This Lentil Loaf Sandwich is SIX lavers of big time flavor. The perfect hearty entree, and its secretly healthy, gluten free, and vegan.
Do you remember that humble brown but utterly delicious lentil loaf we made last week? It is about to come back into our lives in a big way.
Meet the Lentil Loaf sandwich.
The lentil loaf sandwich is everything we loved about the lentil loaf, surrounded by layers and layers of extra flavor all tucked into a soft bun. This sandwich came about by my intense desire to eat the lentil loaf in as many ways as possible. And what better way to jazz up leftovers than to place them in between two slices of bread, slather on a sauce or two, and call it a day.
Let's take a closer look at those Lentil Loaf Sandwich layers, shall we? From top to bottom, we have:
- The bun: Arguably one of the most important parts of the recipe. A good soft bun is the vehicle that allows us to hold all of the flavor goodness in our hands. It is what gets this sandwich from plate to mouth. Opt for a semi-soft bun here. It needs some structure to handle all those layers, but some softness to avoid chewing burnout.
- The Cranberry Maple Mustard: Just the right amount of mustard tang and festive flavor. Plus, bonus points for PINK FOOD.
- The Loaf: You read all about it here. Tons of fall flavors. Not to be missed.
- The creamy garlic spread: There are no words here. I cannot even. One of the best things I have ever tasted. This creamy garlic spread is a bomb of straight flavor.
- The caramelized onions: Three words: worth the effort. I have tasted few things that are not immediately made better with the addition of caramelized onions.
- The greens: There for equal parts color and fresh flavor.
There is no way around it. This dish is a case of the leftovers. Do you love leftovers? Do you hate them? There are so many feelings around leftovers, and by all means, take a moment to feel all the feels, and then come back to me so that I can either:
- High five you because, I too, am a leftover loving human, or
- convince you that this leftover situation is brighter than it seems. Because, yes, we are using leftover lentil loaf, BUT when we add 2 sauces, caramelized onions, spinach, and a bun, that leftover lentil loaf is now only one out of 6 major players in this situation. So I ask you, if only ⅙th of a recipe is made of leftovers can we still call it leftovers? Or do we call it winning at life because this sandwich situation can be in your hands as fast as you can spread and stack all of those ingredients?
And in the interest of speed, here is my recommendation. While your lentil loaf is cooking, assemble all your sauces and spreads for this recipe as well. That way you only cook on one night, using all of that lentil loaf baking time to your advantage, and are all ready to tackle this lentil loaf sandwich situation the next day in two shakes of a lambs tail aka SUPER fast. And the less time between you and this sandwich, the better.
You are going to need two hands for this one.
PrintLentil Loaf Sandwich
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 65 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrees
- Cuisine: dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, vegan, vegetarian
Description
This Lentil Loaf Sandwich combines meatless meatloaf, cranberry maple mustard, creamy garlic spread, and caramelized onions.
Ingredients
- 4 gluten-free hamburger buns, (or 8 slices of bread)
- 4 slices Butternut Squash Lentil Loaf
- ¼ cup Cranberry Maple Mustard
- For the caramelized onions:
- 3 yellow onions, (sliced pole to pole)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- For the Creamy Garlic Spread:
- 5 cloves garlic, (unpeeled)
- 1 can cannellini beans
- 2 teaspoons liquid aminos OR tamari
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- Pinch white pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wrap the 5 garlic cloves in a piece of foil and bake for 30 minutes, until very tender. Set aside.
- Over medium heat, heat the avocado oil in a large skillet. Add in the onions and sautee, stirring often, until caramelized, about 45 minutes. Add in the balsamic vinegar and stir to combine, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Once the vinegar has evaporated, remove the onions from the heat and set them aside.
- In a food processor, add the roasted garlic and remaining Creamy Garlic Spread ingredients. Process until very smooth. Set aside.
- To assemble the sandwich, spread each bottom bun with ¼ of the Cranberry Maple Mustard. Top with the lentil loaf. Spread the Creamy Garlic Spread onto the top of the lentil loaf, and top with caramelized onions. Add on the spinach and top bun. Serve.
Notes
- The Butternut Squash Lentil Loaf recipe can be found here.
- The Cranberry Maple Mustard recipe can be found here.
This looks amazing!! Thanks for sharing :)
Kathryn | nimblenote.blogspot.com
Thank you Kathryn!
Maybe my favorite sandwich I've EVER MADE. I was short on time/ingredients, so I did a bastardized version of the mustard and a garlic aioli vice sauce, but it was still an amazing mix of flavors I wouldn't have thought to put together. The onions are the star, but every layer played a key role in the perfect taste explosion. Thank You for posting, can't get enough of your recipes!
★★★★★
Abby, thank you so much for the review! Is absolutely makes my day to know you enjoyed the recipe :) Thank you!