It’s HOT outside, so I’m experimenting a lot with my slow cooker this week. Slow cookers are awesome not only because they’re mostly hands-off, but also because they contain their heat well and don’t cause that dreaded ambient heat rise in your kitchen. So, while I totally could have just boiled these Coconut Curry Lentils on the stove top, I saved myself some steam and sweat by cooking them in my slow cooker.
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How to Serve Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Lentils
My only issue with using my slow cooker a lot in the summer is that slow cooker recipes are often warm and heavy, more like winter recipes. To freshen these Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Lentils up a bit, I topped them with finely diced red onion and a liberal sprinkle of chopped cilantro. If you don’t like cilantro, you can add some sliced green onion for a similar effect. For even more freshness, try adding a dollop of plain yogurt and a squeeze of lime juice.
Can I Freeze Coconut Curry Lentils?
This recipe makes a lot but luckily it freezes well–rice and all! Just portion everything out into single-serving freezer-safe containers, chill completely in the refrigerator, then transfer to the freezer.
What Size Slow Cooker Should I Use?
This makes a super big batch of lentils, so I would suggest using a 6-quart slow cooker. I use a very basic slow cooker from Hamilton Beach, which is so old that it’s not in production anymore, but you can find a similar slow cooker here. (affiliate link)
What Kind of Curry Powder Should I Use?
You can use either a hot or mild curry powder, depending on whether you prefer your lentils to be mild or spicy. People often ask me what brand curry powder I use, and I have enjoyed both the 365 brand curry powder and Sharwood’s curry powder. Or you can try making your own curry powder at home with this recipe for Easy Homemade Curry Powder from Spiceitupp.com
Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Lentils
Servings 10 cupsIngredients
COCONUT CURRY LENTILS
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 2 cups brown lentils ($1.36)
- 1 sweet potato (about 3/4 lb.) ($0.98)
- 2 carrots ($0.22)
- 3 Tbsp curry powder (hot or mild) ($0.45)
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves (optional) ($0.03)
- 1 15oz. can petite diced tomatoes ($0.65)
- 1 15oz. can tomato sauce ($0.99)
- 3 cups vegetable broth* ($0.39)
- 1 14oz. can coconut milk (full fat) ($2.47)
FOR SERVING
- 10 cups cooked rice ($0.99)
- 1/2 red onion ($0.40)
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro or green onions ($0.40)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Peel the sweet potato and carrots. Dice the sweet potato (1/4-1/2 inch cubes) and slice the carrots.
- Add the onion, garlic, sweet potato, carrots, lentils, curry powder, cloves, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and vegetable broth to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7-8 hours. Once cooked, the lentils should be tender and most of the liquid should be absorbed.
- Stir the can of coconut milk into the lentils. Taste and adjust the salt or other spices as needed (the amount of salt needed will depend on the type of broth used and the salt content of the canned tomatoes).
- To serve, add 1 cup cooked rice to a bowl followed by 1 cup of the lentil mixture. Top with finely diced red onion and fresh cilantro.
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Slow Cooker Curry Lentils – Step by Step Photos
Dice one onion (it’s under all that stuff) and mince two cloves of garlic. Peel one sweet potato (3/4-1 lb.) and peel two carrots. Dice the sweet potato and slice the carrots. Add the onion, garlic, sweet potato, and carrots to the slow cooker, along with 2 cups uncooked brown lentils.
Also add one 15oz. can of petite diced tomatoes, a 15oz. can of tomato sauce, 3 Tbsp curry powder (mild or hot–your preference), and 1/4 tsp ground cloves. I’ve decided that I really like cloves in my curry, but if you’re not a clove person you can leave it out.
This is the curry powder I use, BTW. It’s just something I picked up at the grocery store, but it has pretty good potency. Curry powders can vary quite a bit from brand to brand in both flavor and potency, so you might have to experiment to find one that you like. I like to buy mild curry powder and then just add cayenne to dishes when I want things spicy.
Finally, add 3 cups vegetable broth to the slow cooker and give everything a good stir.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7-8 hours. If your slow cooker runs extra hot or doesn’t hold in moisture well, keep an eye on the cooker to make sure the lentils are not drying out. If they begin to look dry or burned on the edges, add more water. After cooking the lentils should be tender and most of the broth absorbed.
Stir in one 14oz. can of full-fat coconut milk. Give the lentils a taste and adjust the salt or other spices if needed. The amount of salt needed will depend on the salt content of your vegetable broth and canned tomatoes. Mine had plenty of salt, so I added none. If you find the lentils to be bland at this point, add a 1/2 tsp of salt or so to see if that makes the flavors pop.
To serve the lentils, add 1 cup cooked rice to a bowl, followed by 1 cup of the coconut curried lentils. Top with finely diced red onion and fresh cilantro (or green onions if you’re not a cilantro person). Other optional toppings include: plain yogurt, a squeeze of fresh lime, or thinly sliced jalapeños.
These Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Lentils are sure to fuel ALL of your summer adventures! :D
Hello this looks delish and I plan to make it this weekend. Is the nutrition info for the one cup serving of lentils alone, or include the one cup of cooked rice as suggested? Thanks!
Hi there! I am making this for 8 people – would the 10-cup recipe be sufficient? I’m worried that if I double the recipe, it won’t cook as well in my slow cooker! Thanks!
I think it would be fine! Lentils are quite filling and if you’re also doing plenty of rice it should be enough. You could also serve with some naan bread to add a bit more bulk to the meal and soak up that yummy sauce!
Do you know how this recipe would translate to the Instant Pot?
We haven’t tested it that way in our kitchen, but I took this from a couple of readers who commented that they tried it in the Instant pot. Use the sauté function to cook the onions and garlic first, then high pressure for 12 minutes and quick release, and stir in the coconut milk at the end.
Could I use red lentils for this recipe? Thanks!
You can! You might just want to check them a bit earlier since red lentils tend to cook a bit faster.
Any advice on how to adapt this recipe when using canned brown lentils, rather than the uncooked kind? It’s all I’ve got on hand.
Cheers!
That’s a tough one, Marie! Since your lentils are already cooked, they would get likely get overcooked in the slow cooker. They also wouldn’t need all the liquid since they’re not going to be cooking from dried and absorbing the liquid. You could try omitting a couple cups of broth and cooking the vegetables as the recipe says, leaving out the lentils, then when it’s almost done, adding the canned lentils to warm through. Keep in mind though We haven’t tried this so it may or may not turn out perfect! Good luck!
Hi Beth! I love this recipe! Please could you specify if it’s two cups of dry, soaked or cooked/canned lentils please. Thanks!
Hi Tracy! You’ll want to use dry lentils for this.
This turned out so delicious! I had 2 sweet potatoes that needed using up, so I used both and only 1 cup of dried lentils, served over brown rice. I’m glad we have some for another night and some to freeze.
Hi there,
I’m not a big fan of sweet potatoes, do you think putting a bag of frozen peas in would work instead? Thanks!
Sounds delicious 😋 Do you think a substitution of reduced fat coconut milk would work?
We always recommend full fat but you’re welcome to try! It just may make the sauce a bit more watery and, of course, less rich.
cooked this today and no matter how long i slow cooked it (I gave up after 6 hours on high) the lentils would not get tender! They stayed a bit starchy and tough. I finally put them in a pot on the stove and boiled them to try to make them softer so we could eat dinner. Anybody else have this happen? I read online something about acid from tomato sauce in a recipe can keep lentils from getting tender. I used generically labeled lentils from the grocery store- not sure if they’re brown or green.
Did you buy the lentils recently? This can happen when cooking with lentils or any other dried bean that is past its best by date! I’ve learned that the hard way a few times thinking they’d be fine and they were noy after hours of trying to get them tender.
We don’t give our 1 year old much meat, only fishes and she loves this recipe. I didn’t have curry powder so substituted with some garam masala. I also didn’t add any salt. So yummy
Can you use red lentils instead of brown? I already have red on hand.
Red lentils tend to break down very quickly, so you may end up with something that has a texture more like a mush, rather than individual lentils.
I made the recipe as stated. I am impressed! It’s a huge, tasty success! Looking forward to enjoying leftovers. Thank you for sharing it. It’s a nice addition to our usual recipe rotation!
I’ve been searching for freezer friendly vegetarian meals. I must say I was skeptical of this recipe because it looked more like a chili than a curry (I do tend to “eat” with my eyes…) but I went based on all the rave reviews and I was very pleasantly surprised! My husband loved it and was sad that I had put all but a single serving for each of us in the freezer. Thank you for a great healthy freezer friendly vegetarian meal! AND SO EASY!
Yum! This was fantastic and super easy. I added a little garam masala and lots of cayenne. Great meal prep option.
This recipe could almost make a vegetarian out of me! Super easy, delicious, and I’ll get at least 2 meals out of it. I served it over couscous–yum.
So yummy! I ended up adding an extra sweet potato and added a tablespoon of garam masala. Increased the veggie stock a little to make up for the extra starch and it turned out perfectly.
This was just excellent, especially for its perfect quality/effort ratio and generous portions. It’s not a real Indian curry, but whatever. It’s good and almost effortless. I thought the tomatoes and curry powder would clash, but not so, with coconut milk the final result is similar to makhani gravy (but much less effort required).
Oh dear. I think I’m going to have more of a lentil soup. I didn’t have a sweet potato so I looked for a replacement and pumpkin was mentioned so I got canned pumpkin out and I have a very picky eater so I puréed the carrots and onion, along with the tomatoes, not thinking about how much extra liquid I was adding. I am sure the flavors will be good. I just feel a bit silly about not thinking of the liquid ratio.
I accidentally added the coconut milk to the beginning of the recipe. Did this just mess it up?
I’m not really sure how it will turn out, but hopefully, it works out okay! If not, don’t let it get ya down! ~ Marion :)
My family loves this recipe and it freezes really well so I always make the full monty.
This recipe is amazing. I did tweak it to make it with meat.
To alter the recipe I used beef broth instead of veggie broth and I added 1 pound of cooked ground beef.
My husband LOVED this recipe.
I have an 8 month old, so since this made so much I took a good bit of it, blended it with an immersion blender until it was smooth, and got a good bit of baby food, too. I know that isn’t the intended use, but I’m always looking for ways to make feeding my baby easier, cheaper, and healthier than buying the goop at the store. Oh, and she LOVED it too.
I am feeding 8 people so intend to double the recipe. Would you double the spices as well?
Hi, Krista! You can definitely double this recipe. When doing so, you should double every ingredient, including the spices, so that the final result is just as flavorful as the one that we tested. While curry powder does include some chili, it has more of a “warming” heat than a “spicy” one. (Each brand is slightly different, so I would just taste a tiny bit of the dry powder to gauge the spice level in yours).
If you are highly sensitive to spices, you *could* reduce them slightly in a double batch (but I would definitely add more than 1x) — however, since we haven’t tested it, I’d rather not give any specific recommendations. I will say — if the curry is missing that oomph — you can always add back the difference in Step 3 (after stirring in the coconut milk) when you go to taste and adjust the salt!
— Marion :)
Do you think this could be made in the instant pot? If so, any guidance?
Hi, Autumn! With some tweaking, I bet this recipe will work in an instant pot! But since we haven’t tested this recipe with that cooking method, I don’t want to give you any specific recommendations that might not be successful. I’d suggest adapting the times and temperatures you have used with similar recipes. I’m also not sure how coconut milk will react under high pressure — so I would also suggest looking up some tips online to give you additional guidance on that particular ingredient. If you do try it out, make sure to come back and let us know how it goes! ~ Marion :)
Works fine in instant pot, but might need more water to avoid burn error.
High for 10 min and then add coconut milk after cooking. Either fast or natural release should be ok.
I only ever make it in the instant pot.
Thanks for sharing these tips! ~Marion :)
I second the success with Instant Pot. I used the sautée function to cook the onions and garlic first, then high pressure for 14 minutes (I live at 7,000 feet) and quick release, and finally stirred in the coconut milk at the end. Great flavor, super easy. Total time 40 minutes.
I did recipe with no adjustments (including the coconut milk) and cooked on high pressure for 14 minutes with a natural depressurization. Worked great. Will cook it this way moving forward. Saves time and energy and no issues with burning at the normal liquid levels.
You don’t need to double it for 8! It makes about 10 generous servings.
Any chance this would work with green lentils? They’re the only ones I can ever find at ALDI
Hi! We haven’t tested this recipe with green lentils, so can’t give you exact guidance. Brown lentils are green lentils are just a touch different. Brown lentils are starchier and break down easier than green. They both generally cook in about the same time, though green takes a tad longer. The broth might be a touch watery with green, but the flavors should still be on point. XOXO -Monti
We really enjoyed this. For us the lentils were still a little firm at 8 hours so maybe I’ll quick soak beforehand next time. We also found fresh limes from our lime tree make a great addition to top it off, and perhaps some curry roasted cashews?
Delicious! I added 1/2 c. Water, extra curry powder, fresh ginger, cayenne, and a little salt. So good and so easy when I’m busy.
I don’t have a slow cooker, but would love to try this. Any suggestions for top of stove or oven cooking? I’ll try it as a braise in the oven I think.
You can recreate a slow cooker if you are comfortable leaving your oven on all day. Set it to a low temperature, between 200 (for slow-cooker recipes that call for low) and 250 (for slow-cooker recipes that call for high) degrees F. Place your ingredients in the Dutch oven as you would the slow cooker, and cook as directed in the recipe. XOXO -Monti
So hearty and nourishing!
Changes I made:
-Eliminate tomato sauce, added 1 c veg broth per a different comment. I just don’t like a super tomato lentil soup
-Pinch of cayenne at the end
– used french green lentils
I found 8 hrs on low to be sufficient
Hi, quick Q – is the nutritional value based off of a cup of the curry along with a cup of rice, or just the curry by itself?
The nutritional calculation includes the rice! We recalculated everything to make sure. XOXO
Very easy and yummy recipe. I literally had all the ingredients just sitting in my pantry and popped it all on the slow cooker the day after we arrived home from holiday and didn’t have any food. I did add coriander flakes and Garam masala to the slow cooker. I still feel like it is missing something but can’t put my finger on it. Overall very happy. My husband loved it too
Hi Beth! Love this easy recipe… been using russet potatoes instead of sweet. Last addition to serving, add a dollop of prepared horseradish. The bomb.
Amazing ! My husband said it was one of the best meals I’ve ever cooked! He doesn’t typically give me laisse with that level of enthusiasm, haha. I added fresh ginger root but left out cloves and carrots (didn’t realize we ran out) and served over a bed of brown rice and fresh spinach, allowing the heat of the lentils to wilt the spinach. I garnished with yogurt green onion and fresh squeezed lime. So yummy!! 🤩😍
Shocked at how good this turned out. It will be a regular in our house.
Sweetened or unsweetened coconut milk? Im curious because either sounds like it would work but i want to make it as intended first.
Thanks!
Not sweetened. The kind that comes in a can, not the type that is meant as a dairy milk substitute. :)
Wow! This dish is so good tasty. I left out the canned tomatoes and tomato sauce and added a fresh tomato. That helped with controlling the sodium content. I also used lite coconut milk.
Delicious, and makes a ton of food. I like to bump up the spices and throw in some frozen spinach and mushrooms, too. Works really well with the Garlic Parmesan Polenta.
This is the best big recipe ever! I made it as written, but added a 1 T grated ginger, a t of Cumin, and a pinch of cayenne just because I like those spices in my dal, or curry. I used my Instant Pot and set it for 13 minutes. Also used up an assortment of small, medium and large brown lentils. So good! My son took it to work for his dinner.
Colleen, did you add the coconut milk after the 13 minutes, or was that in the instant pot too when cooking? Thanks!
So yummy! Perfect recipe for using a crockpot. The ingredients proportions were right for my slow cooker and I didn’t have to add any additional liquid. This means next time I can put all ingredients in the crockpot and forget about them cooking for 4 hours. My kid approved the flavors so I can’t be happier with the outcome. Used mild curry powder so it’s not spicy for sensitive kids taste buds. Would make it again.
This recipe has been my go to for busy weeks! Easy prep and very inexpensive. I used mild curry powder because my store doesn’t have many options, but I’m sure it’d be even better with a spicier blend!
I cook this on low for 8 hours which is best because the seasonings and flavors in this dish need time to come together.
A bowl of this curry over white rice always hits the spot. It keeps pretty well in the fridge, too. Just like every other Budget Bytes recipe, it’s a five star meal! Try it out!
Great recipe! I can’t wait to try it. Is there a substitute for coconut milk? I’m trying to avoid it due to the high amount of saturated fat.
Yogurt is really tasty with curry as well, so you could try stirring a bit into your bowl just before serving.
I was worried about adding the tomatoes at the beginning and my lentils getting hard, but they turned out perfectly. I used the cheap brown lentils you can buy in a bag at Target/Walmart for $1. I made a half recipe for 8 hours on low and added an extra 1/2 cup water halfway through because it looked dry. I’m glad I did it on the longer cook time because the flavors had a long time to meld.
My family is mostly plant-based and we LOVED this recipe. It is a great way to get some protein into our diet. To cut corners I used shredded carrots, which was perfect. I was worried about the lentils being undercooked, but they were perfect. We had it with naan bread. I will def make this again. Does it freeze well? I was surprised at how much it actually made. It fed a family of 6, plus leftovers!
I also had a problem with the lentils not cooking. After 4 hours on high when I tasted it everything was so delicious! But the more I cooked it to get the lintels to soften the more the flavor just vanished. I cooked them for 6 hours and they still weren’t cooked. I thought perhaps I read the recipe wrong and that I needed canned lentils because the recipe doesn’t specify but nope. Next time I will soak them over night. Other than that it was an awesome recipe!
Try RED lentils, they cook much quicker than the green or brown varieties! 😉
I don’t usually write reviews but I LOVE THIS RECIPE! I make it often. I have a smaller slow cooker so I halve the recipe and use just one sweet potato and one can of diced tomatoes instead of tomato paste.
I make it for me myself and I and I love that this makes a ton of food. I can always stash some away in the freezer for those nights I need some comfort food without the $$$ and the time.
Can’t say enough good things.. oh wait.. it’s vegan too!
We make this all the time. We add a pinch of spice (cayenne) to ours because our curry powder isn’t spicy. Tonight, we added a butternut squash this, and it was yummy!
We love this recipe, it’s one of our favorites! And it’s vegan. Our slow cooker broke, so I learned to just make this on the stove by cooking the lentils separately. Still works!
Thank you, Beth
I just ditched the other two slow cooker lentil recipes from other site searches. Yours is now on the top of the podium. So good. Perfect in my lowest-priced, basic Crockpot.
I forgot to buy tomato sauce so I used tomato paste with some water. A can of Coconut cream rather than milk went in. I try not to change the pro’s recipe for my first run, but I did throw in some basil and parsley just because I can’t help doing it.
This is the perfect transition recipe from summer to fall! The flavors are light and bright, but it’s also warm and comforting for earlier, chillier nights.
For future reference, I might try cooking this for, say, 15 minutes or half an hour longer than the recipe says – some of my lentils were done to perfection, but some were still a little firm. Maybe stir once halfway through, and then add 15 or 30 mins to the cook time to compensate for the lost steam?
Is it possible to use red lentils instead of the brown? I’m not too familiar with lentils so I’m not sure if the cooking times vary depending on the lentil used?
I really suggest brown lentils for this. Red, orange, and yellow lentils break down really quickly when cooked, so you’ll end up with something more along the lines of split pea soup. Brown lentils hold their shape so the curry will have some texture. :)
Green lentils also hold their shape well. I happen to only have green in the house and just looked up the equivalents.
Our whole family loved this recipe. I added a couple tablespoons of brown sugar just because I was in the mood for a sweet curry. I also replaced the cloves with allspice – it’s just a bit more mellow, and I don’t always love cloves. I was in a hurry so I did the whole thing in a pot on the stovetop, and it still worked. Tomorrow we’ll try topping it with raisins, peanuts, coconut and cilantro – our favorite curry toppings. Thanks!
I make this constantly! Great quantity and it reheats well. Excellent for meal prep. I always have this with rice – I do think it goes best as an accompaniment to a starch or grain. Otherwise the flavor and texture alone doesn’t so too much for me.
I have had issues with timing in the past, just trying to pay attention to the cook on the lentils. I believe my crockpot may not heat consistently so when you’ve got a tricky temp item like lentils, it requires a couple check-ins throughout those hours. Not a big deal, since I usually like to check in with my slow cooker recipes anyway.
I’ve just found your site, looking for a black bean nacho recipe, which, of course, you have. I’ve been blown away by all of your wonderful recipes! You have a new fan from Australia. ( I was actually born in El Paso, so my mum loved this s stuff!).
I like Ve the idea of budget cooking that is low on meat. Your recipes are so different. We can’t use garlic, as one of us ends up in Emergency after eating it, but I find most recipes are fine without t. But if you have any substitutions to recommend, that’d be great. I use
Asafoetida in Indian recipes…
Not a fan. The flavor combination was too odd. The tomato sauce plus the cloves plus the Indian flavors clashed and made it taste like this weird spaghetti meets curried dahl meets pumpkin pie spice. It was not a party in my mouth. It was an awkward get together of very distant family relatives. I could see a version of this working if you took out the tomato sauce and the clover. But that all being said, I’m a huge fan of Budget Bytes and have found plenty of recipes on this site that major home-runs, so you win some, you lose some.
Love this recipe! SO delicious. I was curious about adding the ground clove, as I’ve never added it to curry before, but WOW that added such an amazing depth of flavor. Really looking forward to eating my leftovers all week. If you did more vegetarian slow cooker recipes I would be so happy!
Hello, is the suggestion a cup per a person? We are from the UK so not use to cups. Thank you
Yes that’s the suggested serving amount. I believe it’s about 229 grams. :)
The lentils have taken forever to cook. 10 hours and they’re still not cooked. Also, the flavor had a slight bitterness to it. It helped to squeeze a lime into it. Everything else was good! This also makes a ton.
Sounds like there is something wrong with your slow cooker. I’ve never had a problem, my sc usually takes an hour less than the times listed
Don’t add salt at the start, it will cause the lentils to stay firm. You can also soak the lentils overnight before cooking if you’re still having issues with them.
After three hours in the slow cooker on high I wasn’t pleased with the texture, I felt the lentils weren’t cooking fast enough, so I switched it to the stove and simmered it for an hour, it was perfect in the end.
Delicious! And I forgot to buy diced tomatoes, so I made it without them the first time! I’m making it again today- I will add a little extra curry, but that’s a personal preference. So tasty, and it has been great during “quarantine” because I can stock up once at the store and make it much later!
Shoot! I added the coconut milk to the slow cooker with all of the other ingredients at the beginning. Did I just ruin dinner?
Sorry for the delay Jenny but you should be just fine!
Jenny, I did the same. How’d it turn out?
I love how hearty and healthy this is but it tasted a little tomato-heavy when I made it with the diced tomatoes and sauce. I’d like to cut out the can of tomato sauce but I’m worried less liquid will affect how well everything cooks. Can you recommend a substitute?
I think I would just replace it with an extra cup of vegetable broth. :)
Where is the nutrition info ?
I can not see it anywhere.
We only recently brought on a Registered Dietician to our team. She’s working hard behind the scenes to update the entire recipe database, over 1500+ recipes, with nutritional information. She’s working her way from the newest recipes back and it takes some time to update them all. Stay tuned!
Greetings from Texas,
I do not have a slow cooker available for this recipe. Is there a modification to use a instant pot, or just cook on stove top.
I am to have this ready for dinner tonight. I will wing it if need be, but would like do use the instant pot.
I would appreciate advice or suggestions on which method to use.
By the way, I do very much enjoy your website and have recommended it to several friends.
Ron
You can do this on the stove top in a pot just by bringing it up to a boil (with a lid) and then once boiling, reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer until the lentils and the potatoes are tender. It should only take 30 minutes or so. You can let it simmer longer if you like, but brown lentils usually cook pretty quickly. :)
My Instant Pot has a slow cooker setting. I bought the slow cooker lid for it and use it just like any other slow cooker. Saves space in my tiny kitchen!
I made this last night and I was REALLY impressed by how cheap it was to make sooo much food. I was pretty satisfied with this meal but was a little disappointed in the flavor. Mine was a little… bland? Is it just because I use generic brand curry powder that may not be of the best quality? Or that I didn’t have fresh cilantro on hand? How can I amp up the flavor next time?
I found mine bland as well. I added a bit of cayenne and drizzled lime on individual bowl.
Oooooo.. drizzled lime sounds perfect!!!
Fast, easy, cheap ingredients, yummy!! I ran out of time so slow-cooked for only an hour then finished it in the instant pot on high pressure for 5 minutes.
Thanks Heather!
Do I use canned unsweetened coconut milk? Or is canned sweetened coconut milk ok?
Unsweetened. Use the type of coconut milk that comes in a can, not the type that is supposed to be a dairy milk substitute.
Love it, such a simple, tasty, healthy meal. Just a few minutes of prep (if you have the time, I recommend sauteing the onion, garlic, and spices in a splash of oil, then adding to the slow cooker), and I’ve got dinner taken care of. I didn’t have tomato sauce, so I used a can of tomato paste and added another cup of water – seemed to work fine.
I’ve been nervous about trying this recipe because I love curry so much, but this was so good. I blended the tomatoes because I hate tomato chunks and only used a small can of tomato sauce. I put everything except the coconut milk in my instant pot for twenty minutes with a natural release of ten minutes as recommended by another reviewer. I also used a few dashes of cloves. My two year old even ate this. This makes a lot so I plan to freeze a bunch of it.
Hooray!!
Would there be a big difference using red lentils? Thanks!
Yes those would be okay.
Red lentils kind of “dissolve” more than green lentils when cooking. I love the flavor and dissolving part of red lentils, but I also like that green lentils keep some firmness and shape when cooked. I like to use a combination of the two, so the result has the creaminess and taste of the red lentils, and the firmness of the green. Adding some other, firmer veggies, like diced potatoes, garbanzo beans, and diced carrots make it heftier, if that’s what you are looking for.
Tastes great but lentils will not get tender. I put in slow cooker on high for 4 hrs, trying another 4 hrs now. Maybe it’s my cooker?
The same thing happened to me! I cooked it on high for almost 10 hours and they were still not tender. I ended up having to finish in a large pot on the stove.
Delicious! My only changes were that I did his in the instant pot instead of the slow cooker and I used crushed tomatoes instead of the diced and paste but that’s only because it’s all I had in the cupboard. Instant pot was 20 min manual, 10 min npr. I stirred everything together except the tomatoes, put them on top, then added the coconut milk after it cooked. Served with cauliflower rice and it was delicious!
I made this in my Instant Pot using the Bean/Chili function for 15 minutes and it was delicious! Anytime I need to stock my freezer or feed a crowd I’ll make this again.
I use this recipe so much, very easy, cheap, healthy and tasty! It has it all. I have recently got a pressure cooker to help speed up meal time, any tips for converting these recipes to use in the instant pot?
Hello from UK! What do you mean by tomato sauce? Is that the same as Passata? Thanks
Passata is probably the closest thing to what we call tomato sauce here in the U.S. I think our tomato sauce may have a little more salt, and sometimes a little onion or garlic in it, but barely any. It’s mostly cooked and puréed tomatoes.
Thank you. I’m making this for my kids and nieces tomorrow.
So yummy! I didn’t have clove, so I used allspice. The cinnamon and other spices added an interesting dimension. Will make again! Thanks!
Do you soak the lentils?
Nope, lentils cook quickly without the need for soaking like beans. :)
I just had this for dinner and it is super delicious! I did use light coconut milk, and it turned out fine for me. Thanks for sharing!
Can I use red lentils for this recipe?
LOVED this recipe. We couldn’t find brown lentils and ended up using green – just needed to cook on high for an extra hour and it was all set! Making it again this weekend.
Just a heads up, the app version says 15 oz of chili flakes instead of 15 oz can of tomato sauce.
Can you use light coconut milk? Recipe states full fat. Thanks.
You can, but it won’t be as creamy.
Beth I love this recipe I make at least every couple of weeks and enjoy leftovers for lunch. My three kids love it too and they are not big legume eaters at all! Thank you for your amazing website.
Hello! Was wondering what kind of sides would go well with this in addition to rice/naan?
I consider this a full meal in a bowl, since it has vegetables, proteins, and carbs all in one. So I really don’t serve it with anything other than a little rice or naan. :)
Hey guys!
Do you know if this recipe freezes well?
This one should freeze well. :)
Can I uses green lentils?
Green lentils usually take much longer to cook, so I’m not sure how they’ll do in this recipe. Check the cooking instructions on the package. If they say to boil for about 15-20 minutes, they’ll work fine in this recipe. If they’re the type of lentil that takes 45 minutes of boiling, I can’t say whether it will work with this.
Shoot I wish I had read this comment this morning. I used green lentils since that’s all I had. They aren’t cooked enough after 8 hours. I have it on high right now and hopefully they will cook enough.
how long would it take to do this in a pot?
Would I need to do anything differently? e.g. bring to boil, reduce to simmer for 2 hours, etc.
You’re on the right track! Just bring it up to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer until both the lentils and sweet potatoes are very tender. It shouldn’t take very long, maybe 30-45 minutes.
Do you know calories per serving for this recipe?
No, I’m sorry, I don’t have nutritional information.
I calculated them last year Mary. With no alterations to the recipe whatsoever, it comes out to 160 calories per serving. I serve with 3.5 ounces of cooked rice which makes the meal just over 300 calories. Hope that helps, the recipes are very easy to import into myfitnesspal.
Hi. Beth!
I’ve made this before and it is fabulous! I love topping it with the works (cilantro, green onion, Greek yogurt, and lime juice) and serve it over rice with a side of naan.
I want to make it again, but to save on time I’m wondering if I could use frozen pre-cut sweet potatoes. If so, should they be thawed first or could they go in frozen?
Thanks for sharing your recipes!
Hi Jess! I would suggest thawing them first. It’s never a good idea to place frozen items into the slow cooker because it heats so slowly that it can take a really long time for the food to get up to a safe cooking temperature. :)
The cook time says 4.5 hours but the first portion of the recipe states to cook for 7-8 hours. Can someone please confirm this?
Cook on high for four hours or low for 7-8 hours. :) I had the word “four” written out, but I just changed it to the numeral “4” to make it easier to read.
Made this recipe today- we loved it!! Very tasty- my boyfriend said it is a keeper!
Is the coconut milk unsweetened? I’ve never used before and wanted to get the right one. Thanks for your help.
Yes, it is the type that comes in a can and is unsweetened, not the type used as a dairy milk substitute. You can find it in the international aisle of the grocery store.
How can I convert this to a regulregular stovetop recipe?
Add everything to a pot just as I did with the slow cooker, then let it simmer until the vegetables and lentils are very tender. Add the coconut milk after everything else is already tender.
Is it necessary to soak the lentils in water the night before cooking them?
Nope, unlike beans, lentils cook very quickly and do not require soaking. :)
Accidentally just tossed the coconut milk in at the start of the crockpot time 😓cross your fingers it is edible tonight.
I hope this works with green lentils. Guess I’ll know in about 7 hours 😬
Did it work with green lentils? I would like to know as I’m considering trying that :).
Made this today and LOVE it! I love the added flavor from the clove! I’ll buy naan tomorrow to eat with the leftovers.
Dude!! Make her naan recipe! You will NOT be disappointed!!!!
We made this with chickpeas and so added about one less cup of vegetable broth ( no cloves :) It was a nice spicy but sweet dish that my husband and I both enjoyed. I really liked the freshness the cilantro and red onions added. I will make this again.
Any tips on making this a freezer to crock pot meal? Can I toss everything in a freezer bag, thaw the day before, and then cook the next day? Thanks!!
Yes, I think that would actually work very well! :)
This was wonderful, and I am often skeptical of lentils. I had already eaten a whole bowl before I realized I had forgotten the coconut milk. It was good without it, but it was amazing with it!
I made it in an IP (15 min on high pressure, natural release for 10), and used fire roasted tomatoes and chicken broth instead (all I had). Delicious!
Can you freeze the leftovers?
Yes, this will freeze very well. :)
do you know timing for an Instant pot?
No, I’m sorry I haven’t tried this in an IP.
I did this in my instant pot twice! I sautéed the veggies for a few mins then mixed everything but the coconut milk in and pressure cooked it for 20 mins. It was perfect!
Awesome, thank you so much for sharing the method!
Did you use the coconut milk? Add it when the pressure released? I’m thinking the heat of the food, alone will heat it up.
Delish! Was spicy but not to much, balanced with the sweetness of the coconut milk.
For anyone wondering, my nutrition calculation came out to ~180 calories per serving (based on a 1 cup serving, and that’s NOT INCLUDING the rice). Delicious meal, very filling, super cheap — thanks for the recipe!!!
Whyyyy did I add the cloves? It ruined the dish for me. I’m so bummed :( Any way to rectify it??
No, unfortunately once they’re in there you won’t be able to remove the flavor. I’m sorry the cloves didn’t agree with you!
I keep a mason jar of chopped sweet onion in lemon juice in the fridge at all times… use it pretty much daily by the spoonful, and replace it about every week. We buy prepared indian spice mixtures in boxes from a local indian grocery, and if we overspice something, a spoonful of onions marinated in lemon concentrate is my go-to antidote. (It also lightens up, adds a touch of “fresh” to anything I’ve simmered in a crockpot all day.
Freakin Delicious!! I forgot to make the rice, but that’s ok! I ate just the lentils by themselves, and I couldn’t stop!
I just made this tonight and it’s really yummy. I’m going to have lots of leftovers to freeze, too! Thank you :)
Hello! If I cut the recipe in half and still use a 6 quart do you think it’ll cook okay? Only wanting to feed 2 for this meal. Seems like too much leftovers!
Yes, that should still work. :)
I just broke the liner to my slow cooker! Can I make this in the Instantpot??
I’m sure you could. :) The IP has a slow cooker setting, or you can check hippressurecooking.com to see if they have a slow cooker to IP conversion chart (I believe they do).
I made it in the IP today.
15 mins on high pressure
10 min slow release.
Perfection!!
Thanks Beth. This was delicious.
I also made the bbq tofu sliders and OMG!
WoW ! Looks so delicious. I like coconut recipes. thanks for sharing !
Amazingly delicious
To freeze this recipe, should I avoid putting in the coconut milk until ready to eat?
I think it will be fine if you freeze it with the coconut milk stirred in. :)
I made this the other night, let it cook overnight on low. I ended up dumping the entire jar of curry powder in it, apparently mine wasn’t potent!! I also added cayenne pepper, as well. The first day it was ok, but not as flavorful as I had hoped for. After sitting in the refrigerator tho, for a day, it was much better!! I will definitely be making this again. Well, after I go thru the 3 containers in the freezer, ut really does make a lit!
Do I use sweetened or unsweetened coconut milk?
Unsweetened. Use the type of coconut milk that comes in a can, not the type that is supposed to be a dairy milk substitute.
Loved it, thank you for sharing!!
I accidentally added the coconut milk with all the ingredients. Ok to cook on low for 7 hours or do I need to start over?
First of all- Thank you to the original supplier for the recipè.
Second of all- to the complainers- relax.
I love cultural recipes as myself grew up in the Caribbean. (Karib-b’ee’un) (not kuh’rib-b-yun) ;-)
I just moved up to the US and constantly look forward to recipies that can at least I can identify with.
This one is great- however- I know Indian and it requires a bit more than what above calls for.
Tip:
-Do not drain anything.
-Add a few more “heaping” measurements for the -herbs/spices.
-For those cooking in an 6-8 quart crock pot, PLEASE DO THIS: Cook on high for 3 hours. Then, on low for 2 hours. After that, throw in the coconut milk for an hour and BAM!
To note: I added a dash of (aka sprinkle)
-guaram masala
-thyme
-cayenne pepper grounded
What size of slow cooker do you use? I have a 4 qt and a 6 qt.
6 quart
Hi, first off love your blog I’ve started following you on IG and have made a few recipes now. Question…I added the coconut milk with an hour to go because I worried if I waited till it was done it’d cool the temp. What’s the reason for waiting to add the cocobut milk at the end? Thanks!! And thanks for all the great and budget friendly recipes!!
Sometimes if coconut milk is boiled too heavily or with acids it can curdle. If your coconut milk is room temperature, it shouldn’t cool the pot too much.
I liked this but I think it needs a spicy curry next time. The squirt of lime juice was 👌🏻! I didn’t have brown lentils so I made green.
Cool I only have green lentils too and I was wondering about that!
This was so delicious I can’t even explain! Everything came out perfect even after accidentally putting 3 c of lentils instead of 2 lol. Thank you for this delicious recipe, new favorite meal prep dish
Made this the other night and it’s amazing!!
Any idea how many calories/serving?!
Love this recipe! I’ve made it twice already and it’s come out amazing both times. One suggestion that I would make though, add juice from one lemon at the very end of cooking. It adds a wonderful flavor and gets rid of the need to add salt (I used homemade broth with no salt and with the lemon juice there was no need to add any extra).
I made this dish for my boyfriend and I for Valentine’s Day and it was a huge success! Got a little na’anghty afterwards. Highly suggest!
Really tasty, even though i realized my lentils were actually split peas, and i used paste instead of diced tomatoes (sorry its all i had in the house!) and it was Still really good! I will definitely make this again. Even my partner professes to not like sweet potatoes but he didn’t even notice them muahahaha!
Just made this last night! I subbed red lentils for brown and it came out with a great texture. I added probably 1/8 cup of sugar to cut the acidity and it was absolutely delicious!
I probably already commented but i just defrosted a surprise meal and worked out it was this – the flavors are somehow even richer. THANK YOU!
I was wondering if you could freeze portions of this…sounds like you did and it was great! I plan on trying it.
haha! I love defrosting surprise meals. Is it stew? Soup? Chili? Bolognese sauce? Who cares, lets eat!
This meal is the PERFECT meal for any college student- I don’t have to be at home while it’s cooking, it makes a ton, and it freezes well. For the past three semesters I have made it the first week of classes and portion at least half of it to freeze for later in the semester when I just don’t feel like cooking. It’s easy and CHEAP!
Can this be made in an instant pot to reduce cooking time?
Yes, this recipe would probably convert very well. I would probably try the bean/chili setting.
Can I make this on the stovetop? If so, how long do you think it should cook for?
Yes, you can basically just simmer them until the lentils, sweet potatoes, and carrots are tender. The type of lentils I use cook quickly, in about 20-30 minutes. :)
I’ve seen a lot of comments saying the lentils never cooked. On my brown bag of lentils, the cooking instructions were to boil them, then simmer them for an hour! Those are some slow cooking lentils. I keep seeing it said that they only take twenty minutes. I did mine in the slow cooker for 3 hours and there wasn’t much of a dent made in them. Then I simmered them on the stove for an hour and it was perfect. Not too mushy, perfectly cooked. I’m glad I saved the recipe! I really liked it, I’ll do it stovetop from now on.
Yes, unfortunately there isn’t a lot of consistency when it comes to labeling lentils, so sometimes they’re called green, sometimes they’re called brown, sometimes the package will simply say “lentils”. The brown lentils I use cook very quickly in about 20 minutes (boiling or simmering), and are the kind that are most often found in major US grocery stores. But there are many, many varieties of lentils out there and some do take a long time to cook. I try my best to describe what type to get, but with there being no consistency in the labeling, it can get really confusing for people. :(
I made this today and accidentally mixed in the coconut milk with everything else. It still came out tasting awesome.
We didn’t have curry powder but had a red Thai curry paste so it came out a little different than intended but still a total hit in our house.
Thank you!!
Lentils never softened, after leaving the slow cooker on high for 10+ hours… Reading around it seems better to cook lentils separately then add them.
Annoying you don’t provide that suggestion!
Uh, yes. Exact same thing happened here. Very frustrating. It’s 5pm and it’s been cooking since 8am. Lentils are nowhere near ready. I guess I’ll have to figure something else out for dinner.
In mine the lentils were fine after a few hours on high, but I left it cooking overnight (on low) for the sweet potato pieces to soften.
This is what keeps happening to me, but I LOVE this dish so much that I am trying to figure out how to fix it! Usually, I just end up so hungry I eat crunchy lentils. I think I may try just cooking it on the stovetop this time and see if that works better. Curious to see if anyone has a better fix.
Weird, just finished same recipe with no problem… Check your slow cooker temps?
Not sure if lentils react like beans do when slow cooking but I just made this recipe and cooked it on low for 8 hours. The lentils were soft between 6 and 7 hours. So that is weird they wouldn’t be soft yet. I know with beans if you cook them with salt it drastically slows down the cooking process. I dont know if you people having this problem used salt prior to cooking but if you did I would try cooking without amd add at the end and see if that helps for ya! Good luck!
Every slow cooker is different. If you had yours on high for 10 hours and your lentils weren’t soft, your cooker temps are way off. Never had an issue with lentils in my slow cooker, personally.
This is an excellent dish! I have been trying to hunt down a really tasty vegetarian curry recipe that I can enjoy on chilly winter evenings. We made this for Christmas Eve this year and it was such a hit! I omitted serving with rice and instead just serviced with fresh homemade garlic naan. What a wonderful dish, thank you!
I am a very huge fan of coconut. When I cook with coconut milk, I try to allow the flavour to come through as much as possible. I’m worried that adding the tomato sauce might overpower the flavour, because coconut is quite a a delicate flavour, and I know a lot of recipes are subdued in that regard because I know most people don’t like coconut as much as I do. Can anyone tell me something I could maybe substitute for half of the tomato sauce? Or even just let me know if you are a fellow coconut fan and felt like the flavour came through nice and strong in this recipe? Thanks in advance!
I tried this out, but the store only sold quick-cooking red lentils. Had to improvise a bit, and added the lentils and coconut milk together at the end of cooking. Was still too watery so I added a bit of basmati rice, and chickpeas bc red lentils seem to be a lot less hearty than brown. But it came put tasting amazing! Will attempt again after I hunt down brown lentils.
How spicy is this? I love curry, but my husband is not a fan of spicy foods. Just want to know if I need to cut back on the amount of curry powder I put in. I see others have said their young kids eat it so I am thinking it must not be too hot? Thanks!
You can actually get hot or mild curry powder, so as long as you buy a mild curry powder it should be just fine. :)
This stuff is amazing! One of my kids favorite recipes is beef curry. Now that I’m cutting down on meat (way down) I thought I’d try this recipe. We used the toppings I use on the beef curry : pinapple, banana, onion, green pepper, and chopped peanuts. ( They also used cheese) It was a winner and one of the recipes they said I had to make again. I definitely will.
Not sure if this has already been answered but I want to make sure my slow cooker is large enough to hold all the ingredients! Mine is about 2 1/2 quarts. Will that be large enough? Thanks!
I don’t think that will be quite large enough, unfortunately. For this one you probably want at least a 5 quart. My 6 quart pot was fairly full.
Thank you!! Ended up halfing the recipe and it turned out great!
I love this recipe. I made it for the second time this Sunday to eat for lunch this week. It’s Thursday, and I am still excited about it. My office is an icebox this time of year, and it is the perfect warm, spicy, nourishing pick me up in the middle of a dark fall day. Also my whole week of lunch cost me less than one order of takeout that my coworkers get, so that’s a big win :)
I made this last weekend and it was delicious! I doubled the recipe, and it just barely fit in my 6 qt slow cooker. Once I added the coconut milk it was at the tippy top and hard to stir. However, I have a ton in my freezer now so I’m happy I doubled! I bumped up the spices at the end with a little garam masala and cayenne pepper to suit my taste. I used a butternut squash instead of a sweet potato and lite coconut milk instead of full fat to lighten it up. Yum!
I want to add some more protein to this – maybe chicken or something. Could I just add chicken thighs or breasts in with everything else in the slow cooker?
Yes, that should work. :)
I am not a fan of curry can I omit it.?
No, that’s pretty much the only seasoning in this dish so it won’t taste like much without it.
I made this last night and it tasted amazing! I mistakenly used cilantro AND green onions. And I put the coconut milk in with everything at once. I also used my Instant Pot (pressure cooker). 4 minute cook time (not including the 15 minutes to get to pressure). The lentils were just slighty under cooked. But it still tasted great. And I’ll be reheating it the rest of the week, so it might not stay that way. Very happy with this recipe. Thank you so much!
Made this last night and it was soooooo good. I had all the ingredients in my pantry so it was perfect. All 3 of my kids devoured it, even my 4 year old. Thanks Beth
Just made this to have cheap and tasty work lunches for the week and it’s good! Instead of curry powder I ground coriander and cumin seeds and added turmeric and chili powder (basically homemade curry powder) and just added some garam masala right at the end (which adds warmth like the cloves would). Thanks!
For freezer meal prep, which ingredients would you put together in advance to freeze and which would you keep out to add when actually putting it in the slow cooker? Veggies and spices could be prepped for freezer-coconut milk, too?
Hmm, I’m not sure what would happen to the coconut milk if frozen ahead of time, so your best bet might be to just add that to the slow cooker when you add the rest of the frozen ingredients. Everything else should be fine, though.
I have red lentils, will these be okay for this recipe? I see you said green ones will cook slow.
Red lentils break down very quickly, so the texture will end up being more like a mush instead of individual lentils.
Could this be substituted with dried green lentils?
Green lentils can take up to twice as long to cook as brown, so they might not soften.
Finally made this and it exceeded all expectations. Thank you for such a fantastic blog.
How would you make this without a slow cooker?
You can simmer it on the stove top until the lentils are tender. :)
Can you use green lentils? I don’t really know the difference on the colours…
Green lentils can take twice as long to cook (if they’re French green lentils), so I’m not sure how they will work in the slow cooker.
Made this last night with white rice – excellent! Very filling and flavorful, and I have leftovers for the rest of the week!
So what happens if I didn’t read the recipe right and added the coconut milk to the crockpot…? Will it ruin it?
It’s possible for the coconut milk to curdle if it over heats, but it might be okay if the slow cooker doesn’t boil too hard.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! If I want to leave the coconut milk out, do I have to make any other adjustments (such as add more broth, change cook time, etc.)?
The coconut milk gets added after cooking, so you shouldn’t need to adjust anything that goes into the slow cooker or the cooking time, but if the lentils are drier than you like them after cooking, you can add a bit more broth. You will be missiong out on the creaminess that the coconut milk adds, though!
Had some vegan friends coming over for dinner and made this for them. Everyone loved it, even the carnivores!
This was the first BB meal I made almost a year ago and it’s been a fantastic year of cooking! I hadn’t paid much attention to lentils until this recipe, but have made almost all of your other lentil recipes since. What a great staple! Thank you for opening my eyes and providing affordable, delicious recipes!
These lentils are SO GOOD. I’m in college, and this recipe was super helpful because I was able to come home from classes with dinner ready. Something about curry and coconut milk just makes everything taste better :)
Delicious! So filling and flavorful! Thank you!
I loved this! Will make again for sure.
Thanks for the fantastic recipe! This has been my go-to for the past few months!
Can I substitute brown lentils with red lentils?
Yes, just expect a much mushier texture. Red lentils tend to break down and lose their shape when cooked.
4 hrs on nigh was not enough for lentils to cook, 6-7 hrs on slow might do the trick next time I think.
I made this today and oh, my was it delicious! I keep thinking I don’t like lentils, but then I come across a recipe like this and think, “Hmmm…I like curry and I like carrots and sweet potatoes and coconut…” and before I know it, I’m a convert to lentils. This is really good but it made a TON of food. I’m going to dish it into serving sizes and pop it into the freezer.
If I use a can of cooked (not dry) brown lentils, should I add them towards the end so they don’t get mushy? What would you recommend? Thank you, looking forward to trying this!
If you use canned lentils, you really won’t need to use a slow cooker because the lentils are already cooked. You can just sauté the vegetables until soft, add the lentils, spices, tomato sauce, and maybe only about 1 cup of broth, heat through, then add the coconut milk. Also you’ll likely need more than one can of lentils because two cups dry will cook up to more like 4 cups once cooked.
I made this last night! -For a group of vegans! We loved it, thank you!
Soooooo what if I a accidentall added in the coconut milk before cooking? Will that ruin the dish?
I accidentally did the same thing.. did it turn out?
Freezer friendly: does this mean I can put everything in a ziplock bag and freeze uncooked, including lentils? Looking for freezer meal prep ideas.
Freezer friendly is that it freezes well after cooking. I haven’t experimented with the prep-freeze-cook method.
Do you have a suggestion on how to adapt this for an Instant Pot?
I’m not sure how long lentils need in the IP off hand, but if you check the tables that come in the instruction book, I would use that as a guide. You can probably just add everything to the pot like I did with the slow cooker, then use the setting and time that it suggests for lentils in the book, and that should work. :)
Thanks! This worked perfectly. I cooked it in the IP for 25 min.
Can you substitute vegetable broth with chicken broth?
Yes
Any thoughts on if the recipe could be doubled? And if so, would you just equally multiply all the ingredients by 2? Many thanks!
Yes, if your slow cooker is big enough to contain it, just multiply all the ingredients by two.
Hi Beth, I’ve had issues cooking tomatoes and raw beans in a slow cooker before. (The acidity makes them soften REALLY slowly.) Is there any way to alter the recipe so you can add the tomato ingredients later?
Sure, you can add the tomatoes at the end, they just won’t break down as much. I suggest letting it simmer for at least 30 minutes after you add them just to tone down the acidity. Brown lentils generally soften and cook down much faster and easier than beans.
Fantastic! I converted it to the Instant Pot… here’s how:
Sauteed the garlic and onion with the spices in coconut oil to release and deepen the flavor. Then I added the rest of the stuff.
Decreased broth to 2.5 C so it wouldn’t be watery (I use Better Than Bouillon). 3 big carrots. 2 normal sized sweet potatoes in big chunks.
11 minutes pressure. NPR (natural pressure release – you probably don’t have to, but I was busy and didn’t come back till pressure was down). Stirred in coconut milk. Added a little salt. Served with cilantro, yogurt, and lime juice sprinkled on top.
Thank you Suzanne!!!
Hi Beth! I found this through Lifehacker’s Prep Cook column and it’s currently simmering away in my crock pot (so excited!). I was just wondering how long these servings last in the freezer?
These freeze great!
Thankyou!! This recipe is fantastic! Im new to vegan cooking as my oldest daughter became vegan this year, but the whole family loved this and it is sooo easy! :)
Can I use this in a instantpot? If so, what would the instructions be?
This should convert to the IP fairly easily. I would check the cooking time tables in the instruction manual for the cooking time needed for lentils and go with that. It should be a LOT faster! :)
I just posted a review with how I converted it to the instant pot! Take a look. That should help you!
I’ve NEVER cooked lentils before, but I had the opportunity to enjoy them at an Indian restaurant. Did you use brown or green lentils? I know that red lentils take forever to cook and a good friend of mine told me about black lentils. I apologize for asking a stupid question. Thanks, Beth. :-)
I just answered my own question. My apologies!!!
Actually, red, yellow, and orange lentils usually cook very quickly and break down (kind of like split peas). Green lentils (sometimes called French lentils) take quite a while, but regular brown lentils cook in about 20 minutes. I haven’t experimented with other varieties, like black lentils, though. :) Your questions are never stupid!
Thank you so much for answering my questions, Beth. I LOVE lentils and this recipe sounds so delicious. I was able to find brown lentils at Walmart, along with green. I want to make sure that I’m using the correct lentils to avoid a mushy mess. I can’t wait to make this!!! :-)
Thanks for this recipe! I made it yesterday, and our guest raved about it and asked for the recipe. It feeds a small army, too. It fed three and we have TONS of leftovers.
I have made this three times now, and it’s fantastic. The first time I only had red lentils, so I did 3 hours on high, and it was perfect. I’ve stuck with red lentils since just because it worked so well. Thank you for another great recipe!
I made this last night and it was excellent. I was hesitant at using canned tomato sauce with coconut milk, however the sweetness of tomato sauce pairs very nicely with the coconut milk. The end result was a very smooth and creamy vegan dish. Everyone in my family loved it….thank you!
The only extra step I took was to use the Cooks Illustrated method of preparing aromatics for the slow cooker. Microwaving the diced onion, garlic and curry with a bit of oil for 5 to 7 minutes (stirring once or twice) really helps to bring out the flavours.
Thanks for the great recipe…this one will be a regular in our household.
This was awesome. I too used green lentils and after about 3.5 hours on high, it was perfect. Must add fresh lemon juice! Thanks.
This was delicious. I’m a newbie cook and this was a really rewarding recipe. One thing I learned was how to “halve” recipies as my wife and I have enough lentils for a month now. =D Will make again. Thanks!
I’m sure the amount of time I cooked mine was more than needed for brown lentils, so it might be enough for green, but I’d have to test it to say for sure!
I am lovely these delicious recipes,
We had Moroccan vegetable stew last night and the slow cook coconut lentil curry tonight, amazing, we loved it , so creamy and tasty,
Thanks
Will this recipe double easily? If so, how much more time should I add? Thanks!
It should double easily. Depending on your slow cooker, you may not need to add any time.
Oh Beth! You’ve done it again. This is incredibly delicious. I just had a spoon straight out of the crock pot and I actually heard myself say “mmmmm”. So creamy it feels indulgent. I used green lentils as we don’t seem to have brown in my area. Otherwise I followed the recipe to a T! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope my family is just as excited to eat this dish tonight.
I forgot to add, I’d like to add more vegetables to this. Do you have any recommendations? Or if I stuck with sweet potato and carrots, do you know the ratio of more liquid required? Thanks again!
You could maybe do some celery and perhaps green peas? You shouldn’t need anymore liquid if adding more vegetables. They’ll actually add moisture to the curry. :)
Thanks for the suggestions. Husband hates celery, so that’s out. haha. Green peas sound like a good plan! Good to know about not needing any more liquid. I’m excited to try this dish again. Love how much it makes. I also served mine with some cooked bulgar I had in the freezer, it adds a nice chewy texture.
I was so excited to try this out cuz it’s so cheap cheap cheap to make but my turned out so bad I had to throw it out. I used green lentils which may have been part of the problem. Otherwise it tasted super tomato-y and not curried enough so the tomato flavor with the coconut was not a good combination. Could it perhaps be my slow cooker? Or the green lentils? Feeling so bummed!
It could have been either one of those things, or perhaps your curry powder is getting old and not as potent as it once was? I find there is a great variation between one curry powder to the next and since that’s basically ALL of the flavor in this dish it can make a huge difference.
I made this last night – fantastic! Used red lentils because that’s all I had on hand and decreased the cook time to 3 hours on high, and it turned out great. It was also really fast and easy. Will definitely put into the regular rotation.
Has anyone tried this with light coconut milk? I’m trying to lose my baby weight I do not want to use the real stuff.
I made this stovetop and blended the soup after simmering for 30 min or so. It was absolutely delicious! I would say the only downside to it is a lack of crunchy texture. My first bowl I sprinkled cilantro and green onion on top, but found I enjoyed it more without the garnish.
My modifications – halved the recipe –
I cooked 1c dry GREEN lentils for 20 min on the stove top in 4 c chicken broth to par cook them. Then moved the undrained cooked lentils and another 1 cup of broth to the slow cooker. Added all vegs and included half a head of cauliflower chopped in pieces & 1T fresh finely minced ginger root. Using my potato peeler, I made ribbons of raw sweet potato; omitted the canned tomato products and used a few chopped fresh tomatoes. Put 1 large tomato in my bullet-style food processor with cilantro stalks [don’t throw those away!], a little broth, and leftover cubes of cooked & peeled acorn squash – gave it a whirl to make a thick paste and added to the slow cooker.
I like my lentils with a lot of spice, so I added: 1/8 c of jar Chili Garlic Sauce [Rooster Sauce found in Asian section of grocery] and heavy dashes of cumin, turmeric, curry, coriander, cardamom, mustard seed & cloves [similar ingredients in Garam Masala].
Towards the last hour of cooking, I added half the can of coconut milk. The rest of the coconut milk I added to my Jasmine rice to replace some of the water called for in the recipe . If you haven’t tried it, coconut flavored rice is awesome!
Served the lentils over the coconut rice, topped with diced red onion & cilantro leaves.
I absolutely LOVE my slow cooker. I have a smart one that goes to WARM setting if you are not there to turn it off at the end of the cooking.
HINT: sprayed the inside of the crock with PAM cooking spray to keep food from sticking.
Hello, long time lurker on this site. I admit I was skeptical at first– oh gosh this makes such a huge portion, what if I hate it? So many lentil recipes are bland! But this was AMAZING. It tastes better with each day. It freezes beautifully. I didn’t even need the rice… i ate it like a thick stew and threw some chopped reunions and avocado on top. Also, I used green lentils (Trader Joe’s didn’t carry brown) and they definitely need a little extra time. Based on some comments below, I added a small teaspoon of garam masala for an extra kick. You were right about salt– this needs plenty of it.
Love this recipe!!!!! This is a keeper.
And by reunions, my autocorrect meant “red onions” :)
Gotta love that autocorrect! :D
I’ve been using your recipes for awhile. Almost all have been hits. This one is amazing!
Question, which Better than Bouillon base do you use for your recipes?
It depends on the recipe. I usually keep three varieties in my fridge: vegetable, chicken, and beef. If the recipe states vegetable broth, then I used the vegetable base. Same principle applies for chicken and beef broth. :)
I have some red lentils on hand and I’d like to use them for this, if possible. I see in a previous comment you say they cook faster than brown – do you think they could be added later to allow the potatoes and carrots to cook without completely killing the lentils? If it’s going to be too difficult to convert to a red lentil recipe I can get brown, I just am tired of looking at these lentils in my pantry. Lol But I am looking forward to trying this.
Well, in my experience red lentils always break down to a mush, but I don’t consider that a bad thing. I think it will still be delicious! You don’t really have to worry about over cooking them, just that the whole dish might not take quite as long as if you had used brown lentils. The vegetables shouldn’t take too long. I haven’t tried it, but I’m guessing you might be able to shave an hour off the time if cooking on high, or 1-2 hours off if cooking on low.
I’ve only recently begun cooking, and I love trying out your recipes. I love this one in particular. So fragrant. So warm. So good. The only thing I added to your recipe is a little salt and a healthy dash of cayenne. Thanks so much!
What kind of curry powder did you use? I have Hot Madras and Garam Masala on hand.
It’s a brand called “Sharwoods” and I use a mild version. You can see a photo of their hot version in this post for Curry Roasted Carrots.
Made this tonight for the first time, another terrific budget bytes meal!
WOW! This is an amazing recipe..thanks Beth!
This pot made FIFTEEN servings!! I made a big batch of ginger brown rice in my rice cooker (3 cups) and this recipe.
I will eat one serving tonight, and the rest I put in individual serving containers in the freezer with the rice and lentils. It was maybe 15 minutes of work to chop, collect, and assemble…and I now have 15 meals waiting for me in the freezer. I don’t understand my colleagues who spend $10 a day on lunches or dinners at work and say “oh I am TOO busy to cook!”. Hilarious. But they have tons of time to play Pokemon Go.
I was trying to plate up the 15 container, and had trouble stopping myself from eating it right then and there – it was so good. Glad I did though – now I have a freezer full of healthy ready to go meals. :-)
I tried it before adding the coconut milk and it was very tasty as well! So the coconut milk is awesome and makes it creamy, but it could be optional to save some money. I saw a review that recommended garam marsala – I will definitely try that next time! Thanks for the advice.
You have my favorite website. I love the pictures, the step by step, the easy recipes, without too many ingredients. Rock on sister.
So good! It was rich and flavorful. The only change I made was to put in 1 teaspoon of garam masala (for a half recipe), which I recommend and will do again. This is not spicy, so if that’s what people are looking for, consider adding a few chile peppers. I think I’ll just try a few jalapenos next time and see how it goes.
I want to add fresh broccoli to this, do you know when I could add it so it didn’t become mushy?
You’d definitely have to add it at the very end.
This was honestly the easiest and most amazing meal. I can’t believe how much it made! My toddler yummed it down too!
I love your blog. Thank you so much for sharing what you do :)
This is one of my favorite recipes from this website I’ve made so far! It was really easy to make and tastes so flavorful. I made it exactly as written and topped it with onion, cilantro and lime. I ate it with frozen naan from Trader Joes. Perfection! I plan to make this all the time.
I made a half recipe on the stove top yesterday. Subbed butternut squash for the sweet potato and used a little less curry powder because DH doesn’t care for it, but I needn’t have worried. It was delicious – served over brown jasmine rice. I forgot the onion and cilantro toppings, but I’ll add those with the leftovers. The coconut milk didn’t really add a coconut flavor, but just mellowed out the curry and balanced the acidity of the tomatoes. (I used a can of crushed) This made enough for us to have for dinner again.
Oooh, squash! I’ve been trying to figure out what to sub for the sweet potatoes and totally forgot about squash. Thanks!
Made this recipe on the stove top and it was delicious. Made SO much, so it’s wonderful for make-ahead weekend cooking.
If it’s bland, add salt! Many home cooks forget about salt or don’t realize how much they can or should add.
My local Store doesn’t carry Brown Lentils. They only have Red or Green… which one do you think would work best?
This was my problem too. I bought the green lentils but Google says they’ll cook slower than the brown. :( I’m waiting until you get a response before I try the recipe.
Well, red will cook quickly, but break down into a mush. Green will hold their shape better, like brown, but may need more time to cook (I haven’t tested green, so I’m not sure how long they’d take in the slow cooker). Some “brown” lentils look kind of greenish, so check the directions on the back to see how long it suggest to cook them on the stove top. If it says around 20 minutes, they’ll be fine for this recipe as written.
I made this for dinners for the week, I left out the carrots because I forgot to buy them (whoops!) and added 1.5lb of chicken breast because my boyfriend is not a “no meat Monday” sort of person lol. It was delicious and made 10 LARGE servings! Thanks Beth!
The cilantro adds freshness, loved the coconut. I used kale instead of sweet potatoes and added a knob of fresh ginger for a bright note. I also used a pich of allspice since I didn’t have clove.
The cost is spot on for me. Great and easy meal! Thank you!
It’s in the cooker right now, can’t wait to see how it turns out!
I did make this in the Instant Pot on the soup setting (my first time with the soup setting) and it turned out perfectly! Delicious and we have extras in the freezer. :)
oh yeah, I didn’t have tomato sauce, so I used half a can of Trader Joes Low Fat Marinara.
Hey Beth, love the recipe! I tried it with red split lentils because that’s all I had and it turned out just fine. No mushiness at all!
Oops, forgot to rate. Definitely 5 stars :)
It needs quite a bit of salt afterwards for my taste, even with salted diced tomatoes, but otherwise very good. I think I’ll use one more tbsp of curry powder next time, maybe even some cayenne pepper for a little kick.
This was sooooo good, turned out even better than I expected. Going in the regular rotation for sure. My coworkers commented on how amazing it smelled when I ate leftovers for lunch. And you weren’t kidding about it being a large batch–my freezer is now full and happy!
Just wanted to update this to say that this time I tried it in the Instant Pot and it was even better! I used the saute setting to cook the onions, garlic, and curry powder a bit first, then threw in the other ingredients (except coconut milk) and cooked for 12 min on high pressure with a 10 min quick release. Perfection.
THIS WAS DELICIOUS. We just made it last night. We were using the crock pot to make your Black Bean Soup (another delicious recipe!), so we used the dutch oven. We had to add more liquid while it was cooking, and as a result I only added half of a can of coconut milk so it wasn’t too soupy. We ate it for lunch today and it was amazing. AMAZING. Thanks so much!
Hello, I LOVE your blog.
I made this lentil dish on Sunday (so 3 days ago) but it came out really bland and tasteless. Do you know how I can fix it? I don’t want to waste it. I used green lentils because I couldn’t find brown lentils in the store. I guess the different coloured lentils taste different?
Yes, each type of lentil does have its own flavor. You might try adding more curry powder, too. Different brands taste differently and may have different levels of potency, so perhaps your was just not as potent as mine. Also, try adding in some salt. I’m always amazed at how sometimes just a 1/2 tsp of salt can take a dish from bland to “wow”. It doesn’t just make a dish saltier, but it also helps magnify and distinguish the different flavors within the dish.
This was absolutely amazing. One of my favorites for sure based on how easy it was!
My carrots and sweet potato broke down because I left it cooking for an hour longer (I went out, oops), but it was still delicious! I think if they hadn’t broken down quite as much, the added texture would have been nice, but even as mush it was still delicious!
Hi Beth! I was wondering if green lentils could be used here? I know red lentils would turn to mush , but I think green would do ok? That is what I have in my pantry, trying not to go back to the grocery … HA
Green lentils do take longer than brown lentils to cook, so I’m not sure exactly how long they’d need in a slow cooker. I’m sure the amount of time I cooked mine was more than needed for brown lentils, so it might be enough for green, but I’d have to test it to say for sure!
I used green lentils and it took only about 2 hours in my crock.
I adored this meal, but I added just a pinch of salt and some lime juice for an acid to brighten it up. It was divine, and both of my (weirdo) kids gobbled it down!
I couldn’t find curry powder but I have a box of Japanese-style curry sauce mix (“Golden Curry” brand). Do you know if I can use that in roughly the same proportions as the curry powder? Thank you! I’m really excited to try this. :)
I don’t know about that particular kind of sauce mix, but in general Japanese curry is a lot sweeter and has less spices than Indian curry. They’re really not the same thing. But, who knows? Maybe it would taste just as good. :)
Turns out you’re totally right, but it is quite good! I’ve omitted the coconut milk at the end because it is already very mild and sweet. I suspect the flavors aren’t as strong, but that’s okay. :)
I don’t know, but if you do, you’ll probably need to add more water? Because the curry sauce mixes are roux, so it’ll naturally thicken it, and the time in the crockpot already makes it pretty thick.
Hmm, I’ve never seen that product so I’m really not sure.
Any thoughts on using green lentils ?
I’m planning my shopping trip and I can’t wait to make this tomorrow! Question about the coconut milk: sweetened or unsweetened. I’m assuming unsweetened.
Yep, unsweetened. It’s the kind that comes in a can, not the diary milk substitute.
Tried it tonight and it was really good!
I didn’t find brown lentills but from the color in your pictures it might just have been the same thing (blond lentills here in France),
I also only had a dutch oven with me, but it only took less time to cook, around 2hours on low simmering (but it probably got done even before that. ) so that was even more practical.
I will definitly put this recipe in my “easy, cheap, feeds a crowd and is not pasta” folder!
I love easy, vegetarian meals like this. Plus, I need to bring more sweet potatoes into my life! Thanks for the recipe!
Yum!
I followed your recipe exactly and it was SO SO SO good! We just ate the leftovers and it was even better reheated (spices soaking in even more, maybe?). Thank you, it’s going on my “favorite staple meals” list.
Hi, I’m allergic to coconut, can I use any other alternative for it?
You can stir in some half and half or plain yogurt for creaminess. :)
. I follow and make a lot of your meals. I’m curious where do you live? The prices make me laugh because it’s always a lot higher. Like an onion for less than a dollar? Never. It cost me almost $30 to get
LOL but it’s fine, I love all your recipes. I can’t wait to make this one again and again.
I’m in New Orleans, Louisiana. Where are you? :)
Same here…Cost me not quite $30 maybe, but darn close to make this. The meals are always good though!!! – Westcoast Canada.
Can I use fresh tomatoes instead? If so how many?
Sure, I’d use 2-3 tomatoes in place of the can of diced tomatoes, but you still want to use a tomato sauce because the texture and flavor is different.
Just made this for dinner tonight over jasmine rice and it was very good! It needs quite a bit of salt afterwards for my taste, even with salted diced tomatoes, but otherwise very good. I think I’ll use one more tbsp of curry powder next time, maybe even some cayenne pepper for a little kick.
I’m still new to the world of lentils…how would red lentils hold up in this recipe?
Red lentils cook very quickly, and tend to turn in to a mush. I would not recommend them for anything that does not specifically call for red lentils.
They would not! You’d be left with a slow cooker full of mush :(
I agree with Nicole, but I made mine with red lentils, you just have to cut the time down a lot.
Red lentils break down very quickly, so the end product would have a lot less texture.
Hi Beth,
Just wondering what size of slow-cooker you use? I have a 4 qt so sometimes I have to cut recipes down to make them work. Also, glad to see a vegan recipe again, thanks so much!!! <|:-)
Well, I bought it so long ago and don’t have any of the info on it anymore, but I’m pretty sure it’s a 6 quart.
Beth,
I’m going to make this recipe but unfortunately, I’m out of curry powder. Now I do have a jar of Thai red curry paste. What amount of the paste do you suggest I use as a substitute for the powder?
Hmm, I’d probably still use 3-4 tablespoons because this recipe makes a large volume.
That looks so good I can almost smell it! I have butternut instead of sweet potato, but I’m sure that would work too.
Thanks!
YUM! Can’t wait to make this. Can it be done in the Tfal 10-in-1 pressure cooker somehow? I just got one and would love to use it for this. Thanks!
I bet it would work great in a pressure cooker. If your machine has an automatic setting for chili, soup, or stew, I think I’d just choose that option.
Would this freeze well? I live alone so 10 servings is probably more than I could eat in the time it would take for it to go bad in the fridge.
Never mind, just read the description that says it freezes well :P.
Yep! :)
Yup. Hot here too. I really like your idea of getting the slow cooker out. I can’t bear to light the oven and we were quoted at $17,000 to install central air in our house because we have radiant heat. Hmmmm.
Ouch! $17k!
I LOVE lentils, and looking forward to making this recipe soon. :-)
Hi, this recipe looks amazing! Just wondering, what type of tomato sauce you use? Like ketchup or passata? Thanks! xx
The stuff that we call “tomato sauce” here in the U.S. is kind of like passata, but it also has a little bit of salt and maybe onion powder in it. I think passata is the closest substitute. :)
this looks amazing, but I don’t have a slow cooker. how would you adapt this to a dutch oven or other stove top method?
You can do this on the stove top in a pot just by bringing it up to a boil (with a lid) and then once boiling, reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer until the lentils and the potatoes are tender. It should only take 30 minutes or so. You can let it simmer longer if you like, but brown lentils usually cook pretty quickly. :)
Any tips for doing this in an instant pot? I could see the saute setting and the pressure cook settings both coming in handy here!
I think you could just use the soup or the chili setting and it would work. :)
I was thinking I need to do this in the IP too. Trying it this week!
Yay!!! Another cheap meal I can throw in my freezer before baby comes!!! And it gets extra points for being meatless :)
You should do another freezer meal roundup soon! I am in the process of freezing a bunch of yours and most of what I’m making wasn’t listed in your last freezer post. I can email you the list when I’m done!
Sure, I’d love it if you emailed those to me! :D Thanks!
I don’t have a slow cooker right now – any suggestions on how to adapt this for the stovetop? Thanks!
Yep, just toss everything into a big pot, put a lid on top, and bring it up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer until the lentils and sweet potatoes are tender (maybe 30 minutes?). That’s it! :)