Lentils With Dumplings (Printable)
Tender lentils in a rich vegetable stew, crowned with light, buttery dumplings for ultimate comfort food.
# What You'll Need:
→ Lentil Stew
01 - 1 cup dried brown or green lentils, rinsed
02 - 1 medium onion, diced
03 - 2 carrots, sliced
04 - 2 celery stalks, sliced
05 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
06 - 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
07 - 4 cups vegetable broth
08 - 1 bay leaf
09 - 1 tsp dried thyme
10 - 1 tsp smoked paprika
11 - 2 tbsp olive oil
12 - Salt and pepper, to taste
13 - 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)
→ Dumplings
14 - 1 cup all-purpose flour
15 - 1 ½ tsp baking powder
16 - ½ tsp salt
17 - 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and diced
18 - ½ cup milk
# Directions:
01 - Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, sliced carrots, sliced celery, and minced garlic. Sauté until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
02 - Stir in the rinsed lentils, diced tomatoes with their juice, vegetable broth, bay leaf, dried thyme, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 25–30 minutes until the lentils are tender. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
03 - While the stew simmers, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the cold diced butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk until just combined; be careful not to overmix.
04 - Increase the heat so the lentil stew is at a lively simmer. Drop spoonfuls of dumpling dough (about 1 tbsp each) onto the surface of the stew, yielding 8–10 dumplings. Cover the pot tightly and cook for 15 minutes without lifting the lid, until the dumplings are puffed and cooked through.
05 - Taste the stew and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley before serving, if desired.
# Expert Tips:
01 -
- It costs almost nothing to make yet tastes like you spent hours at the stove.
- The dumplings steam right on top of the stew, so you get an entire meal from a single pot with zero extra dishes piling up.
02 -
- Lifting the lid while the dumplings steam is the fastest way to end up with sad, dense dough balls instead of airy pillows.
- Dried lentils do not need soaking, but rinsing them and picking out any tiny stones saves you from an unpleasant crunch later.
03 -
- Taste and salt the stew at the very end, because as the lentils cook they absorb an alarming amount of seasoning and early adjustments will mislead you.
- Cold butter and a light hand are the entire secret to dumplings that float rather than sink, so work quickly and stop mixing the second the dough comes together.