Instant Pot Green Lentils

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Instant Pot Gren Lentils. Forget soaking your green lentils, this is how steam green lentils fast using the instant pot pressure cooker.

This is a simple instant pot green lentils recipe that you can use time and time again for any recipe that calls for cooked green lentils.

instant pot green lentils recipe
Instant Pot Green Lentils Recipe

How To Cook Green Lentils In Instant Pot

I have often mentioned that I was late to the lentils party and didn’t fall in love with them until I bought an instant pot pressure cooker back in 2016.

That is because, to me they were the awful, tasteless mushy thing that came out of a can and was made to make healthy food.

The only problem is that the healthy food was bland and was not full of flavour, like delicious green lentils can be today.

But after learning how to cook green lentils in the instant pot, I became a lentils addict, and they are now on our dinner plate on a regular basis. They are also used as a main ingredient for snacks and for unhealthy alternatives.

If like me, you want to learn how to cook green lentils in the instant pot the right way, add great flavour to them, have no soaking and no eating lentils from a can, then this instant pot green lentils recipe is for you.

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Do You Have To Soak Lentils Before Instant Pot?

No, you don’t. In fact, it’s one of the main reasons for buying an instant pot. You can load green lentils into the instant pot with liquid and simply pressure cook.

Cooking lentils in the instant pot, regardless of whether they are red, green, or brown is all about simplicity.  

Then once cooked and you see your perfect lentils you will be wondering why you didn’t do instant pot lentils years ago.

How Much Water For Lentils Instant Pot?

The green lentils instant pot water ratio is double the liquid to lentils. Therefore 2.5 cups of lentils = 5 cups of water or stock.

Though take a look at how it looks once the stock and the lentils have been added:

How Much Water For Lentils Instant Pot

And imagine each time you make them, that your green lentils need to be well covered in liquid.

Then once the green lentils have been cooked it will look like this:

green lentils instant pot water ratio

A bit like when you do instant pot brown rice, or instant pot quinoa and how the liquid is soaked up during cooking and then afterwards you just fluff it up and stir.

How Much Does 1 Cup Of Lentils Make?

When I made my green lentils recipe in the instant pot, I made 2.5 cups of green lentils with 5 cups of vegetable stock, and this is how much it made:

How Much Does 1 Cup Of Lentils Make

This is a LOT of green lentils and we used them for a LOT of air fryer lentil burgers as well as in a lentil stew.

Therefore, divide it by 2.5 and one cup of lentils is still sufficient for a family dinner or for one batch of burgers.

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Instant Pot Green Lentils Recipe Ingredients

Instant Pot Green Lentils Recipe Ingredients

Lentils – Any dried green lentils will do the trick. But I find that they are better for bloating if you go with an organic quality brand such as these that we use. Remember to cook green lentils in the instant pot, they are no soak and can go straight in.

Liquid – Its essential to have liquid to send the instant pot to pressure. You can opt for a vegetable broth or vegetable stock or keep it simple with water. I much prefer steamed green lentils in the instant pot with vegetable stock. The flavour is amazing and then they can be used for all kinds of recipes.

Seasoning – You can keep it simple with salt and pepper, or mix it up with other seasonings, depending on what you are using the green lentils for. For example if you are making an Indian dish you can season with garam masala.

Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this green lentils instant pot recipe, it has just been our instant pot pressure cooker. We have this one and its wonderful for instant pot dried beans and lentils, as well as for other instant pot classics.

How To Cook Green Lentils In Instant Pot?

instant pot green lentils step by step
  • Rinse. Load your dried green lentils into a sieve and check for dead green beans and remove any stones or any broken lentils.
  • Dump. Load rinsed green lentils, seasoning and liquid into the instant pot pressure cooker.
  • Pressure Cook. Then pressure cook for 8 minutes followed by a 10 minute natural pressure release. You will now have perfectly cooked green lentils thanks to the instant pot.

Red Lentils Vs Green Lentils

I am often asked the difference between red lentils and green lentils. From someone that eats a lot of both, I like to think of it like comparing white rice to brown rice.

Both are fantastic on the dinner table, but one takes much longer to cook than the other and one I find to be easier to keep a bite on, compared to the other.

With red lentils I am more likely to use it in a pressure cooker soup recipe that can be quick cooking, such as our instant pot red thai curry soup or our soup maker lentil soup.

Whilst with green lentils you have to accept that you will need it to be cooking for longer when added to other ingredients such as our Instant Pot Lentil Curry.

There is not one that I prefer over the other and I recommend you cook either in your instant pot and rotate as part of your meal plan.

How Long Do You Cook Lentils In Instant Pot?

The instant pot lentils cooking time is JUST 8 minutes, plus a 10 minute natural pressure release.

Can you believe that? No soaking of your green lentils, just dump everything in and 18 minutes later you have perfectly cooked green lentils that you can use in any of your favourite lentil recipes.

What To Do With Green Lentils?

I love to save money on groceries and last Christmas I came across lots of root vegetables, reduced to clear that because they were old, needed cooking straight away. I filled up my Ninja Foodi and made a batch of my instant pot green lentil curry. It made a HUGE batch, and I was reheating it from frozen for months.

That is my number #1 thing to do with green lentils.

Then after that I am making air fryer lentil burgers. They are amazing and are loaded with sweet potato, green lentils, seasonings, and carrots. They are then rolled in gluten free oats (this is my favourite oats brand) and can be made ahead and added to the freezer for later. But that recipe starts first with preparing green lentils in the instant pot.

More Amazing Must Try Instant Pot Recipes

instant pot green lentils

Instant Pot Green Lentils

Instant Pot Gren Lentils. Forget soaking your green lentils, this is how steam green lentils fast using the instant pot pressure cooker.
Prep Time2 minutes
Cook Time8 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Instant Pot
Servings: 4
Calories: 545kcal

Ingredients

Kitchen Gadgets:

Instant Pot Green Lentils Ingredients:

Instructions

  • Place your green lentils into the instant pot pressure cooker.
    How To Cook Green Lentils In Instant Pot?
  • Pour over your stock, making sure your green lentils are well covered.
    How To Cook Green Lentils In Instant Pot?
  • Place the lid on the instant pot, set the valve to sealing and pressure cook for 8 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of natural pressure release.
    How To Cook Green Lentils In Instant Pot?
  • Then release pressure, stir your lentils, and serve.
    How To Cook Green Lentils In Instant Pot?

Notes

Swaps. You can mix and match any stock or water in your instant pot. I prefer to use vegetable stock, but it’s all about what you have in.
Quick. To make it quick and easy note that its double liquid to lentils ratio. Therefore, 1 cup of lentils = 2 cups of stock.
Thanks for reading our instant pot green lentils recipe on Recipe This. We have many more instant pot recipes for you to check out next. Though if you would like more lentils, then I recommend you try our instant pot butternut squash soup next.

Nutrition

Calories: 545kcal | Carbohydrates: 94g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1209mg | Potassium: 1433mg | Fiber: 46g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 698IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 11mg
Nutrition InfoPlease Note: Nutrition values are our best estimate based on the software we use at Recipe This and are meant as a guide. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Recipe This

Hi! I am Sam and along with my chef hubby Dom we love sharing with you easy everyday recipes using kitchen gadgets. We are also the authors of The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook, an amazing air fryer cookbook filled with 140+ everyday air fryer recipes. Beyond the air fryer we also love the instant pot, slow cooker, soup maker, ninja foodi, pie marker and several other kitchen gadgets. CLICKING HERE →

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