🍛 Mujadara
Mujaddara is a humble Levantine dish of brown lentils and rice cooked together with cumin and topped with a generous pile of deeply caramelized onions. The lentils make it earthy and filling, while the onions add sweetness and crunch. It is eaten warm or at room temperature, often with salad.
Diets
Allergens
None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 g brown lentils, rinsed
- 150 g long-grain rice, rinsed
- 3 large onions, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 L water
Method
- Simmer the lentils in the water for 15 minutes until just tender.
- Meanwhile cook the onions slowly in the olive oil for 25–30 minutes until dark golden.
- Add the rice, cumin, salt, pepper and half the onions to the lentils; top up with water to cover by 1 cm.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes, then rest 10 minutes.
- Serve topped with the remaining onions.
How to make it lighter
- Caramelize the onions in 2 tbsp olive oil with a splash of water instead of 4 tbsp (1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal).
- Use more lentils and less rice for extra protein and fibre per spoon.
- Serve with a large tomato-cucumber salad to make a smaller portion satisfying.
History
Lentil-and-grain dishes like mujaddara have long been everyday food across the Levant, and it remains a staple meal in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →