I love this vegan red lentil curry recipe because it’s a great one to start with if you are new to making curry. Easily adaptable if you want to add more spice or some extra ingredients but simple to make and delicious as is!
Ready in 30 minutes
Simple to make
Mild in spice (but kick it up if you’d like!)
Comforting
Filling
And it costs us less than $5 to make!
Ingredients For Vegan Red Lentil Curry
This easy vegan red lentil curry is made with just a few simple ingredients:
- Onion
- Garlic
- Red Split Lentils
- Diced Tomatoes
- Coconut Milk
- Chickpeas
- And Spinach!
To keep the flavour for this curry simple for anyone to achieve with minimal spices, I opt for using curry powder. Curry powder is a combination of many of the spices traditionally used in Indian cooking and it’s really handy to have in your pantry!
I use ground cumin in a lot of my cooking so I add a bit extra into this recipe BUT cumin is one of the ingredients in curry powder. So, if you don’t have cumin as a separate spice in your spice rack… not to worry! Just add in a bit extra curry powder if you want to boost the flavour!
I try to stock my pantry with delicious and versatile ingredients so I can minimize how much I need to have on hand. A spice mix like curry powder is a great way to get started with achieving the delicious flavours of Indian cooking. Check out how I stock my pantry and download my free pantry ebook for an easy to read pdf!
How To Make This 30 Minute Vegan Red Lentil Curry
Ready in just 30 minutes, this vegan red lentil curry is a great option for a weeknight meal. I also love having curry as leftovers for a filling lunch!
- Saute onion and garlic in a bit of oil, water, or broth for about 3 minutes until softened and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.
- Toast curry powder and cumin for 1 minute.
- Add vegetable broth or water, red split lentils, and canned diced tomatoes.
- Simmer with the lid on for 10 – 15 minutes until the lentils are tender.
- Add the coconut milk, chickpeas, and a dash of cinnamon.
- Cook for another 5 minutes until heated through.
- Stir in the spinach and remove from the heat.
Recipe Cost
This mild vegan curry recipe makes 4-6 servings depending on whether you serve it with a side of rice or enjoy a larger portion on it’s own with naan bread.
Our favourite thrifty trick is using our homemade vegetable broth made from our frozen vegetable scraps! Using our homemade broth and chickpeas we have cooked from scratch, this recipe costs us:
Less than $5! Approximately CAD$4.86.
If we use store-bought vegetable broth and canned chickpeas our cost goes up by $2 to $6.86.
Let me know in the comments below if you make this delicious vegan red lentil curry and how you like it!
You might also love this absolutely delicious Curried Butternut Squash Soup! If you’re loving the creaminess of the coconut milk in this one, make sure to try our Fall Thai Green Curry with squash!
Easy Vegan Red Lentil Curry With Coconut Milk
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This mild vegan red lentil curry is so creamy and comforting. Simple to make and a great recipe to start with if you are new to making curry!
Ingredients
- ½ tbsp oil (or broth/water)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 cup red split lentils, rinsed (see notes if using different lentils)
- 2 cup vegetable broth or water
- 450ml diced tomatoes, canned (or fresh)
- 1 cup coconut milk (lite or full fat)
- 1 cup chickpeas, (cooked from scratch for extra thriftiness)
- Pinch of cinnamon
- ½ cup spinach, packed*
*Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Heat oil or broth/water in a deep saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 3 minutes until softened and fragrant.
- Add the curry powder and cumin. Toast the spices for 1 minute.
- Add broth, lentils and diced tomatoes. Raise the heat to bring to a low boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer with the lid on for 10-15 minutes until the lentils are tender. Stir periodically.
- Add the coconut milk, chickpeas, and dash of cinnamon. Cook, uncovered, for another 5 minutes until heated through. Taste and adjust the flavour as desired. Add some spice with a chilli powder, red chilli flakes, chilli garlic sauce, or other hot sauce if you would like a spicier curry!
- Stir in the spinach and remove from heat.
- Serve with turmeric rice or a rice of your choosing, roasted vegetables, and/or Indian naan bread.
Notes
Approximate Cost: CAD$4.86 using homemade broth or water and chickpeas cooked from scratch. $6.86 using store-bought vegetable broth and canned chickpeas.
Feel free to increase the amount of tomatoes or coconut milk used. You may just need to simmer the curry for a little longer with the lid off to reach your desired thickness.
You can easily omit or substitute the chickpeas for another bean if desired or even add in different vegetables of your choosing.
If using brown or green lentils that are not split; you will likely need to use another ½ – 1 cup of water or broth and increase the 10-15 minute cooking time (before adding the chickpeas and coconut milk) to 25 to 30 minutes. If the lentils are whole lentils and not split they need that extra time to cook fully and become soft and tender. Keep an eye on the lentils as they cook and if there is not enough liquid and they are becoming dry, add a bit more liquid as needed until they are fully cooked.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian
Lena
I made the red lentil curry with coconut milk & turmeric rice for dinner tonight. It was so easy and so delicious and yah, we have leftovers! One change… I did not have fresh spinach, but I always have frozen on hand, so I threw a block of that into the pot. A definite do-over dish 🙂
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh this is so wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for your review and star rating. I’m so happy to hear that you liked how the frozen spinach worked. And yay for leftovers!
Maria
This dish is beautiful! The combination of colours, flavours and textures is absolutely beautiful. I can’t think of a better way to describe it.
Kathryn Alexandre
What a lovely compliment. Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed your meal.
Maggie
Fantastic! Also made turmeric rice. Very good together. A delicious meal.
Thank you.
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed it and loved the combo with the turmeric rice. Thank you for letting me know!
Lydia
My good friends and neighbors are vegan and I am cooking for them in a couple of hours. I have all the fixings on hand and will surprise them with your recipe of “red lentil curry” with Turmeric long grain rice as a side. I know that it will be just delicious 😋
Thank you,
Lydia
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh wonderful! I hope you like making it and everyone has a wonderful time enjoying the finished meal! Have a lovely visit!
Skroz
Perfect meal! So easy to make, so delicous and so fullfiling! And my kids love it too. I added one large sweet patato as I had no rice at home. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. We will certainly make it often.
Kathryn Alexandre
Oooo the sweet potato would be delicious! I’m so glad everyone loved this recipe. Thank you so much for letting me know and for the lovely star rating. I’m glad it will make it into your regular rotation!
Fleur
I added bok choy instead of spinach. The stems are lovely and crunchy and it goes well with e coconut milk
Kathryn Alexandre
That’s a great idea. I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for letting me know and for the star rating!
Vee
I found another recipe that was similar, but it had way more ingredients than I had on hand. This one came out very good with not that many ingredients. I didn’t have garbanzos so added sweet potatoes instead. And mixed a bit of chili garlic sauce in upon serving.
Definitely a keeper!
Kathryn Alexandre
I’m glad to hear this was a convenient recipe for you and you were able to make those substitutions. Chili garlic sauce is always a great add-in for some spice! Thank you so much for letting me know you enjoyed it and it will be a keeper!
Courtney McIver
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it is delicious. The whole family loves it and it is so easy to make.
Kathryn Alexandre
Fantastic! I’m so glad it’s a winner with the whole family and you find it simple to make. Thank you so much for letting me know!
Amy Dow Robinson
This recipe is a keeper!! So easy to make, affordable and delicious. I also made your Turmeric Rice recipe, it was a perfect meal. Thank you!
Kathryn Alexandre
Awesome! I’m so glad it’s a keeper for you. Thank you so much for letting me know that you loved it and thank you for the wonderful star rating!
Kershy
This dish introduced me to being a vegan a year ago. I was a bit scared, but this dish sold me off.
I’ve never had curry before. Haven’t tried lentils that much. And I hate coconut flavour in everything.
However, I decided to give it a go. And now I’m so in love. This is my comfort dish. Whenever I have a depressive episodes, this is the only one I can cook and that would last me for a long time.
Also, sometimes insted of crushed tomatoes I add canned chickpeas in a tomato sauce to have less acidity
Kathryn Alexandre
Thank you so much for sharing this with me Kershy! I’m so glad that you found this recipe and it’s now a comfort dish for you. This means so much to me and I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know and write a review ❤️!