Lentil and Tomato Stew Recipe (2024)

I always start with 1 teaspoon per quart of liquid but I always end up using more.

I think it needs more spice, it seems a little plain. So I added some ground cumin and cinnamon. perked it up nicely.

Followed the recipe using canned tomatoes, but diced the cooked onion and added it to the lentils and tomatoes for a bit more body. My wife and I really enjoyed this dish, and will eat it again. I would cut down on the liquid used to cook the lentils the next time. As written, final dish was pretty soupy. Leftovers the next day were, however, much more like stew, and even better tasting. This was an easy and quick dish to make,

I make something similar. While simmering, add fresh spinach, one leaf at a time (so they don't clump into a big ball), until you have enough so that spinach is featured as a main ingredient along with the tomatoes. Maybe 10-14 oz, if making this whole recipe as featured here.

I just made it and it is great and so easy and quick. I halved the recipe, except for the tomatoes. I used up about half of the tomato sauce and now I have a great pizza/pasta sauce or part of a shakshuka base, depending on what develops as the week winds down. I used parsley and cilantro in lieu of basil since that what was on hand. It looks like this may become a witer stable in our parts.

My favorite home-made soup is lentils with some chopped up kielbasa. The only thing to add is some chopped celery. You can do this with turkey kielbasa or even a vegetarian sausage. Great for winter nights with some good crusty bread.

I chopped up the onion and added it. I also added cinnamon and cumin as suggested below and chopped carrots. We still thought it was a little bland. We topped it with sour cream, which was a delicious addition. Next time, I might add a little sherry or something to boost the flavor.

Very tasty! Changes based on other comments: I diced the onion to start, also added some diced carrots (3-4), and used less water - about 5 cups, and might try 1/2 cup less next time; Used 1 large can (28 oz i think) and 1 small can of diced tomatoes in making the sauce; added 1-2 tsp of cumin and about a tsp of cinnamon is step 3 (might add a little more next time). Garlic toast went very nicely with it. Teenager who is not always excited by veg meals enjoyed it, and it was easy to make!

Very tasty. Will definitley make again. I used double the tomato sauce. Made it from frozen tomatoes so skinned but didn't seed them and cooked it down a lot. Didn't have fresh basil so used basil oil. Chopped up the onion and put it back in. Used 1 teaspoon salt in the lentils and 1 teaspoon in the tomatoes which seemed about right. Also added about 1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes.

I am making as I write this, but I do wish the author had given some indication of quantity of salt versus writing "to taste" with no guidelines. To taste is fine if you give a starting point, as the author did with garlic. But with lentils and tomatoes, both of which need a fair amount of salt to perk them up, it would have been nice to have a minimum amount listed.

I made this with heirloom beefsteak tomatoes from the Growers' Market. The tomato flavor was fabulous but it was more like soup. It might be better to use Roma paste tomatoes rather than beefsteak. Still this was really delicious last night for dinner and I had it again today for lunch. MMMMM!

Ludicrously delicious, and so easy!

This was very good! Seasoning is key and good doses of salt, fresh ground black pepper and as some have suggested a teaspoon or two of cumin really makes this come alive. I also diced and sauteed the onion, slightly caramelizing it which added a nice depth of flavor. This would also go really well with some Italian sweet sausage. Lots of great possibilities here.

I made this according to the recipe with the exception of adding some kale I needed to use up. I tasted it and…it was ok. I added a lot more salt, smoked paprika, and juice of half a lemon and that made it a bit more dynamic. Still not out of the park great. Thoughts: (1) use broth or broth and water, (2) sauté a full mirepoix at the start and get a bit of color, perhaps also adding tomato paste at the end of the sauce, (3) I might try French Lentils (vs brown) for texture and flavor.

I add some thin slices of plant-based sausage to make a hearty winter stew.

I had problems with the tomato, so I skipped that part and added raw tomato over the stew. It works very good and is faster to finish, just the 25' simmering part

Watch liquid add parm rind

Made it and liked it a lot. Did add 1 teaspoon cumin, as suggested in an earlier note.. Who knows. Might have liked it just as well without cumin, but certainly good with it

I made this and substituted the mentioned cumin, cinnamon, added diced carrots and celery, and a fistful of cilantro. Then I added ground coriander and it made everything bloom!

This was really good - cooking down the tomatoes makes all the difference. It's easy to modify to your taste; I browned ground beef, removed it from the pan, then sauteed chopped onion, celery, garlic, ground cumin and crushed red pepper before adding the lentils. I added red wine and tomato paste to the (canned) tomatoes, and let that cook down, then I added the ground beef to that. After a bit of a simmer, I combined it all and served it over whole wheat pasta. Rustic, tasty, and hearty.

This was a great way to use up end of the season tomatoes! Our lentils were of a smaller variety than the ones pictured so we just ended up ladling off about a cup of extra water/lentil juice before adding the tomato mix. And our tomatoes were a mixture of small and large so we just used an immersion blender to break up some of the skins before adding to the lentils. Some medium heat peppers and some chili oil were good additions too. Thank you!

I hope I can use black lentils.

Too much water. It comes out as soup

One cup less water

Enjoyed the subtle spices.

This was great! Made a bunch of changes inspired by others’ notes - diced the onion and sautéed it with diced carrots and celery and some of the garlic, then added salt and a bit of cumin before adding in the liquid, herbs and lentils. Used parsley and rosemary, and my lentils were pretty old so took forever to cook. For the tomatoes - used canned smushed whole ones that (didn’t purée). Delicious and just hit the spot on a rainy day! (Also makes quite a lot)

I stirred in baby spinach, which absorbed some of the liquid. Served it with roasted cauliflower and baguette crisps. The parmesan rind adds a lot of flavour.

I used 4 cups of chicken stock rather than 6 cups water and attained a nice “stew” consistency. (My green lentils were quite tiny compared with others I’ve cooked with so perhaps larger lentils would require the extra 2 cups liquid). Also ended up diving onions after the fact and adding back into stew for a bit more flavor. Very pleased with the result.