Lentil and Greens Patties

If you have a garden, of almost any size, you’ll reach a point sometime in the growing season when your greens will start growing more quickly than you can harvest. This past winter I grew a couple types of kale alongside rainbow chard, and though the kale has almost all bolted now, the chard is fabulous.

These lentil patties are a way to use up those masses of greens – whether that’s chard, as pictured, or something like spinach. Of course you can also use store-bought, but these may get a little expensive in that case, as they use quite a lot of hardy greens.

Soaked red lentils make for a truly excellent patty texture. These are fried, so they have a delicious crisp exterior. Make sure to really blend until quite smooth, both to finely chop the vegetables, and to make an almost-paste from the lentils.

They’re delicious plain, but also good with avocado aioli or another dip like a tahini garlic sauce. We like these as a kind of wrap with sweet potato flatbread or spelt tortillas and stuffed with other vegetables like sprouts, cucumber, and pickled onions.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Red Lentils: ideally, soak overnight. For a quick method, soak in very hot water for at least an hour before blending. (Soaked lentils freeze very well, if you want to make this recipe often.)
• Eggs: two whole, or three egg whites, it has been tested with both. I like the egg white method when I’ve been using all my yolks for ice cream. For a vegan option, please see these red lentil patties, which are baked.
• Chickpea Flour: this both keeps the lentil patties gluten-free and adds extra binding power. You can use rye flour in a pinch but it’s better with chickpea.
• Leafy Greens: rainbow chard is pictured. You can add herbs, too – a handful of parsley is delicious here. Kale, spinach, rucola, even beet greens – these are all good options to replace chard, and can be used in any combination. You can use a lesser amount but don’t increase them.
• Onion: the smallest onion you have, or only about 30g. Too much onion and it overwhelms everything else.
• Lemon: use both the zest and juice, for a little brightness. A splash of apple cider vinegar can replace the lemon juice in a pinch, but it’s not as nice.
• Spices: as usual, the cayenne pepper is optional and I suggest leaving it out if you are very sensitive to spice.

Step by Step

These pictures are here to help indicate what the patty mixture should look like before frying. It is pretty liquid looking and the lentils should be very finely chopped.

1. Chop the greens: blend the hardy greens, onion, and garlic until very finely chopped.
2. Mix: add the remaining ingredients and blend until fine and liquid-looking. Cook as instructed and serve hot.

Recipe Notes

The patty mixture will seem quite liquid, but trust the eggs and chickpea flour. They will hold together as soon as they hit the hot pan. To make sure the patties are quite round, nudge the outer edges a bit with the spoon as soon as you drop the mixture into the pan.

The stalks of chard (or whatever leafy green you use) may be left on as they will be blended finely. I remove only the largest stalks, below where they meet the leaf, and blend the rest.

Storage and Make Ahead

Make Ahead: you can freeze the uncooked mixture in a sealed container, thaw, and cook as usual. It does get a tiny bit watery doing this, but adding a tablespoon or two of chickpea flour sorts it out. This makes a large batch and I often freeze half in this way. The mixture can be kept, uncooked, in the refrigerator for a day before using.

Storage: these will keep well in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several days, and are excellent cold. They make a good addition to wraps or other on-the-go lunches.

Freezing: place cooled patties in an airtight container and freeze to for to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating in a frying pan and serving.

Expert Tips

• Soak those lentils: if the lentils aren’t soaked long enough, they won’t cook fully and the patties won’t work out. You can do a faster soak but I do recommend the overnight version.
• Preheat well: much like pancakes, if the pan isn’t hot enough, the first round of patties will be a flop. The pan should be hot before starting.
• Keep warm in the oven: if you want to keep the patties warm until serving, an oven set at about 80°C is perfect. They taste just as good cold, though.

More Lentil Recipes

Roasted New Potato Salad with Lentils and Herb Dressing
Lentil Bolognese
Rice, Lentil, and Butternut Squash Soup
Lentil and Potato Stew

If you make these Lentil Patties or any other vegetarian mains on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.