Protein Granola (Gluten Free + Vegan)

This crunchy Protein Granola gets a major dose of protein & fiber from a secret ingredient – lentils! This gluten-free & vegan granola is a delicious and filling breakfast or snack.

This recipe was created as part of the #LetsLentil campaign, sponsored by Canadian Lentils. As always, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support Bakerita!

It’s been a while since I posted a granola recipe around here. A couple months, at least, which is a while for me – I pretty much live off granola for breakfast, and my hearty archive of granola recipes definitely reflects that food habit.

This crunchy Protein Granola gets a major dose of protein & fiber from a secret ingredient - lentils! This gluten-free & vegan granola is a delicious and filling breakfast or snack.

The past few months the granola habit has gone to wayside as my usual breakfast has been replaced with piles of fresh fruit, but lately, the jonesing for granola came back. Instead of using a previous favorite recipe, I wanted to create something a little different: protein granola!

This granola is similar to some of my other favorite granola recipes, starring rolled oats, flaked coconut, and pecans, but it has a couple extra ingredients that totally amp up the nutrition and especially the protein. Almonds are the nut of choice here, seeing as they totally kick butt in the protein department, and chia seeds also help amp up the protein count.

But the real powerhouse ingredient in this granola?! Lentils. It seems so random, right? Putting lentils in granola? But you guuuys, I’m obsessed, and I think lentils are now going to become a regular occurrence in my homemade granolas.

You’re going to want to cook the lentils (which is super easy) before they’re added to the granola, and when they get coated with the wet ingredients and baked with the rest of the granola, they turn into these sweet, puffy, crispy little bites.

You can honestly barely tell they’re there, but I looked for a little clump of them to see how they transformed, and it’s pretty magical how these little pulses turned into one of the best granola additions.

I used red lentils in this recipe (mostly because they’re more mild in flavor than green lentils) and I can’t get over what nutritional powerhouses they are – they’re packed with fiber, protein, and minerals, and they’re low in fat. Nothing to complain about there.

If you like to eat your granola the same way I do, paired with Greek yogurt and fruit, you’ll get even more protein from the Greek yogurt – I was full for hours after my little parfait. Or, just keep a baggie of protein granola in the car for whenever you need a filling snack – this definitely does the trick. Enjoy!

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Protein Granola (Gluten Free + Vegan)

Save Print Prep time 10 mins Cook time 45 mins Total time 55 mins Author: Rachel Conners Serves: 5 cups Ingredients

2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chia seeds
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cups cooked red lentils (from ¾ cup dry red lentils)*
½ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut sugar
¼ cup coconut oil, melted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, coconut, pecans, almonds, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt. Add the cooked red lentils, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and coconut oil and stir until the dry ingredients are all moistened. Spread the granola in an even layer on a large parchment-lined baking sheet and press down gently with the back of a spatula to form a thin even layer.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through and stirring it gently to ensure the granola bakes evenly. When it is browned and feels dry to the touch, remove from the oven. If want big chunks of granola, let the granola cool completely before disturbing so it clusters together.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Notes Before using, cook the lentils until al dente according to package directions and then drain. Nutrition Information Serving size: ⅓ cup Calories: 298 Fat: 16 Carbohydrates: 31 Sugar: 7 Protein: 9 3.5.3208