I’ve been trying to brain storm up some easy plant-based meals lately, and this week’s creation was these Creamy Coconut Curried Lentils with Spinach, which are kind of like the creamy cousin of my Curried Chickpeas with Spinach. I swapped out the canned chickpeas for quick cooking lentils, and instead of a tomato-based curry sauce, I went with a super rich creamy coconut sauce, that pairs oh so well with the earthy lentils and heady curry spices.
As you can see in the photos, I paired these Creamy Coconut Curried Lentils with my Curry Roasted Carrots and some naan. The sweetness of the carrots balances perfectly with the earthy lentils. If you’re not up for making an entirely separate side dish, you can even just slice up a few carrots and let them simmer along with the lentils in the skillet!
Make it Spicy or Mild
This recipe is really easy to make either spicy or mild and tastes fantastic either way. Curry powder can be either hot or mild, so make sure you know which type you’re buying. If you have a mild curry powder and want your coconut curry lentils to be spicy, simply add a little cayenne pepper, or top the cooked dish with a few red pepper flakes. Or, if you’d like to try to make your own curry powder, try this recipe for Easy Homemade Curry Powder from Spiceitupp.com.
What Type of Lentils Should I Use?
Brown lentils are the best for this dish because they hold their shape through simmering, unlike red or yellow lentils, but still cook really quickly, unlike green lentils. Brown lentils are sometimes just labeled “lentils” in the U.S., so just check the recommended cooking time on the package. If it says simmer for about 20 minutes, you’ve got the right type of lentil!
Is There a Substitute for Coconut Milk?
Heavy cream or half and half can be used in place of the coconut milk in this recipe, although you probably won’t need quite as much as the coconut milk used. Stick to about 1/2 cup for the heavy cream or 3/4 cup for half and half.
Creamy Coconut Curry Lentils with Spinach
Servings 4 1.25 cups curry lentils + 1 cup riceIngredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.24)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.10)
- 1 small yellow onion ($0.21)
- 1 Tbsp curry powder* ($0.30)
- 1 cup brown lentils (dry) ($0.67)
- 2 cups vegetable broth** ($0.26)
- 1 13oz. can coconut milk ($1.99)
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach ($1.61)
For Serving (optional)
- 4 cups cooked rice ($0.60)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro ($0.15)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic, grate the ginger, and dice the onion. Add the olive oil, garlic, and ginger to a deep skillet, Dutch oven, or soup pot. Sauté the garlic and ginger over medium heat for 1 minute, or just until the garlic becomes soft and fragrant.
- Add the diced onion to the skillet and continue to sauté over medium until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the curry powder and continue to sauté for about one minute more to toast the spices.
- Add the dry lentils and vegetable broth to the skillet. Stir to dissolve any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Place a lid on top, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the broth to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- After simmering for 20 minutes the lentils should be tender and most of the broth absorbed. Add the can of coconut milk and stir to combine. Turn the heat back up to medium and allow the skillet to come back up to a simmer. Let it simmer without a lid for an additional 10 minutes, stirring often, to thicken the mixture.
- Once thickened, turn the heat off. Add the fresh spinach and stir gently until the spinach has wilted. Taste the mixture and adjust the salt or curry powder to your liking, if needed.
- Serve over a bowl of rice, and top with chopped cilantro if desired.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Creamy curried lentils – Step by Step Photos
Mince two cloves of garlic, grate about 1 tsp fresh ginger, and dice one small onion. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil, the minced garlic, and grated ginger to a deep skillet (a Dutch oven or soup pot will also work). Sauté for about one minute, or just until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
Add the diced onion and continue to sauté until the onion is soft and translucent. Once the onion is softened, add 1 Tbsp curry powder. Continue to sauté for one minute more to toast the spices.
Add 1 cup dry brown lentils to the skillet…
Along with 2 cups of vegetable broth. I use Better Than Bouillon, which contains a fair amount of salt. If your broth doesn’t have a lot of salt, you may need to add some to the dish at the end to help the flavors pop.
Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let it come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes (with the lid on). After 20 minutes the lentils should be tender and most of the broth absorbed.
Stir in one 13oz. can of coconut milk.
Turn the heat back up to medium and let it come back up to a simmer. Let it simmer for 10 more minutes, without a lid, stirring often. This will break down the lentils a little more and reduce the coconut milk a little, making it thicker.
Turn the heat off and add about 3 cups (or three handfuls) of fresh spinach to the skillet.
Gently stir and allow the residual heat to wilt the spinach. Once wilted, give it a taste and adjust the curry powder or salt if needed.
And then it’s ready to serve! I like to serve my Creamy Coconut Curry Lentils over rice to soak up all that delicious creamy curry, but it’s also great with Naan and Curry Roasted Carrots.
And of course I meal prepped this. :)
Whoa, this recipe is incredible! Super easy and delicious. I meal prepped it for lunches last week and think I will do it again next week. Really satisfying and kept me full for a long time. This recipe is a keeper.
I made this last night and love it. I will be make this dish often. Thanks!
I made it in my pressure cooker and did 4 mins under pressure to cook the lentils (quick release) then used the sauté function when I added the coconut milk for the additional 10 minutes. The lentils were soft with just a little bit of bite – perfect for me but if you want really soft lentils I would try 5 minutes under pressure. Thanks for a great recipe.
This was fantastic! And I think it would have been an easy dinner if I hadn’t decided to go all out and make your naan recipe, also. (Worth it!)
Absolutely wonderful. I used Garam Masala, an Indian curry powder that is starting to show up in supermarkets. It’s composed of sweet spices and doesn’t include turmeric which is the main component of regular supermarket curry powder and is not spicy at all. I did add a tsp of tumeric, for color and half a finely minced jalapeno for a little heat. Folks who live in larger cities may find it very cost effective find an Indian or Asian market where spices cost pennies to the dollar vs supermarket jars–well, maybe dimes to the dollar. Garam Masala can vary from brand to brand, place to place–all I have tried are delicious. I did pick the suggested carrots as my side, and used supermarket curry powder in those, plus a good dose of fresh ginger. The whole dinner made a delicious “meatless Monday.”
I made this last night, it was delicious! I didn’t have any dry brown lentils but I had a can of them so I used those. I also only had about 1 tsp of curry powder left but I had turmeric and cumin and threw in some cayenne. Served it over rice. I appreciate how easy it was to make this meal. I’d definitely make it again.
Made this last night and it was delicious! My lentils took a little longer to cook, but that always seems to be the case for me. I served it over barley, which added a great texture, as did the coconut shreds we sprinkled on top. I used Better than Bouillon for the veggie broth and did end up adding a touch more salt. And for those who are a little like me when it comes to measuring, 3 cups of spinach is equal to about 3.2 ounces. I always prefer going by weight!
I make a very similar dish using red lentils (and yes, of course they break down, but yum!), and I find a squeeze of lime really adds a nice touch to the dish. Thank you as usual for the lovely recipe! My mom and I continue to make about 80% of our weekly meals (two separate households) from your archives!
This recipe is phenomenal. I let mine simmer for about 30 minutes rather than 10 minutes after pouring in the coconut milk and it came out perfect. This will definitely be a meal prep staple In my house ☺️
Meal prepped this last night for lunches throughout the week. Seriously delicious.
how do I pin this recipe?
There are black social share buttons at the top of the blog post, just above the recipe, and a pin button when you hover over any of the images.
I made this and it’s really good, Beth! I had no idea what I wanted for dinner tonight and I had all the ingredients to make this. It did stink up my house a little, but it was worth it. :) Thank you for always having easy and interesting dinner ideas.
Just wanted to give you a heads up that Dolalr Tree sells coconut milk! I love using it to cook, but it gets pricey, so I was delighted to see the “Azul Coconut Milk” in the beverage aisle at Dollar Tree. Full fat only, but I prefer the taste!
Nice!! Thanks for that tip!
This looks so good! Do you think I could make it in a pressure cooker or crock pot?
I would say the lentils would cook up fine in the pressure cooker, but I don’t know if the coconut milk would be able to reduce properly.
I do have a very similar recipe for the slow cooker that you can check out here: Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Lentils. You can just follow that technique, adding the coconut milk at the end, and then stirring in the spinach last.
Is there a substitute for coconut milk? I’m allergic.
Yep, that info is included in the post, just above the recipe: “IS THERE A SUBSTITUTE FOR COCONUT MILK?
Heavy cream or half and half can be used in place of the coconut milk in this recipe, although you probably won’t need quite as much as the coconut milk used. Stick to about 1/2 cup for the heavy cream or 3/4 cup for half and half.”