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.
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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. :)
Another incredible recipe from budget bytes! Truly haven’t found one I’ve disliked yet!
Tried this recipe as well as the Dal Nirvana and this one was my favorite!
Very simple and nutritious paired with curried carrots
Im not vegan myself but I like that I can make good vegan food if not for me but for friends or those with dietary restrictions.
Delicious! I made this with some black lentils that I had on hand and used chicken broth for the same reason. My husband liked it as well even though he’s not a huge spinach fan. I will definitely make this again.
Another banging recipe (that’s a good thing)! Thank you so much. I followed the recipe to the letter and love it. I served it over white rice and had two portions! I’m a carnivore by choice, but this recipe was lovely and I was happy with how it turned out. I read some of the other comments and I do think this would be good with chickpeas as well, but I am very happy with the brown lentils here. I froze two portions in my Souper Cube, which allows you to freeze food in small rectangle blocks for easy storage in the freezer.
I’ve been trying some vegan options as my mom comes to visit and is vegan and gluten-free. Thank you for another vegan recipe I’ll have in my arsenal mainly with pantry items ready to go. I appreciate it.
CanI use red lentils instead?
I don’t suggest red lentils for this one because they break down really quickly when cooked so you’ll end up with more of a mush instead of whole lentils.
Would this dehydrate well for a backpacking meal?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with dehydrating food so I’m not able to offer any advice.
When you dehydrate food that contains oil it’s not such a good idea. In thus recipe for example, the olive oil and the vegetable broth. The oil left over can cause food to go rancid depending in how long you intend to store it.
Baby’s First Lentils!! Haha I never ate or made lentils before but wanted to for a while now since they’re so good for you. Finally made this recipe and it was a great one to start with in my opinion. Few ingredients and only a few simple steps. Easy peasy. I think I let it cook off at the end a little too long fearing I had too much liquid left, and then felt like I didn’t have enough liquid, but whatever sauce I did end up with was tasty. I added a bit more curry when I tasted it at the end because ours is a fairly mild Jamaican Curry. The flavors were mellow but tasty. I felt like you could tell lentils might not taste too great on their own so the flavors are important and these worked really well. I served over jasmine rice and even though I was a little apprehensive about not liking it I found myself easily finishing a bowl and reaching for seconds. The three people I lived with who are not lentil eaters liked it too. Recommended!
I could NOT find brown lentils in my grocery store. Has anyone had success subbing in something else? How did you adjust the directions, and how did it turn out?
If you need to use a different type of lentil, just check the cooking instructions on the package. Take note of the amount of time that it suggests for simmering or boiling the lentil and then use that as a guide for step 4 when you’re simmering the lentils in the broth. Depending on the type of lentil used, you may need more broth, so just keep an eye on it and add more as it simmers if it begins to get too dry.
Brown lentils are the most common type and in the US are usually just called lentils. They will be a mottled greenish brown color. Sometimes they are called green lentils but they are different from French green lentils. It can be really confusing until you know what they should look like.
If I run out of lentils, could I use split peas or something else to sub in?
Split peas break down very quickly so this would turn more into a mush type texture. I bet chickpeas would be good, though.
Spot on…
Love this recipe!! Can it be doubled or quadrupled? I’d really like to freeze some.
As long as you have a cooking vessel large enough to accommodate, you should be able to make a larger batch no problem. :)
Yum! I had some spinach that needed to be used up, and had everything else in my pantry. I used black caviar lentils, and it turned out so creamy. Everyone went back for seconds!
AMAZING and so healthy! Do you think this is something that I could freeze, it would be great for a quick lunch.
Yes, this would probably freeze well. :)
DELICIOUS ….I came across this recipe yesterday and had to try it today… AMAZING! I know I will be making it a few times a week. I cant wait to try those carrots.
Thank you…
Loved this! Simple, quick, delicious and healthy! Doesn’t get much better than that! I really enjoyed eating this and stayed full for hours. This is a keeper!
I substituted for light coconut milk and threw in a block of frozen spinach since it’s what I had and it turned out great!