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Crispy Roasted Shallot and Lentil Sheet-Pan Mujadara

by:
April 11, 2021
4.3
6 Ratings
Photo by Julia Gartland
  • Prep time 1 hour
  • Cook time 1 hour
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

Excerpted from Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless by Raquel Pelzel (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2017. —Sarah Jampel

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Ingredients
  • 8 medium-sized shallots, halved and very thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme or 1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra as needed
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3/4 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
  • 4 cups boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves or cilantro leaves
  • Yogurt, Aleppo-style pepper, and olive oil, for garnishing (optional)
Directions
  1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position, place a rimmed sheet pan on top, and preheat the oven to 375° F.
  2. Toss the shallots with the olive oil, cumin, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and the pepper in a large bowl. Turn the shallots out onto the heated sheet pan in an even layer and cook until they brown, about 25 minutes.
  3. Wearing oven mitts, pull the oven rack out halfway and stir the lentils into the shallot mixture on the sheet pan. Carefully add the boiling water and cover the sheet pan with aluminum foil (you may need 2 sheets), crimping it around the edges to seal. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° F and bake for 10 minutes.
  4. Pull the rack out partway again, open the foil and stir in the rice and remaining 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Re-cover the sheet pan, crimping the foil around the edges to seal, and continue to cook until the rice is tender, about 25 minutes more.
  5. Remove the pan from the oven. Taste and adjust the salt if needed. Sprinkle with the parsley or cilantro, dress with yogurt, Aleppo-style pepper, and additional olive oil, and serve warm or at room temperature.
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9 Reviews

Write a Review
Melissa Y. March 6, 2023
Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly—the right textures, the warm, comforting goodness that you want with mujadara, and with only one pan to wash, which makes the family happy. This is an easy, hands-off recipe, which means you can put a ton of other things on the table and not stress out.
WellFedWit October 26, 2020
Made this as written and it was delicious!! So flavorful and much easier than the regular mujaddara that I make. Despite some trepidation about reaching into the hot oven and balancing the baking sheet on the rack as it was filled with boiling water, I thought this was a really great technique and can see making this often to have in the rotation for quick, healthy lunches and dinners.
i.alexis D. October 5, 2019
Yogurt added now and even better!
i.alexis D. October 5, 2019
I have to leave a review after reading these tepid responses to what is an excellent and delightful dish. I often think that people must not know how to cook with their hearts. You can’t just idly follow some recipe. You have to respond to the many variables that may arise. Otherwise, cooking something successful would just be a fluke. If you like a more spicy potent dish- add more spice, add more shallots etc. if the rice isn’t done, steam longer. If you want crispy shallots, crisp some by themselves and put them on top. Analyze the dish and make any remedies that you require. After reading these reviews, I was very hesitant to prepare this, but after looking up other mujadara techniques, it was certainly a reasonable and efficient approach (foil paper can be used again!) I made it with sprouted brown lentils and Texas best organic jasmine rice. Phenomenal! I was too greedy to stop for yogurt and parsley but I did add Aleppo pepper and preserved lemon from my own Meyer lemon tree. I will make this many times and share with others.
AntoniaJames December 4, 2017
I tried this and the shallots quite definitely are not crispy. Really, I was a bit underwhelmed by this. I'm still trying to figure out the fascination with sheet pan cooking, especially for dishes like this. If the problem is that you only have to wash one pan, well, I just don't have any problem washing out an extra pot used to cook lentils (takes 30 seconds, max), especially if I can double up on cooking the ingredients on the stove, making it possible for the meal to be on the table sooner.
I also am opposed to the extravagant use of non-renewable resources such as aluminum foil when other options are available. Along the same lines, I'd be interested in seeing the environmental impact of using the oven at this high heat for the period required, versus traditional methods of making this dish on the top of the stove. (Don't get me started on heating the oven to 400 to put a Dutch oven of rice in for 17 minutes.)
I'm going to experiment with better ways to do this. Overall, this dish isn't bad, but I expected more flavor, and found all the faffing with the foil, boiling water to pour in, etc. undercut the convenience pitch. ;o)
AntoniaJames November 29, 2017
I'm really curious how the shallots remain crispy after all that time in a sealed pan with all that water . . . . . ;o)
fan-atic September 27, 2019
Are they supposed to remain crispy? My limited experience with mujadarra has been with soft, caramelized onions, never crispy.
someonewhobakes September 28, 2017
Step 3, "pathway," "own" temperature -- I'm a copy editor, if you need my services! ;^)
Sarah J. September 28, 2017
Oy vey! I do!