A fresh take on a Vegan Lentil Loaf for you! It's made with a delicious blend of lentils, mushrooms and walnuts and has a beautifully festive cranberry topping. Those pops of juicy cranberry in every bite are so good, plus they make it look pretty impressive. It makes a great holiday table centrepiece!
FEATURED COMMENT
"I have just made this for a family get-together. It was very easy to make and looked incredible when I removed it from the baking tin. The flavours were delicious and it easily fed six people with around four portions left over. However, everyone asked for second helpings and the loaf was demolished in record time! A wonderful recipe that will be made again and again. Thank you." - Andrena ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ More reviews →
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If you've made and loved my Vegan Meatloaf with Gravy, then you're going to love this Mushroom Lentil Loaf with Cranberries! It's an adapted festive version especially for the holidays.
The juicy red cranberries make it look so pretty and festive, plus those juicy pops of cranberry in every bite are so good. As well as fresh (or frozen) cranberries on top, there are dried cranberries throughout the actual body of the Lentil Loaf. They add a lovely chew and a little sweetness, which is really good with the savoury loaf and the slightly tart cranberry topping.
Mel x
P.S. This recipe is so good, I've included it in my Vegan Christmas Dinner Menu, Shopping List and Timeline. If you want your entire Christmas meal planned down to the tiniest detail, then go check it out!
Let's Make Festive Vegan Lentil Loaf!
Can't wait to make this delish vegan holiday dish? The full printable recipe is below, but first, let me walk you through the steps to create this recipe in your own kitchen with great results.
Prep Tip
Note that this recipe involves quite a lot of chopping, but if you have a food processor, it can all be done in minutes. It's definitely my preferred method, and pretty much the only thing I use a knife for is cutting the ends off the onion. Everything else just gets thrown in the food processor and pulsed until finely chopped. It couldn't be easier!
1 - Add everything except the fresh cranberries and sugar to a large bowl and combine really well. I find clean hands work best here.
2 - Make the cranberry topping. Simply combine the cranberries and sugar in a pan and heat just until the sugar is dissolved.
3 - Add the sugary cranberries to a lined loaf pan.
4 - Pile on the mushroom lentil mixture and pack it in very tightly. At this stage, the loaf can be refrigerated for a couple of days or baked right away.
5 - Bake until golden, crusty, and jammy, then leave to rest in the pan for 15 to 30 minutes.
For the best presentation, let it rest for at least 15 minutes before turning out.
Serving Suggestions
This Mushroom Lentil Loaf with Cranberries will make a wonderful addition to your Christmas or Thanksgiving meal. Because of the cranberry topping, you don't need to serve cranberry sauce on the side, so there's one less thing to make and remember to put on the table.
My favourite accompaniments include:
Leftovers are really delicious thinly sliced in sandwiches, or with chutneys, pickles, crusty bread, etc.
Recipe FAQs
I hope these FAQs will help if you have any questions about the recipe. I've tried to include all the common ones I've been asked over the years.
I have not tried freezing it, but because of the large amount of mushrooms, I think it would freeze better after baking than before. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the oven for about 30 minutes or until heated through.
For best results, I recommend following the recipe as written. If you don't like mushrooms, this isn't the recipe for you.
I don't recommend using anything else. If you don't want to use or don't have any cranberries, make this vegan meatloaf instead.
Absolutely not. Dried cranberries are totally different and will not work as the topping for this loaf.
For best results, I recommend using fresh or frozen cranberries as per the recipe. Cranberry sauce won't embed into the top of the loaf like whole uncooked cranberries do, so you won't get the same results and all of the extra juice/jelly could overflow and burn.
No. They are too wet and tart. Dried cranberries add chewy texture and pops of sweetness without moisture. Fresh or frozen cranberries should only be used for the topping.
Don't soak the lentils prior to cooking. Rinse them in a sieve with fresh water to remove any dust or debris. Lentils will approximately double in volume once cooked, so you will need about ½ a cup of dried red lentils and ½ a cup of dried green lentils. Cover with plenty of water, bring to a boil, cover tightly, reduce the heat to low and simmer until they are tender.
For green lentils, the cook time is usually about 15-20 minutes. For split red lentils, the cook time is typically only about 5 minutes. Spoon a couple out and taste them to check doneness periodically and as soon as they are ready, drain and leave to cool before using in the recipe. They can be cooked ahead and stored, drained in the fridge for up to 3 days.
No. Please follow the recipe as written. Cooking them will greatly affect (negatively) how the loaf turns out.
No. They will not give good results in this recipe. You must use white or cane sugar.
Recipe
Cranberry Mushroom Lentil Loaf
Author:Ingredients
- 1 small onion , chopped finely
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 cup (198 grams) cooked red lentils , measured after cooking
- 1 cup (198 grams) cooked green lentils , measured after cooking
- 3 cups (226 grams) finely chopped mushrooms
- ½ cup (62 grams) chopped walnuts
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons) ground flax seed , it must be ground not whole
- ½ cup (62 grams) flour , all purpose (plain flour in the UK), oat, rice, spelt or wholewheat
- 1 very packed cup (75 grams) breadcrumbs (gluten-free if necessary)
- ½ cup (70 grams) dried cranberries
- ½ large apple , grated (no need to peel)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce , or Tamari, or coconut aminos
For the cranberry topping
- 2 cups (200 grams fresh or frozen cranberries (do not use dried cranberries!)
- 4 tablespoons white or cane sugar , (not any other kind)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and grease a 1lb or similar loaf pan (about 8.5 inch x 4.5 inch or 9inch x 5inch) and line it with a strip of baking parchment going along the middle.
- Add all of the ingredients (except the fresh/frozen cranberries and sugar) to a very large bowl and mix until really well combined. I like to use clean hands to scrunch it all together and mix it. Set aside.
- Put the cranberries and the sugar in a small pan over a medium heat and just cook until the sugar is mostly dissolved and some juice is appearing in the bottom of the pan. It only takes 5 - 6 minutes. Then remove from the heat.
- Spoon the sugary cranberries into the loaf pan. You don't have to wait for them to cool down but be careful as the sugary liquid will be very hot. Even them out with a spoon.
- Pack the lentil loaf mixture on the top of the cranberries. Really push it down all over and make sure it is even on the top. It will seem like lots of mixture but it will fit well once you compact it.
- Place the loaf pan on a baking tray (just in case the cranberry liquid spills over) and bake for 1 hour to 1 hr 10 minutes. It should be golden and crusty looking on the top and coming away from the edges. There will probably be a little jammy red liquid oozing over the edge too.
- Leave to rest in the pan for 15-30 minutes (it will stay warm for up to an hour if you wrap it in some foil) before turning out and slicing. To turn it out, put a plate or board on top of it then flip it over so the plate/board ends up on the bottom. It will slide out really easily but if you do have any trouble you can give a little tug on the parchment paper to ease it out. Once it's out, gently peel back the parchment paper to reveal the pretty cranberry top.
NOTES
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CKJB says
We love this! We're not vegan but this was so intriguing & we like all the ingredients, + there was a bag of cranberries in the fridge, fresh rosemary in the yard, nuts left over from Christmas baking, so ...
There were some things I wasn't sure about (how coarse the breadcrumbs & nuts should be; sweetened or unsweetened dried cranberries & the best I could find was 50%-less-sugar Craisins; how many sliced mushrooms will make 3 C chopped - 8oz) & some others I was sure would never work (There's no liquid in this! All this will never fit in the loaf pan!) but it did. The recipe was very forgiving of what I decided to do when I didn't know exactly what was intended & it turned out just as expected - even looks like the picture. (The rest of the loaf in the fridge looks like a fruit cake.) The crunch of the nuts, the chewy cranberries, the herbs, the fantastic topping all meet to make a wonderful flavor.
Leftovers tonight with roasted Brussels sprouts & corn on the cob. Thanks for posting this.
Melanie McDonald says
Thank you for trusting the recipe. I'm really pleased you enjoyed it! I always think the leftovers of this taste even better so I'm sure you'll have a great dinner tonight!
CKJB says
Are the dried cranberries meant to be unsweetened or does it matter?
I'm really looking forward to making this!
Melanie McDonald says
It doesn’t really matter. That’s why I don’t say either way. There aren’t very many and you can’t tell the difference once it’s baked up. They ar mainly there for texture/interest.
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Elisabeth says
My vegan family members loved it, so did some of the non vegan’s! It’s very filling and full of flavour. I could only get craisins (dried cranberries) which affected the look of the top, no pretty red cranberries, just blackened toffee like crust on the top, so be mindful if your using those.
Boston Vegan says
Yeah, the FAQs say not to use dried cranberries on top:
Can I use dried cranberries instead of fresh or frozen cranberries for the topping?
Absolutely not. Dried cranberries are totally different and will not work as the topping for this loaf.
Stella Coultas says
I made this last year and it was fabulous! This year, I didn’t re check the recipe and I bought canned whole cranberry sauce ahead of time. Could I possibly use it for the glaze?
Melanie McDonald says
I wouldn't recommend it.
Caroline says
Thanks for posting this, I miss some of the holiday flavors and this really hit the spot with some mashed potatoes.
Sue says
This was our Christmas dinner main dish, and it was fantastic! The lentil mix seemed very dry, so just before popping it into the oven I sprinkled the loaf with 1/4 c. of water. I think my lentils were too dry after cooking them, and aside from the soy sauce, there was no other liquid added. It turned out wonderfully! The cranberries really "make" this recipe! Thank you for sharing it!
How "wet" should the lentils be after cooking?
Melanie McDonald says
You definitely shouldn't need to be adding any extra liquid to this loaf. The red and green lentils and the mushrooms provide plenty of moisture. Remember that the mushrooms go in raw and there are a lot of them. As they cook they release a lot of moisture, so it might have looked a little dry just after prepping but by the time it is packed tightly into the tin and cooked it will be perfectly moist and sliceable. I hope that helps!
Irene Batini says
I would love to make this Lentil loaf for Christmas, but unfortunately we cannot get fresh cranberries in Australia. Any suggestions? Irene
Melanie McDonald says
Make this recipe instead. It's pretty much the same minus the cranberries and you get a bonus gravy recipe to go with it! https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-meatloaf-with-gravy/
Pauline says
We love this recipe!
Thoughts about cooking this the day before. then wrapping it in puff pastry for presentation, baking it of course just before serving.
Melanie McDonald says
My thoughts are OMG that would be amazing!
Cook it then make sure it’s well chilled before wrapping. Then chill again before cooking so the pastry has time to chill again. I can’t advise on timings so you’ll have to wing that but just make sure it’s piping hot in the middle when you take it out. And enjoy!!!
Pauline says
I cooked this the day before and day of, wrapped in puff pastry. omg, turned out so nice.
I wish I could post a photo
lynn says
can you sub frozen for the dried cranberries?
Melanie McDonald says
No definitely not.The dried cranberries are there for chewy texture and bites of sweetness. Frozen or fresh cranberries would be sour and make the filling too wet and soggy.
Bill says
Fabulous recipe. Freezes well. Made this for thanksgiving and froze the left overs [our kids do not eat vegetarian :-( ]. Took it out in March, and it was just as fabulous. Very tasty combination of flavors.
Darren says
Do you cook the mushrooms before putting them in the large bowl?
Melanie McDonald says
No they go in raw. All of the necessary steps are listed.