Brown Lentils substitute

Best substitute

Green or continental lentils

Use the same amount as the brown lentils you are replacing

Best for soups

Close match

Green or continental lentils are a straight 1:1 swap with the same cook time, and French green (Puy) or black beluga lentils also work 1:1 if you want the pieces to stay firmer. If the recipe is a soup, a stew or a bolognese, red or yellow split lentils will do at 1:1 with about a quarter less liquid, but they melt rather than staying whole, so the result is thicker and smoother instead of chunky. Canned brown lentils are the quickest fix: one drained 15-ounce can stands in for about 2/3 cup dry. The job brown lentils do is bulk, mild earthy savouriness and body. They are what makes a soup a meal, what gives a meatless bolognese its chew, and what quietly thickens the liquid around them as some of them break down. Any swap that gives you soft-but-separate pieces and a little starch will read as right.

Other brown lentils substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2French green (Puy) or black beluga lentils
Close match
Use the same amount
Both are smaller and considerably firmer, and both hold their shape no matter how long you simmer them.
What changes
That is an upgrade in a salad and a mild downgrade in soup, because brown lentils normally break down a little and thicken the broth for you. Expect a thinner, clearer soup with distinct lentils floating in it, and a more peppery, mineral flavour rather than soft earthiness. Beluga lentils also tint everything around them a smoky grey-purple.
Best for
lentil salads, warm sides, brothy soups, grain bowls
To get the body back in a soup, mash a ladleful of the cooked lentils against the side of the pan or blend a cup of the soup and stir it back in.
3Canned brown or green lentils
Different texture
One 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed, replaces about ⅔ cup dry
Already cooked and reliably soft, and the honest shortcut for a weeknight.
What changes
They are more fragile than lentils you simmered yourself, so they will start to break apart if you cook them for long. Rinse them well or the dish picks up a faint tinny, starchy taste from the canning liquid.
Best for
quick soups, taco and burrito fillings, salads, lentil patties
Add them in the last five minutes. Crucially, cut the recipe's liquid by roughly the volume the dry lentils would have absorbed, usually two to two and a half cups of liquid per cup of dry lentils, or you will end up with soup you did not want.
4Red or yellow split lentils (masoor or moong dal)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount with about a quarter less liquid
These are skinned and split, so they collapse completely in fifteen to twenty minutes rather than staying whole.
What changes
For a lentil soup that is genuinely fine and arguably better: it comes out thicker, smoother and a little sweeter, and the colour turns golden-orange rather than brown. For a lentil salad, a lentil loaf or a meatless bolognese it is the wrong ingredient, because the whole point there is separate pieces you can chew.
Best for
thick and pureed soups, dal, thickening curries
They stick and scorch once they thicken, so stir the bottom of the pan every few minutes and keep the heat lower than you would for brown lentils.
5Yellow or green split peas
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount with an extra ½ cup water per cup and 20 to 30 more minutes
Similar in size and price and easy to find, but they need roughly twice as long to soften and they taste distinctly of pea rather than of lentil: sweeter, greener, more like split pea soup.
What changes
In a hearty soup or a stew that is a pleasant swap. In an Indian or Middle Eastern recipe it pulls the flavour somewhere unexpected, so add a little extra cumin or a squeeze of lemon at the end to steer it back.
Best for
thick soups, stews, cheap braises
Do not add tomatoes or vinegar until the split peas are soft, or they may never soften at all. Same rule as lentils, only stricter.
6Chana dal or chickpeas
Different taste
Use the same amount for chana dal (dry); one 15-ounce can drained chickpeas per ⅔ cup dry lentils
Chana dal, split skinned chickpeas, keeps its shape and gives a nuttier, firmer bite than brown lentils, but it needs about 45 minutes and ideally a soak.
What changes
Whole canned chickpeas are the fast version and work well in soups, curries and salads; they are creamier inside, much larger, and they do not thicken the liquid the way lentils do, so the dish will look brothier and taste less earthy.
Best for
curries, soups, salads, stews
If you use chickpeas in a lentil bolognese, pulse them briefly in a food processor first so they read as mince rather than as chickpeas in tomato sauce.
7Finely chopped mushrooms with toasted walnuts
Different taste
Use About 12 ounces mushrooms plus ½ cup walnuts for every cup of dry lentils
The best swap when the lentils were standing in for meat, as in a bolognese, taco filling, shepherd's pie or veggie burger.
What changes
Chop the mushrooms small and brown them hard until they squeak and stick, then add the chopped toasted walnuts. You get the same savoury depth and coarse, chewy texture, and more umami than lentils ever had, but no starch and no protein bulk, so the sauce will be looser. Add a tablespoon of tomato paste or a splash of soy sauce to firm up the flavour.
Best for
lentil bolognese, taco filling, shepherd's pie, veggie burgers
Do not crowd the pan. Mushrooms release a lot of water, and if they stew instead of browning you get grey mushroom soup rather than a meaty base.

What is Brown Lentils?

Brown Lentils is the everyday supermarket lentil, a small flat khaki-brown pulse with the skin left on, sometimes labelled Spanish brown lentils or simply lentils, and it is the workhorse pulse that holds its shape in soups, dal and salads while still cooking through from dry in 20 to 30 minutes.

Cooking tips

Hold back the salt, tomatoes, wine, vinegar and lemon until the lentils are tender. Acid sets the skins and is the reason lentils sometimes stay chalky after an hour of simmering. Build the tomato part of a lentil bolognese after the lentils have softened, or cook them separately and combine.
Brown lentils are the softest of the shape-holding lentils, so they only have about a five minute window between tender and blown out. Taste at 20 minutes, not at 35.
Rinse and pick them over in a bowl of water rather than a sieve. Small stones and dirt clods sink, and one stone in a lentil soup will ruin someone's evening.
If your soup is thinner than you wanted, mash a ladleful of the cooked lentils against the side of the pot and stir it back in. That is the trick that makes a brown lentil soup taste like it simmered all day.
No soaking needed, but very old lentils can simply refuse to soften. If a batch is still hard after 45 minutes, it is the age of the lentils, not your cooking.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between brown lentils and green lentils?

Very little in the kitchen. Brown lentils are softer and taste earthier; green lentils are slightly firmer and more peppery. They are the same size, take a similar time to cook and swap 1:1 in any recipe, which is why shops often sell them mixed as brown-green or continental lentils. The lentil that behaves differently is French green or Puy, which is smaller and much firmer.

Can I use red lentils instead of brown lentils?

In soup, yes. Use them 1:1 with about a quarter less liquid and expect a thicker, smoother, sweeter, golden soup rather than a brothy one with whole lentils. In anything that needs texture, such as a lentil salad, lentil loaf or meatless bolognese, no. Red lentils have no skins and turn into puree in about fifteen minutes.

Do I need to soak brown lentils?

No. Lentils are small and thin-skinned and cook from dry in 20 to 30 minutes. Soaking overnight only gets you lentils that fall apart faster. Rinsing them and picking out any stones is worth doing; soaking is not.

Can I just leave the lentils out?

If they are one vegetable among many in a soup, yes, and you can make up the volume with more vegetables, some rice or a handful of small pasta. If the recipe is named after them, they are the food itself and leaving them out gives you seasoned broth. Canned lentils, canned brown beans or chickpeas will keep the dish recognisable.

How much liquid do brown lentils need?

About two and a half cups of water or stock per cup of dry lentils if you are cooking them to absorb it, and they yield roughly two and a half cups cooked. For soup, cook them loose in plenty of liquid and adjust at the end, because how much they drink depends on how old they are.

Related substitutes

More legumes substitutes

Brown Lentils substitute

Other brown lentils substitutes

2French green (Puy) or black beluga lentils

3Canned brown or green lentils

4Red or yellow split lentils (masoor or moong dal)

5Yellow or green split peas

6Chana dal or chickpeas

7Finely chopped mushrooms with toasted walnuts