You want to make lentil soup. You open up your cabinet. You pull out five half-full bags of five different types of lentils. You scratch your head, wondering if you can substitute brown lentils for red lentils, or if you can mix the dregs of a few bags to get the full one cup you need. Well, that depends. Here's what you need to know.
You might think that lentils are beans, and technically, you’d be right. Lentils are members of the legume family, just like chickpeas or pinto beans, but we have a special, separate place for all the different types of lentils in our hearts. Across the board, lentils cook more quickly than beans. That’s why they're weeknight dinner heroes. And since there are so many types, there’s a whole world to explore. Some firmer, some softer, some creamier, some more colorful. Here’s how to use the types of lentils you’ll most likely find at the grocery store.
Rice and brown lentils, friends forever.
Brown and Green Lentils
When you think of lentils, these are probably the ones that come to mind. Brown and green lentils are the “everywhere” lentil. When you order generic “lentil soup” at a diner or neighborhood restaurant, you’ll just about certainly be getting these guys, which are bigger than the other kinds and have a flattened lens-like shape. These cook quickly (between 20 and 30 minutes), and tend to split and fall apart when they are cooked through, thickening and lending a mild, earthy flavor to soups and stews—their natural habitat. Use these when you want to lean into that mushiness, not when you want whole, intact lentils for, say, a salad. They also slay in a puréed dip or spread.
Lentil, coconut, and tomato soup. With red lentils. Duh.
Red Lentils
Some red lentils are red, as you have probably observed. But they also move into the yellow/orange category too. Regardless of the hue, they’re most commonly found in Indian curry dishes like daal. These take about 20 minutes to cook, and when the skin of the red lentil splits, it breaks down quickly, turning mushy. This is exactly what you want when dealing with daal or sauces in need of thickening, and are more or less interchangeable with the brown and green ones. Again, when you want a thick, soothing mush, these will do you fine.
