Instant Pot Vegan Turkish Lentil Bulgur Cabbage Stew! Perfect for meal prep or a chilly-day, this plant-based stew checks all the boxes for flavor, nutrition, and weeknight practicality.
This Instant Pot Vegan Turkish Lentil Bulgur Cabbage Stew is the cozy, low-fat hug your weeknight dinners deserve. Picture tender, melty cabbage swimming in a rich, tomato-forward broth, with hearty brown lentils and bulgur soaking up all the warmth of Turkish spices. Each spoonful delivers comforting depth from tomato goodness and aromatic notes like cumin, paprika, and garlic, while the pressure-cooked texture keeps the dish light yet satisfying.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, and no highly processed ingredients.
Hi there, Ameera here!
This stew is hearty and sticks to your ribs with lentils and bulgur, plus irresistibly melty cabbage that swoops in to deliver cozy comfort. I love how the tomato-rich broth envelopes every bite, balancing savory spice with a bright, tomato-kissed tang.
It’s the kind of dish that feels indulgent without the heaviness—rich in plant-powered protein and fiber, yet light on calories. You gotta give this one a try!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Turkish Lentil Bulgur Cabbage Stew is a cozy, low-fat, tomato-rich stew featuring melty tender cabbage, brown lentils, and bulgur filled with warming Turkish spices in a flavorful tomato broth. This stew has a porridge-like consistency. There is a slight vinegar twang from the hot sauce.
- Texture: This stew is rich and thick and has a porridge-like consistency. If you have textural issues, you may wish to skip this recipe.
- Low Fat Dish Expectations: This dish is designed to be a low-fat dish. It is not going to taste as decadent as a dish that has a higher fat content. It is very delicious for what it is and that is a low-fat dish. We want to make sure the reader understands this before contemplating making it and to adjust expectations accordingly.
- Tomato Paste: Make sure you take an extra minute to smash in the tomato paste and try to incorporate it into the liquids before closing the IP lid. This will help prevent tripping the “Burn” feature on the Instant Pot.
- Cabbage Wedges: Cut just a small piece off the end of the stalk (just to clean it up), then cut the cabbage in half. Take the one half and cut it into fourths. Keep the stalk (hard part) intact. Do not remove it. Then lay it the wedges down on top of the broth, press them down into the liquid. The broth should cover nearly all of the cabbage wedges. It’s ok if they are not fully submerged in the broth, as long as the bottom of the wedges touch the broth.
- Why Cabbage Wedges and Not Chopped Cabbage: The traditional Turkish recipe uses cabbage wedges. You can use chopped cabbage if you wish, but do not chop the cabbage too small as they will simply melt into the stew and become part of the broth. We enjoyed the wedges as they do become very tender and fall part. They work so nicely in this tasty stew.
- Brown Lentils: Brown lentils work best in this stew. You can substitute other lentils, but you will have to adjust the cooking times accordingly.
- Instant Pot: The use of the instant pot provides excellent results.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda is often used as a neutralizer for dishes that contain a lot of acidity, typically from tomatoes. We use it in this dish to help speed up the cooking process when combining tomatoes with lentils.
- Spices: Feel free to adjust the spices to suit your personal preferences.
- Liquid Smoke: The liquid smoke is used to give the red peppers a more smokey quality as the Turkish cuisine uses a lot of red pepper paste. We didn’t use red pepper paste. We used red bell peppers and sweet paprika with some liquid smoke. You can substitute the liquid smoke for some smoked paprika. Go light on the smoked paprika if using it for a substitution. We have not kitchen tested this as a substitution.
- 15-Minute Rest: It is important to allow this dish to rest for 15 minutes to let the flavors marry. You will find that that spicy/heat will mellow as the dish cools.
- Amount of Sea Salt: Our family was divided over how much sea salt was needed to properly season this dish. Feel free to add more or use less.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
- Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered air-tight container.
This stew freezes well.
Pantry Products:
- Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
- Bulgur: We used Spicy World Bulgur #2 Medium Coarse Grind. Feel free to use your favorite bulgur.
- Lentils: We used Palouse Brand Small Brown Lentils. They are delicious. They hold their shape well and have a slightly nutty taste to them. Feel free to use your favorite brown or green lentils.
- Hot Sauce: We used Frank’s RedHot Original Hot Sauce.
- Liquid Smoke: We used Colgin Natural Hickory Liquid Smoke. Feel free to use your favorite liquid smoke.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Instant Pot or Ceramic/Enamel Lined Dutch Oven or similarly large stock pot
If you try this comforting stew, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Instant Pot Vegan Turkish Lentil Bulgur Cabbage Stew
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 14 Minutes (Instant Pot)
- Total Time: 29 Minutes
- Yield: 10 Cups 1x
- Category: Dinner, Stew
- Method: Instant Pot
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Instant Pot Vegan Turkish Lentil Bulgur Cabbage Stew is the cozy, low-fat hug your weeknight dinners deserve.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 1 large yellow onion, fine dice
- 1 red bell pepper, fine dice
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste *
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth *
- 1 – [ 14.5 oz. can ] petite diced tomatoes *
- 1 cup dry brown lentils, rinsed *
- ½ cup #2 bulgur, rinsed *
- ½ medium green cabbage, cut in wedges (stem intact) *
- ¼ teaspoon hickory flavored liquid smoke *
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda *
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin (+/-)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper (+/-)
- ½ to 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
Other Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce *
Optional Topping Ingredients:
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Crushed red pepper
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
- Place all the Base Ingredients (except the cabbage wedges) and the Spice/Herb Mix into the Instant Pot. Stir well to incorporate the tomato paste into the mixture, then lay the cabbage wedges on top and press the cabbage wedges down into the liquids. It’s OK if the cabbage wedges are not fully submerged.
- Set the Instant Pot to Manual Pressure High for 14 minutes. When finished, press Cancel and allow to sit for 2 minutes, then do a Quick Release.
- Immediately after all the pressure is released, carefully remove the lid, add in the lemon juice and hot sauce, stir to incorporate, then place the lid back on, twist to secure, then allow the stew to sit and rest for 15 minutes in the covered Instant Pot to allow the flavors marry.
- Serve topped with fresh chopped parsley, crushed red pepper, and/or flatbread.
Oven/Stovetop Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 F, center rack. (Skip if doing stovetop)
- Follow all the Instant Pot instructions, except place into a large, heavy Dutch Oven.
- Cover tightly and roast in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the cabbage, lentils, and bulgur are perfectly tender. If doing stovetop, bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer, cover, and cook at a gentle simmer for 1 to 1 ½ hours until the cabbage, lentils, and bulgur are perfectly tender. Resist the urge to remove the lid and stir. However, do check the liquids toward the end to ensure the dish is not drying out. If needed, add some extra vegetable broth/water.
- When tender, remove from the oven/stovetop, remove the lid, add in the lemon juice and hot sauce, stir to incorporate. Allow to sit off the heat and rest for 15 minutes to let the flavors marry.
- Serve topped with fresh chopped parsley, crushed red pepper, and/or flatbread.
Notes
Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Servings: 6 to 10 (makes 10 cups)
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