Instant Pot Lentils & Rice (Mujadara) is the perfect healthy vegan meal. Lentils and rice cooked with fragrant spices and topped with caramelized onions. You will love this one-pot version where you don’t have to cook lentils and rice separately. This vegan and gluten free dish is also budget friendly and nutritious.
Are you always looking for a options for your Meatless Monday dinner? This Mujadara with long grain basmati rice and brown lentils, is a perfect dish packed with protein and delicious. which make this dish protein packed and delicious. It goes perfectly with a side of salad and yogurt.
What is Mujadara?
Mujaddara, or Mujadara, translates to a middle eastern Rice and Lentil preparation which is an everyday staple in Lebanese homes. I first had Mujadara at a small middle eastern cafe near my work place in Foster City, California. This was also the time when I had just started this blog, so about an year back. While eating it, all I could think of was this would be perfect to make in the instant pot 🙂
It is always interesting to find similarities between different cultures and cuisines. In India, lentils and rice cooked together is khichdi. This is very similar to Khichdi and I could easy call it Masoor Dal Khichdi. Masoor Dal is the whole brown lentils I used in this recipe. The one difference would be that khichdi is not topped with caramelized onions (love, love them). The spices are also very similar. You can also top Mujadara with pine nuts or almonds. I did not do that in this recipe.
How to make Mujadara Lentils & Rice in the Instant Pot?
Let’s go through the step by step recipe for Lentils & Rice in the Instant Pot. If you are new to the instant pot, check out this quick setup guide.
1 – The first and necessary step to make Mujadara as a one-pot recipe is to soak the whole brown lentils. Typically brown lentils take longer to cook than rice, so soaking them is my first hack to get them to cook perfectly with the rice. Brown lentils retain their shape and have a unique taste, which you will very much enjoy in this dish.
2 – Now cut half of the onions into slices and dice half of them. Heat oil in the instant pot and sauté the sliced onions and keep them aside to use as a topping later (left photo below). These caramelized onions is the best part of mujadara, so please don’t skip this step!
3 – Now heat some more oil in the instant pot. Add the diced onions, garlic, and sauté them till they are lightly browned. Then add the spices (picture on the right below).
4 – Drain the water from the soaked lentils. Add the lentils and water to the instant pot. Let it boil for about 3 minutes. This is the second hack so we can cook this as a one-pot recipe. As the lentils take longer to cook, we give them a little head start by letting them boil.
5 – Stir in the rice. Close the lid and pressure cook on Rice mode. The rice mode cooks on low pressure. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then do a quick release.
6 – Top the cooked lentils and rice with the caramelized onions. Save some for serving.
Enjoy this delicious Instant Pot Mujadara.
What to serve with mujadara?
Here are a few options
- Yogurt or tahini
- Side Salad
- Steamed veggies
How to make Lentils & Brown Rice Mujadara in Instant Pot?
We can make this Mujadara with brown rice with some minor modifications. Soak brown rice in hot water for about 2 hours. Do not soak the brown lentils. Then follow the recipe, just change the pressure cooking time to 15 mins on high pressure, followed by a 10 min natural pressure release. This means let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the pressure manually.
Tips for making one-pot Mujadara
- Soak the whole masoor dal for about an hour, so it gets soft and can cook in the same time as rice.
- Adjust the spices to taste. I have kept this recipe to be non spicy.
- Don’t forget the sautéed sliced onions. They are the best part of Mujaddara.
- If you want to save time, you can sauté the sliced onions on the stovetop while the rice & lentils are cooking in the instant pot.
- Make a large batch and enjoy for the whole week. These lentils and rice can be easily refrigerated.
- Typically veggies are not added in the original Mujaddara recipe, however similar to khichdi feel free to add veggies to taste. Some veggies that could cook well in the same time are – carrots, peas, potatoes, green beans, squash.
Love lentils and rice? Love one-pot meals? Check out these delicious recipes:
- Black eyed peas & spinach rice
- Chana Dal Pulao (Split Chickpea Pilaf)
- Lentil & Vegetable Khichdi
- Moong Dal Khichdi (Pongal)
Try these delicious Instant Pot Lentils & Rice for your next meatless dinner. A bowl of Mujadara topped with caramelized onions, some yogurt or tahini on the side…a perfect dinner!
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Instant Pot Lentils & Rice (Mujadara) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Oil to saute onions (divided)
- 1/2 Onion sliced (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 Onion diced (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 tbsp Garlic minced
- 1 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin (Jeera powder)
- 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Salt
- 3/4 cup Brown lentils (Whole Masoor Dal)
- 2 cups Water
- 3/4 cup Basmati Rice
- 1/4 cup Cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Rinse and soak the brown lentils for 1 hour in warm water.
- Heat the instant pot in saute mode and add 1 tbsp of oil in it. Add the sliced onions and saute them for about 5 minutes until they brown and are slightly crisp on the edges. Take them out and save for later.
- Add 1 tbsp of oil to the instant pot. Add the diced onions and garlic. Saute till they lightly brown for about 3 minutes. Add the ground coriander, cumin, cinnamon and salt.
- Stir in the lentils and water. Let it boil for about 2-3 minutes. This will help the lentils to get softer before we add rice.
- Add the rice and stir well. Press cancel and close lid with vent in sealing position.
- Cook on Rice mode. Instant Pot set the cooking time to 12 minutes at low pressure. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 mins, then release manually (10 minute NPR). Press cancel and take the steel insert out of the instant pot.
- Fluff the lentils and rice with a fork. Top the rice with the caramelized sliced onions and cilantro. Enjoy with a side of yogurt and salad.
Notes
- Soak the whole masoor dal for about an hour, so it gets soft and can cook in the same time as rice.
- Adjust the spices to taste. I have kept this recipe to be non spicy.
- Don't forget the sautéed sliced onions. They are the best part of Mujadara.
- If you want to save time, you can sauté the sliced onions on the stovetop while the rice & lentils are cooking in the instant pot.
- Make a large batch and enjoy for the whole week. These lentils and rice can be easily refrigerated.
- Typically veggies are not added in the original Mujaddara recipe, however similar to khichdi feel free to add veggies to taste. Some veggies that could cook well in the same time are - carrots, peas, potatoes, green beans, squash.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
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Didn’t quite work out toward the end.
Used the orange/red split masoor dal as it was all I had in the pantry.
Followed the recipe, but when fluffing up the rice at the end, the masoor daal just became mushy with the rice and the whole thing started to look more like mashed potatoes than a pilau 🙁
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Nayomi
Hi Nayomi – This recipe uses the whole Masoor Dal, which is why the split red lentils didn’t work well. When using split lentils, no need to soak and pre-cook the lentils in the instant pot. Just add along with the rice and pressure cook for 4 minutes at high pressure, with a 10 minute NPR. I would love to hear if you try again.
Looks delicious and we are making it tonite! Thnx for sharing!! Greetings from the Netherlands!
Hi Lilo – I hope it turned out well!
I have orange split lentils. I know they cook a lot faster. Maybe just put them in with the rice for the rice time of 5 minutes? I’ll have to get some of these lentils next time we shop and try them out.
Hey Lance – Yes, for split orange lentils you can just add along with the rice. No soaking or cooking before is required. Hope you enjoy the Mujadara.
This was fantastic! The spices were just right. I am not an exceptional cook. I have cooked lentils about 50 times. Finally, I have a great recipe. Thank you!
Hi Amy – Glad to hear you enjoyed the Mujadara!
My instapot was set according to your directions but it was taking so long I got worried. Also, my pot never seem to pressurize because when I decided to open and check the contents there was no steam coming from the vent when I vented it. I caught it just in time. The food was delicious but I have an inch of it stuck to the bottom of the pot. Good thing I checked it when I did. I wonder if there is a problem with my new instapot?
Hi Laurie – Based on your description, it does seem that the pot did not come to pressure. This could also be the reason all the liquid was dried up and the rice/lentils stuck to the bottom of the pot. Please check the sealing ring was placed properly. You could also do the water test again to check that the pot is coming to pressure and working as expected. I have heard that instant pot support is very helpful, so if the water test fails, do contact them.
I followed this recipe to a T other than using chicken broth instead of water and it turned out like absolute mush. I was skeptical as most times I’ve fixed rice at about 4 mins on manual but given the lentils and this called for using the rice setting I thought I’d give it a go. The flavors are delicious and I will definitely try it again in the future.
Hi Andrea – I wonder if the lentils were different, maybe split masoor which cooks quickly in 4 minutes under pressure. The whole brown masoor lentils take longer to cook. I would love to hear if you try again!
It doesn’t say when to add the salt?
Hey Bina – Thanks for pointing out. I have updated the recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
The recommendations for brown rice is that for all types of brown rice? I’m using brown basmati. This will be my 3rd dish from your blog, loving the flavours!!
Hey Leanne – Yes, brown basmati will work with the suggested time for brown rice. Glad you are enjoying the recipes. Thank you!
It says to add the lentils and water but doesn’t say how much water that you soak and add
Hey Nicole – For soaking, just add ample water to cover the lentils and giving them enough space to expand. I did not mention the amount of water for soaking in the ingredients. The 2 cups water in the recipe is for cooking. Hope that helps clarify.
Made this today and it’s delicious!
So easy and tasty!
Hey Carol – So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for sharing back your review!
Thank you for this recipe 🙂 can’t wait to try it!
You are welcome, Kiara. Would love to hear how it turns out!