Mujaddara (Lentils and Rice with Browned Onions)
The Levant's thrifty lentil and rice pilaf in one pot: a mountain of onions browned slowly in olive oil, half saved for the top, the rest cooked with cumin, coriander, brown lentils and rice. Meatless, with a cool lemon yogurt on the side.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
Mujaddara is Arabic for "pockmarked," for the lentils dotted through the rice (Wikipedia: citing Ghillie Basan and Gil Marks). It is an old dish. The earliest recipe on record is in the *Kitab al-Tabikh*, the cookbook compiled in Baghdad in 1226 by al-Baghdadi, where it included meat and was served at celebrations; without meat it became a medieval staple of poorer people, and a proverb says a hungry man would sell his soul for a dish of mujaddara (Wikipedia, citing Marks and Salloum and Peters). Some link it to the lentil stew Esau sold his birthright for in the Book of Genesis (Wikipedia, citing My Jewish Learning). Arab Christians traditionally eat it during Lent, and it is cooked by Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians, Druze and Syrian and Egyptian Jews; in Egypt it grew into koshari, with macaroni and tomato sauce added (Wikipedia). Lebanese names are particular: there *mjaddara* means the puréed version, and the dish with separate grains, like this one, is *mudardara* (Wikipedia). This version is home-cook style in one pot, with the spice blend America's Test Kitchen uses.
Why it works the kitchen science
The onions are the flavor
Browning a whole kilo of onions slowly makes them sweet and deep; half seasons the lentils and rice from the inside, half goes on top for texture.
Lentils get a head start
Brown lentils take longer than rice, so they boil alone first until half done, then the rice joins them and both finish at the same moment.
🧰 You'll need 5 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Pans and pots
Tools
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oil in a 7-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and 1/2 tsp salt and cook, stirring often, 25 to 30 minutes, until deep golden brown; if they stick or start to scorch, add 2 tbsp water and scrape.
- Step 2
Lift out about half the onions with a slotted spoon onto a plate and set aside for the top.
- Step 3
Add the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, allspice and cayenne to the onions left in the pot and stir 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Step 4
Add 5 cups water and 1 tsp salt and bring to a boil over high heat, about 5 minutes. Add the lentils and boil uncovered over medium-high heat 10 to 12 minutes, until most of the water is absorbed and the lentils are about half cooked.
- Step 5
Add the remaining 5 cups water and bring back to a boil, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and the remaining 1 tsp salt, return to a boil, cover, turn the heat to low and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
- Step 6
Turn off the heat and rest, covered, 10 minutes. Meanwhile stir the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic and salt together in a bowl. Fluff the mujaddara with a fork, pile the reserved onions on top and serve with the yogurt.
Mujaddara (Lentils and Rice with Browned Onions)
Serves 8 · about 11 cups · 1 hr 40 min total
Onions
- 6 tbsp olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- 4 large onions (about 2 1/4 lb, 1 kg), halved and thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Lentils and rice
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
- 10 cups water, divided
- 2 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 2 cups brown or green lentils (384 g), picked over and rinsed
- 2 cups long-grain parboiled rice (370 g), rinsed
Yogurt sauce (optional, stirred in a bowl)
- 2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt (490 g)
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic, grated
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Equipment: 7-quart Dutch oven, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Mixing bowls, Slotted spoon or spider
Method
- Heat the oil in a 7-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and 1/2 tsp salt and cook, stirring often, 25 to 30 minutes, until deep golden brown; if they stick or start to scorch, add 2 tbsp water and scrape.
- Lift out about half the onions with a slotted spoon onto a plate and set aside for the top.
- Add the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, allspice and cayenne to the onions left in the pot and stir 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add 5 cups water and 1 tsp salt and bring to a boil over high heat, about 5 minutes. Add the lentils and boil uncovered over medium-high heat 10 to 12 minutes, until most of the water is absorbed and the lentils are about half cooked.
- Add the remaining 5 cups water and bring back to a boil, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and the remaining 1 tsp salt, return to a boil, cover, turn the heat to low and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
- Turn off the heat and rest, covered, 10 minutes. Meanwhile stir the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic and salt together in a bowl. Fluff the mujaddara with a fork, pile the reserved onions on top and serve with the yogurt.
Adapted from Vicky Cohen and Ruth Fox, "Mujadara: Rice and Lentils with Caramelized Onions," May I Have That Recipe (July 7, 2024; serves 5, one-pot method), doubled. The spices (cumin, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne) and the lemon yogurt sauce are scaled from Andrew Janjigian's "Mujaddara (Rice and Lentils with Crispy Onions)," America's Test Kitchen (2014): ATK deep-fries its onions and cooks the lentils in a second pan, so we use only its seasonings. Holding back half the onions for the top is ours. Estimated cost: about $11.40 for the pot with the yogurt, about $1.42 a serving (about 95 cents without yogurt). mayihavethatrecipe.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Estimated cost: about $1.42 a serving with the yogurt, about $11.40 for the pot; about 95 cents without it. Vegetable oil instead of olive oil saves about $1.40 more.
- Serve with a chopped cucumber and tomato salad, the way many Lebanese families do.
- Do not rush the onions. Pale onions make a pale, flat mujaddara.
- Rice leftovers: cool in shallow containers and refrigerate within an hour; reheat to 165°F.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Mujaddara is Esau's "mess of pottage." Folklore: Wikipedia reports only that "some believe" it, citing My Jewish Learning.
- Mujaddara is made with rice. Disputed by region: many Palestinians and southern Lebanese make it with bulgur, which Palestinians call *m'jaddaret-burghul* (Wikipedia).
- In Lebanon, mjaddara is the puréed dish and mudardara has separate grains. Documented (Wikipedia).
- The earliest recipe is from 1226 Baghdad. Documented as Wikipedia's account of al-Baghdadi's *Kitab al-Tabikh* (citing Gil Marks).
- Crispy fried onions are the only proper topping. Folklore: ATK deep-fries them; May I Have That Recipe and most home cooks brown them in the pot.
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