A cheesy, tomato-y vegetarian main dish. Simple to make, extremely frugal (thank you, lentils), and completely delicious.
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While I was growing up, my mom made this dish called Mush. It was the epitome of comfort food – simple, delicious, and made with cheese. Because we all know that if it’s not smothered in cheese it’s not real comfort food.
The key here is lentils. These tiny legumes are the life blood of frugal cooks like me who don’t love beans but do need vegetarian main dishes.
True credit for this dish goes to another frugal cook, who passed its secret to my mom. The name, however, originated from my dad. When he saw its sloppy, cheesy goodness on his plate the first time, he (affectionately?) dubbed it: Mush.
Despite the dubious nickname, it’s absolutely delicious.
This Cheesy Lentil Pie Recipe is:
- Easy
- Budget-friendly
- Comfort food
- Vegetarian
- Real food
- Freezer-friendly
TIP: To make this a freezer-friendly meal, place lentil and rice mixture into a gallon-size freezer bag and label with helpful instructions like I did above. Simply thaw overnight, place in the baking dish, toss with cheese, and bake. Bet it would work in the crockpot too – let me know if you try it!
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Cheesy Lentil Pie
A cheesy, tomato-y vegetarian main dish. Simple to make, extremely frugal (thank you, lentils), and completely delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown lentils
- 1 cup rice, (white or brown)
- 5 cups water or stock, (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
- 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce, (or more to taste)
- salt, (to taste)
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Heat water or stock in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring it to a boil. Stir in lentils and and rice. When it all comes to a boil again, decrease heat to simmer. Cover, and let cook 30-40 minutes, until lentils and rice are tender. Keep in mind that brown rice will take longer to cook than white.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 F.
- Add tomato mixture and salt to rice and lentils. Stir to combine.
- Pour the lentils and rice mixture into a 9x13-inch pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle evenly with cheese.
- Bake for 10 minutes, until cheese is melted, bubbly, and awesome.
- Serve warm with your choice of sides. Or completely on it's own. We're being frugal here, so no judging.
Notes
- Variation - You'll notice this recipe is empty of any flavor pizzaz. It's awesome this way, but feel free to get creative. I like to add paprika, chili powder, cumin, and extra garlic because YES. Top with fresh cilantro.
- Stock - Sometimes I simply cook the lentils and rice with a quarter of an onion and crushed garlic. Minced dried onion and garlic powder works great here too.
- Stock again - If you're crazy like me, maybe you save the liquid from your steamed vegetables. This is a great use for that too.
- Tomato Sauce - You can substitute the tomato sauce for tomato paste whisked with water to make your own sauce. I do this because I love extra steps.
- Just kidding - Tomato sauce usually has extra ingredients, and tomato paste is generally cheaper. You can also substitute canned diced tomatoes.
- WILL IT INSTANT POT? Let me know if you try.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1 cupAmount Per Serving Calories 130Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 15mgSodium 360mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 3gSugar 2gProtein 7g
Please note: The actual calories and nutrition of this dish will change depending on what ingredients you use. Nutrition information is not always accurate.
What You Can Do Now:
What about you? Do you have any family dishes with questionable names?
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I’ve never really cooked with lentils. Do you start with them raw like from the dry food bins at Sprouts? Or I’ve seen them precooked and packaged in a vacuum sealed bag at Trader Joe…not sure which to use!
As for questionable family meals, my Mom inherited a recipe (which I should look up by the way) called ROOMF which stood for Running Out Of Money Food, it was some combination of peas, gravy, and ground meat. 🙂
Hey Danielle! Thanks for dropping a note. This recipe uses DRY, or raw lentils. If you want to use the vacuum sealed ones, I would cook the rice separately, prepare the lentils according to the directions on the package, then stir everything together.
LOL, I love that name! And I would love the recipe for ROOMF if you ever come across it.
I made this for my family last week and it was a big hit! I added all of the spices you mentioned as well as some veggies I had on hand and wanted to use up before we left town. I froze half of it and we were able to eat it when we got back from our trip. Perfect!
Yay, Christy! Glad to hear it. Way to go adding extra veggies. And I’m glad to know it froze well for ya!
Sue Gregg makes Lentil Casserole, this sounds very much like it. Did your mom own Sue Gregg’s ckbks?
She had a few, but we got this from a friend – wouldn’t surprise me if the original started in one of Sue’s cookbooks!
Hi, was just wondering if you could do this in an instant pot and if you would use the same amount of water/lentils-rice?
Hi Josh, I haven’t tried this in the IP, but you could totally try it. Lentils and rice take different amounts of water and time in the IP than on the stove, so you would need to adjust for that. You also won’t get that satisfying bubbly cheese on the top. But it would be really convenient all in one pot!
Printing recipe now – it’s perfect for pantry cooking!