive, delicious, easy, and healthy dish. Thanks for sharing!!
Easy and delicious. We like ours in soft corn tortillas, not hard shells.
I thought these were terrific. Everyone one loved these I will be making again!
This was so good. I made fajitas instead of tacos because that is what I prefer, but other than that I followed the recipe and can attest that it is awesome!!
i liked the end product once it was done cooking.. which took a total of 1 hour 15 min's.. my mother says to soak the beans overnight and it takes less time.. i only soaked mine for about an hour and a half.. i used half yellow onion and half green onion.. Homemade Taco seasoning (from this site).. and subbed 1.5 cups veggie broth (bouillon) for the chicken broth.. i tried this without the salsa and felt like it didn't need that addition.. ty for the recipe
Really good! My salsa was a bit runny so I had to let it simmer off a bit longer to thicken it. I also substituted vegetable broth for chicken to make it vegetarian-friendly. This was a nice alternative to the Vegan Bean Taco Filling from this site (also amazing) that I normally use for taco night. Thank you for sharing, MK!
We loved this recipe. So good and so easy. You can really control the level of spiciness or heat by how much and what type of taco seasoning you add. I plan on using these lentils as a substitute for ground beef in many recipes. Would be fantastic in taco salad!
Fantastic. I added bell peppers and a few tbsps of tomato paste. I doubled the recipe. These are even better the next day.
Oh man. These are the best. I was looking for a way to eat more lentils and this is a great way to do that. Everyone loves these, even my dad who hates lentils. We wrap these babies in Chef John’s pita bread (on this site, equally as sublime) with lettuce and lots of tomato and fight over the leftovers. Great vegetarian meal (made with vegetable broth) for me and my veggie sister.
This recipe is good, simple, healthy and inexpensive! I usually use 1/3 cup of red lentils and 1/3 cup of green lentils and make it in the rice cooker using the white rice setting. Cook the onions in the cooker first, then restart the cooker after other ingredients are added. The red lentils are smaller and give this a similar texture of Madras Lentils (available in pouches for a small fortune). Adjust the amount of salsa to get the texture you want. 'Taco Seasoning I' from this site is the only seasoning I use. This is a staple in the house. Make tacos, dip and taco salad. Don't forget the avocado! Love it!
Very tasty, made a couple alterations by adding TVP, mushrooms and some kale. Had fresh kale
We used 6 inch flour tortillas (warmed at 350 for 10 minutes), and topped the lentil mix with shredded cheese, sour cream, and chopped cilantro. Excellent and filling at 3 tacos each, and the size we made them, it was enough for 9 tacos. Very affordable, too: my cost was maybe $5 for the entire dish. I will definitely be making this again and again!
WOW! I am surprised at how good lentils can taste. lol Thanks for the great recipe! :)
I liked using lentils as taco meat, these turned out very good for us. Im a vegetarian so i used veggie broth instead off chicken. I also ran the finished product through a food processor just a few pulses for a texture we liked. Very good!
These are awesome! I made the recipe with the change of sauteing the onion/garlic in extra virgin coconut oil, as I never use canola. Also just used a whole onion instead of measuring out 1 cup. The lentils took 40 min before they were tender, and I didn't mash them at all. Love this recipe, and it will become a regular! Update-since I can be lazy cook I now just use canned lentils that I rinse and drain making for a super quick meal!
Yummy! We is this as meat to make our typical tacos or burritos. Its so good, healthy, and cheaper than ground beef. WIN WIN WIN.
Hated it! The lentils are never tender enough to be smashed - I left them longer until all liquid evaporated and they were sticking to the bottom, I added more broth, that evaporated and still the lentils were not tender. I decided to add the salsa anyways and eat as is, but the result mixture was SO salty I couldn't eat it. I didn't add any salt, it was just the combination of broth with taco seasoning and salsa.
Note: This recipe makes 3 cups of filling. The recipe assumes three tacos per person. 2015.08.27 - The flavor of this is good, but it is a little soft. Next time I might try another reviewer's suggestion and add brown rice for a little more bite. My lentils are a little old, but this still cooked in approximately the recommended time. 2016.02.03 - Next time, use water instead of broth. Cooking it down made it too salty. Also, lentils took 50 minutes. (Note to self: Use second-smallest pot, not a skillet at all.)
Made as is, except cooked sauteed veggies with the lentils and liquid 15 minutes before adding seasonings that contained salt. So good!
I thought these were okay. I make a lentil soup from the site, that had so much the same flavor. I think, I would have preferred tacos using a recipe like refried beans without the refry from the site. This just didn't give me that taco flavor. The lentil taste was just very prominent. I might like it more as a salad somehow. I didn't much care for the hard taco shells with it. Otherwise, it was quick and affordable to make. It also gave me more ideas to further this concept for non-meat tacos. I will have to see what my husband says about this.
If you're like me and a bit iffy about salsa, I used mango salsa (store-bought) and it was delicious! I think a little bit more taco seasoning would have improved it a bit, as well. Upon browsing the reviews, I think I agree that a longer cooking time would have been good for the lentils. I cooked mine covered for a whole 30 minutes and they were still a tad undercooked. I wasn't sure if they were supposed to be that consistency (and they weren't especially crunchy, but I couldn't mush them) because I'm new to the world of lentil-cooking. On that note, I think this recipe ought to specify the type of lentil that would be ideal to use! I used the green variety because I read online that the red ones cook into mush after about 10 minutes. It is good to keep that in mind if you are like me and have never cooked with lentils before!
Simple, straightforward, and incredibly delicious! We're vegan, so I subbed vegetable broth for the chicken broth. Otherwise, I made it as-written the first time, then doubled the recipe the second go-round. I especially appreciate that this is so versatile: while it makes excellent tacos, the filling works equally well for nachos, burritos, taco salad, or as an enchilada filling. It's a rare recipe that combines high protein, low fat, vegan-friendly, and easy in one tasty package, but this one truly delivers!
I didnt have salsa so used tomato sauce instead and a bit more TJoes's taco seasoning. I did add in almost 1/2 C. Shredded cheese before serving tha kind of brought it all together. I noticed several reviewers had to cook longer for lentils to be cooked thru so I soaked mine in hot water for 30 minutes after rinsing well. I think that really helped because it was done in 25 minutes. I would make again!
Great recipe to use for tacos or a base for burritos to freeze. Easy, on-hand ingredients, and can freeze for later. Love it!
Made this tonight and followed the recipe, as written. It turned out perfect and was delicious. I let the lentil mixture set about 10 minutes, to thicken up a little and it worked out great. I will definitely make this again, and I won't change a thing. Thanks for the great recipe!
Wow!! I am an aspiring flexitarian and have been trying to seek out recipes with fewer meat ingredients. I hate soy and am pretty meh about beans, so I was super happy and surprised that I thoroughly enjoyed this!! I added probably 1.5 or 2x as much taco seasoning (my seasoning mix was low sodium so I needed the flavour) and only 1/2 cup of salsa to suit my personal tastes. Super delicious, simple, affordable! Made for a delicious taco salad. Can’t wait to try freezing these lentils and packing them in my lunch for work.
I made this a few times, and it's super delicious! I substituted vegetable broth to make it vegan, and had to reduce the amount to one cup instead of 1 2/3, because it was too watery the first time. I also added about half a cup of taco seasoning because I love it so much. Because I dislike onions I substituted onion powder. It was simply amazing. I fed it to taco-loving meat-eaters and they thought it was better than the real thing! The salsa really adds to it if you pick one you like, I always use southwestern style salsa. I definitely recommend it!
This is great! I've been missing my "meaty" burritos since I stopped eating meat. I did half a recipe and it was perfect for 2 burritos on taco night with my family. I also used vegetable broth to make it vegetarian. I cooked my lentils for 45 minutes but I could have gone a little longer. Such a great recipe!
I saw this recipe on the Buzz and then a friend made it & posted "faux toes" so I just had to try it. I'm looking for meals that require less meat trying to reduce our fat etc. I wasn't sure how I would like this and I certainly hid what I was doing for the meat & potatoes men I was serving lunch to. Well, I LOVED it. I didn't tweak it until it came to the men's, I added some taco meat to theirs. Alas, there is only so much I can spring on them at one time. Definitely a keeper!
Have made this many times, family loves it! We add black beans, red peppers, corn, and 3/4 cup lentils with 2 cups broth.
Love it! Perfect in flavor and texture! I tried both soft and crunchy taco shells and I recommend the crunchy
Truly amazing, so easy, delicious; did have to cook the lentils a LOT longer than recipe says, though. I will definitely be making this again. I'm going to try it in the slow cooker, too.
This recipe is awesome!!! I've been trying to go veggie whenever possible and this is the best veggie taco recipe I've ever had!!!
I used pre-cooked lentils from Trader Joe's and added a small amount of vegetable broth to that instead of cooking the lentils in chicken broth. I also accidentally added too much taco seasoning, but the dish was still amazing. My husband, who loves meat, said these were the best tacos he has ever had. I was pleasantly surprised! This dish will be one of our favorites to enjoy from here on out...
The lentils took much longer to cook and I had to add more water. My husband really like them, I thought they were just ok. Did add the salsa as they were cooking.
I made the recipe as written with one exception. We thought it needed more flavor than 1 tbs of taco seasoning and added extra which ended up being too much. It was too salty and I am not sure if it was from the seasoning or the broth but other than that it was wonderful. We will use this recipe frequently. I think someone's suggestion of adding rice would be good also. My daughter who is still a picky eater at age 16 loved it.
This was phenomenal! It was my first time making lentils and now I don't know if I can eat tacos any other way! I used unsalted chicken broth and low sodium taco mix to cut down on the sodium, and this recipe was still spectacularly flavorful. This has definitely been added to my list of staple meals. I did end up cooking my lentils for about 45 minutes though as at 30 minutes they were not yet tender and still had lots of liquid around them.
This was really good. I preferred eating the lentils with tortilla chips, like nachos.
Delicious! Looking for a heart-healthy meatless dish, so I tried it. I added more onions and more taco seasoning than called for, but otherwise followed the recipe. I used it as the 'meat' in a taco salad. Awesome!
Very tasty! I did use beef broth instead of chicken. And I am not a fan of crunchy lentils so I simmered them well over an hour before adding the salsa, (adding water and additional taco seasoning as I went) but might cook it even longer next time. Yes there will be next time they were that good!
Found this when I was looking for things to make with some lentils I had laying around, and this really sounded like it would hit the spot (I love tacos but have been mostly vegetarian for the better part of four years now). Made this exactly as directed, except that I used water instead of broth and shallots instead of onions, since that's just what I had, and added some pinto beans during the last bit of cooking (always looking for ways to add protein) and it turned out amazing! Made myself a little taco bowl with spinach, crunched up tortilla chips, fresh salsa, and cheddar cheese on top -- yum!
