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This Spinach Lentil Salad recipe is a vibrant hearty salad, with a simple 5-minute vinaigrette dressing! Nothing like a vibrant bold salad to let that summer produce shine!

I love a hearty no-cook meal in the summer, and this salad is great to put together if you have canned or cooked lentils ready to go! This salad is loaded with fresh sweet vegetables, bright herbs, and hearty lentils. The simple vinaigrette dressing couldn’t be easier to make: just olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper.

A quick, tasty, an easy summer time lunch or dinner.

spinach salad with brown lentils healthy high protein vegetarian salads vegan option with no feta cheese in a bowl with fresh salad recipes for january.

This delicious spinach lentil salad is an absolute pleasure to have for lunch or dinner! I made a huge batch of it for Meal Prep Sunday and I was able to enjoy it throughout the week.

This is great to enjoy for dinner with toast or a light lunch. Here are a few of my other favorite meal prep recipes too. Meal prepping is a great tool for keeping food organized throughout the week.

This Spinach Lentil Salad Is

Vibrant
Bright
Earthy
Packed with plant protein
Loaded with flavor
Versatile: you can swap in any fresh ingredients that you have on hand
Vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

lentil spinach salad recipe with brown lentils feta cheese and an apple cider vinaigrette dressing recipe

What’s In This French Lentil Salad?

I cook with fresh produce from my garden and from Misfits Market– they sell fantastic fruit, vegetables, & pantry staples at a discounted price. We get Misfit boxes every other week and love picking out favorite produce for delivery. Get $10 off your first box here!

Lentils – I love using use French lentils, brown lentils, or black lentils for this salad. Don’t use red, as they fall apart when they are cooked. You can cook lentils on the stove top, but I usually use my recipe for Perfect Rice Cooker Lentils, which are ready in about 45 minutes.
Spinach – I recommend fresh spinach for this salad, as opposed to thawing frozen or using canned. Fresh leaves make this salad crunchy and delicious!
Apple Cider Vinegar: which gives this dressing a little extra tang! There are great benefits to apple cider vinegar with the mother aside from it’s fantastic flavor. I think it gives a nice extra sweetness and depth.
Really Good Extra Virgin Olive Oil: I like to use this fruity olive oil which has a fantastic flavor and deep color- it’s inexpensive & I like to keep a few liters stocked up in my pantry. For the quality of oil you get, it’s an excellent value.
Feta Cheese – I used a crumbled feta for this recipe, but you can also use a block of feta cheese, mashed with a fork before adding to the salad.

Enjoy Filling Inexpensive Salads All Year

This salad is super budget friendly as well! I always stock up on lentils as they are inexpensive to keep in the pantry, and are always ready for a quick and easy meal.

And the vinaigrette couldn’t be easier or simpler to make: apple Cider Vinegar, good olive oil, salt, and pepper. You could also add some honey or maple syrup for some sweetness, but I found that this dressing actually didn’t need it at all. Keep it simple!

I made a list of my Top 125 Plant-Based Pantry Staples that always keep stocked. And you can check out all my favorite pantry staple ingredients in my Amazon shop here. By stocking up on whole ingredients you can cook delicious recipes without a trip to the store!

spinach salad with lentils healthy filling salad recipes with brown lentil salad with greens and feta cheese

The Best Way to Cook Lentils

I love cooking lentils in my rice cooker, which always come out perfect. The stovetop method used to be my go-to cooking method for lentils, however I find that the rice cooker to be much easier. Just add the lentils, add the water, set it, and forget it! You can also use cooked lentils in a can or a pouch from the grocery store.

What’s The Best Rice Cooker to Buy?

We have this fantastic Hamilton Beach rice cooker that has lasted us years and years, so I got to say I’ve been very happy with it! It gets weekly use, and is great for cooking rice, lentils, and quinoa in the rice cooker.

But I’d love to upgrade to this Zojirushi model eventually, it’s THE Cadillac of rice cookers. Our family has it, and it is one fantastic rice cooker. And it has a great feature which keeps the rice warm on the counter, so you can enjoy it all day.

How Do I Make This Brown Lentil Salad with Spinach?

In a large bowl, add the fresh spinach, and top with cooked lentils.
To a quart sized mason jar add the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Shake well for a minute to combine dressing, and evenly pour the dressing over the salad. Top with feta cheese.
Enjoy immediately, it’s best fresh!

spinach lentil salad recipe with french lentils green puy lentil salad healthy vegetarian

Dietary Modifications

This recipe is naturally vegetarian, and dairy free.
- To make vegan, omit the feta cheese or make my vegan feta recipe!
It’s gluten free, and contains so grain or wheat.
This recipe is refined sugar free! If you’d like to add a sweetener in the dressing I’d recommend honey (because I’m a beekeeper so it’s my sweetener of choice!) or maple syrup.

More Hearty Salad Recipes You’ll Love

Vegan Chopped Chickpea Salad (Gluten Free, Vegan, Dairy Free)

Caprese Pasta Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette (Vegetarian, GF, Vegan Option)

Thai Quinoa Cabbage Salad (Vegan, Gluten Free, Summer Side Dish)

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Sweet Vinegar & Oil Coleslaw (Vegan, GF)

As always, if you make this vegetarian and gluten free lentil spinach salad recipe be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe, and tag me @theherbeevore on Instagram so I can feature you. I love seeing all your photos of my recipes!

Let’s keep in touch – make sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter to get free recipe inspiration.

And don’t forget to follow over on Facebook , Instagram, YouTube & TikTok – I’d love to connect with you there!

Spinach Lentil Salad

Kelly Jensen

This Spinach Lentil Salad recipe is a vibrant tasty meal, with a simple 5-minute vinaigrette dressing! Nothing like a vibrant bold salad to let that summer produce shine!

5 from 5 votes

Print Recipe Pin

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Course Lunch, Salad

Cuisine American, French

Servings servings

Calories 277 kcal

Equipment

Large Salad Serving Bowl
Salad Tongs

Ingredients

For the Salad

2 cups cooked lentils
5 ounces fresh spinach
1/2 cup feta cheese

Cider Vinaigrette

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Tellicherry Black Pepper

Instructions

In a large bowl, add the fresh spinach, and top with cooked lentils.
To a quart sized mason jar add the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Shake well for a minute to combine dressing, and evenly pour the dressing over the salad. Top with feta cheese.
Enjoy immediately, it’s best fresh!

Notes

Save Money on Organic Produce!

I get all the fresh produce for my recipes from my garden and from Misfits Market – they sell all organic produce at a super discounted price, and it’s purchased direct from the farmers. We get Misfit Market boxes every other week and love picking out our favorite seasonal produce for delivery. You can get $10 off your first box by clicking here!

If you think organic produce is too expensive… think again, and give Misfits Market a look!

Nutrition

Calories: 277kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 8gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 260mgPotassium: 392mgFiber: 6gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 2274IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 99mgIron: 3mg

Keyword brown lentil salad, lentil salad with spinach, lentil spinach salad, spinach lentil salad, spinach salad with lentils, vegetarian lentil salad, vegetarian spinach salad

Did You Make This Recipe?Please leave a rating and comment below!
Or tag me @theherbeevore in your photo on Instagram!

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Spinach Lentil Salad with Vinaigrette Recipe (Vegetarian)

This Spinach Lentil Salad Is

What’s In This French Lentil Salad?

Enjoy Filling Inexpensive Salads All Year