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This creamy Coconut & Red Lentil Curry is ready in 30 minutes and you only need 8 ingredients to make it! A cozy and flavorful dinner.
Creamy coconut milk, protein-packed red lentils, and aromatic herbs and spices combine to create this comforting, satisfying, but totally-good-for-you Creamy Coconut & Red Lentil Curry. This red lentil curry recipe is packed with cozy spices and wholesome flavor, plus it’s naturally vegan and gluten-free!
The best part? It’s made with only 8 humble (and pantry-friendly!) ingredients, tastes amazing, and can be on your table in 30 minutes.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
This Vegan Red Lentil Curry is
- Quick & Easy: it’s ready in 30-minutes, making it a perfect weeknight dinner
- Flavor-Packed & Creamy: store-bought curry powder and coconut milk shorten the ingredient list while still packing in a TON of flavor
- Easy to Customize: add more spices to your liking, or toss in some veggies like peas, potatoes, or carrots to make the meal even more filling
- Great as Leftovers: this is a great recipe for meal prep, as the flavors only get better as they sit!
This recipe is inspired by Indian daal (a.k.a. dal or dahl), which is a very broad term for delicious, heavily-spiced curries made with split peas or lentils. While most daals use a variety of spices and whole seeds like cumin, coriander, and turmeric, I chose to use a store-bought curry powder to make things easier and more pantry-friendly.
If you’d like a more traditional recipe, check out this Instant PotDaal Tadka!
Ingredients for Easy Red Lentil Curry
This simple curry is made from simple, pantry-staple ingredients, but it still packs a mighty flavor punch! The ingredient list is short and very budget-friendly and can be found in most grocery stores. You can typically find dried red lentils near the canned beans, or with the other bagged and dried pulses.
How to Make Vegan Red Lentil Curry
This whole dish cooks in less than 30 minutes – meaning you have the perfect amount of time to cook up a pot of fluffy white rice to serve alongside it. If you’re looking for an even easier option, try serving this curry with some naan or roti for a totally fuss-free side!
- Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger, and cilantro together in a pan until fragrant and golden.
- Add in some curry powder (and optional cayenne), red lentils, coconut milk, and vegetable broth.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until tender and creamy.
CAITLIN’S COOKING TIPs:
- Chop your ingredients finely: One of the great things about this curry is that it practically melts in your mouth…but that’s a hard feeling to achieve if your onion is in large chunks. Try your best to finely chop your vegetables, or use a food processor to pulse your veggies finely if you’re a little impatient!
- Styling Tip: I like to save 2-3 tablespoons of coconut milk to drizzle over the curry just before I serve it. It looks fancy (but is secretly really easy), especially when paired with a sprinkle of freshly chopped cilantro.
This Coconut & Red Lentil Curry is the perfect cool weather meal – it’s filling, cozy, and full of warming spices. It easy enough to serve for a quick weeknight dinner, but also impressive enough to serve to family and friends. It also reheats well, making it great for meal prep.
If you’re looking for more Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipes you’ll also love my One Pot Pasta, this Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup, or this Dump & Bake Chickpea Curry Casserole!
Is there anything this curry can’t do? So far I’m at a loss, but let me know if you find out…
FAQs & Cooking Tips:
The fresh ginger adds a bit of a kick, but I wouldn’t personally consider this curry to be too spicy. If you do love a little heat, you can add some chopped jalapeños or serrano peppers to the curry along with the ginger and garlic – see the recipe notes for more information!
Yes! You can serve this Red Lentil Curry with some steamed or roasted vegetables on the side, or you can also add some veggies to the curry while it simmers. Frozen peas, cauliflower, spinach, mustard greens, or carrots are great additions!
I strongly recommend using red lentils in this recipe, as they cook quickly and get nice and creamy as they break down. Yellow lentils or split peas will work as well if they are split – I wouldn’t use brown lentils, though.
Yes, you can! See the recipe notes for my full instructions.
If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂
Easy Red Lentil Curry with Coconut Milk (30 Minute Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger finely minced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped; stems and leaves divided
- 1 tablespoon salt-free curry powder
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 1 1/2 cups dry red lentils rinsed
- 1 13.5 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- Serving suggestions: cooked basmati or jasmine rice naan or roti
Instructions
- Cook the Onion: Bring a large saucepan to medium heat and add a splash of vegetable broth or neutral cooking oil. Add the onion to the pan and sauté until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes
- Add Aromatics:Add the garlic, ginger, and chopped cilantro stems to the pan and sauté for an additional 1-2 minutes, then stir in the curry powder and cook for an additional minute.
- Simmer: Add the lentils to the pan with the coconut milk, vegetable broth, and water; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Stir occasionally to ensure even cooking and flavor distribution.
- Serve & Store: Serve warm with rice and with the reserved cilantro leaves, or as desired. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or they can be frozen for up to two months.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Instant Pot Instructions: select the “Sauté” setting on your pressure cooker and follow steps 1-2 as written. After you add the lentils and liquids, press “Cancel” to stop sauteeing and seal the Instant Pot with the lid. Cook on manual high-pressure for 4 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes before covering the vent with a kitchen towel and manually releasing the remaining pressure.
- Add-ins and Variations: this recipe is a great “base” for a lot of add-ins, like spicy peppers, carrots, potatoes, spinach, and mustard greens. I recommend adding the veggies along with the garlic and ginger in step 2, and stirring in any fresh greens just before the curry finishes simmering.
Can I use coconut crème instead?
You sure can! It will just be extra creamy. You can also do 1/2-3/4 of the amount of coconut cream and the rest water (to measure 398ml)
I just made this today and it’s delicious! I left out the cilantro because I’m one of those people that can’t stand it.
I used a little extra low sodium vegetable broth because I wanted to use up the container so as not to waste it.
I put in the lesser amount of cayenne pepper and it was perfect !
I might try adding peas and carrots and potatoes to the next one.
I cooked it a lot longer than the recipe called for, because I like my lentils very soft.👍🏻
So happy you adapted the recipe to work for you!
I made this yesterday exactly like the directions say and it was so bland. I was like “did I miss a step???”
The next day I added extra seasoning (garlic and ginger powder, as well as ginger and garlic paste), turmeric, a cup of sour cream, so much green pepper hot sauce, and 2 tablespoons of better than bouillon paste. And now it’s good lol.
This serves as a super simple curry base but learn from my mistake 🤣 I didn’t feel like making other recipes because this one had half the necessary ingredients and uh…I see why now.
Made this to night. Super good. Made it in the instant pot. I added a little more seasoning afterwards and cracked black pepper. Next time I’ll try with potatoes and carrots and double the seasonings
I’m so happy you enjoyed, Greyson!
Tasted delicious but far too much liquid. I should have just put 2 cups broth and kept an eye on it. Next time…moral of the story..read the reviews before jumping in. I am letting it sit in the hopes that the lentils absorb some of the liquid.
Chef’s kiss!! I cooked my lentils 25 minutes after rinsing and soaking for 6 hours.
Perfect! I’m so glad you enjoyed!
This is part of our regular meals! So tasty and healthy and easy to put together on the stove or in the instant pot! Love love it!
So happy to hear that, Kat!
Looks delicious! Going to try with gold lentils as I couldn’t find red. Any idea of the nutritional value (calories and protein)?
Cant wait to try your recipes. Look delicious.
Thanks Gwen!
Sorry for this. I followed the recipe step by step. The 2 cups of veggie broth plus the 2 cups of water made it into soup and mush. So what did I do wrong?
I’m sorry it didn’t work out, it’s hard to say! It is meant to be runny but not too runny. Maybe your lentils were older and didn’t absorb as much liquid?
I make this often because it tastes great, is easy and fast to make and I think nutritious (?). I never however add the 2 cups of water. Sometimes it seems thicker than other times (maybe due to more lentils added sometimes as I dont measure very precisely) so I add about half a can more of coconut milk and then the flavour in just amazing.
Yum! I’m so happy you keep coming back to it 🙂