It is also healthier and cheaper. On a typical weeknight, I sit down to dinner minutes after walking in the door. This kind of efficiency does require a bit of planning, however. My meals are typically composed of a big pile of vegetables and either beans , lentils, eggs , fish, intact whole grains , or some combination of these. Half the battle is being sure these things are in your home when you need them.
My fridge is always stocked with fresh vegetables and herbs from my weekly farmers market trip. I also usually set aside a little time each week to cook a large batch of either beans or lentils, which are among my absolute favorite foods for adding substance, texture and a world of flavor to dishes.
Lentils are smaller and more delicate than most beans. There are many varieties of lentils. Some are more firm and keep their shape after cooking, making them ideal for adding to stir fries and salads. They can also be used as a substitute for or addition to grain dishes. Examples of firm lentils are French green, black beluga and the most common Spanish brown varieties. Yellow, red and orange lentils are even smaller and more delicate, which causes them to fall apart and turn to liquid during cooking.
These lentils are common ingredients in soups, stews and Indian food. Because I frequently use lentils as a last minute addition to vegetable dishes to make them more substantial, I have worked to optimize the cooking and storage for a few of the firm varieties.
My preference is for the French green and black beluga, but since black lentils are harder to find I performed my experiments exclusively on the green and brown varieties. My goal was to find the optimal cooking time and the best freezing methods for lentils.
Specifically I was hoping to find a convenient method of freezing individual servings that could be stored indefinitely and used within minutes at any time, similar to my method of freezing brown rice.
Traditionally I cook lentils on the stove top in a regular covered sauce pan, but this time I also tried the pressure cooker to see if it could reduce cooking time. In each of my experiments I used 1 cup of dry lentils and 6 cups of water with salt. I added the lentils to a pot of cold water and started my timer when the pot hit the flame. When preparing lentils, always be sure to rinse them and check for small pebbles before cooking. I do this by slowly pouring my dry lentils into a fine mesh strainer while checking for pebbles , then rinsing them under the faucet for 30 seconds or so.
A few things surprised me during my experiments. The first is that French green lentils have a much more robust, complex flavor than brown lentils, which have a more subtle flavor and creamier texture. For these reasons, I strongly preferred the green lentils in my experiments, though I would happily use brown lentils in a hearty stew or as a bed for meat or poultry. However this method worked wonderfully for green lentils.
As you might expect, my success at freezing lentils in plastic wrap depended on how much liquid I could remove from them before freezing. For best results, strain lentils very well using a fine meshed strainer before wrapping in individual servings.
Fold two opposite edges over the lentils, twist the ends and tie them in a half knot at the top, trying to avoid folding plastic into the lentil ball. To use, run the frozen ball under warm not hot water until you can untie the knot. Place lentils in a bowl and microwave minutes. Stir with a fork and use. Both brown and green lentils also froze well in plastic tupper containers. If you know you will be using lentils regularly, you can split a batch you prepare into two or more containers, keep one in the fridge for use and freeze the others.
When you are ready, transfer your frozen lentils from the freezer to the fridge the day before you want to use them. Alternatively you could freeze them in Pyrex or glass containers and simply microwave when you want to use them. I was also curious if a pressure cooker could reduce the time necessary to prepare lentils.
For beans a pressure cooker provides an obvious advantage, since on a stove top they can take hours to cook thoroughly. But lentils take only min and do not require pre-soaking as beans do. Boiling lentils requires very little attention make the rest of your food while they cook and cleanup is easier, so I was curious if there would still be a time advantage using a pressure cooker. I got different results for the different varieties. For green lentils the pressure cooker did not provide much of an advantage over regular boiling.
I found the optimal pressure cooker time for green lentils to be minutes, but it takes about 15 minutes for it to pressurize could maybe be reduced with less water and another 5 for depressurizing after cooking. With the pressure cooker I found it was easy to undercook or overcook the lentils, and the time window was very narrow. This is not ideal if you want the lentils to keep their shape for freezing.
Also, label and date the lid for better use. To keep frozen cooked lentils longer is by getting a food saver. This device can seal perfectly whatever you want to freeze in the freezer. How to Thaw Fzozen Lentils? Make sure they are completely defrosted before serving them or cooking. You can add the cold lentils in salads or hot recipes.
If you like your cooked lentils a bit crispy, then do not cook them well before freezing. Once they froze, transfer them into an airtight container or a freezer bag. Conclusion Can you freeze lentils? Yes, you can freeze cooked lentils like any other cooked food. Frozen lentils stay fresh for up to 6-months.
Prep Time 10 minutes. Active Time 10 minutes. Total Time 20 minutes. Instructions Ensure to clean lentils and remove dust particles and then rinse them properly. Her work has appeared in a number of print publications including Caregivers Home Companion, Midwifery Today and Guide. By: Kelly Morris. Step 1 Strain the lentils well after cooking. How to Freeze Empanadas. The Carbohydrates in Blueberries. Nutrition Information on Blueberries. How to Cook Trini Style Lentils. How to Cook Dried Chickpeas Without a This is nice but not very helpful on a busy weeknight when you are trying to get dinner on the table in a hurry.
Although lentils do not require soaking and take less time to cook than dried beans, you can speed up dinner preparations even more by cooking and then storing a few batches of lentils in your freezer. After freezing, lentils keep well for only about six months, so freezing small batches is a good idea. Empty the dried lentils into a colander, pick out and discard oddly shaped lentils and large pieces of dirt and debris, and then rinse the remaining beans under cold running water.
Bring the water to a full boil on your stove. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, or cook, the lentils just below boiling point until they are crisp tender. For green or brown lentils, this will take 30 to 35 minutes; for red lentils, about 15 to 20 minutes.
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