Whip up a big pot of Madras Lentils and stock your freezer with a week’s worth of lunches!
Let’s talk Tasty Bite.
Have you ever tried these delectable little packages?
I adore them. Quick, easy, and seriously delicious.
My favorite is the Tasty Bite Madras Lentils, which tastes like an Indian-flavor-infused hearty vegetarian chili. Which is obviously right up my alley.
While you really can’t beat one-step-one-minute convenience, you CAN make a huge batch for really cheap in just a few hours at home.
Don’t be put off by the time it takes to make this madras lentils recipe. Out of the two hours total, only about 20 minutes is active time.
There’s lots of simmering action, so feel free to go about your day while your house starts to smell completely amazing.
I decided to use a mixture of adzuki and mung beans because they perfectly replicate the texture of this dish. If you have a hard time finding adzuki beans, use regular “small red beans.” The adzuki beans are really tasty, you can find them here on Amazon.
Don’t forget to plan for time to soak the adzuki beans overnight!
Mung beans are green and very round. When cooked they retain their shape and toothiness, so they add lots of great texture.
Unlike the adzuki beans, they don’t need to be soaked so they just get thrown in halfway through the cooking time.
So…. the elephant in the room.
Madras Lentils… without any lentils?
Yep. I tried making this with regular brown lentils, red lentils, and French lentils but it just wasn’t the same.
Trust me on this one and just go with it.
If you want to get really crazy you can double this recipe in a big ol’ 6-quart pot and stock your freezer with your very own instant Madras Lentils.
If you keep frozen prepared naan in your freezer (Trader Joe’s!) you’ll be seriously ready for lunchtime nirvana.
Here’s the Recipe!
Madras Lentils
Whip up a big pot of Madras Lentils and stock your freezer with a week's worth of lunches!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 jalapeno, seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 cup dry adzuki beans, soaked overnight
- 1 quart vegetable broth
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 1/3 cup mung beans
- 1/2 cup half-and-half*
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart or larger pot set over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeno; saute until onion begins to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, red pepper flakes, and ground ginger. Stir well to coat the vegetables in spices. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the soaked adzuki beans along with the vegetable broth and tomato sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and cook uncovered for 45 minutes.
- Add the mung beans to the pot and allow to cook for another 45 minutes.
- Stir in the half-and-half, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.
Notes
*Substitute coconut milk for vegan.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 9 Cups Serving Size 1 CupAmount Per Serving Calories 131Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 5mgSodium 612mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 5gSugar 5gProtein 5g
Nutrition information has been auto-calculated for your convenience.
Comments
I’m eating the Tasty Bites right now for lunch. I like them but it seems like they’ve been scrimping a lot on the beans lately. I searched online and this recipe came up and I’m going to give it a try! Hopefully be able to adapt it to our instant pot. Thanks!
Excellent flavor! I used a 14.5 oz can of tomato sauce and cooked it with a splatter screen instead of a lid, thereby avoiding the need for tomato paste. Also, I used a jalapeño from a jar. Really yummy!
Hi Joy,
Glad you loved it!
– Linda
Thank you so much for this recipe I’ve tried other knock versions of the tasty bites but they never worked. This is awesome and oh so satisfying.
I have no time for soaking… do you think include make it in a crockpot? If yes, how would you adjust time and water?
I think you could make it in a crockpot, but I would have to test to find out the right time and water. If you try it, let us know how it works out and how you did it.
– Linda
With the jalapeño and red pepper flakes, does it come out spicy? My family hates spicy lol.
I don’t think it is spicy, but everyone is different. I suggest you leave those out for your family or add in a smaller amount and adjust as you see fit for your family’s taste. You might cut back on the black pepper too.
– Linda
I had high hopes but this recipe did not work for me. I followed the instructions exactly and couldn’t get the mung beans cooked through, even with an extra half hour of cooking. After adding the mung beans, it says to cook another 45 min., which I did with the lid remaining off. Perhaps it would have worked with the lid on.
If I would want to make it with Lentils would I just replace the beans with lentils in the same quantity? I got a ton of lentils to use up and really like the sound of this recipe but would like to use lentils!
Thanks for sharing your amazing recipes!
Have you tried this in the Instant pot?
Hi – found this by googling to try a homemade version of the tastybite madras lentils and am so excited to try your recipe – your pics are gorgeous! You mentioned cooking a double batch in a big crock pot – would you still start the onions and spices on the stove? Any idea how long to cook in a crock pot, and high or low? Thanks!!!
Hi Pearl,
I didn’t use a crock pot for the large batch, just a big 6 quart pot, so you can use the same recipe instructions, just use a larger pot.
Thank you so much for doing this! We LOVE the packaged stuff, but don’t like the packages. So excited to try this!
I am so excited about this recipe, thank you for posting! I wanted to clarify the amount of mung beans because I am crazy literal- Is the amount 1 and 1/3 cups or 1/3 of a cup? Thank you!!
It is 1 and 1/3 cups.
Loved this recipe, next time I’m gonna make a double batch to freeze, but I didn’t want to make a ton and decide I didn’t like it. I love trying new things, but I’m also kind of picky about what I end up liking.
Why would you title the recipe “Madras LENTILS” and not involve lentils??? The title is so misleading, “Madras Sauce with Beans” sounds more appropriate.
Thanks for the sweet tip, enjoy the free recipe!
I’m so glad you titled this Madras Lentils, because it came up in my search and is exactly what I was looking for (despite containing no actual lentils). Thanks!
Hi Anetta, thanks for the interesting recipe! My wife and I tried this recipe twice and the beans ended up pretty hard both times. Any ideas for how we can avoid that? We kept the pop uncovered and even cooked it for longer than recommended, but couldn’t seem to change the outcome. Thank you!
Hi Adam,
That sucks, how frustrating! I haven’t had this issue but it might be related to the beans you are using. Can you tell me the type and brand? Also, what is the heat source for your stove top?
Also, when cooking Lentils, salt should be added once 3/4 cooked.
Hi Elyse,
Thanks for the tip! I’ve tried cooking lentils with the salt at the beginning, 3/4 cooked, and only at the end, and I’ve never noticed a difference.
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On the nutrition table, under serving size it reads: 1. Should that be 1 cup?
Hi Vicki,
Yes, 1 cup, I have updated the recipe.
Thanks,
Linda
I am cooking on a stove top and in a big pot. The second time around of tye 45 minutes are you supposed to have lid on or off? I dont think it specifies. Ive had it off through both parts and the Hmong beans are still hard. So I put the lid on to see if I could cook them through because I am going past the time required
Yes, it should be uncovered both times. I’m not sure why the hmong beans haven’t cooked, but different brands can have different cooking times!
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My husband loves the packaged Madras lentils so I was excited to try this recipe to see if I could make it without having to buy all those packages. I didn’t have the beans recommended in the recipe but with lentils and kidney beans it still turned just like the packaged Madras. I doubled the recipe and since we are vegan used a can a coconut milk and it is really wonderful. I will not buy any more of those packages. Thank you
This is so great to hear! I’m glad you guys like it as much as I do.
Hi! What ratio of lentils and kidney beans did you use? I’m having trouble finding beans for the recipe and have a ton of lentils I’d like to use!
I love the recipe! I have a large family was actually able to quadruple it every easily! However, I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to turn this into a crook-pot recipe? I played around with it this weekend and didn’t quite get it how it needed to be.
Question: Is it supposed to be extremely thick? I followed all the recipe and measured exactly (as I always do when trying a new recipe), but the result is very thick, not the same consistency of the TastyBite pouch. To thin it out, should I use a little veg broth, half & half, maybe also a little more tomato sauce or paste? The taste is great, just thicker than my daughter likes. I plan on using some of this as filling for some empanadas….
Hi, Jennifer! Mine usually comes out just the tiniest bit soupy. It might just be a difference of heat settings on our stoves. Feel free to add more liquid as necessary.
Thanks! I made it again today and it turned out much better! It’s a great recipe! Last time it was super spicy (too much for my daughter), so my jalapeno packed a lot of heat. This time I used half a jalapeno and wish I’d added a whole one…. one never knows how hot a jalapeno might be! Of course, the heat level is perfect for my baby (the rest of the family would prefer spicier).
Since this is supposed to be an Indian recipe, those who may go to an Indian store looking for Adzuki beans will want to know that they are called “Red Chori” and you can also find the moong beans there as well. I haven’t tried the recipe, but my children love Tasty Bites so I wanted to try making their version with traditional Indian items.
I tried the recipe today, absolutely delicious and I didn’t add the cream or canned tomato sauce. I added more cumin to taste and made it all in my instant pot. Definitely a keeper! Thanks
Also I used Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar instead of the wine vinegar.
Hi
Do you have the times/settings you used for your Instant Pot? This recipe caught my eye and was thinking I’d rather use my Instant Pot- so was happy to see your comments.
thank you
Umm, you might want to review step 4.
Oops! How embarrassing 🙂 I had originally tried the recipe with french lentils instead of mung beans, and I forgot to change the wording. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
Hi Anetta ~
This sounds like a great recipe (I love the Tasty Bites pouches!). In the instructions, where you say “add the French lentils” – do you mean the mung beans you mentioned earlier, or is it OK to use either? I am not a natural cook so I need the advice…
Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
Karin
Ack! So sorry – it should say ‘mung beans.’ I’ve updated the recipe 🙂
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I decided to try this in the crock pot because I was coming and going all day and didn’t want to leave the stove on. They turned out fabulous!! I LOVE the Tasty Bites but my wallet does not, this is a delicious alternative. I made enough to freeze some for later and I’m sure it’ll be just as good as the packaged ones. Thank you!