This Syrian mujadara recipe, or cooked lentils and bulgur, is one the healthiest and most flavourful dishes out there! It is a vegetarian dish that will make all your meat-eaters happy and full. It is packed with flavors and fibers so it’s always a win-win situation! As a bonus, this recipe is also much easier to make than you think.
INFORMATION ABOUT MUJADARA
What is mujadara? Mujadara is a Middle Eastern dish that consists of lentils, rice or bulgur. The name itself refers to “pockmark” as the lentils and rice/bulgur ressemble marks caused by a pock. The dish is usually served with fried onions, yogurt and vegetables. However, in this recipe, I prefer to caramelize the onions instead frying them to make them healthier.
Syrian vs Lebanese mujadara: Syrian mujadara uses bulgur whereas Lebanese mujadara uses rice. Syrian mujadara is my favorite because bulgur has a better nutrition profile than rice and its nutty taste is a wonderful complement to the dish!
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS RECIPE
What is bulgur? Bulgur is made from cracked wheat by parboiling and then dried. You can find bulgur in a lot of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. Compared to rice, it is much richer in minerals and vitamins. Additionally, 100 g of dry bulgur contains about 31 times more fibers and five times more proteins than the same dry rice portion. If you would like to know more about the nutrition profile of bulgur, HERE is a great article from Foodstruct that compares the nutritional profile of bulgur and rice. Because of its versatility, tasty and healthy profile, bulgur is hands down one my favorite go-to grains!
Varieties of bulgur: There are four types of bulgur, which are fine bulgur #1, medium coarse bulgur #2, coarse bulgur #3 and very coarse bulgur #4. For this recipe, I am using the coarse bulgur #3 which gives a chewier texture than the fine or medium coarse bulgur, but not as chewy as the very coarse one.
VARIATIONS FOR THIS RECIPE
I like to supplement the dish with additional proteins by using beef or chicken bone broth so that’s my twist for this recipe! Mujadara is known to be a great vegetarian recipe and if you use vegetable stock, it is perfectly fine. If you don’t have vegetable stock, you can cook lentils and bulgur with water; this is actually the classic method. I do find that using vegetable stock or beef/chicken broth adds much more flavors. Alternatively, if you are vegan, you can omit using yogurt or use a coconut-based yogurt.
Unfortunately, as good as bulgur is, it is not gluten-free. For a gluten free option, you can go the Lebanese way and substitute bulgur with rice. In terms of taste, the closest gluten-free whole grain would be amaranth.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Rinsing the lentils and bulgur: You should rinse lentils before cooking them to remove any debris during processing. You can also soak them prior to rinsing although it is not necessary and totally up to you. As for bulgur, you don’t need to rinse it and can cook it directly.
What to serve mujadara with? I love to serve mujadara with cucumbers for a hint of freshness, and pomegranate seeds for their tangy ,sweet flavor, and I top it off with mint leaves. I just find the combination blends so well together with the dish. You can also serve the dish with tomatoes and microgreens. As for the yogurt sauce, I use a combination of garlic, mint, lemon juice and its zest. It’s really the lemon zest that makes a difference … I am telling you, everything tastes so much better with lemon zest! Do you need a side dish to complete your meal? You can also try my oven roasted garlic baby potatoes recipe HERE. They go perfectly with mujadara as a side dish!
How to store leftovers? If you have any leftovers, mujadara can be stored in the refrigerator up to 4 days.
Equipment
- Stir frying pan
- Cast iron French oven or saucepan
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 4 ¼ cups vegetable stock, chicken or beef bone broth/stock
- 1 ¼ cup brown lentils rinsed
- ¾ cup coarse bulgur
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground sumac
- salt and pepper to taste
For the caramelized onions:
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 5 large onions thinly sliced
For the yoghurt sauce:
- 1 cup greek yoghurt
- Juice and zest of one lemon
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 TBSP fresh mint minced
- Salt to taste
To garnish:
- Pomegranate seeds
- Mint minced
- Cucumbers cubed
Instructions
- In a large stir fry pan on medium-high heat, add onions and olive oil. Stir occasionally. If the onions are browning too fast or burning, bring the heat down to medium until the onions are cooked down. The onions will release their juices and become become golden – about 30 to 35 minutes. The volume will have reduced to about one fourth at this point.
- Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan or cast iron French oven, bring the vegetable or stock/beef or chicken bone broth/stock to a boil. Add the rinsed lentils, bring the heat down to a simmer and partially cover. Stir occasionally.
- 20 minutes into the cooking, add the bulgur and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid the lentils and bulgur to stick to the bottom.
- Transfer half of the onions from the stir frying pan in the saucepan and mix it with the lentils and bulgur. Add ground cumin and sumac.
- For the remaining onions in the stir fry pan, continue to cook them down, by stirring often, until they become golden brown without being burned – about 20 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, add all ingredients for the yoghurt sauce together and mix.
- For plating and serving: Add the cooked lentils and bulgur in the middle of the plate and top with caramelized onions. Pour yoghurt sauce on the side, add cucumber cubes and promegranate seeds. Garnish with minced mint.
