Turkish Vegan Lentil Balls (Mercimek Köftesi)

4.70 from 69 votes

These vegan lentil meatballs are a Turkish classic. Made with red lentils and bulgur, these meatballs are usually served with lettuce and herbs.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Total Time50

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mediterranean, Turkish

Servings: servings

Calories: 362kcal

In a sauce pan cook the lentils with 3 cups of water until they have absorbed the water and are cooked.
Turn the heat off, add in the bulgur and cover with the lid. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan and saute onion and garlic until golden. Add in tomato paste and cook for a few minutes. Turn the heat off.
Place the red lentil and bulgur mixture in a large bowl. Add in the onion mixture and mix.
Add in the parsley, green onions, cumin, salt, pepper and Aleppo pepper.
Add in the olive oil and mix well.
Start shaping the vegan lentil meatballs into long cylinders and place them on a platter.
Chill for an hour in the fridge and serve with fresh lemon and lettuce.

This recipe yields 25-30 lentil balls and is enough for 5-6 people. You can store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Red lentils get very soft when they're cooked and will lose their shape. It's important to make sure the lentils don't have too much excess water since you want the vegan meatball mixture be sticky enough so you can shape it into balls.
Make sure you purchase fine bulgur and not coarse bulgur. The finer the bulgur, the smoother the meatball mixture is going to be. Coarse bulgur will make the mixture crumbly and hard to shape.
Aleppo pepper is not hot and is used to add depth and flavor to this recipe. If you would like the vegan meatballs to be spicy, you can add ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper to the mixture.
If the mixture is not sticky enough, add more olive oil to it, one tablespoon at a time.