Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Mujadara
Lentils and rice under a deep pile of slow-caramelized onions, the Levant’s humble masterpiece.
Lebanese · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 45 min
~428 cal · 18g protein · 77g carbs · 5g fat · 9g fiber · 10g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Mujadara, lentils and rice buried under a deep pile of slow-caramelized onions, is one of the oldest and most beloved dishes of the Levant, humble food elevated by patience. Its roots run back centuries; a version appears in a 13th-century Baghdadi cookbook, and it has long been called the food of the poor, affectionately dubbed 'Esau's dish' after the biblical pottage.
The genius is in the onions: cooked low and slow until darkly caramelized, even lightly crisped, their sweetness and savor transforming simple lentils and rice into something rich and satisfying. A little cumin warms it, and that's nearly all it needs.
Naturally vegan, mujadara is everyday food across Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, often served with cool yogurt or a sharp salad to cut its richness.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 cup brown or green lentils
3/4 cup long-grain rice
4 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 cup plain yogurt, to serve
Instructions
1
Cook the onions in the olive oil over medium heat, stirring often, 20-25 minutes, until deep brown and beginning to crisp. Scoop out half for topping.
2
Simmer the lentils in 3 cups water for 12 minutes, tender outside, firm center.
3
Add the rice, cumin, allspice, salt, and the softer half of the onions to the lentils. Top up water to just cover.
4
Cover and cook low 15 minutes, then rest 10 off the heat.
5
Fluff, pile the crispy onions on top, and serve warm or room-temperature with yogurt.
Beirut everyday home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Beirut. Morning in Beirut smells of manakish. Flatbread dough is stretched thin, spread with za'atar and olive oil or with cheese, and baked at the neighbourhood furn, then folded in half and eaten walking. The city sits between mountain and sea, which is why the same menu can carry mountain kishk and a plate of raw fish.
🗺️
Lebanon. The measure of a tabbouleh is its proportions: it is a parsley salad with a little bulgur in it, not a bulgur salad with parsley scattered over. That habit of restraint runs through the mezze, where a table fills with a dozen small plates that arrive when they are ready rather than in any order, and nobody is expected to finish anything.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Lebanon
Manakish Za'atarFlatbread baked with a fragrant za'atar-and-olive-oil topping, the Levantine morning staple.
FalafelCrisp herb-flecked chickpea fritters tucked into pita with tahini, pickles, and salad, a Levantine street classic.
KnafehMolten sweet cheese under a crisp orange semolina or shredded-pastry crust, drenched in syrup, a Levantine breakfast-dessert.
Browse all Lebanon recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Lebanon meal
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FalafelLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Mujadara?
Lentils and rice under a deep pile of slow-caramelized onions, the Levant’s humble masterpiece.
Where does Mujadara come from?
Mujadara is a Lebanese dish from Beirut, Lebanon.
Can Mujadara be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Mujadara recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Mujadara safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Mujadara take to make?
About 55 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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