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Lentil & vegetable kefta that are vegan, grain-free and nut-free! High in protein and low in calories (9 grams protein &156 calories per 3 generous kefta), they make a great meal, snack or appetizer.
Kefta. You may know all about them. If not, allow me to make the introduction.
Kefta is a popular street food from Morocco. Typically skewered and cooked over an open flame, it is made with minced meat (typically lamb, but also beef), a multitude of spices and fresh herbs. Think of it as a spicy, oblong, grilled meatball.
No one true recipe for kefta exists, which is why I feel perfectly justified in generating my own unique take: Lentil & Vegetable Kefta.
Table of Contents
- Vegan Kefta made with Lentils
- Ingredients
- Partially Cook the Lentils
- Pulse the Lentils & Vegetables in a Food Processor
- Add the Coconut Flour
- Shape the Kefta
- Bake!
- Give the Kefta a Brief Broil
- More Easy, Plant-Based Meat Recipes to Try:
- Lentil and Vegetable Kefta {Vegan, Grain-Free, High-Protein, Nut-Free} Recipe
Vegan Kefta made with Lentils
Like my Lentil and Mushroom Meatballs from earlier this week, these kefta are:
- Vegan
- Grain-free
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
- High in protein (9 grams for 3 generously-sized kefta)
- Very high in fiber
- Baked
- Low Calorie
Lunch, dinner, snacks, and appetizers…they can do it all!
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
Making these delicious kefta requires familiar ingredients: uncooked lentils, carrots, onion, flaxseed meal, coconut flour, fresh herbs (I used mint and cilantro), and generous amounts of lots of garlic and ground spices.
Partially Cook the Lentils
To begin, cook the lentils in a saucepan with enough water to cover the lentils by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring to a boil over high heat and then simmer for 10 minutes.
You’re aiming for mostly, but not entirely, cooked lentils. They should be soft, but still have a bit of bite, and definitely not falling apart.
Immediately rinse the cooked lentils under cold water (to stop further cooking) and drain. Place the lentils in a food processor, followed by all of the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the coconut flour. Pile it in!
Pulse the Lentils & Vegetables in a Food Processor
Pulse all until you are left with a finely chopped mixture. Stop well short of creating a paste, but aim for a relatively uniform consistency.
Also, sop to scrape the sides and bottom of the food processor bowl several times so that the mixture is evenly chopped. Let no chunks go unchopped :).
Add the Coconut Flour
All that remains to do, before shaping, is to stir in the coconut flour.
You can pulse in the flour, while the lentil mixture is still in the food processor, but I prefer to transfer everything for a bowl. I don’t like working out of the food processor bowl when I am trying to scoop out the lentil mixture to shape the kefta. It’s your call, though, so do what works for you!
Give the mixture a tiny taste. Based on the flavor, you can add more salt or pepper, or even more spices, according to your tastes.
Shape the Kefta
Before you begin to shape, preheat the oven to 375F (190C) and lightly oil or spray a large rimmed baking sheet.
Gather approximately 1/4 cup (60 mL) of the lentil mixture into a ball and then begin shaping with your hands to form an oblong/oval. It should be about 2.5 inches/6.35 cm long. These are your kefta.
Place the kefta on the prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart.
Bake!
Bake for 33 to 38 minutes until golden brown and the surface of the meatballs looks somewhat dry, like so
Give the Kefta a Brief Broil
I have one last step to give the kefta some extra crispness and color. Remove the kefta from the oven. Position an oven rack 6 to 8 inches from the broiler heat source and preheat the broiler to HIGH.
Spray the kefta with oil (from an oil mister) or with nonstick cooking spray. Broil for 45 to 90 seconds until a deeper brown. Watch closely! I got distracted with one of my test batches and ruined them! Learn from my errors.
Now these are some beautiful kefta!
Serve warm, room temperature, or cold with salads, flatbread, as part of a wrap, as a snack, or an appetizer.
If desired, serve with some harissa and chopped mint or cilantro, as pictured. They are also great with plain yogurt (dairy-free, or dairy, if you eat dairy), or one of my favorite instant sauces: hummus sauce, which is simply hummus thinned with some cold water. Delicious need not be hard!
Enjoy your weekend, everyone!
More Easy, Plant-Based Meat Recipes to Try:
Vegan Oat Mushroom Ground Beef
3-Ingredient Almond Flour Vegetable Nuggets
Mushroom Almond Flour Ground Beef (2 ingredients)
Lentil and Vegetable Kefta {Vegan, Grain-Free, High-Protein, Nut-Free}
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown lentils, rinsed
- water
- 2 medium-large carrots, about 150 g/5.3 oz, trimmed, peeled, cut into chunks
- 1 large onion, ends trimmed, peeled, cut into large chunks
- 1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves
- 4 large cloves garlic, peeled, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- Optional: 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, more or less to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper, more or less to taste
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils and enough water to cover by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes (the lentils will be slightly undercooked). Drain and rinse under cool water. Place lentils in a food processor.
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray (or lightly oil the sheet).
- Add the carrots, onion, cilantro, mint, garlic, flaxseed meal, cumin, paprika, coriander, optional cinnamon, salt and pepper to food processor with lentils. Pulse, using on/off pules, until finely chopped, but not a paste (see photo), scraping sides and bottom of bowl several times so that the mixture is evenly chopped.
- Scrape mixture into a bowl and and stir in the coconut flour until blended. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Shape 1/4-cupfuls of mixture into long ovals (about 2.5 in/6.35 cm long). This should yield 21 kefta. Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart.
- Bake for 33 to 38 minutes until golden brown and surface appears dry. Remove from oven.
- Position oven 6 to 8 inches from broiler source. Preheat oven broiler to high. Spray kefta with oil (from oil mister) or nonstick spray. Broil for 45 to 90 seconds until a deeper brown (*watch closely! do not walk away or they can burn).
- Serve warm, room temperature or cold with salads, flatbread, as part of a wrap, as a snack, or an appetizer. If desired, serve with some harissa and chopped mint or cilantro, as pictured.
Can I use buckwheat flour?
Hi Barb,
I am guessing you mean in place of the coconut flour? I have not tried it, but that might work here since the coconut flour is not used in the same way as in cookies or a cake. One thing to note: you will likely need more than 2 tablespoons of flour. Coconut flour is used in very small quantities since it is really finely ground dried coconut fiber (you may need at least 2 times the amount of buckwheat flour). Start with a small amount (perhaps 3 tablespoons to start) and add more, as needed. I would love to know how it goes if you try it!
I really enjoyed these. I did not have mint so I used cilantro and parsley. Thanks for this!
Could I sub lentils for chickpeas?
I am sure that would work fine, Devin. However, you would need to soak the dry chickpeas (not needed with lentils) before doing the partial cooking step.
I made your kefta and had them with some couscous for dinner last night and it was so good! I added some cardamon which I think enhanced the flavor even more for us. We devoured as much as we could last night and then ate the rest for lunch today. I don’t have coconut flour and ended up using tapioca starch instead as I found the ingredients to fall apart a bit towards the end. I thought about using almond flour because I read it online that you can sub almond flour in place of coconut flour, but decided against it because I saw the ingredients were loose right before adding the flour, so I was hoping that the tapioca starch would bind the ingredients together a bit more and I think it did. I have the say the last bit of broiling is definitely the cherry on top. Great recipe!
So happy to hear that you made this work! 🙂
Can red lentils be used instead of brown? How would it affect the end result? Thanks!
Hi Rachel, great question. Yes you can use red lentils, but I would reduce the cooking time of the lentils to five minutes instead of 10. I am assuming that you were using split red lentils, which are the most common option. They cook much faster than the brown lentils, so five minutes should be about right.
Thank you for this lovely recipe, it tastes delicious. Definitely a keeper and pass on to my friends.
I am so thrilled to hear it, Luciana! Thank you for the lovely compliment, too. 🙂
Hello! I was wondering if I can skip the flaxseed meal, or sub it with something else?
Hi Veronica,
Yes! You can use an equal amount of ground seeds or nuts (including almond flour, or ground chia seeds). You could also use ground oats, but I would add some oil if using oats. The flaxseed meal delivers some fat so you might want to add a few teaspoons of oil.
Hi! Camilla Thank you very much for kefta recipe. My family and I loved them a lot! They are very delicious! I made them already several times!
Thank you for the sharing such a wonderful recipe!
Oh, I am thrilled to hear it, Nargiza! 🙂
Hi Camilla,
This looks gorgeous and I’m pretty sure it will taste delicious. I’m in eager to try this on Friday mood . So can I substitute oat flour or all purpose flour instead of coconut flour.? I don’t have right now ☹️.
Thank you ,
Div
Hi Divya! Yes, you can do that. The texture will be a little bit different, and you will probably need to add more oat flour (coconut flour is super-absorbent). Hope it all goes well! 🙂