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.
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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Video
Want more slow cooker recipes? Check out our Slow Cooker Recipe Archives!
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
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 :)