The Almond Eater logo

Fried Halloumi Lentil Salad

By 20 Comments

Jump to Recipe

This Halloumi Lentil Salad is made with cooked lentils, roasted tomatoes, zucchini, and fried halloumi. It’s a fresh, vegetarian lunch option topped with a simple avocado dressing. 

Halloumi! It’s so good, right? Especially in this halloumi lentil salad.

I don’t know about you, but having lunch already made (or at least somewhat made) at the beginning of the week makes lunch a breeze throughout the week. While I don’t do a full out meal prep on Sundays, I do try to prep a few things to eat throughout the week. This halloumi lentil salad is easy to make ahead of time and then reheat at work or home when you’re hungry.

WHAT IS HALLOUMI?

If you don’t know, halloumi is a type of cheese made from a combination of sheep and goat milk. It’s also a harder cheese so you can easily fry it and it doesn’t melt. Yes, FRIED CHEESE. Is there anything better? Don’t feel bad if you’ve never tried it–I tried it for the first time a few months ago on a whim when I spotted some at Whole Foods. And, as you might have guessed, it was love at first bite.

But don’t let me get ahead of myself, because even though halloumi is sort of the star of this recipe, I don’t want to neglect the rest of this bowl.

WHY THIS HALLOUMI SALAD IS SO GOOD

  • It’s made with fried halloumi, aka the greatest cheese of all time
  • It’s a protein-packed, vegetarian meal option
  • You can easily prep it ahead of time and enjoy it for lunch throughout the week (doubling the veggies of course!)

HALLOUMI SALAD INGREDIENTS

Remember when I said I wanted to start eating more lentils? Well, here we are with my second lentil recipe in a month. Woohoo!

  • lentils (brown, green or a combination)
  • halloumi
  • grape tomatoes
  • red onion
  • zucchini
  • avocado
  • +a few more things

fried halloumi

roasted tomato

HOW TO COOK LENTILS

Cook lentils similarly to how you cook rice, following the instructions on the package. But, don’t salt the water beforehand!

While the lentils are cooking, you can roast the tomatoes, fry the halloumi, chop the onion and slice the zucchini. Don’t worry–it sounds like a lot, but it’s not I promise. Note: you don’t have to slice the zucchini; you can chop it if you prefer.

Truthfully, lentils are a bit bland on their own, which is why this recipe includes onion, tarragon, salt and pepper for extra flavor.

lentil salad topped with veggies

OTHER EASY LUNCH RECIPES

Print

Fried Halloumi Lentil Salad

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

This Halloumi Lentil Salad is made with cooked lentils, roasted tomatoes, zucchini and fried halloumi and is a perfect light lunch option.

  • Author: The Almond Eater
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: 2 1x
  • Category: lunch
  • Method: stovetop, skillet
  • Cuisine: bowl
Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 cup uncooked lentils (I used a combination of brown and green)
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 8 oz. halloumi (1 package), sliced
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 12 oz. grape tomatoes
  • 3/4 cup red onion, diced
  • 1/4 tsp dried tarragon
  • 1 zucchini, sliced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional: microgreens for garnish

Dressing:

  • 1 avocado, mashed
  • 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Combine lentils and water in a saucepan and cook according to the instructions on the package.
  2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350° and place tomatoes, along with 1 tbsp olive oil, on a baking sheet and into the oven. Roast tomatoes for approximately 10 minutes, or until tomatoes are softer.
  3. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet and add sliced halloumi. Fry halloumi until both sides are golden brown; set aside.
  4. In the same skillet, add 1 tbsp olive oil, red onion and tarragon and cook until onions are soft.
  5. Last, slice or chop zucchini and then assemble the bowl: lentils first, and then add the halloumi, roasted tomatoes, zucchini and onion.
  6. For the dressing: mash avocado in a bowl, then add the yogurt, oil, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
  7. Top with microgreens and avocado dressing.
  8. Enjoy!

Notes

*I remade this recipe with the avocado dressing and liked it a lot better — but, you can also top this recipe with any of your favorite condiment.

Keywords: lentil salad, fried halloumi, vegetarian lunch

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Halloumi fried lentils salad looks very attractive. The food is simple and quite fast. Thanks for sharing this nutritious food.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  3. This looks delish! I have never even heard of Halloumi never mind trying it! I am hoping my grocery store has it! Looking forward to trying this recipe.

    Reply

  4. Well. I must admit I don’t have any idea what a halloumi is. Thank you for introducing it to us. Will definitely try to check if this is available in my area.

    By the way, this looks so delicious. The combination is just perfect.

    Reply

  6. I agree – tarragon is seriously underrated! The photos on this recipe are sensational – love a bit of halloumi, especially when it comes to BBQ season.
    Perhaps this would be good at scale for a side salad for a bbq in the summer – with that grilled charcoal flavour on the halloumi!

    Reply

    • Thank you Georgie–I’m going through a halloumi obsession, so I’m hoping to make at least one more recipe with it soon.

      Reply

  10. It’s been waaaay too long since I’ve had halloumi and this salad is making me drool!! All the fresh flavors with that crispy halloumi is sheer perfection. I need to whip this up asap!

    Reply

    • haha maybe you can make this minus the lentils 😉 aka cheese and tomatoes and zucchini–I mean…. not the worst thing ever!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

CommentLuv badge
shares