Add this lentil salad recipe to your lunch rotation ASAP! Packed with fresh veggies, olives, and feta, it's super flavorful and great for meal prep.
This lentil salad recipe is helping me ease into a new lunch routine. After a summer filled with picnic leftovers and impromptu farmers market meals, I’m trying to get back in the rhythm of doing at least a little meal prep at the start of the week. That way, at lunchtime, I’m not totally stumped by what to eat.
Luckily, this lentil salad recipe is simple to make, so it’s a breeze to put together on a Sunday. It also tastes so good that I don’t mind eating it for a few days on repeat. I douse al dente lentils, juicy cherry tomatoes, crisp veggies, briny olives, and feta in a zingy lemon dressing. And, because I believe that fresh herbs make any salad better, I toss in mint and parsley for a cooling, refreshing finishing touch.
If you’re looking for new lunch ideas right now, I can’t recommend this lentil salad highly enough. It’s intensely flavorful and super satisfying. It won’t be leaving my lunchtime rotation anytime soon. I think you’ll love having it in yours too.
Lentil Salad Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this lentil salad recipe:
- Lentils, of course! I like to use French lentils for this salad. They hold their shape nicely when cooked, and they don’t get mushy like brown or red lentils do. Find my guide to cooking the lentils here.
- Grape tomatoes – I love their sweet flavor and juicy texture in this salad. Any type of cherry or grape tomatoes will work here, but I think yellow ones are especially pretty.
- Cucumbers and radishes – For crunch.
- Red onion – For sharp, savory flavor.
- Lacinato kale – I always like to sneak greens into lunch salads when I can. I use kale here because it holds up well under the dressing even when I make this salad in advance.
- Green olives – They add delicious briny flavor. Not a green olive person? Feel free to use kalamata olives instead.
- Feta cheese – For saltiness and tang.
- The dressing – It’s a zingy combo of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, garlic, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. To add complexity to the salad, I also mix in ground cumin and either Italian seasoning or za’atar. Use whichever you keep in your pantry.
- And fresh mint and parsley – For cooling, aromatic flavor.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Whisk together the dressing ingredients at the bottom of a large bowl.
Then, add the salad ingredients on top. Toss to coat and season to taste.
That’s it!
Lentil Salad Serving Suggestions
This lentil salad recipe keeps well for up to 4 days in the fridge, so it’s perfect for making ahead for lunches. Enjoy it on its own, or serve it as a side dish with a Caprese sandwich, chickpea salad sandwich, or healthy lunch wrap.
I also love to include this lentil salad on a mezze platter if I’m putting together a light dinner or making lunch for friends. It pairs nicely with tabbouleh or a tomato salad and a few spreads like muhammara, whipped feta, baba ganoush, or hummus. Round out the meal with lots of fresh pita bread!
How do you like to serve this lentil salad? Let me know in the comments!
More Favorite Lunch Salads
If you love this lentil salad recipe, try one of these packable lunch salads next:
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Black Bean and Corn Salad
- Three Bean Salad
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
- Orzo Salad
- Kale Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
- Or any of these 41 Healthy Lunch Ideas!
Lentil Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, or za'atar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the Salad
- 2½ cups cooked French green lentils, from 1 cup uncooked
- 3 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced into half-moons
- ¾ cup yellow grape tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup diced red onion
- 4 lacinato kale leaves, stemmed, leaves torn
- 4 red radishes, thinly sliced
- Heaping ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- Heaping ½ cup green olives, pitted and halved
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, Italian seasoning, salt, cumin, and several grinds of pepper.
- Assemble the salad: Add the lentils, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, kale, radishes, feta, and olives to the bowl with the dressing and toss to coat. Add the parsley and mint and toss again. Season to taste and serve.
What a delicious and healthy salad! I love how versatile it is! I ate this all week and added different things each time. The best is the zesty dressing. Another keeper!
Hi Adrienne, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Fun that you put a different twist on it each time too 🙂
Just made it for the April cooking challenge – delicious and healthy way to start the week!
So glad you enjoyed the salad, Annie!
Delicious salad and perfect for lunches for the week! It reminds me of tabouleh with the mint and parsley. I used curly kale and red grape tomatoes. Fantastic dish!
Hi Laurie, I’m so glad you enjoyed the salad!
I have never used lentils much in cooking; prepped this for lunch for the week. I had today for the first time and with the fresh herbs it is such a delicious springtime flavor!
Hi Alison, I’m so glad you loved the salad!
This salad was so good! I made it as a side dish for dinner and had it again the next day at lunch. I will be keeping this recipe for a spring meal prep idea for sure!! Love the dressing. So easy and versatile. I didn’t have kale on hand but used baby spinach and it worked great. I would try the version with kale next time. Thanks for sharing your wisdom 🙂
The star rating wasn’t included above so I’m adding that here!
I’m so glad you loved it!
One can’t go wrong with these salads, especially when recipes come from Love and Lemons. I like the lentil salad very much.
Delicious!
Thank You
I loved the flavors in this fresh, delicious and filling salad. The highlights were the fresh mint and then the cumin in the dressing. The Cumin is something I would never have added to a vinaigrette with lemon and Italian seasoning but it made it amazing! I will use this vinaigrette for everything! I made the salad dairy free and left out the raw onion (not my favorite) and it was delicious! Next time I might try adding a little extra crunch with sunflower or pumpkin seeds or almonds. Will definitely make this many times!
such a yummy salad, both light and filling and pretty easy to throw together:)
I made the Lentil Salad this morning Ate it for breakfast. ?
What a hearty yet refreshing salad! I could see the flavors only getting better in the following days. I had to make this without the feta, but added preserved lemons for that extra kick. Can definitely see this going on a summertime rotation. Give yourself some time to prep all of the ingredients – they’re all worth it!
I loved this easy salad. I’d recommend using the za’atar spice in the dressing. It went so well with the cumin. I actually used Trader Joes refrigerated lentils to make it super convenient! Will definitely make again.
This recipe was great! I love all of these ingredients individually, but they were even better together in this salad. I was worried about putting dressing on the whole bowl, but it does hold up well. Will definitely be making again and sharing with others!
Such a good salad! I added walnuts too which was a great addition for some more texture
I loved this recipe! It was so easy to put together and absolutely delicious with some crusty bread. It held up great in the fridge too and would be great meal prep as work lunches!
This was so so good! I put it over a bed of spinach and it was so fresh and delicious ?
This lentil salad is light and refreshing. Enhance this lentil salad by using the “nice” olive oil you only use for special dishes!
I love this lentil salad, and it is perfect for meal prep. It does take a little bit of time to prepare all the veggies but is so worth it. I used an Italian seasoning in the dressing, and it was perfect. The mint and the tangy feta are so tasty with the lentils and all the other ingredients. I will definitely make this again and have for lunch at work.
This recipe is amazing! All the vegetables go so well together with the lentils, but the star of the show is the za’atar seasoning in the dressing. It’s a great salad to have as a side dish or a perfect filling lunch! Definitely will be making again.
I really liked the combination of these ingredients. For me,I would make again but swap the lentils for a grain like barley or freekeh though.