Mujaddara: Lentils With Rice and Caramelized Onions Recipe

“Mudardara” is a traditional vegetarian Lebanese dish made with lentils and rice, and garnished with caramelized onions. It is delicious, healthy, simple to make and not to forget, frugal.

In North Lebanon, we call the “Mudardara” as “Mujaddara w Riz”  ie, Mujaddara with rice. And if we were to go all out on our “shmeli” North Lebanon accent, we call it “Mjaddra” or “Mjaddro”… 🙂 This amazing dish goes well with tangy salads, such as the Fattoush Salad and a side of Greek yogurt.


Lentils and Rice Mudardara Ingredients (4 servings)

2 cups of lentils
1 and 1/4 cups of long grain rice
4 medium onions, caramelized
1/2 teaspoon of salt
5 cups of water
1/3 cup of oil for frying (coconut or vegetable)
1 Table spoon of olive oil

Preparation Method (60 minutes)

1. Rinse the lentils with cold water and remove any apparent debris.
2. Add the lentils to a pot filled with 5 cups of water, bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 20-25 minutes or until lentils are tender.
3. Add rice, salt and the olive oil to the pot and stir well. You may need to add 1/2 cup of water if a lot of water had evaporated already. Cover and let simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, peel and chop the onions lengthwise and fry them in 1/4 cup of coconut or vegetable oil, for about 20 minutes or until they’re caramelized (dark brown). Strain onions to remove excess oil once done and set aside.
5. Once rice has fully cooked, mix it well, then pour it in your serving plate and garnish it with the caramelized onions. Please note that you could also mix the caramelized onions with the rice and lentils while they have about 10 minutes left in cooking.
6. Serve cold (preferably) with an optional side of plain/Greek yogurt.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 55 minute(s)
Diet type: Vegetarian
Number of servings (yield): 4
Culinary tradition: Middle Eastern
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