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.
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 for you to be in coconut curry heaven!
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 or not that’s true, 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?)
Ingredients to make curried lentils
- Coconut oil – for sautéing the flavor components.
- The flavor – cumin seeds, coriander seeds, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, and sea salt.
- Crushed tomatoes – just open a can and pour it in!
- Lentils – the star of the show! We use brown lentils, but green lentils work just as well.
- Coconut milk – this is what makes the lentil curry wonderfully creamy.
- Cherry tomatoes and cilantro – these get stirred in at the end for even more flavor.
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 excellent. 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 your fridge.
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 you a video so you can see just how easy it will be for you to sit down in front of 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.
I could talk all day about this recipe but I’ll keep it short. It’s fan-tas-tic.
Best vegan curry I’ve ever made
Great recipe. We used coconut milk with the chicken broth. We used almost every different vegetable in the fridge. We also used red lentils.
Thanks so much
We loved the flavor but will add an onion next time.
The coriander seeds were chewy so will use powder perhaps next time. Good soup indeed!
Easy and delicious. I’ve come back to it many times over the last two years.
Sometimes I add mushroom and chicken pieces.
This is easily one of my new favorite recipes! I have now made it twice. I always like to make more than they the allotted servings and so I originally doubled the recipe and it made so much food! AMAZING – I ate the absolute heck out of it all week and never got bored of it! The second time I made it was just last night and I followed the amount of lenils needed but added more of the spieces and it gave me way more of the broth than the lentil. I wasn’t super stoked because I wanted more for the next couple of days. So after I at, I kept the pot simmering and added more dried lentils to the pot and practically made another batch and it is so delicious! I highly recommend adding more lentils people. Minimally a cup and a half or heck just the entire bad and upping the seasonings becuause it is so worth having more of this deliciousness!
Have made this curry so many times and I love it every time! Can you freeze it ?
Yes! It freezes excellently!
I’ve made this delicious recipe many times. I’ve passed it on to multiple people. It is perfect as written. I do sometimes chop a couple carrots and potatoes in there, just to sneak some vegetables into my family. To make this a weeknight meal,, I saute everything in my instant pot up to the point of adding the stewed tomatoes, then I pressure cook on high for 15 minutes. Thanks for this staple in my families favorite recipes.
I’ve made this countless times!! It is so easy to make and so flavorful. I don’t change the recipe at all, but some modifications people mention below sound amazing, too. Highly recommend.
I love this creamy lentil curry recipe, so much so that it’s my go to. I do add a finely chopped onion and roughly grind the cumin and coriander seeds. That’s all !
How much is the serving? “6 servings” really doesnt sum it up for me. thank you
Each serving is about 1 ¾ cups. 🙂
Just did it it but I didn’t use as much garlic (12!?!). Perhaps garlic cloves are larger where I am. Anyway, super fast to make and delicious!
Even with the larger cloves, use that amount and I promise you won’t regret it! I do large cloves and even add a bit more because, heck why not?! ( I’m Greek and garlic is a staple hahah)
It adds a really beautiful depth to the dish.
I’m from India. So you know we have many kings of lentils and we flavor them all differently. What kind of lentil did you use, pls let me know and oblige. I like the recipe a lot. I’ll cook it. Looks yummy.
Thank you for sharing.
Meera God bless.🙏
Second time making this recipe . The coconut curry lentils came out delicious once again. Not as creamy as I would of liked but by tomorrow those lentils will thicken right up. I didn’t measure anything and just threw the spices in pretty good it still came out great I added a little extra spices a little more of everything including the cayenne and a few dashes of curry powder this pot was a little spicier but not too hot. And sooo yummy. 😉
This looks delicious but does it really take 20-24 cloves of garlic?!
If you double the recipe! Otherwise 10-12 cloves – or 1 whole head of garlic.
I made this curry last night. It was a hit! Everyone loved it!! No leftovers for tonight… Now I am inspired to get another curry going for tonight!