Fresh green herbs, sweet red pepper, crisp cucumber, and pungent purple onion, all tossed together with tender red lentils and a simple red wine vinaigrette. This colorful red lentil confetti salad is a winner!
Spoon the confetti-like mix of veggies and red lentils on a bed of crisp salad greens. With its protein punch, make it your main meal!
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Red lentil confetti salad keeps well for days. If you make it more than a few hours ahead, be sure to taste and adjust the seasonings before serving. This is the main course salad you crave on hot summer days.
About red lentils:
We call them red lentils (Affiliate link), yet raw, their hue is orange. And cooked, their shade is pale yellow-orange. Mixed with bits and pieces of dark green, purple and red, well, let’s call it confetti!
How to cook red lentils for this salad: Caution–red lentils cook quickly, so you want to simmer them slowly in water and check them often. They can fall apart and turn to mush before you know it, so be careful. After 5 minutes, and each minute after, take a bite; a lentil should yield to your tooth with texture. Better to have them feel not quite done than go the mushy way.
What herbs can you put in this salad?
- As far as herbs go there are lots of options. You can use cilantro, parsley, summer savory, thyme, tarragon or basil, just one of them, or a mix, depending on what you have. I only had cilantro and parsley, so that’s what went in this red lentil confetti salad.
If it’s spring or early summer, seek out garlic scapes for this salad.
- Originally, I created this recipe to feature the garlic scapes we found in our weekly farm share box. But you don’t need those green scapes to make said salad.
- What are garlic scapes? Garlic scapes are the flowering shoots/stems of the garlic plant. Naturally they have notes of garlic, mild quiet notes.
- As the garlic grows, farmers and gardeners trim the curly scapes away so the plant can devote its energy to producing the garlic bulbs.
- In spring and early summer, when garlic scapes are happening in gardens and farmer’s markets, toss chopped garlic scapes into the confetti mix. You can add them raw, or first sauté them in a bit of olive oil.
- Cut in small pieces, dark green garlic scapes are about the same size as the other salad ingredients, the chopped red onion and red bell pepper, and the lens-shaped pale orange pulses.
You might also like these other lentil recipes:
- French Green Lentil and Quinoa Salad–also rocking the vegan protein salad channel.
- Delicious creamy Red Lentil Hummus. If you accidently cook your red lentils too much, make hummus.
- Vegan Red Lentil Bolognese-style Sauce for pasta.
- Wilted Spinach and Green Lentil Salad.
Adapted from Lentil Salad recipe in May All Be Fed by John Robbins. (Affiliate link.)
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**This post is an update of the Crimson Lentil and Garlic Scape Salad posted on my muffintalk blog in June 2010, and also updated in July of 2015.
Red Lentil Confetti Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry red lentils , picked over and rinsed
- 3 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup chopped green onons or optional garlic scapes, cut in 1/4-inch pieces
- ¾ cup finely chopped red onion
- ½ red bell pepper , seeded and cut into ½-inch pieces
- ½ cucumber , peeled and seeds removed, cut into thin slices
- ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh herbs (e.g. cilantro, parsley, basil, summer savory etc.)
Instructions
- Put the lentils with water and bay leaf in a large pot. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally until the lentils are just tender, 5 to 8 minutes. (Do not overcook–see note) Drain and let cool.
- Whisk the vinegar and the mustard in a bowl. Stir in the garlic, salt and about 20 grinds of black pepper. Whisk in the olive oil.
- Put the red lentils and garlic scapes, if using, red onion, bell pepper, cucumber, and chopped fresh herbs in a salad bowl.
- Pour the red wine vinaigrette over the salad. Toss until everything is well coated with the dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if needed.
- Refrigerate at least one hour to allow the flavors to blend. Serve chilled.
Notes
- Cook red lentils slowly and check them often; they fall apart quickly and before you know they can turn into mush. After 5 minutes, and each minute after, take a bite; a lentil should yield to your tooth with texture.
- If the salad is prepared more than a few hours ahead, taste and adjust the salt and pepper again before serving.
It even looks like an explosion of festive fireworks. GREG · 7 July, 2015
looks terrific – tweeting and pinning it~ · 7 July, 2015
Absolutely divine flavours…. ✨️ 💖 😍 · 27 March, 2025
I added a little feta cheese even though that takes away the vegan feature. Easy to make and delicious either way. · 23 July, 2026
Thank you for the note. I love the addition of feta cheese–great idea! · 27 July, 2026
Healthy and tasty but could use a little more flavor. I added the juice of 1/2 lemon and doubled the dijon. · 31 July, 2026