Perfectly caramelized onions, paired with cooked lentils, Dijon mustard, and sour cream – Dijon Spiced Creamy Lentils and Caramelized Onions is a warm and spicy side dish to be proud of!
This post and its photos were updated April 10, 2018.
A few weeks ago, I volunteered my blog to a company who offers honest critique and criticism. I’m always looking for ways to improve my blog, so I decided it might be beneficial, and as it turns out, it really was! Peek is the name of the online user testing company. Basically, you submit your website’s address and a “user” visits your site and explores the posts, tabs, pictures, functionality, etc., for five minutes. While they are exploring your site, the voice of the user is being recorded so that you can hear what they have to say while watching how they maneuver around your site.
I was extremely pleased with the results; there were only two areas of critique which the user seemed to focus on. The first, was my blog’s logo. They didn’t care for the font choice, but that’s a personal opinion, and I completely support that. The next was the lack of side dishes, and that, Dear Reader, I can fix!
So, as of right now, Dijon Spiced Creamy Lentils and Caramelized Onions is my new favourite side dish! As I have mentioned a time or two before, I love recipes that are easy to prepare and have few ingredients. It’s an even bigger bonus if those ingredients are cheap and readily available. I’m not sure there’s any kitchen void of onions, mustard, butter, and a can or two of lentils. Is there?
Dijon Spiced Creamy Lentils and Caramelized Onions can certainly be eaten on it’s own – it’s really that delicious, but imagine it as a topping to a simple baked potato, or plated next to some freshly steamed vegetables. For those of us who dare, how about placing a big dollop of this onto your pan-seared chicken breast, or your oven-baked pork chop! Good, right?
This dish comes together quite quickly. I love a dish that comes together in less than thirty minutes. It’s not that I’m a lazy cook, or that I don’t love cooking, it just means that I have more time to prepare more recipes. When it comes to side dishes though, I think they should be budget-friendly, quick and easy to prepare, and absolutely delicious. After all, even though the sides are important to any meal, it’s the main that deserves most of your attention.
I almost don’t want to refer to Dijon Spiced Creamy Lentils and Caramelized Onions as a side dish and there’s one particular reason for that. My daughter, McKenna, loves this recipe so much! She will eat just a big helping of this and nothing else. And, why not? A big bowl of Dijon Spiced Creamy Lentils and Caramelized Onions and she’s got everything she needs to make a complete meal.
This recipe boasts a few things that it can be proud of. It’s got the goodness and healthiness of lentils. We all know lentils are loaded with protein and are particularly good for you. Then there’s the onions and garlic, which not only add flavour and aroma, but garlic is also very good for your health. In fact, its heart-healthy and helps to lower blood pressure.
Next, comes the olive oil – also heart-healthy, and the sour cream and butter, which is not usually considered a healthy ingredient, but in the case of this recipe, there’s very little butter for the entire dish, and the sour cream can argue that it’s providing calcium. I always use low fat sour cream – usually 1% – so that I’m getting the flavour without the fat and calories.
Oh, and then, we’re going to add in those dried red chili flakes to give it a bit of heat, and the robust flavour of good Dijon mustard! It’s no wonder my daughter thinks of Dijon Spiced Creamy Lentils and Caramelized Onions as a complete meal and not a side!
Either way, it’s wonderful and I’m sure you’ll love it!
Dijon Spiced Creamy Lentils and Caramelized Onions
Pin Recipe Save Recipe Print RecipeIngredients
- 3 large onions, halved and finely sliced lengthwise
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 1/2 cups canned lentils, drained and rinsed
Instructions
- Saute the sliced onions with the salt and the pepper in the olive oil and butter on medium heat until well caramelized. Be patient with this process. The onions should be light brown in colour.
- Add the minced garlic and dried chili flakes. Continue to sauté for another 2 minutes.
- Add the drained and rinsed lentils and cook until heated through - about 2-3 minutes should do it.
- Lastly, stir in the mustard and the sour cream and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
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Tina Marie says
Yum! The combination of the mustard, chili flakes and the caramelized onions – oh my! What time do you serve dinner? I’ll bring the wine. 🙂
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Hahaha – around 6:30pm, Tina. I’ll email you my address! 🙂
WhitBit's Kitchen says
You had me at caramelized onions. This is so different from anything I’ve ever seen, and it looks SO GOOD!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Whitney. It’s such an easy side and/or condiment.
Brian Jones says
Gotta give this a try I usually use lentils either in Indian food or French peasant food using puy lentils as a bed for other ingredients but the flavours in this sound superb.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thanks, Brian. The creaminess and the mustard flavour just puts this over the moon. I will most certainly make it again and again.
Whitney says
I tend to lack a lot of ‘side-dish’ options too. This one looks absolutely incredible… anything with caramelized onions and I’m sold! Beautiful dish, and looking forward to seeing the next ones 🙂
byronethomas@gmail.com says
I’ll do my best not to disappoint. Side dishes galore coming up!
Paige says
This looks so savory! Love lentils, and the way you’ve cooked them here looks delicious!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Paige. 🙂
Hillary Reeves says
You’re killin it with the picnic side dishes, Byron! Looks great.
Mary says
I love lentils so much, but typically only cook them in a rice and lentil or barley and lentil dish. I need to make some up separately to try this recipe because you have so many flavors I like blended together. If these are the kind of side dishes you’ll be sharing, than I agree with the site reviewer… you don’t have nearly enough! 😉
byronethomas@gmail.com says
I’m on it! There’s a very valid reason – I’m more of a main guy; to me, side dishes are just fillers. LOL
eiko says
I just made this and it is beyond amazing! It worked really well with an oven-roasted yam and a green salad.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Eiko. 🙂
Betsy Thompson says
Amazing! I am not a fan of lentils, but I know how good they are for me. I made them for dinner last night and dreamed about them all day. I have never been more grateful for leftovers in my life. The creaminess of the dijon/sour cream combo mixed with the caramelized onions seal the deal for me. I am lentils fan now!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Betsy. These are good warm or cold!
Elena says
I just want to say this recipe was absolutely amazing!!!! I never leave comments, however this recipe was so good I had to ! My husband and I loved it!!!! Definitely would make again. One thing I did add was potatoes since I was making it a main dish and it came out perfect.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Elena! Adding potatoes sound like a great way to make this side into a main dish!
Rebecca says
Could you make your own lentils, instead of using canned? If so, how much dry lentils would I use?
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Hi Rebecca! Yes, you can certainly use dried lentils and reconstitute them. If you use one cup of dried lentils, you should end up with about 2 1/2 cups when they are cooked.