This hearty vegan lentil curry is the perfect weeknight meal. It’s creamy, filling, easy to make and loaded with flavor.
Vegan lentil curry is wholesome, super delicious and high in protein and fiber. All that good stuff.
It’s super easy and pretty quick too, and you can have dinner on the table in less than an hour with this meal.
If you have leftovers, you’ll be happy too because leftovers are divine for lunch the next day.
And making this is a walk in the park.
Even if you’re a cooking newbie this recipe will be easy for you. It’s super forgiving and even if you make a few mistakes, it’ll be okay!
And if you love a good curry you’ll also love our butternut squash curry and our vegan chana masala.
How To Make Vegan Lentil Curry
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Add chopped onions and garlic to a pot with olive oil and spices and sauté until the onions are softened. Add dried lentils and toss them up with the onions and spices.
Add canned chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock and canned coconut cream (or coconut milk) and stir it in.
Bring it to a simmer and then turn down the heat, and simmer until the lentils are soft and cooked.
Add fresh basil leaves.
Stir in the basil leaves until just wilted. Add coconut sugar (for flavor balance) and salt and pepper to taste.
Your lentil curry is ready to serve!
How To Serve Lentil Curry
Serve with or without basmati rice, as you like it! I’m a fan of the rice, so rice it is for me. Cauliflower rice would be great with this too.
Some fresh basil leaves and slices of fresh lime are also great to serve with this. If you’d like something on the side then a loaf of crusty bread to mop up the sauce is always a winner. Or bake a loaf of whole wheat bread.
This recipe easily serves 6 for a filling and delicious meal.
Storing and Freezing
Keep leftovers in the fridge and reheat as needed. Leftovers keep very well for 4-5 days in the fridge.
It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
More Vegan Lentil Recipes
- Vegan lentil soup is an ultra simple 6-ingredient recipe that is so creamy you will wonder if there is actually cream in it, but there isn’t!
- Red lentil dal is ready in 30 minutes and super delicious and satisfying.
- Lentil bolognese is super hearty and veggie-packed.
- Vegan dal makhani is rich creamy and restaurant quality.
- Lentil ragu makes the best hearty pasta dish!
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lentil Curry
Ingredients
For the Lentil Curry:
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 1 teaspoon Crushed Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Mild Curry Powder
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 1 ½ cups Dried Brown Lentils (300g)
- 28 ounces Canned Chopped Tomatoes (800ml, 2 cans)
- 3 cups Vegetable Stock (720ml)
- 14 ounces Canned Coconut Cream (400ml, 1 can) Unsweetened
- 2 cups Fresh Basil
- 1 Tablespoon Coconut Sugar or Light Brown Sugar
- Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
For Serving:
- Basmati Rice
- Fresh Basil
- Fresh Lime
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a pot with the onion, crushed garlic, curry powder, cumin, coriander powder, turmeric and cayenne pepper and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Add in the dried lentils and toss them with the onions and spices.
- Add the chopped tomato, vegetable stock and coconut cream. Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat, cover the pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are soft and cooked – around 35-40 minutes.
- When the lentils are cooked add in the fresh basil and stir in until just wilted. Add the coconut sugar and stir in. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
- Serve with rice, fresh basil and some slices of fresh lime.
Video
Notes
- Coconut cream can be replaced with canned, full fat, unsweetened coconut milk.
- You can switch the fresh basil to baby spinach if you prefer.
- Store leftovers in the fridge in a covered container for 4-5 days. It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
- Nutritional information is for the lentil curry only and does not include rice.
We love this!! It is a new favorite and I made it just as you suggest except that I served with brown rice.
Yay! Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Kathi. Thanks so much for your great review!
This was really good! I followed the recipe except I accidentally forgot the curry powder haha I had it out on the counter and it didn’t make it in- Not quite sure how I did that since that was kinda the point of curry lentils but it still tasted great! Would have definitely been better with the curry powder though. Other than that I loved the basil in this and always love finding new lentil recipes since they are so filling, healthy, and cheap. That 1.5cups of lentils makes A LOT of servings!
So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe Kasia, even without the curry powder 🙂
I was going through the pantry and thought I would love to use the lentils and make a different dish for my son who is vegan (although we all eat the food, it is made with him in mind) a very easy recipe to follow as is the Vegan Burger (which we all love love love). My son got home from work and said that looks yummy, try it….. he said OMG that is amazing – thank you for the straight forward recipes and the delicious meals that come from them full of flavour and healthy too and encourages me to cook different things 🙂
So happy to hear you and your family enjoy our recipes Michelle! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I’ve made this recipe a few times now and I can’t seem to get the lentils right. I’ve been on a journey the past 5 years to figure out the perfect recipe to match a lentil curry I had at my cousins wedding, this recipe seems to be the perfect fit when it comes to taste, but I struggle with cooking the lentils until they are perfectly soft, do you have any tips to get the perfect texture/consistency throughout??
Hi Kylie! Than you for your great review! When we tested the recipe, we cooked the lentils for 40 minutes, and they turned out great. If you want to do an extra step to help with the cooking process, you can try to soak the lentils in water for an hour and then drain and rinse them. Then proceed with the recipe as stated. I hope this helps!
Easy recipe to follow. All healthy stuff here. I didn’t have but a few basil leaves, no coconut sugar, Didn’t add any black pepper and light salt for personal dietary issues. Next time I would use half the vegetable broth. This was more like a soup – I wanted a side dish of lentils. Surely good and good for you!
Thanks for your feedback Dale!
Delicious, l added baby corn and carrots x
Yum!
Love this recipe. We don’t eat a lot of lentils but after this I am using them more.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the great review!
Oh. My. Goodness! I made this for the first time, and it is INCREDIBLE! Restaurant quality. This will be on repeat, no doubt. So many of the internet curry/lentil/vegan recipes I find online are missing richness. It must be the coconut cream that makes the difference, but it is perfect. I did use about 9.5 ounces coconut cream and about 4.5 ounces regular coconut milk to reduce calories, but even so, it was awesome. Seriously, this is insanely good. Made me think of the Indian prepared packets I love, but homemade and fresh. Basil is a nice touch, and the warm heat is excellent. I added some carrots as well, and they were a pleasant addition. I usually sub in fresh tomatoes for canned but didn’t this time, and am glad I didn’t. My husband is equally impressed, and neither of us are vegan. So happy to have found this. Thank you!
So happy to hear that Erin! Thanks for the amazing review!