This Coconut Curry Lentil Soup was inspired by my Easy Lemon Lentil Soup and my Quick & Easy Indian Curry Quinoa recipes. So if you liked those recipes, you’ll want to try this one (and vice versa).
It’s grey and cold in Sydney this week. Not anything like what’s going on in North America at the moment, but I suppose everything is relative, right? When you go from blistering heat to cool and rainy virtually overnight, I suppose you crave warm comforting food, no matter where in the world you are and what season it is!
This Coconut Curry Lentil Soup is fragrant with just the right amount of spice. I actually used a whole teaspoon of red chili flakes the first time I made this, making it just hot enough to make our noses tingle a little bit while eating it. I halved the amount in the recipe below, but feel free to kick it up a notch if you like things on the spicier side.
I’ve been trying to eat more lentils lately. Why? Well because lentils are super affordable, packed with protein, and (unlike dried beans) you don’t have to soak them for hours – so they’re ready to use immediately. All win:win criteria in my world!
And did you notice my new funky place-mat? My good friends Lisette and Lindsay gave me a whole bunch of different place-mats for Christmas. Lisette noticed that I like to use different backgrounds for my food photos, so she went on a hunt for a bunch of different ones for my blog. Isn’t that so sweet? Thanks so much guys, it was such a thoughtful gift!
This Coconut Curry Lentil Soup is versatile
The coconut milk makes the soup creamy and the diced tomatoes give it a bright orange color, however, they’re completely optional. As per my Easy Lemon Lentil Soup, you only really need 6 cups of vegetable broth per 1.5 cups of red lentils. So since this soup already contains 4 cups of vegetable broth, feel-free to replace either of those cans with an additional cup of veggie broth (each). So:
- Replacing the coconut milk with 1 cup of broth will result in a bright red soup with and a more pronounced tomato flavor
- Replacing the diced tomatoes with 1 cup of broth will result in a creamier soup with a stronger coconut flavor
- Replacing BOTH the coconut milk AND diced tomatoes with 2 cups of broth will result in a soup soup with a lighter consistency but more pronounced spices, because it won’t have the coconut milk or tomatoes to temper them
Actually, if you make this Coconut Curry Lentil Soup as-is, it’s pretty much thick enough to be considered a traditional curry or Indian Dal. So you could toss more greens into it and serve it with some brown rice or quinoa for an even heartier meal. See, I told you this recipe was versatile 🙂
Freezer Greens
The addition of chopped kale or spinach is optional, but why not toss it in there if you have it on hand? It adds some nice color and texture to the Coconut Curry Lentil Soup, not to mention a nutritional boost. Whenever I visit my local farmer’s market here in Sydney to buy organic kale, I buy an extra head, wash it, dry it, chop it, and divide into a few freezer bags. I tossed 2 bags worth of frozen kale into this soup and it worked out perfectly.
More curry recipes you’ll love:
PrintCoconut Curry Lentil Soup
Made from pantry staples, this spiced lentil soup will warm (and fill) you up. Make it an even heartier meal by serving it on a bed of brown rice. Vegan & Gluten-Free
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste (or ketchup)
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 15oz/400ml can coconut milk
- 1 15oz/400g can diced tomatoes
- 1.5 cups dry red lentils
- 2–3 handfuls of chopped kale or spinach
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Garnish: chopped cilantro (fresh coriander) and/or vegan sour cream
Instructions
- In a stockpot, heat the coconut oil over medium heat and stir-fry the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion is translucent, a couple minutes.
- Add the tomato paste (or ketchup), curry powder, and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute.
- Add the vegetable broth, coconut milk, diced tomatoes and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes, until the lentils are very tender. Season with salt and pepper.
- {Make-Ahead: May be cooled, frozen in air-tight containers, and re-heated over medium-low heat.}
- Before serving, stir in the kale/spinach and garnish with cilantro and/or vegan sour cream.
Keywords: cilantro, coconut milk, curry, easy, favorite, freezer-friendly, ginger, gluten-free, high-protein, kale, lentil, low-carb, make-ahead, nut-free, one-pot, soy-free, spinach, stove top, vegan, soup
