How do you make a Lentil Salad irresistible? Load it up with warm cinnamon-laced pumpkin, a handful of greens, a sprinkling of candied walnuts, and finish with a honey-spiced red wine vinegar dressing!
Inspired by a Spiced Sweet Potato Salad from Community by Sydney local Hetty McKinnon, this is a big pile of vegetable goodness made seriously tasty.
After a (very!) extended water break, the inaugural Holiday Salad Marathon has resumed! Today – lentils made fabulous:
Spiced Pumpkin Lentil Salad
I had someone in my team make this to see if she liked it because the flavour profile is out of character for me – something I tried one day as a “let’s give this a go!”
In her words: “Sorry it took so long, I couldn’t get excited about it … but now I can’t stop eating it!!! OMG!!” (Yes, we are both gratuitous exclamation mark-users.)
It’s earthy, it’s sweet, it’s savoury. There’s great textural contrast. But most of all, it’s the subtle spicing in it that really adds interest: cinnamon and allspice.
Who knew canned lentils could be so fabulous??!
What goes in this Pumpkin Lentil Salad
Here’s what you need for this salad:
Lentils – Canned for the express option, but I’ve also include notes in the recipe for using dried;
Pumpkin – Any type, or butternut squash. Sweet potato would work well here too;
Rocket/arugula – I like it for the peppery flavour it adds and also the shape of the leaves contrasts nicely against the lentils. Baby spinach would also work well, but I’d probably slice it a bit to make it easier to eat with the lentils. Finely sliced kale would also work, but marinate it first using the method in this recipe (it softens the leaves, and makes it tastier);
Red onion – For a touch of freshness and bite;
Thyme – A lovely, warm and earthy herb that goes well with all the flavours going on in this salad; and
Spices – Cinnamon and allspice. Some for the pumpkin, some in the dressing.
And here’s what you need for the dressing:
Honey – The sweetening agent as well as for thickening the dressing so it clings to the lentils;
Red wine vinegar – You can substitute this with white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, sherry vinegar or even cider vinegar. The dressing has extra flavour added to it, so we can be flexible here;
Extra virgin olive oil – The better the quality, the better your dressings; and
Garlic, salt and pepper – Seasonings/flavour.
Optional Extra: Honey-Cinnamon Candied Walnuts
For everyday purposes, I would just finish with a handful of plain chopped walnuts.
But if you want to go aaalllll the way, make Honey-Cinnamon Candied Walnuts. It’s that extra-special touch that bumps this salad up into the Company-Worthy category!
All you need to do is toss walnuts with honey, cinnamon and salt, then bake for 15 minutes. Cool to crisp, and you’re done! (Tip: Make extra for you to nibble … chef’s treat!)
This Lentil Salad is a great meal-worthy salad option or work lunch idea. Meat-free, nutritious, filling, and it keeps well for a few days.
Plus, I like that it’s an interesting way to use canned lentils which, let’s face it, isn’t always the most inspiring thing in the pantry!! – Nagi x
PS. No video for these Holiday Salad Marathon recipes. But if you really want one, pop a request in below. I’d be happy to make this for lunch any day and shoot it for you.
What is the Holiday Salad Marathon?
This was my inaugural Christmas recipe countdown where I had planned to share 30 salad recipes in a row until Christmas Eve – something completely different to people’s usual baking countdowns!
Life, however, got in the way and I never crossed the finish line before Christmas. After an extended water break, I’ve finally resumed!!!
These salads are in addition to my regular 3 new recipes a week. Because aren’t you bored of the usual tomato-cucumber-lettuce garden salad routine??
Click here to see all the Holiday Salad Marathon recipes to date!
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Honey-Cinnamon Pumpkin Lentil Salad
Ingredients
Cinnamon Pumpkin:
- 400g / 14 oz pumpkin or butternut squash (pre-peeled weight), peeled then sliced in 1cm / ½" thick slices then bite size wedges
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp all spice
- 1/4 tsp salt
Salad:
- 800g/ 28oz canned lentils , well drained & patted dry (Note 1)
- 2 cups (packed) rocket/arugula leaves (preferably baby, otherwise hand-tear large ones)
- 1/2 red onion , finely sliced
- 3 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Honey Walnuts (optional, can just use plain walnuts, Note 2):
- 3/4 cup walnuts (or pecans)
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey (must be runny, so warm if super-thick), or maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
Dressing:
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove (small), finely grated
- 1/4 tsp allspice powder
- 1/4 tsp ginger powder
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Pan-roasted spiced pumpkin:
- Toss pumpkin with 1 tbsp olive oil, cinnamon, all spice and salt.
- Pan roast: Heat a large non stick skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. Add about half the pumpkin, spreading out into one layer. Cook for 3 minutes until golden. Turn and cook the other side for 3 minutes until golden and cooked through. Remove and let cool until just warm.Repeat with other half of the pumpkin, adding a little more oil to the pan if required.
Honey Walnuts:
- Toss: Place walnuts in a bowl, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with cinnamon and salt. Mix, spread on paper-lined baking tray.
- Bake: Bake at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) for 15 minutes, tossing once halfway. Leave to cool, then use fingers to roughly break walnuts up into slightly smaller pieces.
Salad:
- Dressing: Place ingredients in a jar and shake well.
- Toss: Place lentils, rocket, red onion, thyme and pumpkin in a large bowl. Pour over most of the Dressing, then gently toss.
- Plate up: Pile up on serving platter. Sprinkle with candied walnuts. Drizzle over remaining Dressing, then serve!
Recipe Notes:
- Pumpkin – switch with sweet potato, winter squash
- Greens – spinach, marinated shredded kale (use this method), silverbeet (chard/swiss chard), anything that can be sliced so it kind of “melds” well with lentils nicely
- Walnuts – per Note 2 above
- Red wine vinegar – any other type of vinegar that’s not as harsh as plain white vinegar. eg. sherry, white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, even cider vinegar.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Spied something tasty. It wasn’t lentils……
Definitely want the video!
Needs something like feta to balance out the flavours, it’s too sweet otherwise. And as others have said, the pumpkin requires a longer cooking time.
A bit confusing – why 800g lentils? then 1 cup in recipe? Then picture showing 2 cans of lentils? Otherwise nice salad.
It takes 2 cans (800 grams) of lentils – the canned ones are already cooked. In the recipe it says if you want to use DRIED lentils and cook your own, then you need one cup of dried which will yield the same amount as the two cans once it is cooked. N x
So delicious and tasty we all loved it! As others mentioned, it took a little longer than 3 minutes per to cook the pumpkin it was closer to 6 or 7. I was thinking that next time I will pre cook the pumpkin for 2 minutes in the Microwave, pat on a paper towel and then fry. Will be making it again!
Great feedback thanks!! N x
Hi, is the nutrition information per serve or for the whole recipe?
Delicious salad, I would just reduce the all spice a little for my personal taste
Just made (and devoured) this for lunch! So delish! I used left over roast pumpkin so it wasn’t seasoned in the same spices but it was still delightful. I did add extra cinnamon and all spice to the dressing to make up for it.
I have been almost exclusively eating from your recipe list since Christmas which was a HUUGE hit thanks to your festive duck and fondant sweet potatoes so THANK YOU!
Hi lovely Nagi!
If I can’t use all spice in the lentil salad, can l just omit it?
Or should I replace it with something else?
Thank you!
Hi Tania, it really makes this dish stand out, you can sun with the following though; an added 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground cloves and 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 🙂 N x
My newest favourite salad! Made it exactly as the recipe says and it was amazing. Thanks Nagi!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Rebecca, that cinnamon is addictive isn’t it?! N x
I made this again for tea tonight. It seems to taste better each time
Hi Nagi, I made this again today and this is my second comment on this flavoursome dish. Not being keen on pulses, I cooked brown rice in the broth used in your eggplant and lentils recipe. The rice soaked up the beautiful flavours in the broth and was so delicious. I also made 2 batches of the cinnamon walnuts as first batch burnt. I had a seniors moment with the second batch and added oil as well as honey to the mix! They still came up great. Instead of mixing the salad with the brown rice, I served the salad ingredients on top of the rice and poured the dressing over and added walnuts. I’m sharing these comments as I found the brown rice cooked in the broth a great substitute for the lentils. Yum
Hi Nagi –
Had friends over for dinner last night and did this as a side dish – everyone (me included!) loved it!
I’m in Oz – so just used a Jap pumpkin as I prefer it to most other varieties. Roasted pieces of it for around fifteen minutes in the oven. I had plenty of tinned lentils (covid pantry supplies from March/April last year – just about all the other stuff worked through and integrated into regular pantry now – but don’t use tinned lentils for much – so this was in part a way to get through some of them!).
And agree about the candied walnuts – fantastic! Definitely worth the effort.
Think this is gonna be a favourite that gets made often.
Thanks again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Ron, that’s true wonderful to hear!! N x
Delicious!
Thank you Nagi for yet another creative and tasty recipe!
I used canned lentils and butternut squash and the results were wonderful. I did need to pop the butternut squash into the oven for about 20 minutes as it was not quite soft enough after the 15 minutes of pan-roasting, although the colour was a perfect dark golden brown on all sides! The squash turned out delicious – still a wee bit firm. This was not an inconvenience at all!
How you manage to create such a fabulous array of recipes, provide amazing step-by-step instructions, and produce amazing instructional videos baffles me. All the while allowing us into your life with that cutie, Dozer…definitly a highlight of your posts which I look forward to every week! I worry you don’t get enough sleep!
I am so grateful that I came upon your site Nagi, it has been such a joy!
Sending you a big virtual hug and a belly rub for ‘our’ boy for Valentine’s Day and well beyond!
Loved this salad especially the pumpkin rocket and the dressing. Next time I will cook the brown lentils a little longer and reduce the amount as we’re not big fans. We had this salad with posh sausages and I noticed no-one added sauce which is a first. Very tasty and I’ll make it again to share with friends and add the walnuts as well. Thanks for the flavours.
I used roasted honeynut squash and agave in the dressing – it was delicious!
Made this for dinner tonight Nagi and it was delicious. Definitely another recipe that I’ll be making again and again.
I roasted some butternut squash rather than pumpkin, and crumbled some feta over the top. It was soooo good !!
If you’re making this recipe, I’d highly recommend doubling the candied nuts as half of them had disappeared before they’d even made the salad!!
Made this tonight. I didn’t have arugula so substituted spinach as suggestion. The candied walnuts put it over the top—so worth the 15 minutes to make them. Fabulous!!
Can you oven roast the pumpkin rather than pan fry? Thanks!
Sure can Adrianne, I would pop them in a preheated oven on 200c/390f for 6-8 minutes turning half way (or until golden and tender) – N x
Nagi you are no1 in making food,tell me how to make corn chips or crispy potato chips where can I find it please
I think this looks like an incredibly creative, yummy, unique recipe that sounds super delish. I’m a new lentil “liker” but not quite lentil lover yet lol. But this sure looks like a recipe that is healthy, quick and tastes wonderful (the candied nuts will seal the deal for me)…but also really appreciating the use of canned lentils. These are recipes that I need to have around-the quick and easy kind or even semi homemade. Thank you for gifting us w 3 recipes today. Felt like I hit a jackpot this morning😊
Hi Macy, I promise it won’t disappoint – love to know what you think once you try it! N x
Hi, in regards to your note about using pepitas instead of walnuts,would you still honey the pepitas as per the honey walnut steps?
Hi Rebecca, yes 100%! (although it’s optional but highly recommended!!) N x
Thank you for replying, I really appreciate it. I made this tonight with candied pepitas and it was lovely.
Nagi – I can seriously see this becoming my new favourite salad, side, wrap filling et al this summer. Often one thinks there cannot be any new ideas in the culinary world . . . and a surprise lesson arrives . . .
Yes this would be great stuffed into a wrap Eha, great idea!!! N x