Coconut Lentil Curry
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This easy-to-make creamy coconut lentil curry is a vegan recipe that makes a perfect meatless Monday dinner. It takes less than an hour (mostly hands-off time) to make and is packed full of delicious Indian flavors. Make extras, and you’ll have a giant smile on your face at lunch the next day.
One reader, Rae, says, “This is one of my staple recipes. So easy to make and delicious. Everyone likes it! ★★★★★”
This lentil curry recipe has been a reader favorite for years. And with almost 1500 reviews, you can bet it will be your favorite, too! It’s a flavorful vegan recipe made with kitchen-staple ingredients and is one of my family’s favorite dinner recipes.
You guys, this is what curry dreams are made of. This beauty is made in one pot, and it’ll take less than an hour to reach coconut curry heaven. The flavor starts with toasted cumin and coriander seeds, along with plenty of garlic, ginger, turmeric, and a touch of cayenne. Brown lentils (though you can also use green) simmer in tomatoes and coconut milk until tender and creamy, then fresh cherry tomatoes and cilantro are stirred in at the end to brighten everything up. It’s simple, satisfying, and the kind of recipe you’ll find yourself making on repeat.
We eat this curry year-round. No matter how hot it is outside, it’s always a good time for a bowl of hot curry. It’s stinkin’ hot in India, and peeps there eat curry all the time. They must be onto something.
Years ago, while backpacking around India for a few months, the locals would always say that eating hot food on a hot day would cool you down. Whether that’s true or not, if you put a bowl of hot curry in front of any of us and it’s a bazillion degrees outside, we’ll still eat it. And really, how could you not?
The original lentil curry recipe
The original recipe comes from a well dog-eared cookbook called, Vij’s at Home. We’ve made a few changes to the original recipe so it suits our taste:
- Coconut oil replaces the cooking oil (and we use MUCH less of it)
- Coriander seeds replace ground coriander as we love the little pop of crunch they give.
- Crushed tomatoes replace fresh tomatoes (so we can be lazy and not blend them)
- Harder to find mung beans take a hike and are replaced with brown lentils
- Cilantro gets piled on high.
- Cherry tomatoes get thrown in during the last few minutes of cooking (because heck, why not?)
Lentil curry variations
While my family loves this recipe exactly as written, it’s also very versatile and easy to play with. Here are some additions that we’ve tried, and a few that our readers have tried:
- Add some more veggies: Sweet potatoes, mushrooms, red peppers, or broccoli are great. And spinach stirred in at the end is nice, too.
- More protein: Cubed chicken or tofu is a wonderful addition.
- Skip the coconut: iI you’re not a coconut fan, you can use whipping cream instead.
- Make it into soup: Add some extra water or some chicken or vegetable stock to turn this into soup.
What to serve with lentil curry
Like most curry recipes, this one is great served with basmati rice. You can also serve it with cauliflower rice to get some extra veggies on your plate!
And while this is absolutely a one-pot dinner, if you’d like a side dish, try one of these:
Store, reheat, and freeze
This is one recipe that tastes even better the next day, AND it freezes excellently. We’ll often make a double batch just so we can freeze half of it. And if you have little ones at home, freezing small portions of this curry is a great way to have quick meals on hand.
In the fridge – This curry will keep well for up to 4 days in a sealed container.
In the freezer – Transfer the cooled curry to freezer-proof containers and keep it in your freezer for up to 4 months.
To reheat – We like to reheat this curry on the stove over low heat, adding a splash of water as it thickens overnight. But you can also warm this up in the microwave.
Watch the lentil curry video
This coconut lentil curry recipe is ridiculously simple to make. Five bucks says that you’re going to look at the recipe and think, “No way THIS recipe could be one of the BEST curry recipes.” But it is. For real. It’s so simple to make that we made a video so you can see just how easy it will be to sit down with a big bowl of lentil curry.
Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 head garlic (chopped – 10-12 cloves)
- 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons ginger (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 cup dried brown lentils (see notes)
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne powder (optional)
- 2 cups water
- 15 ounce can coconut milk
- A few handfuls of cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet (I love using my braiser) over medium-high heat. Add the cumin and coriander seeds and toast until they start to brown, about 45 seconds. Add the garlic to the pot and let it brown, about 2 minutes.1 tablespoon coconut oil, 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, 1 head garlic, 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- Add the can of crushed tomatoes, ginger, turmeric, and sea salt to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the lentils, the cayenne powder (if using), and water to the pot and bring it to a boil.28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, 2 tablespoons ginger, 1 tablespoon turmeric, 2 teaspoons sea salt, 1 cup dried brown lentils, 1-2 teaspoons cayenne powder, 2 cups water
- Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 35-40 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. Stir the pot a few times to prevent the lentils from sticking to the bottom. If the curry starts to look dry, add an extra ½ – 1 cup of water.
- Once the lentils are soft and the curry is thick, add the coconut milk and cherry tomatoes and bring the pot back to a simmer. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the cilantro.15 ounce can coconut milk, A few handfuls of cherry tomatoes, 1 cup chopped cilantro
Last step:
- After you make this recipe, take a picture with your phone and share it in the comments section below. I love seeing it when you make my recipes!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Omg this was so easy, so cheap but tasted amazing. All 4 kids and hubby asked for seconds. This being our first lentil meal gives me the confidence to try more lentil recipes.
Could you substitute green lentils instead do you think?
They should work just fine. 🙂
The spice measurements looks a bit off, are you sure it’s right with ex. 2 tbs of salt?
It should be 2 teaspoons of salt. Make sure that you haven’t clicked the scale recipe button as that will change the ingredient amounts. 🙂
The best curry recipe I have EVER made. It’s so delicious !
Thank you so much, Ashleigh!
I am curious why there is no actual curry powder in the recipe?
Curry powder is simply a mix of different spices. I like to use the whole spices instead as the flavor of curry powder can vary widely depending on which spices are used. 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious. My only downside is that unlike you, I actually did not enjoy the pop of crunch from the coriander seeds, so I was wondering about what quantity of ground coriander might be equivalent?
When I make this with ground coriander I use the same amount. 🙂
My favorite go to curry recipe now! Thanks for sharing:)
You’re so welcome!
It was delicious! I also found it was a little too much liquid but I add almost another cup of lentils (so more to eat!). I had to use ground Cumin and coriander (1 tsp each) as that was all I had and I had diced carrots and cauliflower which just add to the heartiness. Next time I will cut the salt in half, I love salt but found it to be very salty.
I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe!
Could canned lentils be substituted for the dried lentils?
If you use canned lentils, I would omit the water and only add as much as needed to make it saucy. 🙂
Absolutely loved this dish. I only used 2 cups water but even with that it was soupy so I added 1/4 cup uncooked rice and then the consistency was exactly what I hoped for. The chopped ginger and cilantro just made it so much more flavourful.
I will definitely put this in my dinner rotation. Thank you.
Good call on the rice!
too thin. more soup.
It sounds like you need to cook it a little longer. That can happen if you use a pot rather than a skillet. 🙂
I’ve used this recipe a few time and really enjoy it with a couple changes. I don’t use the seeds. I did once and had to throw it out cause I couldn’t stand biting into whole coriander seeds. barf. So instead I sautee chopped onion into the coconut oil. Then with the tumeric I add a bit of curry paste and stir that up in the veggies. I also add some chopped kale towards the end and it’s fantastic! Love a great one pot meal!
Good call on the onion and kale!
Just wondering how much a serving is approximately? Trying to figure out if I need to double the recipe for a dinner party!
To be honest, I haven’t measured it. I to do that next time I make it! But if I were to guess I’d say about 1 1/2- 2 cups per serving.
Way too much liquid in this recipe – mine was more like soup. Taste was good but not the consistency I was hoping for
Sorry to hear that it was too soupy for you. Next time, I recommend rapidly boiling the curry for a few minutes to let some of the extra liquid evaporate.
The Cilantro really finishes it off, that amount of Cayenne is ideal to taste the warmth but not kill you, (I like hot & wife & daughter mild), this found a happy medium so adjust accordingly.
Will be making again. ?
So happy to hear that you’ll be making it again, Durman!
Love this lentil curry so much! The fresh cherry tomatoes thrown in at the end really add an amazing burst of flavour. Used green lentils because that’s what we had on hand, and I took the lid off part way through because it did seem pretty liquidy. I let it on a low simmer for an extra hour (although we didn’t need to, we just had the time), and it definitely left a good amount of sauce to soak up with naan and rice. Can’t wait to make this again!
Thanks for coming back to let us know that the recipe was a hit, Lindsay!
I think one of the issues with the liquids may be when the recipe is being scaled up. The water to add in the recipe is 3 cups, but when the recipe is scaled up, the amount of water doesn’t change because it is in the directions and not in the ingredient list. That causes confusion and I’ll bet a lot of people are doubling. Perhaps put the amount of water in the recipe so it changes based on the amount being made, and also specify whether the lid should be left on or off when being made on the stove top.
That’s a great suggestion, Mark. We’re on it!