Lebanese Lentils and Rice or Mujadara recipe is a one-pot, one-step dish, that uses the Instant Pot to make this classic comfort dish.
Lentils and Rice Mujadara
Call it Kushari, Mujadara, Khichidi, or Lentils and Rice, but most cultures have some version of these Greek Lentils. I love the Lebanese/Greek version but when I’ve tried it in the past, the lentils and rice cook at different speeds so you end up having to cook them separately, or suffer undercooked lentils or overcooked rice.
I was determined to cook this as a one-pot, one-step dish and use the Instant Pot to do it so I didn’t have to stand and stir while it cooked.
It worked, but I had to make two modifications, which really didn’t affect the taste as much as I feared they would. For one, I used the French Puy lentils rather than the traditional lentils since these cook faster.
Here’s a picture I found that shows you the difference.
Secondly, I had to soak the French lentils, which I don’t typically do with them. But I used a quick soak in hot water, and it really helped.
I also had to undercook the onions a bit as my son won’t eat crisped onions (why, I do not know but whatever). Make yours nice as brown and crisp as you want, and enjoy the flavors.
I think kids find crisped onions to be somewhat bitter so if you’re feeding little ones, you may want to go easy on the crisping, as I did.
So the steps for Greek Lentils and Rice are:
- Soak the lentils in hot water before you get started
- While they’re soaking, brown the onions and wash the rice
- Cook all of it in an Instant Pot.
If you can’t find French lentils where you live, I suggest you soak regular lentils but use brown rice, and adjust the water accordingly. Both regular lentils and brown rice take 20 mins in the Instant Pot so those should work together.
IF YOU LIKE LENTILS AND RICE, CHECK OUT THISKHIDCHADI LENTILS AND RICERECIPE!
WANT MORE INSTANT POT ONE POT MEALS?
- Here’s another list of One-pot Instant Pot Rice Meals that you’ll enjoy.
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken is an easy 30-minute dinner and you can make rice on top of it, as the video shows.
- Pressure Cooker Rice and Dal is a great vegetarian rice dinner.
- This Lebanese Lentil and Rice dish is another great vegetarian Instant Pot recipe .
- Instant Pot Indian Khichadi is comfort food in a bowl!
- Instant Pot Risotto with Shrimp is another one-pot comfort meal.
- Buffalo chicken casserole for the days you want low carb recipes
- You might also like low carb chicken Biryani that uses riced cauliflower.
- Chicken and Mushrooms are a great combo.
- My kids love Instant Pot Pork Rice with Vegetable
EQUIPMENT YOU MAY NEED TO MAKE THIS INSTANT POT PRESSURE COOKER MUJADARA RECIPE:
- Instant Pot Mini Duo, or Instant pot 6 quarts , or Instant Pot 8 Quarts
- Measuring Cups
- My favorite Cutting Board
- Good set of Kitchen Knives
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Greek Lentils and Rice
Ingredients
- ▢ 1/3 cup ( 64 g ) lentils
- ▢ 2 cup ( 320 g ) Onion , sliced
- ▢ 2 tablespoons ( 2 tablespoons ) Ghee
- ▢ 1 cup ( 185 g ) Basmati Rice , rinsed (do not substitute short grain rice otherwise the water proportions will be off)
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ( 0.25 teaspoon ) Ground Cumin
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) Ground Coriander
- ▢ 2 cups ( 500 g ) Water
- ▢ Kosher Salt , to taste
Instructions
- Soak the lentils in enough hot water to cover them well, and let them soak while you get everything else going.
- Turn on your Instant Pot to Sauté, and when it’s hot, add 1 tablespoon of ghee. When the ghee starts to shimmer, add in your thinly sliced onion, sprinkle with a little salt, and sauté for about 5-10 minutes until the onions are crisping around the edges, but not burned. If you have some extra time before dinner needs to be on the table, keep cooking until they are well-browned.
- Remove half the onions to serve as a garnish.
- Place all remaining ingredients into the Instant Pot, stir well, and set it to High Pressure for 6 minutes.
- Allow it to NPR for 10 minutes, and then release remaining pressure. You may still have a little moisture left in the rice. Stir it gently but well, and leave the lid half off and half on the pot. You want it to steam the rice, but you need some of that water to evaporate off as well.
- Let it rest undisturbed for 5-10 minutes. Stirring frequently will break up the delicate rice.
- Uncover and place into your serving dish, and sprinkle with the reserved, browned onions.
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Greek Lentils and Rice
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup lentils
- 2 cup Onion sliced
- 2 tablespoons Ghee
- 1 cup Basmati Rice rinsed (do not substitute short grain rice otherwise the water proportions will be off)
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Coriander
- 2 cups Water
- Kosher Salt to taste
Instructions
- Soak the lentils in enough hot water to cover them well, and let them soak while you get everything else going.
- Turn on your Instant Pot to Sauté, and when it’s hot, add 1 tablespoon of ghee. When the ghee starts to shimmer, add in your thinly sliced onion, sprinkle with a little salt, and sauté for about 5-10 minutes until the onions are crisping around the edges, but not burned. If you have some extra time before dinner needs to be on the table, keep cooking until they are well-browned.
- Remove half the onions to serve as a garnish.
- Place all remaining ingredients into the Instant Pot, stir well, and set it to High Pressure for 6 minutes.
- Allow it to NPR for 10 minutes, and then release remaining pressure. You may still have a little moisture left in the rice. Stir it gently but well, and leave the lid half off and half on the pot. You want it to steam the rice, but you need some of that water to evaporate off as well.
- Let it rest undisturbed for 5-10 minutes. Stirring frequently will break up the delicate rice.
- Uncover and place into your serving dish, and sprinkle with the reserved, browned onions.
Greek Lentils and Rice https://twosleevers.com/pressure-cooker-greek-lentils-and-rice/
I’ve made chicken shawarma in a baking pan, roasting it beside the green beans and it’s very easy, quite tasty, and it’s a great one pan supper made in the oven. I wondered if it would be possible in an Instant Pot , and it is.
I hope that this proves to the best chicken shawarma recipe you’ve ever tried. I love shawarma. I love it so much I even make green beans with shawarma seasoning.
The upside is that the meat is a lot more tender and less dry in an Instant Pot the downside is that it’s less intensely flavored than the oven version.
If you were industrious, you’d make it in an Instant Pot , and finish it off in a pan with a little coconut oil, or ghee and a little additional sprinkled spice but I was not that industrious 😀
But really what makes this the best chicken shawarma recipe is the five minutes you spend making the fresh spice mix right before you cook this. All of the flavor is in the spices.
If you decide to make it in the oven, follow the directions below, but instead of pressure cooking, put in in a single layer on a foil-covered pan and cook it at 350F for 15-20 minutes.
This would also work in an air fryer rather well, but I’d check it at 10 minutes and flip over.
For the oven and air fryer versions, I’d also be tempted to use chicken thighs since chicken breast will dry out a little.
You must make your own shawarma seasoning. It’s so worth it. This recipe makes two batches so you have enough left over for another pound of chicken, or you could sprinkle it over some green beans and try my other recipe with this spice.
The Steps to the Best Chicken Shwarma Recipe are:
- Make the spice mix and marinate the chicken in it
- Add vegetables, water, and chicken and cook in the pressure cooker 10 mins, QPR
- Serve with Tzatziki and eat
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Low Carb Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs , or breasts, cut into large, bite-size chunks (if using bone-in, increase time by 1-2 minutes)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon olive oil , to marinate
- ▢ 2 teaspoons Oil , to brown chicken
- ▢ 1 cup Onion , thinly sliced
- ▢ 1/4 cup Water
Shwarma Spice (Double batch)
- ▢ 2 teaspoons Dried Oregano
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon Ground Allspice
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Ground Coriander
- ▢ 1-2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Place the cut up chicken in a ziplock bag, pour in the olive oil, and pour in half the spice mix. Save the other half of the spice for the next time you make this recipe.
- Smoosh it all up together so that the chicken is evenly coated in the oil and spices.
- At this point, you could freeze it for later cooking, or you could leave it in the fridge to marinate for as long as you have. I’d make one batch now and freeze one.
- When you’re ready to cook it, heat the Instant Pot on sauté and when it’s hot, add the chicken in a single layer. Let it sear for a few minutes and then flip over.
- Add the onions in there. Traditionally, it’s not cooked with onions, but we need something to add flavor to the broth and the chicken, and onions not only add flavor, but they also release a little water so it means you’ve got to add less plain water to the Instant Pot.
- Pour in the 1/4 c of water, deglaze the pan if needed, and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, using QPR
- Remove chicken and cut into smaller bites but don’t shred.
- Enjoy with https://twosleevers.com/greek-tzatziki-yogurt-cucumbers/ tzatziki for a tasty, low-carb dinner.
Oven or Air Fryer directions
- Heat oven to 350F and line a baking pan with foil, or line your air fryer basket with foil
- Spray or pour just a little extra oil to crisp the chicken a little during baking
- Cook in oven for 10-15 minutes turning once. Test for doneness.
- Cook in air-fryer for 10 minutes, turning once. Test for doneness.
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Nutrition
Equipment & Ingredients You May Need to Make Best Low Carb Chicken Shawarma
- Instant Pot Mini Duo or Instant Pot 6 quart or Instant Pot 8 Quart Measuring cups Measuring Spoons Air Fryer Aluminum Foil [eafl id=“7817” name=“olive oil” text=“Olive Oil”] Ground Allspice Cayenne Pepper Ground Cumin Ground Coriander
Don’t forget to check out my Instant Pot Fast & Easy Cookbook!
This book is full of all kinds of boldly flavored and internationally-themed recipes—Mexican, Thai, Moroccan, and more—with Instant Pot Fast & Easy , fully authorized by Instant Pot. Just like you have come to expect, my recipes will work perfectly every time, and of course taste great too. And because these are Instant Pot recipes, dishes like Japanese Chicken Curry, Chinese Steamed Ribs, and Mexican Pulled Pork are ready in a fraction of the time they would take using traditional cooking methods. As with all of my recipes, the focus is on whole foods instead of artificial convenience ingredients, so the recipes are delicious, easy, and healthful too.
