Jacket potatoes are such an underrated meal. I had more than my share of these while combining working from home and home schooling during lockdown. They’re so easy to pop in the oven and forget about while you get on with other bits.
One thing I had struggled with though was unimaginative potato toppings for vegans. Baked beans begin to get a bit tired after a while, even if paired with a decent vegan cheese and searches online didn’t provide me with anything more exciting than vegan chillis.
I created this spiced lentil recipe out of a desperate need to top my potato with something that felt a bit special, something that I would genuinely look forward to rather than bring on a sigh.
I’ve had these lentils a few times now and have concluded they would make a flavourful yet simple meal if I were to have friends or family over for a no frills lunch.
Jacket Potato With Spiced Lentils and Lemon & Coriander Yogurt
Ingredients
Jacket (Baked) Potatoes
- 4 Baking potatoes, skin on Weighing approximately 250g each
- 1 tbsp Mild Olive Oil / Vegetable Oil (optional)
Spiced Lentils
- 2 tbsp Mild Olive Oil / Vegetable Oil
- 1 Large onion
- 1 Carrot, peeled & grated
- 1 Courgette, chopped (approx 200g)
- 2 Cloves garlic
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 pinch Red chilli flakes
- 150 g Dried red lentils
- 1 tbsp Tomato Puree
- 400 g Chopped (tinned) tomatoes
- 1 Vegetable stock cube I prefer Knorr
- 1 tsp Dried mint
- 750 ml Boiling water
Lemon & Coriander Yogurt
- 300 g Unsweetened plant yogurt Use your favourite – I prefer Alpro unsweetened soya yogurt.
- 1 Lemon, just the juice
- 20 g Coriander (cilantro), washed & chopped
To serve
- 100 g Mixed salad leaves
Instructions
Jacket (baked) potatoes
- Preheat your oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas mark 6.
- Wash the potatoes. Rub each potato in oil (the oil gives a lovely glistening, crispy skin, but really isn't a necessity if you want less fat in your meal). Prick each potato 2-3 times on each side with a knife. Bake in the oven for approximately 1 hour, turning over half way through cooking. The potato is cooked when the skin is crisp and a knife slides easily to the centre of the potato.
Spiced Lentils
- Put the oil and onions in a heavy bottomed pan and sweat on a medium – high heat until soft and starting to brown (around 5 – 10 minutes).
- Reduce to a medium heat and add the grated carrot, courgette, garlic, cumin, turmeric and chilli flakes cook for 2 – 3 minutes until the spices no longer smell raw. Stir often. Do not burn the spices as this will give the dish a bitter taste.
- Stir in the red lentils, vegetable stock cube, hot water and mint. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until the lentils have softened.
- Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm until the potatoes are ready to serve.
Lemon & Coriander Yogurt
- In a bowl, mix together the yogurt, lemon juice and chopped coriander. Season to taste.
Serve
- Pile the lentils high on the potatoes and serve with salad leaves and lemon & coriander yogurt.
Notes
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