Grilled Halloumi Lentil Salad
on May 31, 2025
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With smoky flavor and fresh ingredients, this grilled halloumi salad is perfect for summer lunches and dinners. Lentils make it a meal-worthy salad. It also has crisp sliced cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes and diced red onions. Tossed in an herby pesto vinaigrette, you can simmer the lentils, grill the halloumi and make the dressing in advance, so this no-lettuce salad is great for meal prep.
Also, try this roasted tomato and zucchini lentil salad.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Lentils are such a hearty and satisfying base for salads. A fantastic source of fiber and plant-based protein, black lentils are a must-have pantry ingredient. They have a good chewy bite.
When you grill halloumi, it ends up with wonderful smoky flavor that’s great with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and herby vinaigrette. You don’t need an outdoor grill to get that. It’s simple to cook inside on a stovetop grill pan.
Make this lentil halloumi salad for summer potlucks and picnics. With lentils and no leafy greens, this salad won’t wilt. That also makes it a solid choice for meal prep.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Halloumi is a semi-hard cheese made from goat’s or sheep’s milk or a combination of both with briny and salty flavor. It has a high melting point, so that’s why you can roast it, pan fry it or grill it. (I also love it with these Mediterranean roasted vegetables.)
- Black lentils are my number 1 salad lentil because they hold their shape when you cook them. You can substitute with green lentils, also known as puy lentils. Don’t use red lentils. They are better in soups and stews because they fall apart when you simmer them in liquid.
- Persian cucumbers are sometimes called mini cucumbers. They’re smaller in diameter and have more delicate skin and less seeds than regular ones. You can swap with English cucumbers, which are similar, but they are wider and longer.
- Tomatoes: Cherry or grape tomatoes are great for salads when you slice them in half because they hold their juices and seeds. Color doesn’t matter. Just make sure they are ripe.
- Red onions add a sharp accent. You can substitute with thinly sliced scallions. They will be less crisp and have more mellow green onion flavor.
- Pesto vinaigrette: You can use homemade basil pesto or store-bought to make the dressing. It also has minced garlic, whole grain mustard, red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper.
How To Make This Grilled Halloumi Salad Recipe
1. Cook the lentils. Put the lentils and salt in a medium pot and cover them with water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a low simmer with the lid partially on. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are just tender. Check their doneness after 15 minutes. Pour the cooked lentils into a strainer and rinse with cold water.
2. Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, stir the pesto, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and oil.
3. Grill the halloumi. Preheat an outdoor gas or charcoal grill or a grill pan on the stove to medium heat. Brush both sides of the sliced cheese with oil. Grill for 2-3 minutes on each side. You should see grill marks. Use your hands to tear the grilled halloumi into pieces. Then it will be more mixed throughout the salad.
4. Assemble the salad ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the lentils and halloumi with the cucumbers, tomatoes and red onions.
5. Drizzle the dressing into the salad and toss to combine.
Serving
This lentil salad is fantastic for a vegetarian main dish, but it also works as a side especially at potlucks and barbecues when you already have the grilled fired up. The cheese grills quickly, so assuming you have the lentils cooked, the dressing made and the veggies cut, you can grill the cheese after you have grilled everything else you are serving.
Wonderful with anything with Mediterranean flavors, I’ll give you bonus points if you serve this halloumi salad with pita.
Make-Ahead Tips, Leftovers & Storage
You can make the lentils and dressing and grill the cheese 1 day in advance. Keep all of them in separate airtight containers in the fridge. Then let them sit out at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before assembling the salad.
You can store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 4 days. If you have extra dressing, keep it in a jar. Lentils are good at maintaining their texture and bite even when you toss them in vinaigrette, but it is always better not to dress the salad if you aren’t planning to eat all of it at once.
Recipe Tips
- If you don’t have an outdoor grill or a grill pan, you can cook the halloumi in a skillet over medium-high heat. Warm a drizzle of olive oil in the skillet, and cook the halloumi for about 2 minutes per side until it’s golden brown and crispy.
- Don’t overcook the lentils. You want them to have a chewy bite. Think of it like al dente pasta.
More Summer Salad Recipes
Balsamic Peach Tomato Salad
Avocado Corn Salad
Peach Caprese Salad
Mediterranean Three Bean Salad
Chickpea Cucumber Salad
Roasted Corn Salad
Cucumber Feta Salad
Find more salad ideas in my seasonal salad roundup featuring leafy green salads, bean salads and pasta salads.
Grilled Halloumi Lentil Salad
Ingredients
For lentils
- 1 cup black lentils
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Water
For vinaigrette
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 lemon, juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For salad
- 1/2 pound halloumi cheese, sliced 1/2-inch thick
- Olive oil for brushing cheese
- 1/2 pound Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onions
Instructions
- Place the lentils and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a low simmer with the lid partially on the saucepan. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are just tender. Taste them to check their doneness after 15 minutes. Once the lentils are ready, pour them into a strainer and rinse with cold water.
- To make the vinaigrette, whisk the pesto, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil in a small bowl.
- Preheat a gas or charcoal grill or a stovetop grill pan on medium heat.
- Lightly brush the halloumi with olive oil. Grill 2-3 minutes per side until the cheese has grill marks.
- Tear the halloumi into bite-sized pieces and combine them with the lentils, cucumbers, tomatoes and red onions in a large bowl.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad, tossing to combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you add couscous to this salad?
Absolutely! It would be great to add couscous to it.