Lentil Quinoa Rice is a great way to bulk up your rice and turn it into a high-fiber, higher-protein option. Plus, the hearty textures of green lentils and quinoa really add a nice touch to plain rice. Freeze it in pre-portioned amounts for easy eating whenever you want a quick meal!
With 8x more fiber and 2x more protein than plain steamed white rice, this 3-ingredient blend turns your side dish into nutritious and gut-healthy fuel for your day.
Ingredients for Lentil Quinoa Rice
- Long-grain rice, such as basmati or jasmine rice.
- Green or brown lentils.
- Quinoa.
How to Make Lentil Quinoa Rice
Step 1 & 2: Soak green lentils in boiling water for 30 minutes to soften them, so they finish cooking the same time as the rice and quinoa. Drain the soaking water.
Step 3: Add the rice and quinoa to a sieve and rinse thoroughly.
Step 4: Add all ingredients to a rice cooker with water. Cook on the white rice (or regular) setting.
Step 5: Don’t open the lid when the rice cooker finishes cooking. Let it sit on “keep warm” for another 10 minutes so the grains finish cooking.
Step 6: Open the rice cooker, fluff and mix the rice and grains together with a fork or rice cooker paddle. It’s ready to enjoy!
Lentil Quinoa Rice
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup long-grain white rice e.g. jasmine or basmati
- 1/2 cup dry brown lentils soaked
- 1/2 cup dry quinoa thoroughly rinsed
- 3 cups water or vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon olive oil optional
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt optional
Instructions
Prep
- Soak lentils: Add lentils to a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to soak for 30 minutes. If you skip this step, the lentils will come out undercooked.
Rice Cooker Method
- Combine ingredients: Drain the soaked lentils and add to a rice cooker bowl. Thoroughly rinse the long-grain white rice and quinoa to avoid a gummy texture. Add to rice cooker bowl along with water (or vegetable broth). Optionally, you can add in olive oil and salt.
- Start: Stir and set to cook on the "White Rice" or "Standard" setting.
- Finish steaming: Don't open the rice cooker immediately once it finishes cooking. Allow it to keep steaming on the "Warm" setting for about 5 minutes to ensure everything is perfectly cooked.
- Fluff: Use the rice paddle to gently fluff the rice and incorporate the quinoa and lentils.
I haven’t tried this yet, but it looks like a great way to include lentils in a dish without it being lentil-heavy. Have you ever tried this with an instant pot? I’m curious if it would work using the same settings as needed to cook basmati rice (and still soak the lentils ahead of time.)