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.
My friend made this for me and OMG! SO YUM! So now I’m going to make it too!
I’m so happy you liked it! Tell your friend I said thanks!!
I’ve made this several times and I love it. Tonight I experimented and cooked it in my Instant Pot. It was done in 15 minutes and it was delicious!
That is so great to hear! Thank you for letting us all know that it works in an Instant Pot!!
Delicious and beautifully spiced. Roasted some cauliflower to serve alongside.
I’m so happy you liked it!
Could green lentils be used in the recipe?
You sure can!
I have a question…. I am planning on making this tonight! I am a huge fan of curry and quite frankly everything it has in it. In some of the reviews and comments I have seen curry powder referenced, but don’t see it in the ingredients. Is this an oversight? Do I make as is? Or add curry powder/paste? If so how much? Thanks all!!!!
Nope … just make it as it!
I am vegan and always looking for new recipes. This is absolutely delicious and super easy! It will be one of my staples. Thank you so much!
I’m so happy to hear you liked it!!
I loved the lentil and curry dish but was wondering about the colour I was really hopping it to look more yellow like curry but it looks like my tomato sauce….any idea?
Curries vary in color quite a bit depending on what the ingredients are. Yellow curries will generally be that color because of turmeric and will be coconut milk or cream based. Tomato based curries will always be more red in color. 🙂
I decided to make this lentil curry today, I have recently become vegetarian and was looking for simple meals I was running out of food ideas on my own but your recipe came just in time…..so good I thought it would be too much garlic I’ve never used a whole head of garlic but I followed the recipe and it was really good!
I’m so happy you liked it! I know it sounds like a lot but it really works doesn’t it?!
I LOVE this recipe. I made three batches and accidentally put in TABLESPOONS instead of teaspoons of salt. I made another three batches and mixed it all up together. Still a little too salty but delicious!
Haha that sounds like something I would do!
If I’m using powdered cumin/coriander (since I won’t be toasting the actual seeds) should I add the powder at the same time as the other spices or still mix it first with the oil/garlic before adding tomatoes?
Yep! It will cook the spices to help bring out their flavor. 🙂
I’ve made this once before and it was delicious! The batch is way too much for my family to eat before it goes bad and I love having freezer meals ready to go. How would you recommend freezing it? Cook the whole thing, then freeze? Or can the ingredients be frozen in a gallon freezer bag and then cooked?
This freezes really well! Just cook the whole recipe, cool what you don’t eat, then freeze it in freezer bags. Come dinner time just run some hot water over the bag to loosen the curry then pop it into a pot with a splash of water. It reheats beautifully!
LOVE LOVE this recipe. I was tired of making tasteless meals. This is my go to recipe. I will sub the lentil for different options like potato’s, kale, beans, or carrots. I’ve frozen them. I just had the last frozen just couple of weeks ago.
I don’t like cilantro so I will leave that out and usually don’t use the whole tomatoes
That makes me so happy to hear! Hooray!!
This was amazing! I was a little hesitant about making my first lentil curry, because I really don’t like it when flavors like garlic, turmeric, ginger or coriander overpower my dishes. I used a smallish head of garlic and started off with a tsp of powdered cumin and coriander (I figured I’d need less than a tbs, as powder is more compact than seeds, and I also figured I could add more later). I did add some more cumin, coriander and ginger, and the flavors were wonderful!
I ended up only using one cup of water to cook my lentils (once again trusting the good old ‘I can always add more’ adage) and ended up with a lovely, not-too-thick curry that was pretty much no work at all. Hello winter, I’m ready for you!
I’m so happy you liked it!!
My husband hates cilantro! Do you think this dish will suffer without it?
If he doesn’t like it, just leave it out. You can always sprinkle some on top of yours if you’re a fan. 🙂
I love this recipe!! I’m an island girl and I love coconut flavor and the taste in my cooking, so I used a block of coconut cream from the beginning of my cooking so while the lentils are cooking the coconut flavor gets into the beans and I also use organic marina sauce instead of tomatoes from the can to give it extra flavor last but not least I used curry paste instead of turmeric which adds another depth of flavor!! Keep doing the great work your doing!! I admire all you ladies who take time out to bring these AWSOME recipes!!
Great call on the block of cream! I’ve never seen coconut cream sold that way, but I can just imagine how much more rich it would be!
A friend of mine brought this dish to a potluck and I fell in love with it. Do you know if it’s crockpot friendly?
I’m so happy you liked the recipe! I’m sure you could make this in a crock pot. Maybe do a quick Google search to find a crock pot lentil curry recipe to make sure the water/lentil ration is correct. 🙂
You’ve also just given me an idea for a new recipe. I may have to start experimenting with a crock pot version really soon. Thank you for that!
Yes! We are always struggling for vegetarian crockpot recipes that aren’t chili.
The crock pot version is coming out this week! Keep an eye out for it!