Easy Cold Lentil Salad with Cilantro Curry Vinaigrette

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This cold lentil salad with cilantro curry vinaigrette is full of fiber, protein, vitamins, and bright, bold flavors. It’s made with pre-cooked lentils, fresh and crunchy veggies, creamy avocados, and an earthy vinaigrette that you’re going to want to put on everything. This lentil salad recipe is also super easy and can be made ahead of time, making it an excellent weekday lunch or dinner option.

Why We’re So Obsessed with This Salad

All-star flavors. This recipe is one of our all-time favorites and we make it for ourselves often. No joke. We’ve also made it for potlucks, dinner parties, family gatherings, and it’s always a hit.
No-cook recipe. We use pre-cooked lentils from the store, so there’s no need to heat up the stove or your oven.
Super healthy and nutrient-rich. This lentil salad recipe is full of protein, fiber, B vitamins, and vitamins A, C, K, as well as others. It’s absolutely loaded with healthy stuff.
Not your typical lettuce-forward salad. Salads come in many varieties, and not each one needs leafy greens. This one uses soft and buttery lentils as the base, with lots of vegetables and savory fruits as the mix-ins.
It has a killer dressing. This cilantro curry vinaigrette bright and herby from the cilantro and deeply spiced from the curry powder. It also has a touch of tang from the apple cider vinegar and mustard and a hint of sweetness from maple syrup or honey (tip: use maple syrup to keep this recipe vegan).
Complete meal in one bowl. This salad has everything you need to fill you up for lunch or dinner so there’s no need for additional sides.
Great prep or make-ahead meal. Except for the avocado, everything in this dish can be cut and prepared ahead of time. This makes it ideal for potlucks, office parties, school or work lunches, and even casual holiday gatherings.

White bowl filled with colorful lentil salad, featuring lentils, carrots, red onions, cilantro, avocado, cucumber, bell peppers, and a cilantro curry vinaigrette. A black spoon rests in the lentil salad.

What are Lentils?

Lentils are protein-rich and fiber-packed legumes, which are part of the bean family. Specifically, they’re edible seeds, and they add a ton of flavor and nutrients to dishes. They’re also super versatile and can be used in soups (like our favorite Coconut Curry Lentil Soup), curries, and even salads.

While some lentils can take longer to prepare, this recipe uses pre-cooked French lentils, which make this salad super easy to put together. You can find pre-cooked lentils at most grocery stores or online. Brands like Trader Joe’s and Melissa’s sell steamed, pre-cooked lentils, which are perfect for this recipe.

Ingredients in This Cold Lentil Salad Recipe

This cold salad is full of fresh flavorful ingredients, making this a healthy and hearty meal option.

Lentil Salad

White bowl filled with lentils and chopped vegetables, each in a separate pile (not mixed together).

To make the salad, you’ll need:

Lentils – using pre-cooked French lentils makes this recipe super easy. We like Trader Joe’s steamed lentils or Melissa’s steamed lentils.
Carrots – these add great nutrients and crunch.
Cucumbers – we prefer using cucumbers with small seeds, like Persian.
Bell peppers – for best flavor, use a yellow, red, or orange bell pepper. Green bell peppers are less sweet and don’t taste as good in this salad.
Red onion – we love the color and flavor of red onions, but if you only have a yellow or sweet onion, that would be fine.
Avocado – we suggest using Hass avocados for maximum creaminess. Mixing them in at the end keeps them from getting too mushy.
Cilantro – we use cilantro in the dressing, so adding extra cilantro to the salad really amps up that fresh herb flavor.

Cilantro Curry Vinaigrette

This is one of our favorite salad dressings. Lentils need lots of flavor and soak up seasoning, so don’t be afraid of this bold dressing! You’ll need:

Olive oil – a mild-flavored extra virgin olive oil works best.
Fresh lime juice – this provides the much-needed fresh acidity.
Apple cider vinegar – for extra acid, we used a little apple cider vinegar, which also gives a little sweetness. If you don’t want to use two different kinds of acid in this recipe, however, you can substitute this for more lime.
Cilantro – you can use the stems and leaves since you’re blending them up.
Curry powder – this recipe doesn’t skimp on curry powder, so be sure to use a curry powder that you like.
Maple syrup or honey – a little sweetener balances out the acidity and curry powder. If you want to keep this lentil salad recipe vegan, use maple syrup instead of honey.
Spicy brown mustard – this helps emulsify the dressing (meaning it helps stabilize the liquids and brings the oil and water together). Many brands of mustard are gluten-free.
Salt and pepper – for the right amount of seasoning and flavor.

How to Make Our Favorite Lentil Salad Recipe

Add the dressing ingredients to a high sided container and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Alternatively, you can blend everything in a regular blender.
Add the lentils, carrots, cucumber, bell peppers, red onion, to a large bowl.
Pour the dressing over the salad and mix to combine.
Gently mix in the avocado. Note: if you’re making this salad ahead of time, cut and mix in the avocado right before serving so that it doesn’t oxidize and turn brown.
Garnish with extra cilantro.

Tips & Variations

Mix the avocado into the lentil salad right before you serve it so that it doesn’t get mushy and turn brown.
Miss the lettuce? Serve this lentil salad on top of arugula or butter lettuce for added nutrients and texture.
If you want even more protein and bulk, serve this salad with a simple white fish, like cod, or even something meatier like salmon. You can even have it with tofu.
Spoon some of this salad onto a piece of toast for a hearty, savory breakfast or lunch.

Meal Prep & Storage Suggestions

Meal prep

Cut all of the veg the night before (except for the avocado) and store them in an airtight container.
Make the dressing ahead of time, then shake up again when ready to use.
Assemble the salad with the veggies, dressing, and avocado right before serving.
Lentil salads often taste better the next day as flavors meld, making this perfect for lunches.

Storage suggestions

Store it in an airtight container for up to 2 to 3 days.
After a couple of days, the colors will start to blend together, the lentils will get mushier, and the avocado will brown.

FAQs: Lentil Salad Recipe

You definitely can, but it will taste fresher with freshly cut vegetables.

We recommend using pre-cooked French green (du Puy), brown, or black beluga lentils. These hold their shape and don’t get too mushy when mixed with all of the other ingredients.

Stored in an airtight container, it lasts 2 to 3 days.

Absolutely. We’ve made this for potlucks and parties ahead of time too! Just wait to cut and add the avocado until serving.

Yes! Lentils are high in plant protein, fiber, minerals, and other nutrients. Paired with fresh produce and the light, cilantro curry vinaigrette, this salad is nutrient-dense and super filling.

You can, but the cilantro curry vinaigrette makes this salad! If you absolutely have to change it, you can use a simple tahini dressing, our lemon vinaigrette (see our Roasted Veggie Couscous post for the recipe), or our basil vinaigrette in our California Cobb Salad.

Yes, this salad is completely vegan if you use maple syrup in the dressing instead of honey. It’s also gluten-free if you use gluten-free mustard.