Lentil Curry
This lentil curry recipe offers fresh flavor, warming spices and vegetables. Inspired by Indian curries, this recipe is satisfying and delicious!
Posted by Kathryne Taylor on October 14, 2026
This hearty lentil curry recipe is perfect on a cool day. Featuring tender lentils and plentiful veggies, it’s nicely spiced with curry powder and cumin. Curious about the spice level? I’d classify it as mild. The dish is lightly creamy thanks to some coconut milk, but not heavy.
Make this curry when you want to warm up and eat your vegetables as the same time. I tested this recipe five times with a variety of vegetables and love the final combination of onion, bell pepper, carrot, potato and cauliflower. You could treat it as a light main dish or a vegetable side dish.
If you’re a fan of dal makhani (the classic Indian lentil curry) or lentil soup but want to try something different, give this dish a try. It yields quite a bit, so you can freeze individual portions for later in the season.
How to Make Curry with Lentils
The key to making a flavorful lentil curry is to build the dish in layers. We’ll cook the vegetables in two increments, seasoning each one. Then we’ll add aromatics and spices—garlic, ginger, curry powder and cumin—and cook them long enough to wake up their flavors.
Finally, we’ll add the lentils with the wet ingredients—water, coconut milk and diced tomatoes with their liquid. The mixture will need twenty to thirty minutes to simmer away while the flavors intensify.
Watch How to Make This Curry
Vegetable curries always have a lengthy ingredients list, but I streamlined this recipe as much as possible. Once you’ve chopped your veggies, the method is straightforward. Here’s a video to show you how to make it, and you’ll find the full recipe at the bottom of the post.
Ingredient Tips
Buy the suggested vegetable sizes when you’re grocery shopping. For example, the recipe calls for a small cauliflower; a large cauliflower will throw the dish out of balance. (If the store only sells large, reserve some of the cauliflower for another use.)
Use black beluga or French green lentils (lentilles du Puy). I also tested the recipe with regular brown lentils, but they didn’t thicken the stew enough and I didn’t enjoy their flavor.
Leftover fresh ginger is perfect for making ginger tea.
You might as well cook some extra rice and plan on making Extra Vegetable Fried Rice tomorrow night.
Serving Suggestions
This dish offers a hefty dose of vegetables and fiber. You can serve it on a bed of cooked brown rice if you’d like. I recommend basmati or regular long-grain—either way, you can use my favorite brown rice cooking method. To add some additional protein to the meal, top it with a fried egg, at which point the meal would become vegetarian instead of vegan.
You could serve this dish as a major component in a homemade Indian-style buffet, along with Palak Paneer or Quick Chana Masala. For a side salad, consider some greens dressed with Carrot Ginger Dressing (omit the sesame oil). Will you please invite me, too?
Please let me know how your lentil curry turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Lentil Curry
This lentil curry recipe offers fresh flavor, warming spices and vegetables. Inspired by Indian curries, this recipe is satisfying and delicious! Recipe yields about 6 bowls.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 ¼ teaspoon fine salt, divided
- 1 small cauliflower (about 1 ¼ pound, or 4 ½ cups), cored and roughly chopped
- 1 Yukon gold potato (½ pound or less), peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 cup black beluga or French green lentils, picked over for debris and rinsed
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup light or regular coconut milk, plus more for garnish
- 1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
- Black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
- Cooked brown jasmine rice or long-grain rice, for serving (optional)
- Lime wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Warm the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the onion, carrots, bell pepper, and salt. Cook until the onions are turning translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
- Add the cauliflower and potato. Cook until the vegetables are fork-tender and the cauliflower has some color to it, about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder and cumin. Stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the lentils, water, coconut milk and tomatoes with their liquid, plus another ¼ teaspoon salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring every few minutes to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom, until the potatoes, carrots and lentils are cooked through and the mixture has thickened, about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Season to taste with additional salt (I added another ¼ teaspoon) and black pepper. Serve in bowls with an extra drizzle of coconut milk, chopped cilantro, and a wedge of lime. Leftovers will keep well in the refrigerated, covered, for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
Recipe adapted from an older (since deleted) recipe titled Tomato and Lentil Curry. I like this recipe much better.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
