Coconut Lentil Curry
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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 started making this dish and realized that their is no curry on the recipe at all? I was scrambling to find the amount of curry to add in the recipe……..
Curry powder is simply a blend of different spices. Rather than using that, we add the whole spices.
Curry powder is a British invention (but exists in Australia too) – from when we colonised India in the 1800s. You won’t find curry powder in India, as they use the individual spices which we didn’t have back in the 1800s probably due to cost of travel
Absolutely delicious. Will make this again and again.
This was DELICIOUS!!!!!! I added cubed sweet potato and made it with brown rice. Will be making this often!!!!!! And i love how you wrote the recipe…. Ingredients under each step! So user friendly. Will post pics on Insta and tag you!! Thanks so much. X
This sounds delicious! And love how the ingredients are listed again under each step! Wondering if canned lentils could be used instead of dry? Thanks’
Canned lentils will work, but you’ll want to omit the water since they are already cooked. If the curry starts to look a little dry, you can add a splash of water. Also, you won’t need to simmer it long as you’re not cooking the lentils. 🙂
What I would do – make the sauce, cook the sauce for 35-40 minutes as written. Once the sauce is tasty (not acidic, rounder flavour, no harsh spices) and then add the drained canned lentils in the last 5-10 minutes to warm up. The cooked lentils will soak up the curry flavour overnight 🙂
Love this! Freezes so well… Mmm. Also I tried spinach in it once and it was great
I love this recipe, and the fact that it is so versatile. Tonight, for example, I added paneer (not vegan but so yummy) and roasted yams.
Thanks!
Kris
It works in the instapot!
I just made this with the addition of 1 TBS curry powder and 1 peeled and diced eggplant.
I sautéed the coriander seed and ground cumin with garlic in the instapot on sauté for 1 minute. Then I added all the other ingredients except cilantro and cherry tomatoes and cooked on high pressure cook for 14 minutes, followed by 15 natural release. Eggplant cooked down so that it isn’t noticeable ( I like it better this way!) and the lentils still have just a touch of chew to them. Added chopped cilantro when I served it.
So delicious!
I keep messing up this recipe for some reason, my mom will never let me use a 28oz can of tomatoes, she says it’s too much. Anyway the few times I managed to make it right it was really good! I’m going to keep on trying and making adjustments till I ace it. It’s worth it!
I made this curry for my partner (and I) as meal prep for a few days and he loved it. I used green lentils because I couldn’t find the brown anywhere so I’m curious to see what it’ll taste like next time with the brown 🙂 this was such a quick and straightforward recipe – thanks!
Absolutely loved this recipe served it with brown rice and made enough to enjoy for the rest of week. Will mark it as my favourite to enjoy always.
This is my absolutely favorite lentil soup recipe! I sent it to a friend and she is obsessed! Sooo good!
This was the first and best lentil curry I’ve made. I’ve tried others and they just don’t live up to that big hit of turmeric and other spices that I love about this one. Whenever I make this, I sub in 1 tsp each of ground coriander and ground cumin instead of the 1 tbsp of the seeds. I also alternate between diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes depending on what I’ve got on hand (if you use diced, I’d recommend reducing the water to 2 cups). So easy to make, so delicious, and so full of good stuff. Thank you!
I’ve made this recipe a dozen times at home in California, shared with friends, and keep coming back for more!
Now I will be making it today on our sailboat in the South Pacific. “Kana Totoka”! ( Awesome food )
I love it so much that you are making this recipe on a sailboat on the south pacific. I bet it will taste even better there!
Absolutely delicious
This was easy to make and extremely tasty – also really like the way that the recipe is written with the quantities of the ingredients underneath each addition. A non fussy but tasty meal – oh apart from peeling all of the garlic!
I’m adding this recipe to my grocery list this week and I have a few questions. Should I really use a whole head of garlic? =o I’ve never used that much garlic in a dish? And how should I adjust if I am using ground cumin and corainder?
Yep, a whole head. It sounds like a lot but the curry isn’t overly garlicky. And you can use the same amount of ground spice as the recipe calls for.