Vegetarian Lentil Bobotie
Flavour-packed vegetarian lentil bobotie is an easy-to-make dinner that everyone will enjoy. It’s made with fragrant curry spices, sweet fruit and a creamy egg custard topping. This comforting South African-inspired oven-baked dish is something of a cross between a British cottage pie and a Greek moussaka – only spicier and fruitier.
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This Cape Malay bake is extremely popular in South Africa. It’s seen by many as their national dish. I used to make a vegetarian lentil version many years ago, but it got lost in the mists of time. Recently, I spotted a traditional meat version online and remembered just how good my bobotie recipe was. So here it is for you to enjoy too.
Dive Right In
- Why You’ll Want To Make This Vegetarian Bobotie
- Vegetarian Bobotie
- Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
- How To Make Vegetarian Bobotie
- Other Recipes For Oven Baked Dishes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Pin It
- The Recipe
Why You’ll Want To Make This Vegetarian Bobotie?
- All the warmth of the classic, without the meat – This version keeps the gentle sweetness, fragrant spices and creamy custard topping that make bobotie so distinctive, but uses wholesome brown lentils and walnuts instead.
- Hearty, satisfying and protein-rich – Lentils and a handful of nuts give the dish real substance, making it filling enough for a satisfying main meal.
- Simple, everyday ingredients – Made with store cupboard staples and easy-to-find ingredients, there’s nothing complicated here.
- Naturally budget-friendly – Lentils make this a thrifty dish without sacrificing flavour or satisfaction.
- Make-ahead friendly – Bobotie cooks in a two stage process, which makes it ideal for preparing in advance or for relaxed, stress-free meals.
- Balanced sweet, savoury and gently spiced flavours – The combination of fruit, curry spice and creamy topping creates that signature bobotie taste. It’s warming rather than hot.
- A lighter take on a traditional favourite – All the character of classic bobotie, but plant-forward and a little lighter.
- Perfect for sharing – Easy to scale up and ideal for feeding family or friends.
Vegetarian Lentil Bobotie
My vegetarian lentil bobotie is savoury, lightly spiced and golden-topped. It’s comforting, nourishing food that feels both familiar and a little bit special.
One of the things I really like about bobotie is that it’s cooked with some unexpected ingredients. Bread soaked in milk and fruit chutney are two that always make me smile. Then there’s the creamy egg custard topping, it’s really quite unusual, but most delicious.
We like to eat it with some sort of greens on the side. Purple sprouting broccoli is always a good bet when in season.
Ingredients, Additions and Substitutions
Don’t be put off by the number of ingredients in this recipe, most of them are spices. They’re all store-cupboard items, so if you need to buy anything specifically, it should keep long enough for you to use in something else.
Bread
You can use any type of bread you like, but wholemeal is my preference. This recipe is a great way to use up any stale bread you may have lying around.
Chutney
Apricot chutney is traditionally used to make bobotie, but really any fruit chutney will work. It just needs that gorgeous mix of sweet and sour as well as the flavours, of course. Mango chutney is a top choice. I use my spiced apple chutney.
Lentils
Brown lentils are the ones to go for here, they’re cheap and nutritious. They’re also the same sort of colour as the minced meat you’d normally expect to find.
You can swap them for black lentils if you like, but don’t use split red lentils – they will go to mush.
Soy Sauce
Lentils really benefit from a good slosh of soy sauce. It gives them that much needed umami taste and they really soak up the flavour. I use tamari, which is naturally gluten-free, has a powerful taste and is less salty than most.
Spices
As well as garlic, you’ll need curry powder, turmeric, dried herbs, bay leaves and allspice berries. Go for a mild curry powder if you can, this is meant to a gentle warming dish rather than a hot one.
Use whatever dried herb mix you like or happen to have. I always have a jar of herbes de Provence, so that’s what I use.
If you don’t have allspice berries, you can swap them for a little ground allspice instead.
Walnuts
A few walnuts make a nice addition to this lentil bobotie recipe. You don’t need many, just enough to add richness and a faintly “mince-like” depth without turning it into a nutty dish.
Yoghurt
The traditional bobotie custard topping is a mix of egg and milk. However, I like to beat my eggs into yoghurt instead. It gives a certain rich creaminess, but also a welcome tang.
You’ll need ordinary natural yoghurt as Greek yoghurt will be too thick. Or if Greek is all you have, just thin it down a bit with some milk or any leftover milk from the soaked bread.
How To Make Vegetarian Bobotie
Despite the two layers involved in this vegetarian lentil bobotie dish, it’s a really easy dish to prep. You can also prep it the day before you need to bake it, if required.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for cooking temperatures and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Prep
Soak the lentils in water for at least two hours or hot water for an hour. The longer you soak them, the more digestible they are and the less time they take to cook.
You also need to soak the bread in the milk. How long it needs will depend on the softness of the bread, but an hour or so should do it.
Lightly grease or oil a small to medium sized shallow baking dish – a gratin dish is ideal. I use a 20 cm (8 inch) round one.
Step 2. Cook Lentils
Drain the lentils, then rinse them well, then drain again.
Place the lentils in a small saucepan and pour in just enough fresh water to cover them. Add one of the bay leaves and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and reduce the lentils to a simmer.
Cook for 15 minutes or until they’re just about tender, but still retaining their shape.
Step 4. Fry Onions
Meanwhile, peel and half the onion, then slice the two halves as thinly as you can.
In a medium sized saucepan, fry the onion slices in the oil over a moderate heat until softened.
Crush the allspice berries with a pestle and mortar, if using. Add them to the onions along with the crushed garlic, salt, herbs and other spices. Stir fry for a couple of minutes.
Step 3. Toast Walnuts
Whilst the onions are frying, dry-fry the walnuts for two to three minutes in a medium-hot heavy bottomed pan. Stir frequently, until fragrant, but only lightly toasted. This removes the rawness and deepens the flavour.
Leave to cool a little, then finely chop them.
Step 4. Mix
The lentils should have soaked up all of the water, but if not, drain off any excess. Remove the bay leaf, then add the lentils to the onion pan along with the sultanas chutney and tamari or soy sauce. Give a good stir.
Break up the soaked bread with your hands and add that to the pan. Retain any leftover milk. Give another good stir and let the mix cook through for a minute or two.
Add the walnuts, stir then transfer the lentils to the gratin dish. Level the mix with the back of a spoon.
Top Tip
If prepping this dish in advance of when it’s required, stop at this point. Cover the dish and store in the fridge. Add the topping just before you’re ready to bake.
Step 5. Add Topping
Beat any leftover milk from the bread with the eggs and yoghurt using a fork or whisk. Add salt and pepper and beat again.
Pour this over the top of the lentils then place the remaining bay leaves on top of the custard.
Step 6. Bake and Serve
Bake on the middle shelf of your oven until the custard is set and golden.
Serve straight away with yellow rice and chutney for a traditional South African meal. Alternatively, serve with buttered plain brown rice and some sort of greens. That’s the way we like it anyway.
Other Recipes For Oven Baked Dishes You Might Like
- Broccoli cauliflower cheese
- Cheese & leek bread pudding
- Pumpkin mac & cheese
- Vegan savoury bread pudding
- Vegan toad in the hole
- Vegetarian shepherd’s pie
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this vegetarian lentil bobotie, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for vegetarian South African recipes?
Please rate the recipe too. And do tag me @choclette8 on Instagram with your images, I love to see your take on my recipes.
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If you’d like more lentil recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Vegetarian Lentil Bobotie. PIN IT.
Vegetarian Bobotie (With Lentils)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 120 g whole brown lentils dried
- 1 slice wholemeal bread
- 75 ml milk
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil or other neutral tasting oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 clove garlic grated or crushed
- 2 tsp madras curry powder
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp herbes de Provence or mixed dried herbs of choice
- 6 allspice berry crushed, or ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp sea or rock salt
- 2 tbsp chutney mango is good or try my apple chutney
- 25 g sultanas 2 tbsp
- 1 tbsp tamari (affiliate link) or your preferred soy sauce
- 25 g walnuts (6-7 halves) – toasted then finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 150 g natural yoghurt
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 pinch sea or rock salt
- good grinding of black pepper
Instructions
- Soak the lentils in water for at least two hours or hot water for an hour. The bread also needs to soak in the milk. How long it needs will depend on the softness of the bread, but an hour or so should do it.120 g whole brown lentils, 1 slice wholemeal bread, 75 ml milk
- Drain and rinse the lentils well then drain again.
- Place the lentils in a small saucepan and pour in just enough fresh water to cover them. Add one of the bay leaves and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and reduce the lentils to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or until they're just about tender, but still retaining their shape.
- Meanwhile, in a medium sized saucepan, fry the onion slices in the oil over a moderate heat until softened.2 tbsp sunflower oil, 1 onion
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4).
- Add the garlic, salt, herbs and all of the spices and stir fry for a couple of minutes.1 clove garlic, 2 tsp madras curry powder, 1 tsp ground turmeric, ½ tsp herbes de Provence, 6 allspice berry, ½ tsp sea or rock salt
- The lentils should have soaked up all of the water, but if not, drain off any excess. Remove the bay leaf, then add the lentils to the pan of onions along with the sultanas, chutney and tamari. Give a good stir.2 tbsp chutney, 25 g sultanas, 1 tbsp tamari (affiliate link)
- Break up the soaked bread with your hands and add that to the pan. Retain any leftover milk. Give another good stir and let the mix cook through for a minute or two.
- Add the walnuts, stir then transfer the lentils to a small to medium sized shallow baking dish – a gratin dish is ideal.25 g walnuts
- Beat any leftover milk from the bread with the eggs and yoghurt. Add the salt and pepper and beat again. Pour this over the top of the lentils. Place the remaining two bay leaves on top of the custard.1 egg, 150 g natural yoghurt, 3 bay leaves, 1 pinch sea or rock salt, good grinding of black pepper
- Bake on the middle shelf of your oven for 25 minutes.
- Serve straight away with yellow rice and chutney for a traditional South African meal. Alternatively, serve with plain brown rice and some sort of greens.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
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