Mujadara (Mujaddara) is a popular Middle Eastern recipe made with lentils and rice, garnished with caramelized onions cooked in an Instant Pot or on a stovetop. Vegan, Gluten-free, and ready in under 30 minutes.
We love Mediterranean food at home. Our usual go-to dishes when we eat out include falafel wraps, hummus, muhammara dip with pita, and mujadara.
Today, I am sharing an easy one-pot Mujadara recipe; It is so easy to make at home with a pressure cooker or stovetop pot in under 30 minutes. Perfect weeknight dinner. Also, try my green lentil soup, brown lentils curry (masoor dal), and lentil salad from my blog.
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What is Mujadara?
Mujaddara consists of cooked brown or green lentils together with rice (or bulgur), and garnished with a generous amount of caramelized onions.
Mujadara is a popular dish across the Middle East and is served in various forms and known by different names, depending on where you are. It has many alternative spellings in English like mujaddara, mujadarra, mujadarah, majadra, mejadra, moujadara, mudardara, and megadarra.
Check out my roundup of 20+ Basmati Rice Recipes.
Mujadara Ingredients
- Lentils: Brown or Green lentils work best for this rice recipe. They will hold their shape and texture. I used brown lentils today.
- Rice: I prefer to use long-grain white basmati rice. You can also use bulgur or cracked wheat in place of rice.
- Onions: White or yellow onions are best for this recipe. You will need to cut onions into 2 ways. Finely sliced onions to caramelize and serve on top of mujadara and finely diced cook along with mujadara.
- Garlic: I have minced fresh garlic.
- Vegetable broth (or water): Use vegetable broth if you want vegetarian or vegan lentil rice. If you don't have any, you can simply use water.
- Spices: I used bay leaf, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, red chili powder, and salt.
How to Make Mujadara in an Instant Pot
Wash and soak the brown/green lentils overnight or for at least 5 hours in hot water.
Press Saute on Instant Pot. Add oil, and once it's hot, add sliced onions and saute till they caramelize, i.e., till they turn golden brown, it takes about 8-10 minutes. Alternatively, you can saute onions in a stovetop pan. Once done, take them out and put them in a bowl.
Now, heat 1 tablespoon of oil, then add the bay leaf, garlic, and chopped onions. Saute till the onions turn translucent.
Then add ground cumin, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, and red chili powder. Cook for another 30 seconds.
Add white basmati rice, soaked lentils, water (or vegetable broth), salt, and give a quick stir.
Close the Instant Pot with the pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method: Follow the same steps as the Instant Pot. Give it two whistles on medium heat and allow the pressure to release naturally. The remaining steps stay the same.
Once the pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, and then quick release the remaining pressure manually.
Open the lid, and garnish with some fried onions and cilantro. You can enjoy Instant Pot mujadara lentils and rice with yogurt or tzatziki sauce and salad on the side.
Stovetop Pot Method
Follow the same steps as with the instant pot. In a Heavy-bottom pan or Dutch oven, cook mujadara for about 12-15 minutes or until rice and lentils are cooked perfectly. You may have to increase the water.
Serving Suggestions for Mujadara
Mujdhara can be served with plain yogurt, Greek yogurt, and chickpea cucumber salad. Goes well with dips like creamy hummus, tzatziki sauce, or tahini sauce, too.
Storage Suggestions
- Fridge: You can store the leftover mujadara in a refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze: If you want to freeze mujadara, store it in a freezer-safe container or ziplock for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Reheat: Sprinkle some water and reheat the rice in the microwave or on the stovetop until it warms.
Tips & Variations
- Type of lentils: You can use either brown or green lentils. But do not use red/orange lentils. Their texture is softer and will lend a mushy consistency to the mujadara (mudardara) recipe.
- Type of Rice: Tastes best using long-grain basmati rice.
- Brown Rice: You can make mujadara with brown rice instead of white basmati rice in an Instant Pot. In this case, you do not have to soak the lentils. Increase the water ratio to 3 cups instead of 2 ¼ cups. Pressure cook on High for 22 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, and then quick release the remaining pressure manually.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can either use brown (whole masoor dal) or green lentils to make this recipe. Avoid using canned lentils.
Yes, you must soak overnight or up to 5 hours in water to match the pressure cooking time with basmati rice. However, If you make mujadara with brown rice, you don't have to soak the lentils.
More Instant Pot Rice Recipes
Instant Pot Lentils and Rice Recipe (Mujadara)
Equipment
Ingredients
For The Caramelized Onions
- 2-3 tablespoons oil
- 1 large yellow onion sliced thinly
For Lentil Rice
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 cup brown lentils (whole masoor dal) (or green lentils), soaked overnight
- 1 cup basmati rice rinsed
- 2 ¼ cups vegetable broth (or water)
- salt to taste
- ¼ cup cilantro (or parsley)
Dry Spices
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder (or black pepper), optional
Instructions
- Wash and soak the Brown/Green lentils overnight or for at least 5 hours in hot water.
- Press Saute on Instant Pot. Add oil, and once it's hot add sliced onions and saute till they caramelize i.e. till they turn golden brown in color, takes about 8-10 minutes. Alternately you can saute onions on the stovetop pan. Once done take them out in a bowl.
- Now heat 1 tablespoon of oil, then add bay leaf, garlic, chopped onions. Saute till the onions turn translucent.Then add ground cumin, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, red chili powder and salt. Cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add Basmati Rice, soaked lentils, and water (or vegetable broth), salt, and give a quick stir.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes.Once the pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure manually.
- Open the lid, garnish with some fried onions and cilantro. You can enjoy mujadara with yogurt or Tzatziki sauce and some salad on the side.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
- Follow the same steps as with the Instant Pot. Give it two whistles on medium heat and allow the pressure to release naturally. The remaining steps stay the same."
Stovetop Pot Method
- Follow the same steps as with the Instant Pot. In a Heavy Bottom pan or Dutch oven cook mujdhara for about 12-15 minutes or until rice and lentils are cooked perfectly. You may have to increase to the water.
Notes
Tips & Variations
- You can use either brown or green lentils for this recipe.
- Tastes best on using long grain basmati rice.
- You can make it with brown rice too instead of basmati rice. In this case, you do not have to soak the lentils. Increase the water ratio to 3 cups instead of 2 ¼ cups. Pressure cook on High for 22 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure manually.
Nutrition
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