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Lentil & Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

It is impossible not to love shepherd’s pie. This dish has become a staple in my home, but not the traditional kind with lamb filling, as you can see. My version is stuffed with deliciously seasoned lentils and veggies, and topped with a gorgeous, vitamin-packed sweet potato mash. It’s every bit as delicious as the original, but low in fat and high in protein, fiber, and nutrients. This shepherd’s pie is the perfect simple, economical, hearty dinner that the whole family will love.

Lentil Shepherds Pie

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium sweet potatoes
  • 1/2 cup diced onions
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1/2 cup diced carrots
  • 4 1/2 cups prepared lentils
  • 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon basil + more for garnish
  • 1/2 cup chopped spinach
  • 2+ tablespoons non-dairy milk
  • Sea salt

Shepherds Pie

Step One

Before anything else, peel and chop the sweet potatoes into small chunks. Get them in a pot of water and let them boil for at least 15-20 minutes, depending on size.

Step Two

Meanwhile, chop the carrots, onion, and celery (mirepoix) into small chunks. To make things super easy, I often buy a pre-cut mirepoix at Trader Joe’s. Or you can use a food processor. Add this to a large skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of water and allow them to soften.

Step Three

Once the veggies are softened, add the prepared lentils to the pan. You can use any kind of lentils you’d like… dried (cook them yourself), canned (drained), or pre-made lentils in a package (as long as the don’t have any unnatural ingredients). Allow these to cook for several minutes with the mirepoix.

Preheat the oven to 350º F

Step Four

Open the cans of diced tomatoes (but do not drain them) and add these along with a tablespoon of chopped (or dried) basil leaves, a handful of chopped spinach, and a splash of soy sauce. Let this filling simmer for 10-15 minutes for the flavors to mingle.

Step Five

When the sweet potatoes are soft all the way through, remove them from the heat and drain the water. Mash with a little salt and a splash of non-dairy milk until the consistency is perfect.

Add the lentil filling to a 9 x 13 pan and top with a layer of sweet potatoes. Or, like pictured, you can add to individual oven-safe bowls. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until the topping becomes slightly browned. Allow to cool before serving. This recipe yields about 6 servings and makes excellent leftovers the next evening for a 2-for-1 dinner.

Lentil Shepherds Pie

Shepherds Pie Bite

191 Comments

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  1. This looks delicious! I love shepherd’s pie in all it’s little twists and will be sure to give this one a try. Pinning to my 7 Day Real Food Challenge Board. Thanks!

  2. Looks delicious & I am heading to Trader Joe’s this week for the ingredients! CANNOT wait to try!
    Where did you get the serving bowls that are shown in the pictures? Love them!

    • Awesome! Trader Joe’s actually has their own brand of prepared black lentils in the produce area and that’s what I use, two boxes of those. They work perfectly if you can find them.

      I got the bowls at Home Goods, a store with random discount home/dining stuff. They’re these cool terracotta bowls that are safe for stovetop, oven, microwave – everything. I love them!

    • Looks very delicious. Read it and even with disability, this recipe seems very doable. I think other vegans will feel the same Yum, Yum

  3. These look amazing, way better than the original version! I love lentils and I’m sure they taste great in Shepherds Pie 😀

    • Thanks, Alyssa! Hmm, the tomatoes do add quite a bit to this recipe but you might be able to get away with completely omitting them. As far as a replacement, I would almost be tempted to try finely-dicing 1 cup of potatoes or sweet potatoes, boiling them for a few minutes, and adding them to the filling. I don’t know how well that would work, but it could be worth a try!

      • Alyssa this is way late, but for you and the benefit of anyone else, I was thinking butternut squash, but Elizabeth is right that summer squash would work great, probably even better, because it will break down and form a liquid much like the tomatoes would. You could do a mix of zucchini and yellow squash because they’ll both do the same thing as far as making some liquid and serving as thickeners.

        Another thing you could do is starch up a good homemade meat or mushroom stock, if you’re not vegetarian. Cornstarch slurry added to the stock will make a nice sauce.

  4. I have been waiting for a healthy shepherd’s pie recipe for quite some time! Seriously, I always die with envy when I see savory, meaty pie recipes…

    In terms of subbing the tomatoes, what would you think of using a fruit, like a peach?

    After following your blog and others like it for so long, I finally decided to start my own, http://adventurefaceliz.wordpress.com. I’d really appreciate if you checked it out!

    • Thanks, Elizabeth. Yeah, a fruit might work well! It would add a hint of sweetness in with the savory elements and… that could be interesting!

    • Hi! Mangoes might also be a good substitute.

      Can you tell me how many cups of dried green or brown lentils I would have to soak to make four and a half cups of ‘prepared lentils?’ I’ve made a similar recipe before and I can tell you, it’s delicious! Much better than using Quorn mince or veggie mince which are mushy.

  5. It not only looks delicious, it IS delicious! Cooked this yesterday and added a little splash of balsamic vinegar as my own touch. Will be making this again for sure! Thank you for the recipe and the inspiration!!

  6. Thank you so much for posting this. Since I stopped eating any meat product, I thought I’d have to give up on shepherd’s pie 🙁 which I really loved it … I’ll definitely try it soon 🙂

  7. My husband hates both lentils and sweet potatoes in any form, so I decided to make this for myself and divide it into freezer meals to take for lunch. I tried it for lunch today and it is so delicious! Too bad my husband won’t try it:) I think I could eat this dish every day for lunch, and it will be especially good when the weather cools. True comfort food!

    • Thanks, Lana! Yes, it definitely keeps well in the refrigerator/freezer and I could eat it every day too! Too bad about your husband, he doesn’t know what he’s missing! 🙂

    • Hi Lana. Does your husband like beans? You could make a version with beans instead of lentils and ordinary potatoes or butternut squash.

    • My husband too! He took 2 bites, since I make him try a bite before he says he doesn’t like something, but he wouldn’t eat it. I wondered if it would freeze, how did you freeze? In containers? Wrapped?

      Thank you.

  8. God answered my prayers. Well, rather you than God 😉
    Thank you so much for this recipe and solving my vegan but shepherds pie craving problem!! And its so so yum!
    Also love your Pad Thai and Sesame Rice Bowl!
    Your recipes are very inspiring, so I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your ingenious ideas!

    Greetings from Munich, Germany
    Jessica

    • Thank you, Jessica! I’m glad God could use me as a means for answering your prayers! I’m so happy you liked this and the other recipes. Greetings from California 🙂

    • Hi Mandy, it would probably be just fine without soy sauce. You might, however, want to add an extra pinch or two of salt. Good luck! 🙂

  9. Hello! I really would love to make this but I live in Europe and here we don’t measure with cups. Would you mind telling how much it is in grams? That would help a lot since I’ve been looking at those pictures for a while and reaaaally want to cook! lol

    • Hi Demet, 1/2 cup is 120 ml. I think all my measurements in this recipe are a multiple of 1/2 cup so that should be good! If not, search Google for the conversion and it’ll give it to you! 🙂

  10. Made this over the weekend- such a triumph! I used the mirepoix from trader joes like suggested and my favorite organic canned lentils and could not BELIEVE how fast and easy this came together. I had regular potatoes and fresh thyme from my CSA box and used those instead of the sweet potatoes and basil and it was great. Will def try sweet potatoes next time tho, love them. Great great recipe!

    • That’s great, Karolyn! I’m so glad you liked it. I think I actually like regular potatoes with this even better than sweet potatoes, but it’s a close call 🙂

  11. Recently found your site. You have some good food ideas.
    I made this tonight only really changed it. We cook big batches of beans and freeze them. So instead of lentils we had 3 and a half cup pintos and 1 cup garbanzo. I enhanced the seasoning with thyme and marjoram. I threw in some mushrooms. Added more carrots. My husband does not eat nightshades so no tomatoes but used veggie broth to add the liquid. In the end it was really, really great, the savory beans and thee sweet potatoes complimented each other really well. So thanks for the recipe “guideline”.

    • Hey Amy! I actually had this for dinner tonight with white potatoes and it’s one of my all-time favorites. Ooh, thanks for sharing your modifications – that sounds really yummy! 🙂

  12. I finally tried making this today. I added some tabasco to spice it up a little and a splash of balsamic vinegar along with the soy sauce and WOW I can’t believe how amazing it turned out. For such a simple recipe it is so satisfying. And filling. Thanks again for the recipe!

    • Ooh, I love the tobasco idea! I’m so glad you liked it, Allison! I made this yesterday… I think I’ll be trying some tobacsco sauce on the leftovers today 🙂

    • Hi Melissa, by prepared I mean already cooked. And you’re right – that would be a lot of dry lentils! 🙂 Like with rice, the cooked (prepared) amount is much more than the dry (unprepared) amount.

  13. I made this last night for company and it was delicious. I added Worcestershire instead of soy sauce and I used Franks red hot for a little kick. Thanks for a great recipe!

    • Yay! Thanks for letting me know, Kathy! I love the Worcestershire and hot sauce idea. I agree that this could benefit from an extra kick… I’ll have to try that next time!

  14. This was/is amazing! Makes a lot! I had to cut it in half and still had leftover filling! Thank you! yay! Day number 2 without any animal products.. folks, I need support! Keep me going! thanks! great recipe!

    • Thanks, Deb! I’m so glad you liked it.

      Wow, congratulations on cutting out animal products! Very cool! Trust me, it gets much easier with time 🙂

  15. Mmm… this yummy dish is cooking in the oven right now but I took a few spoonfuls out and it tastes delicious! So excited for my family to eat it for dinner tonight! Thanks Andrew 🙂

  16. Cooked this for dinner last night, delicious.
    I made a couple of adjustments though – instead of two tins of tomatoes I added one tin & 2 tablespoons of tomato paste plus 1 cup of veg stock, double amount of basil and added grated Parmesan to the top of the sweet potato.
    Thank you for sharing.

    • Ooh, thanks for sharing your suggestions, Jane. Those sound fantastic. I love when people modify things… that’s so much more fun than just following a recipe, right? 🙂

    • A double batch is a smart idea, Jessica! This is one of those things I can eat endlessly and always wish I had more. 🙂 I assume the temps would be the same and I’ve never tried freezing it (never lasts that long!) but it should do fine in a well-sealed container.

        • Line your freezer dish with parchment, that way once your food is frozen you can put it in a zip top freezer bag and use the container for another dish. When ready to bake, plonk the frozen food puck in the original dish and bake. Saves space in the freezer.

          • Thanks Asia,

            That’s a great idea – won’t have to tie up a casserole dish.. I will leet you k now how I make out.

  17. Thanks for this- I can’t wait! I am hooked on your blog! How much dry lentils do you use to get the desired quantity here?
    Thanks 🙂

    • Hey Catherine! Actually, I’ve mostly used pre-cooked lentils in this recipe so I couldn’t say for sure. Though, I would recommend making them yourself as you’re planning on doing – you’ll get more flavor and they’re less processed. I would suggest starting with maybe 2 cups of dry lentils and however much water the package says to use. You’ll likely have more than 4 1/2 cups in the end, but you can always find uses for leftover lentils! 🙂

      • This is so good! My husband (your typical meat & potatoes guy) LOVES this. It makes a ton so we freeze some for later meals. My 18 month old gobbles it up like nobody’s business, too 😉

  18. I have been looking for a mushroom-less shepherd’s pie and voilà! found yours! I used cauliflower mashed “potatoes” for the topping just to try and it was great. My husband LOVED it! He wants to have it every week now! I think I will try it with the sweet potato topping next time! such a great recipe! Thank you!

    • Hey Catherine, I’m so happy to hear that you liked it! 🙂 It actually sounds great with the cauliflower mash as well, I’ll have to try that!

  19. Was looking for a healthy vegetarian recipe to try and stumbled onto this….YAY! Really yummy and a big hit with both my teenage, vegetarian daughter AND my carnivorous husband. I substituted zucchini for spinach since I just didn’t have any spinach on hand at the moment and I added some cooked barley, as well (about 1:4 ratio of barley to lentils). Very filling, really tasty and makes a bunch for extra meals. THANKS!

    • Cool! I’m so glad your family liked it, and your suggestions sound really good – barley could add a great flavor and texture to this dish… I’ll have to try that!

  20. I went on to the Internet and saw where several people suggested using roasted red peppers puréed as a sub. For tomatoes hope this helps.

  21. Tried this and I felt that there were too many lentils and not enough chunks of veg, but I realise coming back to the page my downfall was likely due to the fact that I used four and a half cups of dry unprepared lentils rather than prepared, and so when they WERE prepared I had a monstrous amount of lentils for only half a cup of each of the vegetables, and so I won’t make that mistake again! Also, I didn’t have enough sweet potato, so that didn’t help either. The taste was lovely, and I’m sure it will be much better once I do it right! Looking forward to round two!

    • hahaha, so sorry to hear that, 4 cups of dry lentils would definitely make a LOT of cooked lentils 🙂

  22. Hmmm – not sure about this one. I made it tonight and I have to say, it was pretty bland…I added a ton of hot sauce but it still came up flat. I do a lot of cooking and a lot of vegan cooking but this will not be in the rotation. Too bad.

  23. I make this dish nearly every week! It’s one of my go-to recipes when I want to make sure I have something on-hand, ready for anxious bellies on tight schedules. I see some folks have freezed leftovers. How do you suggest I do that (I’m not that experienced with freezing beyond fruits and leftover soups)?

    • Hey Michele! I’m so glad you like it! 🙂 Hmm, I’m not sure how this could be frozen (I’ve never tried). Perhaps just the fully cooked dish, cut into portions and either in tupperware or foil?

  24. I was very excited to make this…..it looked so good. The first night, it was pretty good, my SO liked it. The next day I reheated it and it was so dissapointing! very bland. Any thing I could top it with to revive it?

    • Hmm, I’m sorry to hear that, Sarabeth! 🙁 In my experience, leftovers are typically *at least* as flavorful as the first meal. I could’t imagine why yours weren’t as good. Was it stored in a sealed container? Did you reheat in the oven or microwave?

  25. This was my first attempt at a vegan meal and it was incredibly delicious! I did use yellow instead of sweet potatoes though. I can’t wait to try more from your website as my husband and I continue our path on a plant based diet. Thank you so much!

    • Hi Roseanna! I’m so proud that this was your first vegan meal and it turned out well! Seriously, congratulations. That’s awesome, and best of luck to you on this new journey!

  26. You don’t by any chance know the nutritional information for this dish? I made this tonight–SO yummy!!!! It’s a keeper recipe!

  27. BRILLIANT!!!! YOU just made my life a MILLION times easier!!! Wow! Thank you so much!!! That is great! (just a side note: before I so easily cut and pasted your recipe in there for a recipe analyzer to figure out in one EASY step–I added all the ingredients and divided by the number of people eating–I did come within 4 calories of what that website said–which makes me feel good about my own computations. But what an incredible pain in the behind! I am so thankful for your info and direction! Thank you!) Your recipe was great too btw. Thanks again!

  28. We are a family of meat eaters except for my daughter who is vegetarian. As I find myself making the wonderful meats I love to make for my family on Thanksgiving, I want to make sure that my daughter feels included too. I just made your recipe and it’s for tomorrow’s supper, and I had her taste it as I placed it in the baking pan before I added the sweet potato mixture and she was so excited. I felt good to have at least an option for her. Thanks very much for this, will take time and go through your other recipes as I want to make sure all my children returning home from university get home cooking made with love. I am making another dish for her that I found as well, that will give her more than one option for tomorrow. And who knows maybe my guests will enjoy having different options for their Thanksgiving meal. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving and appreciate the recipe.

    • Hi Maggie, that’s so great! As a vegetarian, I appreciate it when my family is considerate with food options around the holidays I’m sure your daughter does too! 🙂

      Have a great Thanksgiving!!

      • Thanks for the great reply Andrew. I found a wonderful recipe called Maple Roasted Cayenne Pepper Butternut Squash and oh my lord does it taste wonderful, I have accidentally eaten quite a bit of it as I continue cooking the rest of the dishes. My daughter is very excited to check out your website, as she is a true vegetarian. Take Care and thanks for taking the time to reply to me. I should send you a pick of the pie, it’s pretty awesome if I may say so myself.

  29. Hi Andrew,
    I stumbled across your site by chance like a month ago and I am addicted, been cooking your recipes non stop. You are amazing! Even my very fussy omnivore husband loves everything, with special mention to the lentil loaf.
    I just made this pie for the first time and it is in the oven for dinner, the smell is so intoxicatingly good that I am sure half of London can feel it.
    Thanks for the great work.
    Cheers

    • Ooh, thank you so much for the nice comments, Bianca! It just made my day to read this 🙂

      You know, I think I can smell the wonderful roasting lentils and potatoes all the way in California! :p

  30. Quick feedback Andrew: we just had dinner and I had to control myself not to knock the entire pie down, with the help of my husband, who left his chicken aside in favor of this wholesome goodness. It is going to be a new staple in my kitchen along with the loaf, chickpea stew and the more than delicious cashew cheese.
    Very warm regards from the already cold London crossing the pond right now…

  31. I made this last night, so yummy! I didn’t have enough lentils so I added some white beans to make up the difference, and probably added a bit more basil and a little less soy sauce. My husband and I both loved it! Enjoying leftovers tonight and froze some for future meals. Thank you for the recipe, love the minimal ingredients! I’ll definitely be trying more of your recipes.

  32. This is smashing! And it made so much that I can eat it at work for a whole week at least. Thank you for posting! I changed out the soy sauce for Worcestershire sauce and put a tab or two of butter in the sweet potatoes. I might add peas next time, too 🙂 One thing I did love was the addition of spinach! Such a good way to get more iron in there. I am so excited to make this again and again!

    • Sorry to hear that, Rachel. That almost certainly has something to do with the lentils. If you’re cooking them fresh, they need to be *really* well drained.

  33. “Trader Joe’s”? Never heard of it in my life… must be yet another American store that, of course, does not exist where I live. Nonetheless, I think I’ll be able to find all of this stuff at the bazaar.

    • You’re totally missing out! 😉 Well, it’s nothing really too special, but a great grocery store that has a bunch of unique things… I’m lucky to have one just down the street. But you’re right – you can find these ingredients everywhere.

  34. This recipe is wonderful. highly recommended!!
    Tasty, satisfying, excellent during these cold months. And can easily feed 8 people with added greens on the side.
    Freezes well and cannot wait to make it again. We’ve recently adopted the vegan cooking approach and by far this is the winning dish so far!

    • Thank you, Sophie!! So glad you liked it and I’m thrilled to hear that you’ve recently started cooking vegan! 🙂

  35. I love shepherd’s pie so I’m excited about trying this recipe. I’m not a big fan of lentils though. What would you recommend as a replacement?

  36. I am not a vegetarian and only had lentils once before. I love, however, sweet potatoes, and because your picture looked so delicious, I decided to try this recipe. Made this on a cold, rainy day…..OMG…DELICIOUS and so comforting. Even my hubby (who claims to hate sweet potatoes) liked it. Thanks for the recipe. I will definitely be making this again and again!!

  37. This recipe has become a new favorite standby of mine. I love it!! Last time I made double to freeze it for the future. Thank you! I am always evangelizing about your website to my friends and family. Ha ha!

    • Hey Danielle! I’m glad to hear you like this… it’s one of my favorites too! Haha, thanks so much for evangelizing 🙂

  38. This turned out great. I added some smoked paprika and cooked the lentils on veggie broth so give them a deeper savory flavor. Thanks for the recipe!

  39. thankyou soooo much for this recipe im not a natural cook and yet i am happy to say i managed this beautiful recipe of yours….
    it made me feel happy and gave me confidence thank you again
    gemma the vegan xoxo

  40. Definitely using green lentils next time. The red lentils became too mushy and it turned out more like soup. I still topped with sweet potato and it’s in oven now so it’ll just be a delicious mess if nothing else :)))

  41. I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. Definitely better than any meat shepherd’s pie I’ve ever tasted. I’ll be making this again that’s for sure! Thanks for the recipe.

    • Better than any meat shepherd’s pie?! That’s what I like to hear! 🙂 Thank you, Merric, I’m so glad you liked it!

  42. Just discovered your website, When looking for a good veggie version of Shepards Pie. Made this dish tonight and it was GREAT! Thank you! Can’t wait to dig into your site.

  43. LOVE LOVE LOVE all of your creations and they are so healthy! thankyou for sharing these lovely recipes and ideas. God Bless!

  44. I am making this dish for the second time since coming across this recipe and I am not disappointed (even though this time I accidentally grabbed split peas instead of lentils at a local produce market! OOPS!) I have a feeling it will still be quite delicious! (I’ve been sneaking bites as I was making it and its actually not bad!) Thanks for this yummy recipe that I will continue to come back to!

    • That’s so cool, Dominique! I’m really glad to hear that you like the recipe and it’s great that it still works with split peas, haha. Maybe that’s the next big thing: split pea and sweet potato shepherd’s pie :p

  45. I made is already a couple of times and I really love it! My private indulgence is a bit of grated chees on the top :]

  46. Delicious! This is my first time stumbling on your blog (thanks Pinterest) and now I’m about to pin all kinds of stuff. This was an easy dish to put together and really good. For the person that asked about dry lentils. I cooked a whole 1 lb bag and it makes about six cups. The tip on adding balsamic was a good one. If there is anyone else out there that is curious about the nutrition facts let me help you out since I already entered it in. It feels great to eat this good. This is for one of six servings.
    Nutrition Facts
    Serving Size 1 serving (449.7 g)
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 282Calories from Fat 7
    % Daily Value*
    Total Fat 0.8g1%
    Saturated Fat 0.1g1%
    Sodium 780mg33%
    Potassium 1149mg33%
    Total Carbohydrates 53.9g18%
    Dietary Fiber 16.6g66%
    Sugars 12.1g
    Protein 17.0g
    Vitamin A 401% • Vitamin C 54%
    Calcium 11% • Iron 37%
    * Based on a 2000 calorie diet

  47. I have made this twice now and I really enjoyed it each time! My “carnivore” bf really liked it too (he went back for seconds).
    I added more basil and soy sauce than the recipe called for. I kind of just seasoned it “to taste.” I can’t believe how much the soy sauce brings out the meaty flavor in the lentils. Delish! The sweet potatoes are a nice contrast to the savory flavored lentils too.
    Thank you for sharing this! 🙂

    • That’s awesome, Adrienne! I’m so glad you liked this one – it’s been a longtime staple in my house too. 🙂

  48. Thank you for this recipe. It has become a staple in my home, I think we make it at least twice a month. It tastes so fabulous and it’s so simple. I recommend this dish to everyone that asks for a easy meat free meal. I love it!

  49. I’ve copied your recipe and hope to try it soon. Wuz thinking as I read the comments, if you can find (or make) a no-oil/fat barbecue sauce, that might make an interesting substitute for the soy sauce.

  50. I made this for dinner and I LOVED it! I love that it’s oil free and is not lacking In flavour! I used veggie broth in place of water to sauté the veggies! Im excited to try different variety of this dish by adding different veggie combinations! I will definitely be adding more sweet potatoes to have a nice thick topping ( it was the best part). Regardless, I love this dish and I will be adding it as a staple in my kitchen! Thank you!!

    • If you want it more pie like, use a spring form pan. Make all most double the potato mix. Line sides and bottom with mix, bake at high temp to form bottom of pie… then follow rest of recipe.

  51. This recipe is perfect without any changes. I made this today as a test run for my Thanksgiving dish. It is filling and comforting. This dish is perfect to bring to my family’s Thanksgiving feast! Thanks again Andrew!♡☆♡

  52. So glad to have found your site…now bookmarked! Was searching for recipes with sweet potatoes when I found your recipe. Just made it tonight. Husband and children really enjoyed it. We are not vegetarians, but are very health conscious. You have some great recipes. Making the chocolate quinoa for breakfast tomorrow. Thanks so much!!

    • Hi Suzanne, sorry for the late reply. Yes, that would be fine – just store the potatoes separately and don’t add them on top until ready to bake.

  53. Hello! Thsi looks delicious!
    Yet I was wondering (I’m not american) how many grams would ‘2 15 oz cans’ be. 15 oz is 425 grams, so 2 times that is just not right haha
    Somebody?

    • Well, it is 2 x 425 grams, but you could always just use fresh tomatoes. I don’t know exactly what the conversion would be (and you don’t need to be super exact), but if you diced about 5 Roma-sized tomatoes and gave them extra time to cook down in the lentil mixture, you should be good!

  54. OMG! I am so excited to say that I made this last night and I LOVED it 🙂
    I have been looking for the perfect recipe, meaning not too many ingredients and easy to make…et voilà.
    This is going to be a go-to recipe for fall and winter!
    Thank you

  55. Question! I’m looking for a vegan recipe to bring to Thanksgiving this year at my sister’s house (about a 2 hour drive) and this looks great! I was wondering if it would be possible to prepare everything except for the final bake in the oven, cover the pan in tin foil and then do that last 20 minute bake on Thanksgiving? Do you think it would keep until then?
    Thank you!

    • Hi Katherine, that would probably be fine. I would just suggest keeping the lentil mixture and the potato topping separate until you’re ready to bake. I do that sometimes with this recipe if I need to make it ahead – prep each half, stick them in the fridge and then put them together and bake.

  56. If I substitute Tamari for the soy sauce, it will also be gluten-free, correct? I am not GF, but am having a dinner party with a mixture of carnivores, veggies (me), vegans and GF-ers. I’m thinking with this one adjustment, I will be able to cover them all.

    • Hi Marianne, I think so. I’m not an expert in GF cooking and you should double check all your ingredients if it’s a serious issue but none of the other base ingredients naturally have gluten.

  57. Hi Andrew,

    This is great. I added two tablespoons of white miso to the mashed sweet potatoes… mmmmmm…

    • Hey Liana! Ooh, I love the idea of adding miso to the potatoes… miso can be such a great seasoning but I never think of using it in that way. I should do that more often!

    • Hey Kelsey, you could just use a soy-free replacement for soy sauce. A few exist. I know coconut aminos and Braggs aminos tend to work well.

  58. Hi, tried this and the lentil recipe was pretty bland, out of experience cooking with lentils i added cayenne pepper, salt, garlic, thyme, cumin including the basil. Also instead of using basil as a garnish I went with ground cinnamon sprinkled on top of the sweet potatoes. It gave a very nice sweet and savory taste.

    I’m unsure why basil and soy sauce were the only flavors you wanted to add. Lentils are Mediterranean and can go with a variety of spices.

  59. I added some cinnamon and coconut sugar to the sweet potatoes before I mashed them so my son would eat them. I think next time I will use more sweet potatoes for a thicker layer and maybe less lentils and more chopped vegetables. Thanks for the recipe!

    • You’re very welcome, Zivia, thanks for taking the time to let me know you liked it 🙂 I think adding cinnamon would be great!

  60. This recipe is AWESOME!! I love love love it !! I cooked my sweet potatoes in the oven with their skins on keeps flavour in… I used peas instead of celery only because I forgot it lol…But I know why you couldn’t stop eating it hahaha..I can’t stop talking about this recipe….
    I’m about to make my second batch to freeze so I can have it any time I want it…

    • Nice, Gayle! I’m so glad you liked it. 🙂 …I like the idea of leaving the skins on the potatoes – they have way more nutrients. This does pretty well in the freezer so that’s a great idea!

  61. I tried this yesterday and substituted 1/2 the lentils with 1lb ground turkey and it came out SO good! My husband is not vegetarian and I’m just trying to eat more plant-based without red meat so this adjustment worked for us. I don’t usually like sweet potatoes but I enjoyed how they complimented the rest of the dish. It made enough for 5 meals for us each. We will freeze the rest today so we can enjoy the rest of the meals at a later date.

  62. I can’t believe I didn’t make this before! It was devoured by the whole family. Many thanks! PS: I used dark lentils which I pre-cooked separately first. Uber delicious!

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