This vegetarian lentil curry makes for an amazing meatless meal! Veggie and flavor packed, this vegetarian curry can be served with your grain of choice. Enjoy!
Amazing Vegetarian Lentil Curry
This lentil curry is about to be your favorite vegetarian meal! It’s easy to make, packed with protein and amazing flavor. This recipe is also great for meal prepped freezer meals — we’ll walk you through how to make it and serve it right away, or save it for later.
What You Need for Lentil Curry
For the blended spinach sauce
- Yellow onion
- Turmeric powder
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh ginger
- Fresh spinach
- Crushed tomatoes
- Kosher salt
- Coconut oil
For the Lentil Curry
- Coconut oil
- Turmeric powder
- Ground cumin
- Coriander seeds
- Yellow onion
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh ginger
- Kosher salt
- Diced sweet potatoes
- Sliced carrot rounds
- Green lentils
- Crushed tomatoes
- Full-fat coconut milk
- Vegetable broth
For the basmati rice
- We’re cooking our basmati rice with a bit of salt and then tossing with cilantro after cooking.
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How to Make Vegetarian Lentil Curry
Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large Dutch oven over medium/high heat. Add onion to coconut oil with ¼ teaspoon of salt and turmeric. Sauté the onion for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook them until fragrant.
Add spinach, crushed tomatoes, and the remaining salt, and toss all of the ingredients together. Cover the pot and allow the spinach to wilt, for about 2-3 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and scrape the spinach into a high-powered blender and blend on high until smooth.
Wipe the Dutch oven clean and melt 2 tablespoons of coconut oil over medium heat. Add the turmeric, cumin, and coriander seeds to the coconut oil. Toss all the ingredients together and toast the spices over medium heat until fragrant.
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Buy Now!Add the onion and 1 teaspoon of salt to the spices and toss. Sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes and then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the sweet potatoes, carrots, and lentils to the onion and toss. Cook everything together for 3-4 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, coconut milk, broth the spinach puree to the vegetables and bring to a boil.
Turn the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring periodically to make sure the lentils are not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Bring 3.5 cups water to a boil and add rice to the water and cover. Turn the heat to low and let the rice simmer for bout 20 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat and fluff it with a fork.
The curry is done when the lentils still have a bite to them. Serve with rice and top with cilantro. YUM!
Grain Pairings for Curry
We served this lentil curry with white basmati rice, but it would also be absolutely delish with:
- Short grain white rice
- Short or long grain brown rice
- Quinoa
- Cauliflower rice
Top Tips
Store this lentil curry in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Lentil curry is a great freezer meal to keep on hand! Let your meal cool completely. Then, transfer into a freezer-safe container.
Remove as much air as possible, and then seal. Freeze for up to 3 months.
More of our Favorite…
Curry-Inspired Recipes
- Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken
- Easy Shrimp Panang Curry
- Green Curry Sweet Potato Chicken Meatballs
- Crockpot Curry Chicken
- Vegetarian Creamy Cashew Curry
Spinach
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ yellow onion minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt separated
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 5 oz. fresh spinach
- 15 oz. crushed tomatoes
Lentils
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½ large yellow onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt separated
- 4 cups diced sweet potatoes peeled and diced in ¼-inch cubes (~ 2 medium sweet potatoes)
- 1 cup sliced carrot rounds
- 1 cup green lentils
- 15 oz. crushed tomatoes
- 15 oz. full-fat coconut milk
- 1.5 cups vegetable broth
Other Ingredients
- 3.5 cups water
- 2 cups basmati rice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
- Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large Dutch oven over medium/high heat. Add onion to the coconut oil with ¼ teaspoon of salt and turmeric. Saute the onion for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook them until fragrant or for 1-2 minutes.
- Add spinach, crushed tomatoes, and the remaining salt, and toss all of the ingredients together. Cover the pot and allow the spinach to wilt, for about 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and scrape the spinach into a high-powered blender and blend on high until smooth. Set aside.
- Wipe the Dutch oven clean and melt 2 tablespoons of coconut oil over medium heat. Add the turmeric, cumin, and coriander seeds to the coconut oil. Toss all the ingredients together and toast the spices over medium heat until fragrant.
- Add the onion and 1 teaspoon of salt to the spices and toss. Sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes and then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer the sweet potatoes, carrots, and lentils to the onion and toss. Cook everything together for 3-4 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, coconut milk, broth the spinach puree to the vegetables and bring to a boil.
- Turn the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring periodically to make sure the lentils are not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Prepare the basmati rice while the lentils are cooking. Bring 3.5 cups water to a boil and add rice to the water and cover. Turn the heat to low and let the rice simmer for bout 20 minutes.
- Remove the rice from the heat and fluff it with a fork. Set aside.
- The curry is done when the lentils still have a bite to them. Serve with rice and top with cilantro.
- Fresh spinach works best for this recipe.
- Be sure you use a high-speed blender when you make the spinach puree. Everything must be blended and smooth.
- We suggest using brown or green lentils instead of red lentils.
- You can use any root vegetables in place of sweet potatoes and carrots.
- If you like a spicy curry, add ½ – 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the pot in step #4.
