Vegetarian Lentils with Egg Toast Recipe - Plant Based with Amy (2024)

Love a good eggs-in-a-basket recipe? How about lentils for breakfast? Whip up this vegetarian lentils with egg toast recipe in no time!

If you love eggs on top of golden brown toast, you’ll love this lentil toast recipe. And even better, you get a runny yolk in your meal!

Plant-based eater or meat eater, you’ll love this meal no matter which side of the bread you wake up on. The best part? The cooking time is only 10 minutes!

Thanks to the folks at the Egg Nutrition Center for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own, as always.

What is plant-based eating?

You may have noticed that plant-based eating is majorly trending right now. Why? For one, there’s plant-based weight loss.

We know that eating the staples of a plant-based diet, such as pulses (hello, spicy lentil recipe!), can help with weight loss, per a recent review paperin the journalNutrients.

Additionally, this same research reveals that eating a plant-based diet can help decrease your risk of both type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

As a longtime vegetarian, I eat a largely plant-based diet. My meals and snacks include a lot of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats. And eggs. Yup, to eat plant based, you don’t have to 100 percent cut out animal products at all.

Plant based simply means eating more plants—whether you’re vegan, a lacto-ovo (dairy-and-egg eating) vegetarian like me, or a flexitarian who eats a little of everything.

Eggs are one of the main sources of protein I rely on. I’ll tell you more about why in a moment, as well as how to make a deliciously nutritious lentils with eggs recipe.

How to make a balanced plant-based meal

Before I show you how to make this lentils egg toast recipe, I want to talk about how I plan out my plant-based meals. I make it a point to include these staples:

Produce

When I counsel patients, I advise adding a lot of vegetables—about half a plate of fresh non-starchy veggies per meal. (If you’re going for cooked, the veggies will decrease in volume.)

Non-starchy vegetables tend to be lower in calories but can be pretty filling, thanks to their water and fiber content. I’ll typically include vegetables or fruit—or both—in a meal.

Protein

This is another important nutrient that helps to keep you fuller for longer. It’s a must for any meal. This egg-in-a-hole recipe has two protein sources, the lentils and the egg.

I love cooking with canned lentils—you can also use packaged steamed lentils—for a healthy, quick meal.

Healthy fat

Here’s another nutrient that works with protein and fiber to help keep you satiated. The benefit: You won’t get hangry as quickly (or at all!), and you may be better able to resist the urge to mindlessly snack.

There are plenty of options for healthy fats, including olives, olive oil, nuts, and nut butter.

Whole grains

I like to include a whole grain in every meal. This is because whole grains are full of fiber—which in addition to helping with weight management can help control your cholesterol levels.

Spices and herbs

These aren’t essential to include, but they’re full of flavor and contain almost no calories. So I love utilizing the contents of my spice cabinet when cooking.

Vitamin C

Whenever I whip up a recipe that contains plant-based iron (which is often!), I incorporate a source of vitamin C. Why? It helps your body to better absorb plant-based iron.

I’ll often add in vitamin-C-rich vegetables into a recipe, such as the bell peppers in this one. A squeeze of lemon juice over the veggies and lentils also helps.

Ingredients

I can’t wait to hear how you enjoy this lentils and egg breakfast. You can make this recipe in much less than 30 minutes! And while I enjoy it as a breakfast recipe, you can feel free to eat it as a dinner recipe if you’d like.

Here are the ingredients you need to make this egg toast recipe:

Vegetables: In this recipe, I added onion and bell peppers. I often sauté veggies in low-sodium vegetable broth to infuse extra flavor.

Lentils: I used brown lentils in this recipe, but feel free to go with black lentils or green lentils. The pulses are an excellent source of protein and also provide lots of fiber.

In fact, a half cup of cooked lentils provides about 9 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber.

Eggs: We can’t forget our nutrient-filled egg in this lentils-and-egg combo!One large egg provides 6 grams of protein and all nine essential amino acids. You get many other nutrients, too, and many of them are found in the yolk.

These include choline, a nutrient important for brain health that 90 percent of Americans don’t consume enough of. This is because choline isn’t found in high quantities in many foods. Fortunately, eggs are an excellent source of this essential nutrient.

Avocado: I added a sliver of avocado to this lentils and eggs recipe for a source of heart-healthy fat.

Whole-grain bread: The whole grain in this meal is a simple piece of whole-grain toast (with an egg in the middle).

Spices and herbs: In this toast with egg in the middle, the lentil seasoning is made of garlic, smoked paprika, chipotle powder, and black pepper—and the dish is topped off with fresh parsley.

Step-by-step instructions

How to make egg toast? If you’re ready to whip up delicious lentils and eggs, let’s get started. First, in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, cook onions and garlic in vegetable broth until translucent, stirring occasionally.

Add bell peppers and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in lentils, paprika, chipotle powder, garlic powder, and black pepper.

Reduce heat to medium, and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, use a plain-edge small round cutter to cut a hole in each of the pieces of bread; toast the bread.

Next, coat a medium frying pan with spray oil, and prepare eggs sunny-side up. Divide lentil mixture onto two plates, topping each with an egg and a slice of toast with the hole placed over the yolk.

Sprinkle parsley on top of each plate; garnish with avocado and lemon. Squeeze juice from lemon slice over lentil mixture.

And there you have it! Now you know how to make a balanced plant-based meal (ahem, eggs and lentils!) from scratch, and you can have full faith that this bread with egg in the middle recipe is packed with good-for-you nutrients.

Ready to crack an egg into this egg and bread slice recipe? You only need a nonstick skillet, a toaster, and a few other kitchen tools.

This egg-in-toast recipe features several delicious spices. So you don’t really need salt and pepper for this toast with egg in the middle. But once your egg is cooked, you can add them if you’d like!

Recipe FAQ

More healthy egg-based meals

Want more plant-based recipes featuring eggs? In addition to this egg and lentils on toast, you can cook eggs in a variety of ways!

Visit the Egg Nutrition Center for more ideas, and also give these egg techniques and recipes a try:

• Sunny-side-up egg: protein French toast
• Soft-boiled egg: hummus toast
• Scrambled egg: breakfast Panini
• Casserole:gluten-free egg casserole
• Hard-boiled egg: chopped salad recipe
• Deviled egg: avocado deviled eggs recipe

Sources

• Cardio-Metabolic Benefits of Plant-Based Diets,Nutrients
• The Role of Retinal Carotenoids and Age on Neuroelectric Indices of Attentional Control Among Early to Middle-Aged Adults,Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

I’d love to hear from you! Let me know how you’re enjoying this lentils on toast recipe. And tell me your other ideas for eating an egg in a frame.What other food blog egg toast recipes do you love?