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Coconut Curry Lentil Soup

September 4, 2024

A creamy, rich coconut curry broth loaded with veggies makes this coconut curry lentil soup the perfect 30-minute, one-pot dinner. Oh, and P.S. it’s vegan!

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coconut curry lentil soup with kale and sweet potatoes in a bowl with a spoon

Coconut Curry Lentil Soup

If you love lentils, you're going to love this coconut curry lentil soup! A creamy, rich coconut curry broth loaded with veggies makes this coconut curry lentil soup the perfect 30-minute, one-pot dinner. Oh, and P.S. it’s vegan!

Dried brown lentils in bowl

Eye-of-the-Beholder Lentil Soup.

Let’s be honest, lentil soup doesn’t exactly win the award for being the most beautiful supper on earth. But, oh man, is it good. This curry-spiked, vegetable-laden vegan lentil soup recipe is so more than meets the eye. It’s budget-friendly, packed with nutrition, and so, so creamy and delicious. No bland or mushy lentil soup, please. This soup was created to convince you to start cooking them and *hopefully* even start loving them as much as we do. And once you fall in love, you can try our Red Lentil Soup recipe too!

onions sweet potatoes curry brown lentils in pot

What Type of Lentils Do You Use for Soup?

As you may know, lentils come in a rainbow of colors and types! Red lentils, green lentils, black lentils, brown lentils, yellow lentils and more! We love them all, but they all behave a bit differently when cooked—some take longer to cook than others, some hold their shape as they cook, whereas other turn to mush. For this particular soup we are using regular old brown lentils because we love their texture. They’re also easy to find. However, you could also use French lentils, black lentils, or green lentils if that’s what you have on-hand.

Do You Have to Soak Lentils Before Cooking Them?

Unlike dried beans, dried lentils do not need to be soaked before cooking! In fact, you don’t even need to rinse them if you don’t want to, making them ideal for the busy family. The variety in color and the ease of use are two of our favorite things about cooking with lentils.

coconut curry lentil soup being ladled out of pot

What is The Nutritional Value of Lentil Soup?

Lentil soup is packed with nutrition, and this one in particular packs a nutritional punch. Vegan and vegetable-loaded, it’s a healthy, hearty power house. Here’s why lentils are so good for you:

  • Eating lentils may help to lower cholesterol, and having low cholesterol is associated with a lower risk for heart disease.
  • High in insoluble fiber, lentils take a long time to digest. This means that they can help to stabilize your blood sugar, and just generally are good for your digestive health.
  • Lentils are an excellent vegan source of protein! 26% of the calories in lentils come from protein. For this reason, lentils make a great vegan or “meatless Monday” option.
  • They’re also a great source of iron.
close up of coconut curry lentil soup with toasted bread

What Makes this Lentil Soup Recipe the Best Ever:

The key to a flavorful soup is understanding that it all starts with a flavorful broth. The broth is really the foundation of flavor for the whole soup. The higher-quality your broth, the more flavor-packed your lentils will be. For this recipe, the broth is built from a mixture of coconut milk and good-quality vegetable or chicken stock (if you’re not worried about keeping it vegan) for the broth, which results in a very hearty and rich soup. For this creamy curried lentil soup, the coconut milk + broth soup base is flavored generously with:

  • Onions
  • Fresh garlic
  • Fresh ginger
  • Yellow curry powder
  • Cinnamon sticks
bowl of coconut curry lentil soup with toasted bread

Tools You Will Need:

Fall is Here and Now You Need Soup.

Now that the colder weather has arrived, this recipe will be on repeat. It’s healthy, delicious and only takes 30 minutes to make from start to finish! We like to serve it with a big hunk of buttered crusty bread. Here are a few more soups to try this season!

side shot of coconut curry lentil soup in bowl

Yum, Yum Lentil Soup.

If you make this Coconut Curry Lentil Soup, we’d love to hear about it! Be sure to snap a photo, add it to your Instagram feed or stories and tag @themodernproper and #themodernproper if you do. Also, feel free to leave a comment on the post and tell your friends where you discovered the recipe!

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Coconut Curry Lentil Soup

  • Serves:  8
  • Prep Time:  15 min
  • Cook Time:  30 min
  • Calories:  253

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 2 (13.5-ounce) cans full-fat coconut milk, shaken
  • 1 ½ pounds sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 ½ cups brown lentils
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste
  • 4 cups packed stemmed and roughly torn curly kale

Method

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Once the oil is glistening, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, another 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cinnamon.

  2. Pour in the stock and coconut milk and stir to combine. Stir in the sweet potatoes, lentils, and salt. Increase the heat to high, and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potatoes and lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Uncover and stir in the kale and cook until the kale is wilted, 3 to 5 minutes.

  3. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve warm.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 253
  • Protein 9 g
  • Carbohydrates 24 g
  • Total Fat 14 g
  • Dietary Fiber 8 g
  • Cholesterol 0 mg
  • sodium 165 mg
  • Total Sugars 7 g

Coconut Curry Lentil Soup

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • CherieDe

    I have yellow curry paste. Can I use that in place of curry powder? If so, how much would you suggest? I'm anxious to make this. Looks delicious.

    Yes! Just start with 1 tablespoon at first to make sure it isn't too spicy. You can always add more as you go!

  • Louise

    Is the coconut milk un-sweetened? I can't wait to make it! Thanks, Louise

    Yes, it is. Hope you enjoy Louise!

  • Katelynn

    How would you freeze this? Would you cook it then freeze or meal prep certain parts and throw it all together? I am thinking this will be a great recipe post partum!

    Definitely would be Katelynn! We'd fully cook it then cool completely and freeze. Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat on the stove or microwave. Hope you enjoy!

  • Robin

    Can i use red lentils?

    Should work great! hope you enjoy!

  • Sophia

    Is this spicy

    Not at all, hope you enjoy!

  • Baylee

    Sooo good! Will definitely be going in my regular rotation. Had to use a mix of green and red lentils, and spinach instead of kale, but still turned out great

    Thanks Baylee so glad you loved it!

  • Patricia

    Delish, I partially puréed it once it was ready then added spinach instead of kale

    Thanks BPatriciaeth, so glad you loved it!

  • Tatiana

    Love this recepie. Thank you!

    Thanks Tatiana, so happy you love it!

  • Liz

    This soup is the best. Every time I bring it to a party it gets rave reviews and a request for the recipe.
    Can I freeze it?
    Thanks,
    Liz

    Thanks Liz!! So happy to hear that. Yes you can freeze it.

  • Lori

    This soup is incredible...made exactly as written. I used Madras curry powder which has cinnamon in it, so I did not add more. That is the only change I made. I can't stop talking about how delicious this soup is. How it has that perfect umami taste...in fact I am having a bowl right now !

    Thanks Lori, so glad you loved it!