During these cold days of the year, I crave hearty warming comfort food like this mushroom lentil vegan meatloaf. Don’t be fooled by its name, it doesn’t taste like meat, nor should it when composed of mushrooms and lentils. This vegan meatloaf is its own thing all together.
I composed this recipe while tinkering with an old one, my lentil loaf recipe. This version is made with mushrooms instead of carrots to increase the umami. I also increased the nutritional yeast because it is such a flavorful component that I have learned to appreciate more and more.
Also, I opted for walnuts instead of pecans for their health benefits. If you don’t care for walnuts, this is a good recipe for you to try them in. I did not toast them so that their flavor would stay minimal, and their texture is also minimal because they soften in the cooking process, getting lost in with the mushrooms and lentils.
I love to linger by the oven while the loaf bakes, soaking up all the warmth in the kitchen. Winter is the perfect time for these dishes that take a long time in the oven, and the wait is well worth it!
Tips and Tricks for the Mushroom Lentil Vegan Meatloaf recipe:
- When you process everything in the food processor it will become sticky and hold together well without the addition of a binder. I recommend just pulsing the food processor so that you don’t go too far and end up with a mushy paste. Just pulse until sticky and well combined. Also, mix in the reserved ½ cup lentils with a spoon to keep a small amount of chunky texture.
- Lentils get tough when cooked with salt. Here we use a bay leaf to add seasoning to the lentils without adding salt or broth (which often includes salt).
- Don’t worry about chopping your onions or mushrooms just right. They will end up blitzed in the food processor in the end so you can be lazy here.
- Use gluten free certified rolled oats and tamari if you are sensitive to gluten.
- Baby bellas are the best mushrooms here as they are more flavorful than cremini or white button mushrooms. You can also experiment with other mushroom types, such as shitake.
- ½ cup dry green lentils, rinsed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup walnuts
- 3 garlic cloves
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 3 TBS tomato paste
- 3 TBS reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1 TBS apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 TBS prepared yellow mustard
- 1 TBS maple syrup
- Combine lentils and bay leaf in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Drain and remove bay leaf.
- Meanwhile saute the onion in olive oil until translucent. Add the mushrooms and saute until they release their liquid and it is evaporated.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Add garlic and walnuts to the food processor and pulse until they are chopped into pea-sized pieces.
- Add all but ½ cup of cooked lentils to a food processor (se aside the extra ½ cup lentils for later). Add the sauted mushroom mixture, oats, nutritional yeast, soy sauce or tamari, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, Italian seasoning, black pepper and salt. Pulse until the mixture is well combined. Do not over process and turn it into a paste. Remove processor cup from the machine and stir in reserved lentils with a spoon. (Alternatively you can transfer the mixture to a bowl to stir in the reserved lentils)
- Line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and press the meatloaf mixture into the pan.
- Stir together the ketchup, yellow mustard and maple syrup. Spread the glaze over top of the meatloaf.
- Cover the loaf pan with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes. Cut into 8 slices. I usually eat two slices per serving.
