How to Make Lentil Protein Powder
Here’s a recipe for how to make your own Homemade Lentil Protein Powder that you can use in smoothies or baked goods. It’s an easy, budget-friendly recipe.
Homemade Lentil Powder
Back when I was vegan, I was always looking for unsweetened protein powders that didn’t both my stomach. I first made this homemade Lentil Protein Powder recipe back in 2013, but I’ve updated it for current times.
I’m not vegan anymore, but I do still love making vegan and plant-based recipes. And, this Homemade Lentil Protein Powder recipe is a winner since it’s budget-friendly and great for adding extra protein to the diet.
Each serving of lentil powder (about 2 tablespoons) has approximately:
- 113 calories,
- 0 grams of fat,
- 20 carbs,
- 3 grams of fiber,
- and 8 grams of protein!
Once you make the powder, you can just add it to your favorite smoothies or baked goods to help bump up the protein and fiber. This recipe is 100% plant-based, vegan, and gluten-free.
Recipe Steps
Step One
The first step in making homemade lentil protein powder is to grab your lentils. I like to use brown or green lentils for this recipe. Cook two cups of the lentils according to the directions on the package, or using my recipe below.
Step Two
Cool the cooked lentils by placing them in the refrigerator for a few hours.
Step Three
Dehydrate the lentils in a dehydrator or using your oven. Be sure to get them completely dry so they can then be blended into a powder.
Step Four
Place the dried cooked lentils in the base of a food processor or a high-speed blender. Blend until the lentils turn into a fine powder.
Step Five
Transfer the lentil powder to a storage container. You can then use the powder as you would a regular protein powder.
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Here’s the printable recipe:
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How to Make Lentil Protein Powder
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 hours
- Total Time: 15 hours
- Yield: 12 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Here’s a recipe for how to make your own Homemade Lentil Protein Powder that you can use in smoothies or baked goods. It’s an easy, budget-friendly recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried lentils
- 6 cups water
Instructions
- Rinse lentils and pick through for any debris.
- Place the lentils in a large pot, and cover with the water.
- Turn the heat to high. Once the pot is simmering, reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Once the lentils have done cooking, transfer them to a storage container. Place them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to cool down.
- Now, divide the cooked and cooled lentils on several dehydrator sheets (they should have room to breathe) and dehydrate them at 115°F for 10-12 hours, or until completely dry.
- Place the dried sprouted lentils into a high-speed blender and process finely into a powder.
Notes
Use the homemade lentil powder in smoothies or baked goods to add plant-based protein to the dish.
Store the powder in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry place for up to several weeks.
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Dehydrator
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: how to make homemade lentil protein powder, homemade protein powder, lentil powder
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I’m going to try making homemade pea protein powder, to make my green smoothies healthier and more filling, and am wondering: instead of sprouting then drying then grinding the lentils, what if I ground them and stored them, then the night before using soaked the powder in the water in the smoothie container? Would the pea powder nutritionally “sprout” the same way it would if I had sprouted the intact peas? Would love thoughts on this, thanks!
Great question, Jenn, and an intriguing thought. Honestly, I don’t think the powder would sprout the same way an intact legume would. Since I wrote this post, I’m following more of a paleo approach to my diet, so I’m not consuming many legumes anymore, otherwise I would do more research on this. Another thought is that there are so many great protein powders available now, it would probably be just as economical to purchase one rather than make it yourself. Just a thought. 🙂
I’m learning a lot. Thank you so much Carrie!
★★★★★
Can you freeze this protein powder so it would last longer or would that add moisture? You state it only stays fresh 1 week – 10 days. I’d like to make a bigger batch and freeze or refrigerate? What do you think?
You could definitely freeze it! No problem.
Hey! I found this post looking for advice on making my own pea protein. I just had surgery and was advised to eat more protein. Instead of drinking Ensure for more protein I want to make my own smoothies. Ok so I followed your directions but my peas did not spout only a few. What did I do wrong? Also I don’t have a dehydrator so I need to use my oven but it only goes down to 155 F. Help please?
I haven’t sprouted peas, just lentils. What kind of sprouting vessel did you use? Did you soak them ahead of time? With so many protein powders on the market now, I would actually just think about buying a sprouted pea protein powder. It’s a lot easier. 🙂
Hi Carrie
just wondering could you just soak them overnight and not sprout them, then, and / or then how long would you dehydrate the lentils if you can thanks.
Yes, you can just soak them, Elizabeth! The dehydrating time would be the same.
Hey Carrie,
What are your thoughts on skipping the whole sprouting procedure and just powdering the lentils in their shells through a food processor? Seems like it’d save a lot of time and yield the same amount of stuff
Hmmm, if you did that, I would at least cook the lentils first, Rocky! You can skip sprouting though.
Hello Carrie!
I just got done sprouting my peas to make protein powder. It takes more time but it’s cheaper. I am wanting to make the peas more digestible, do you think that dehydrating them at 155° would still help in that process? Without having to cook them first…
I appreciate your time and all of the awesome work you put into everything!
That’s a great question. I think that’s a high enough temperature that you’ll get some of the benefits of cooking to make them more digestible.
Are the dehydrated lentils crunchy? I wanted to eat these as a snack and not grind them into a powder. Thanks!
★★★★★
Yes, they are crunchy! You don’t have to grind them, you can eat them after they’re dehydrated.
Hi Carrie,
Can I dehydrate the cooked lentils in a microwave? And if I weren’t going to grind them, and eat them as a snack, how many would I need to eat to get about 15 – 20 grams of protein? Thank you!