Red Lentil Veggie Nuggets

These Red Lentil Veggie Nuggets are a healthy recipe that the whole family will love! These tasty bites sneaks in lots of protein and several servings of vegetables!

All of the world's finger food lovers rejoice!

To be clear, I am currently rejoicing.

And rejoicing BIGtime because these Red Lentil Veggie Nuggets are every good thing it takes to be classified as real finger food and more.

• crispy crispy crispy
• hold up to the Sauce Dip without loosing that crispy crust or falling apart
• passable, shareable, party-able
• contains a full serving of VEGGIES (this is clearly the "more" part)

Let's talk about the veggie content in these Red Lentil Veggie Nuggets for a second. Okay? Okay.

These crispy, crunchy, irresistible bites of flavor are jam packed with vegetables. Like, more vegetables than anything else. Cauliflower, carrots, onions, and peas are all snuck into these bite sized bits of joy.

When I first thought of making a veggie nugget recipe, I thought of nuts and then grains and then soy - the usual meat substitutes. And then I thought of cauliflower because it is the new faux-grain thing that people are loving and using. When it is roasted it takes on a hearty meat-y texture, and who else would even think of cauliflower.

I half expected these Red Lentil Veggie Nuggets to be soggy and moist. But it WORKED. It REALLY worked. You guys, we can take cauliflower and turn it into something that closely, so closely, resembles a non-chicken chicken nugget. It is a brave new world.

And a tasty new world.

The cauliflower, carrots, and onions get pulsed in the food processor until they are teeny tiney bits. Then they get cooked down into even smaller pieces before being folded into the rest of the nugget mixture. All that long description to say you CANNOT see or taste the vegetables!

That is a lie. One veggie that you can see are the peas. But these sweet orbs of green add nice flavor and a pop of texture. If your uber picky child (or husband, its usually the husband, isn't it) will not eat food with even a hint of health, you can omit the suspicious peas. Rest assured, you will still be loading them up on vegetables.

Vegetable packed or not, these Red Lentil Veggie Nuggets are 1,000 percent delicious. 1,000 percent loved by everyone who has tried them. And 10,000 percent my current go to party snack, lunch, dinner, midnight snack, salad topper, etc., etc., etc.

Crispy coated nuggets are the best way to eat vegetables.

Red Lentil Veggie Nuggets

• Author: Laurel
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 85 minutes
• Total Time: 95 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Entree
• Cuisine: gluten-free, nut-free, vegan

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Description

These Red Lentil Veggie Nuggets are a healthy recipe that the whole family will love! These tasty bites sneaks in lots of protein and several servings of vegetables!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup red lentils (, rinsed well)
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 2 medium carrots (, chopped into large chunks)
• ½ yellow onion (, chopped into large chunks)
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 cloves garlic (, minced)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons honey OR maple syrup
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ cup garbanzo bean flour
• 2 teaspoons salt (, divided)

Station 1:

• ¾ cup garbanzo bean flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder

Station 2:

• ¾ cup non dairy milk
• 2 teaspoons honey mustard OR 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Station 3:

• 2 cups gluten free breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a pan with nonstick foil and set aside.
2. Add the lentils, 2 cups of water, and 1 teaspoon salt into a pot. Cover and cook until the lentils are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain off the excess water and set aside.
3. While the lentils are cooking, add the cauliflower, carrots, and onions into a food processor fitted with the S blade. Process until the mixture has been cut into small rice sized pieces. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add in the oil and the processed veggie mixture. Sautee until softened, about 10-12 minutes. Add in the frozen peas and cook until the peas are defrosted and all the water has cooked out of the mixture. Add in the garlic, nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, honey, nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir to combine and set aside.
4. Add the cooked lentils into the food processor. Process until they are completely broken down and form a paste. Scoop this mixture into a large bowl. Add in the cooked veggies and stir to combine. Add ½ cup of the garbanzo bean flour and stir well to combine. Set aside.
5. Next, set up your breading station. In three separate bowls, whisk together the ingredients for each station. Line them up on the counter. Using a tablespoon measure, scoop some of the lentil and veggie mixture and form it into a nugget shape. Coat the nugget with flour from station 1. Then quickly dip it in liquid station 2, letting any excess moisture drip off. Last, coat it with the breadcrumbs in station 3, pressing the breadcrumbs gently onto the nuggets to encourage sticking. Place the nugget onto the baking sheet and repeat.
6. Bake the nuggets for 25 minutes, flip them and bake for another 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and then serve.

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Notes

If you can't find a good gluten free breadcrumb where you live, don't sweat it. I can't either. I make my own instead. Just take slices of your favorite gluten free bread, and place them in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, until the bread is dried out and toasted. Let the bread cool completely. Then, break it into pieces, throw it into your food processor, process, and voila, breadcrumbs!