Vibrant, flavorful, and packed with plant protein, this lemon pesto lentil salad with olives and sun-dried tomatoes by Jackie Akerberg is the perfect summer lunch. Also known as Jackfruitful Kitchen, this recipe comes from Akerberg’s cookbook, The Clean Vegan Cookbook, and is a must-try if you’re looking for a bright taste fit for warm days.

Read more: 17 Vegan Lentil Recipes

This salad is bound to be a crowd pleaser. It uses green lentils, kale, pitted olives, sun-dried tomato, shallots, almonds, and a homemade lemon pesto vinaigrette. What’s more, this vegan salad is easy to prepare and good to leave in the fridge overnight. Serve it to friends, take it to a barbecue, or simply enjoy it yourself.

You can use this lemon pesto lentil salad for four servings of meal prep, making it an excellent addition to your lunch rotation. And this recipe is great as is, or with sides like flatbreads, and with roasted veggies. Add this salad to your recipe wheelhouse and enjoy the layers of flavor with the fun texture.

Read more: 9 High Protein Vegan Salads

Lemon pesto lentil salad with olives and sun-dried tomatoes

This vegan salad is made with a lemon pesto vinaigrette. Make it by adding typical pesto ingredients such as basil, parsley, and pine nuts. Then, include nutritional yeast, white miso, garlic, lemon, red wine vinegar, and pure maple syrup for a complex and delish mix of flavors. Putting this salad together is easy and low effort, so be sure to try it for a high protein kick.

a picture of a lemon and pesto lentil salad made with olives, sundried tomatoes, kale, and almonds

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Servings

Ingredients

For the salad

1 cup (192 g) green lentils
1 large bunch lacinato kale stems removed, finely chopped
Juice of 1 large lemon
½ tsp cold-pressed olive oil
½ cup (90 g) pitted DIVINA® Frescatrano® or Castelvetrano olives, halved
¼ cup (14 g) bagged unmarinated sun-dried tomatoes finely chopped
1 large shallot thinly sliced
⅓ cup (48 g) Marcona almonds coarsely chopped if desired
½ cup (30 g) finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
For the lemon pesto vinaigrette
1 cup (24 g) loosely packed fresh basil leaves
¼ cup (15 g) fresh parsley leaves
¼ cup (34 g) pine nuts
¼ cup (44 g) nutritional yeast
½ tsp salt plus more as needed
½ tsp black pepper plus more as needed
2 tbsp (34 g) white miso
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 medium lemon
¼ cup (60 ml) red wine vinegar
1 tbsp (15 ml) pure maple syrup

Instructions

To make the salad, fill a medium saucepan two-thirds full with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the lentils and reduce the heat to medium-low.
Simmer the lentils for 12 to 15 minutes, until they are tender but not mushy. Drain the lentils and set them aside to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the lemon pesto vinaigrette. In a blender, combine the basil, parsley, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, salt, black pepper, miso, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar and maple syrup. Taste the vinaigrette and season it with more salt and black pepper if needed. Set the vinaigrette aside.
To assemble the salad, combine the kale, lemon juice and oil in a large bowl. Massage the kale. Add the lentils, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, shallot, almonds and parsley.
Toss the ingredients with salad servers to combine them. Drizzle the salad with the lemon pesto vinaigrette and toss the salad again. Chill the salad in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes prior to serving it.

Reprinted with permission from The Clean Vegan Cookbook by Jackie Akerberg. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Jackie Akerberg.

Read more: 20 High Protein Vegan Dinner Ideas