Bean & legume recipes you can count on

Baffled by beans? Daunted by dal? Lily-livered around lentils? Or maybe you’re a bean wrangler, a pulse princess, an expert in all things legume.

If you’re looking for bean and lentil recipes (including those for dried peas and chick peas) that are easy to make, made with common ingredients, and have been made many times with success, check out the recipes on this page!

If you have a favorite bean or lentil recipe (or a book/blog full of ’em) that is easy to make, made with common ingredients, and that you make and enjoy regularly, please let me know! You are welcome to copy the Steady Pulse logo image and use it on your post to link back to this page in order to help your readers find even more great bean and lentil recipes, or you can just let me know the link to your post and I will add it to the recipe list.

Sure-fire Recipes here at In My Box
Beans from scratch (Master recipe for basic beans) V, GF
French Lentil Salad (the post uses oranges, substitute tomato and cucumber instead if you have them) GF
French Lentil Soup with Thyme, Tarragon, and Brandy V, GF

Can’t-Fail Recipes vetted by me but located elsewhere
Tangy Red Lentils (my recipe hosted at Group Recipes) V, GF
Pinto bean corn cake fritter things (my post has my recipe revisions and a link to the complete recipe) V, GF

V = vegan, GF = gluten-free, M = contains meat/fish

To read more about how I’m conquering my beanphobia by putting together a collection of the very best, “I make this all the time” recipes for beans, lentils, and other pulses, check out this post.

Recipes contributed to the Steady Pulse Round-Up:
Brown (“regular“) Lentils ~

Kimberly of Gluten Free Is Life, a fellow gluten-free blogger and my Gluten-Free Menu Swap compatriot, gives us these delicious-sounding Honey Baked Lentils. They are so simple to make and look incredibly hearty and satisfying, especially served over spaghetti squash as she does here. Western Ingredients

Dia at Vestella’s Vale really has simple, healthy cooking with pulses integrated into her life. Her winter favorite Rice & Lentils has quinoa, teff, and wild and red rices to make it a hearty nutritional powerhouse! Western Ingredients

Deb recommends: Dal, Chilean Style

Deb recommends: Sloppy Lentils

Deb recommends: Baked Curried Brown Rice and Lentils

Deb recommends: Veggie Burgers

Deb recommends: Homestyle Lentils and Rice

French Green Lentils (“Puy lentils“) ~

Katie of Food Stuffs sends over a mouthwatering Lentil and Goat Cheese Salad that sounds like the quintessentially perfect lunch, served over salad greens with a hunk of Katie’s artisan bread. Yummm!!Western Ingredients

Red Lentils ~

Esther of The Lilac Kitchen, another of my Gluten-Free Menu Swap buddies (you guys are awesome!), occasionally shares my unreasonable fear of beans and considers herself to be a non-pulse person, but this fantastic Kohlrabi and Potato Gratin (with red lentils) went a long way towards creating a legume comfort zone in her kitchen. Western Ingredients

Butter Beans ~

Jenn of Apples & Facon serves up a unique and winning combination with her Butter Beans with Kale and Capers. She calls it a “a delicious, healthy, quick and easy meal that I make again and again” and I can see why! My mouth is watering just reading about the “salty brine of the capers,” and “the thick texture of the kale,” all paired with the “creamy white beans!” Western Ingredients

Chick Peas (garbonzo beans) ~

Ksenia from Tales of a Spoon almost never makes the same recipe twice. There are so many she wants to try, why repeat herself? But this Russian vegan girl living abroad in Barcelona finds herself craving Gypsy Pot again and again. After looking at her scrumptious photographs and reading the recipe (Chick peas, pears, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and sofrito? Let me at it!) I definitely get why this recipe would be worth making more than once. Western Ingredients

Bhagi at Everything About Cooking has always loved her mom’s chole, but when her mom came to visit it was Bhagi’s Chole/Garbanzo beans cooked in spices she couldn’t get enough of! This spicy, filling dish looks like it would make a great main dish and a phenomenal snack! Indian Ingredients

Deb recommends: My Favorite Falafel

Black Beans ~

Another great recipe from Dia at Vestella’s Vale, this time for Black Bean Hummus with Basil. Dia uses black beans instead of chick peas for their high antioxidant content – they contain the same super phytochemicals as blueberries! Now I’m kind of iffy hummus or for black beans, but I sure loves me some basil, so I think this could be the recipe that changes it all for me!

Deb recommends: Herbed Rice and Spicy Black Bean Salad

Deb recommends: Black Bean and Salsa Soup

Red Beans and Kidney Beans ~

Deb recommends: Spicy Red Beans and Rice Salad

Deb recommends: Rajma Masala (Red Kidney Beans Curry)

Chana Dal (dried halved chickpeas with skins removed) ~

Kanchan of Kitchen Gossip brings us her mother’s recipe for Chana Dal with coconut ground masala. (Recipes from mom are the ultimate in “tried-and-true!”) It’s a simple recipe that requires some ground work, but the results – which Kanchan describes as “elegant and royal” – look absolutely worth it! Indian Ingredients

Shanthi of Shanthi Krishnakumar’s Cookbook offers up a savory, golden Channa dal tadka that looks heavenly! Now if I only knew how to make gluten-free poori…. Indian Ingredients

Split Green Peas ~

Champa of Stories from an Indian Kitchen wanted to make a favorite dal recipe but didn’t have the any chana dal soaked overnight and ready to go. She substituted using split green peas, which only need to be soaked for 30 minutes, and the delicious Methi subzi with split green peas was born! How’s that for simple and easy? Indian Ingredients

Lima Beans (Avarekalu/Mochai/Hyacinth beans/Surati Papdi/Popati/Vaal) ~

Pari of Foodelicious has learned to cook an entirely new cuisine since getting married. Her husband loves avarekalu/lima beans, so Pari keeps them in the freezer to make this tasty Avarekalu Upma with rice and coconut. She learned the recipe from her mother-in-law and has perfected it so well her husband will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Indian Ingredients

Pigeon Peas (Toor dal/Red gram) ~

Kamala of Cook @ Ease shares her mouthwatering recipe for Toor Dal (Red Gram) Tadka, a light, nutritious dal that is part of her daily cooking repertoire. All of the commenters on Kamala’s post call this dish the “ultimate comfort food” and, looking at that creamy, dreamy photograph, I have to agree! Indian Ingredients

Moong Dal (split mung beans/green gram dal) ~

Jayashree of Desi Food Bites gives us a way to both start and end our day using what I think is the same legume in both recipes – moong dal, which is also known as split green gram dal. Wholesome Dal Parota looks like the yummiest, most filling breakfast in the world, and Dahl Payasam makes a “lip-smacking” foray into the world of pulse desserts! Indian Ingredients

Mixed Pulses ~

Nivedita from Nivedita’s Kitchen mixes it up by combining fourteen different pulses in her 14 Mixed Pulses Gravy. Nivedita is definitely not suffering from beanphobia – she makes this masterful pulse-combo concoction several times a month! Someday I hope to graduate to the level of proficiency that will allow me to make this healthy, colorful dish. Indian Ingredients

Deb recommends:Be Prepared Five-Bean Soup Mix