French Lentil Salad
Updated April 29, 2025
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop Stylist: Sophia Eleni Pappas.
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Prep Time
- 30 minutes
- Cook Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 ½ cups dried lentils (preferably French green lentils)
5 thyme sprigs, plus 2 teaspoons thyme leaves
5 small rosemary sprigs
2 fresh bay leaves
¼ cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
2 medium shallots, trimmed, halved and sliced lengthwise (about 6 ounces)
2 to 3 small garlic cloves, minced
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced (about 8 ounces)
1 small head radicchio, halved, cored and thinly sliced (about 6 ounces)
1 large bunch parsley leaves and stems, finely chopped (about 4 ounces)
1 tablespoon roughly chopped dill
2 teaspoons chopped tarragon leaves
Nutritional analysis per serving
47 grams carbs; 305 calories; 5 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 8 grams fat; 10 grams fiber; 488 milligrams sodium; 15 grams protein; 8 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Sort through lentils, removing any small pebbles or stones, then rinse lentils well. Using kitchen twine, tie the thyme sprigs, rosemary sprigs and bay leaves together in a small bundle to form a bouquet garni. (While not essential, this will make it easier to discard the herbs after cooking.)
- Step 2
Add lentils and bouquet garni to a large pot and add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil on high then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cover and simmer until lentils are tender, 12 to 20 minutes, depending on the type of your lentils. Discard the bouquet garni. Drain the lentils and rinse with cold water. Line a sheet pan with a towel and pour lentils out evenly onto the pan to dry and cool.
- Step 3
While the lentils cook, prepare the vinaigrette: In a large bowl, combine vinegar, olive oil, mustard, honey, thyme leaves, half the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper; whisk well. Add the shallots and garlic and mix well to combine.
- Step 4
Stir in the carrots and radicchio to coat, then add the cooled lentils and toss again. Stir in the parsley, dill, tarragon and half the lemon zest.
- Step 5
Taste and adjust the seasonings for salt and pepper. Finish with a generous drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice to taste and a few more pinches of lemon zest. This salad can keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but it likely won’t last that long. The flavor will improve with time, but you will need to readjust the seasoning again upon serving.
Private Notes
Comments
I grew up eating that as a cheap meal made with canned lentils, tomato, shallots, hard boiled eggs and vinaigrette made from the bottom of the moutarde à l’ancienne pot. It’s healthy and affordable and I now make it to my close ones here in the US. I sometimes add blood orange, fennel, cumin and flat parsley mint to make it fancy.
If the dressing is added to warm lentils the flavor will permeate them more effectively.
Shortcut: use Trader Joe’s precooked lentils! They are delicious!
This is really good and gets even better after it sits. I had red cabbage on hand so used in place of the radicchio and I also used some crunchy pickled vegetables I happened to have. Both were excellent — in fact I may pickle carrots and cauliflower just for this recipe next time.
Made exactly as the recipe instructs, with all ingredients and herbs fresh from the market that day. Found the salad bland to the point of having trouble eating it. I would not make it again without changes. We added some feta on top, which helped. I also suggested adding capers to provide a bit of energy, and my guest agreed that would probably improve it. Since I have oodles of leftovers now, I can test the capers, and/or maybe a bit of anchovy, as one reader suggested, and/or more lemon or vinegar.
I’ve now made this twice in the last month, modifying slightly each time and each time it was wonderful. I used green French lentils, adding some pearl couscous the first time bc it was in the fridge and needed to be used. My carrots were less than ideal so I roasted them with the shallots along with some fennel that also needed to be used. We loved it with the roasted veggies and will likely keep making it that way. As for the herbs, I only used the bay leaves to make the lentils and put a few pinches of dried thyme in the dressing. Added copious amounts of dill and parsley chopped fine. Salt and pepper to taste; dried mustard powder bc my mustard was too old. oh and the second time I didn’t have radicchio so subbed arugula. Was a wonderful light dinner in this brutal heat wave. I get that I changed things around; however as with many NYT Cooking recipes it was easy enough to do that with a good road map. And for me reading the notes is key—folks out there are excellent cooks and have helped my cooking over the years.
@amy s. Thank you so much for suggesting fennel! This made the most delicious lentil salad I’ve ever had.