One Pot Red Lentil Pasta with Tomato and Spinach

This is red lentil pasta cooked directly in a pot of crushed tomatoes, broth, onion, and garlic, with spinach stirred in at the end and feta on top.

The pasta goes into the simmering sauce dry and cooks in it, so there’s no second pot and no draining. Red lentil pasta cooks faster than wheat pasta and goes soft about two minutes after it’s done, so it uses less liquid than a wheat one-pot recipe, simmers with the lid half on, and comes off the heat just short of al dente to finish in the residual heat. The spinach wilts in the hot sauce with the burner off.

It makes four servings and takes about 25 minutes.

Why You’ll Love It

• One pot, about 25 minutes.
• Roughly 13g of protein per serving from the pasta alone, based on a typical red lentil pasta at 13g per 2 oz dry serving, before the feta.
• Gluten-free.
• Vegetarian, and vegan if you skip the feta.
• Pantry ingredients apart from the spinach and feta.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth, plus 1/2 cup extra on hand

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

8 oz red lentil pasta, a short shape like penne or rotini

4 oz baby spinach, about 4 packed cups

1/2 cup crumbled feta

Fresh basil, torn (optional)

Black pepper

Steps

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven, at least 5 quarts, over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until soft.

2. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and stir for 1 minute.

3. Add the crushed tomatoes, 2 1/2 cups of the broth, and the salt. Bring to a boil.

4. Add the pasta and stir immediately so nothing sticks to the bottom or to itself. Red lentil pasta releases a lot of starch in the first minute and clumps if it’s left alone.

5. Reduce to a gentle simmer and set the lid on partway, leaving a gap. A full boil breaks the pasta apart and a fully covered pot foams over. Stir every 2 to 3 minutes, pushing any dry pieces back under the liquid.

6. Start checking the pasta 2 minutes before the box says. Most red lentil pasta is done in 8 to 10 minutes in sauce. You want it just short of al dente, with a slight bite left, because it keeps cooking after you turn the heat off. If the sauce gets thick before the pasta is done, add the extra broth 1/4 cup at a time.

7. Turn off the heat. Add the spinach and stir until it wilts, about 1 minute. The sauce should look a little loose at this point. It thickens as it rests.

8. Let it sit for 2 to 3 minutes, then serve with the feta, basil, and black pepper on top.

Helpful Tips and Substitutions

Undercook it slightly. That’s the single most important thing with red lentil pasta. It has no gluten to hold its structure, so the window between done and mush is 1 to 2 minutes, and it keeps absorbing liquid off the heat. If it’s perfect in the pot, it’s soft on the plate.

The lid stays partway on, not off and not fully on. Fully covered, the starch foams up and the pasta goes mushy from the trapped steam. Fully uncovered, too much liquid evaporates before the pasta is cooked.

Chickpea pasta works the same way with the same timing. Wheat pasta needs about 1/2 to 1 cup more broth and 3 to 5 more minutes, and it’s more forgiving.

Red lentil pasta has a slight bean flavor on its own. The tomatoes, salt, and feta cover it completely. Skipping the feta makes that flavor more noticeable, so if you’re going vegan, add a squeeze of lemon and a little extra salt at the end.

Fire-roasted diced tomatoes can replace half the crushed tomatoes for a smokier sauce. A cup of jarred marinara can replace a cup of the crushed tomatoes if that’s what you have.

For a creamier version, stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of cream cheese or a splash of heavy cream with the spinach.

Serving Ideas

It’s a complete meal. A simple salad or garlic bread is all you’d add.

More feta than you think. The salt in it is what makes the tomato sauce taste finished.

A drizzle of good olive oil over each bowl.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Leftovers keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, but the pasta keeps absorbing sauce as it sits and turns softer each day. Day two is fine. Day four is soft.

Store leftovers with an extra splash of broth or water in the container, and reheat gently in a pot over medium-low heat or in the microwave at half power, stirring partway through. High heat breaks the pasta down.

Add the feta fresh after reheating rather than storing it mixed in.

Don’t freeze it. Red lentil pasta falls apart on thawing. If you want a freezer version, freeze the sauce alone after step 3 and cook fresh pasta in it when you reheat.