How Long to Cook Lentils
If you're cooking dried lentils, it will take 30 to 45 minutes for them to cook in a pot of boiling water. Make sure you keep them boiling until they become soft: Many people complain of indigestion after eating undercooked lentils because of their tough outer coating. You can reduce the odds of this happening by soaking dried lentils before cooking them to soften them a bit.
You can easily cook lentils on their own, but they're also great in a variety of recipes. Add them to a lentil soup recipe and you won't even need to cook them in advance: They'll cook in the broth with the rest of the ingredients. Or you could make vegetarian lentil burgers, a lentil salad, or a traditional Indian dal.