Red Lentils substitute

Best substitute

Yellow Split Lentils or Split Mung Beans (moong dal)

Use the same amount as the red lentils you are replacing

Best for mercimek corbasi

Close match

The best substitutes are yellow split lentils or split mung beans (moong dal), which cook and break down almost identically at 1:1. Yellow split peas also work at 1:1 but need roughly twice the cooking time. Brown or green lentils can stand in, but they hold their shape, so you must simmer them longer and blend the soup to get the smooth texture red lentils give you for free.

Other red lentils substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Yellow Split Peas
Different taste
Use the same amount
A true pantry substitute that also breaks down completely, so you still end up with a thick, spoon-coating soup rather than a broth with lumps in it.
What changes
Best for
mercimek corbasi, thick winter soups, purees, slow-cooker soups
Plan for 45-60 minutes of simmering instead of 20, and add an extra cup of water or stock because they drink more liquid. The flavour is more distinctly pea-like and faintly sulphurous, which is pleasant but obvious, so lean harder on the cumin, mint and lemon at the end. Do not add salt or lemon until they are fully soft, as acid slows them down.
3Brown or Green Lentils
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Widely available and perfectly usable, but they behave in the opposite way: the skins keep each lentil intact, so instead of dissolving they stay as distinct little discs.
What changes
Best for
soups you plan to blend, lentil salads, stews, kofte mixtures at a push
Simmer 30-40 minutes, then blend with a stick blender or you will serve a watery soup with lentils sitting at the bottom. Even blended, the skins leave a faintly gritty, speckled body rather than the silky texture of red lentils, and the flavour is earthier and more mushroomy. French green lentils hold their shape the hardest of all and are the worst choice for a puree.
4Whole Brown Masoor Lentils
Different texture
Use the same amount
These are literally the same lentil as red lentils with the brown skin still on, so the flavour underneath is exactly right.
What changes
Best for
dal, soups, stews, rustic purees
Cooking time roughly doubles to 35-45 minutes, and the skins tint the whole pot a muddy grey-brown, which is unattractive in a soup meant to be sunset orange. Once soft, the insides are pure red lentil, so blend and then brighten the colour with paprika bloomed in butter, which is a traditional finish anyway.
5Split Chickpeas (chana dal)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
A reasonable option if it is what you have, giving a nutty, substantial soup with real body.
What changes
Best for
dal, hearty soups, spiced purees
Slowest on this list at 60-90 minutes, and worth soaking for a few hours first. The result is nuttier and coarser and never becomes truly silky even when blended, so treat it as a different, chunkier soup rather than a copy of mercimek corbasi. Add roughly a third more liquid.
6Canned Lentils
Taste and texture differ
Use One 400g can drained for every 150g dried lentils
The emergency option when the soup is already on the stove.
What changes
Canned lentils are cooked and salted, so they only need warming through.
Best for
last-minute soup, blended soups, quick weeknight dishes
They are always whole brown or green lentils, so blend them and expect a soup that is looser and less starchy, because you lose the starch that dried red lentils release into the water as they cook. Thicken by simmering ten minutes with a tablespoon of rice or a small peeled potato blended in. Rinse them well and hold back the salt in the recipe, as the canning liquid is already seasoned.

What is Red Lentils?

Red Lentils is Red lentils, also sold as split red lentils, masoor dal or Turkish kirmizi mercimek, are small skinless orange-pink lentils that collapse into a thick puree in about twenty minutes.

Cooking tips

The job red lentils do is thickening. They release starch and dissolve, which is what turns a pot of water and onion into a velvety soup, so when you swap them the real question is whether the substitute also falls apart. If it does not, you have to blend.
Rinse red lentils in a few changes of cold water until it runs almost clear, but do not soak them. Soaked red lentils turn to sludge in ten minutes and can taste flat.
For Turkish mercimek corbasi, the sequence matters more than the lentil: soften onion and carrot in butter, stir in a spoon of tomato paste and cook it for a minute until it darkens, then add the lentils and stock. Finish with melted butter bloomed with dried mint and red pepper flakes and a hard squeeze of lemon.
For mercimek koftesi, the Turkish lentil and bulgur patties, only skinless split lentils work. Cook them until completely broken down, stir the fine bulgur into the hot mixture off the heat and let it swell for 20 minutes; whole green or brown lentils will never form a paste that holds together.
Add salt and lemon juice at the end. Acid added early keeps lentil skins firm and can leave you simmering for an extra half hour with no idea why nothing is softening.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the red lentils out?

Not in a lentil soup, dal or lentil kofte, because the lentils are both the bulk and the thickener and there is no dish left without them. In a mixed vegetable soup or a stew where lentils are one ingredient among many, you can drop them and thicken instead with a peeled potato, a couple of tablespoons of rice, or a spoonful of fine bulgur, all of which break down and give body.

Are red lentils and masoor dal the same thing?

Yes. Split red lentils, masoor dal, dhuli masoor and Turkish kirmizi mercimek are all the same skinless split lentil, and any of those labels can be used in any of these recipes. Whole masoor, sometimes called brown masoor, is the same lentil with its skin on, and that one behaves differently: it takes about twice as long to cook and holds its shape.

Can I use green lentils for Turkish lentil soup?

You can, with two changes. Simmer them 30-40 minutes rather than 20, and blend the soup at the end, because green lentils will not dissolve on their own. Expect a slightly gritty, earthier soup with a duller brown-green colour. Bloom paprika or Turkish pepper flakes in butter and swirl it in to bring back both the colour and the sweetness you lost.

How much water do red lentils need, and why did my soup turn to paste?

Use about four parts liquid to one part dried lentils by volume for soup, and expect it to keep thickening as it sits and cools, because the starch continues to set. If it has gone to paste, simply whisk in hot water or stock a splash at a time until it pours off the spoon again, then re-check the salt and lemon. This is normal and is not a sign you have ruined anything.

Do I need to soak red lentils before cooking?

No. They are skinless and split, so they cook through in 20 minutes from dry, and soaking only makes them mushier and harder to control. The substitutes that do benefit from soaking are yellow split peas and split chickpeas, both of which are much denser and can take an hour or more without a head start.

Related substitutes

More legumes substitutes

Red Lentils substitute

Other red lentils substitutes

2Yellow Split Peas

3Brown or Green Lentils

4Whole Brown Masoor Lentils

5Split Chickpeas (chana dal)

6Canned Lentils