Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil Soup
By Jessica Hylton -
- Updated
This Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil Soup is packed with amazing lentils simmering in a rich and creamy curry broth. The perfect one-pot meal! Great for lunches at work and also busy weeknights!
Friends, let’s go on a wild road. This Coconut Curry Lentil Soup has got to be one of my favourite things I’ve ever eaten, ever. That’s a lot of “evers” so you know it’s real. I’m not a leftover girl, and I easily ate this for several days. The comforting nature, the different flavour notes and the fact that I’m slowly but surely turning into soup lady all contributed to this. Let me share more about this amazing soup, and when you’re done, go check your pantry, run to the supermarket and make this baby.
First, it’s been surprisingly cool here. I don’t remember when last we had such great weather, but the other night I went outside and it was so cold that it felt like the air conditioning was on. Pleasantly surprised by this and immediately inspired, the first words out of my mouth were “oh, this is for sure soup weather!”. So what does soup lady do? Well, make soup of course. I’ve been wanting to find a way to incorporate more lentils into my diet because eating them plain on a salad just wasn’t cutting it. Of course, I already have a divine and very popular lentil soup, but I was definitely feeling for a new type of lentil soup experience. In walks this dreamy, creamy, Coconut Curry Lentil Soup.
What does lentil soup taste like?
If I had to describe the amazing taste of this Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil Soup, I would go on for days. For your sake, I’ll make it short. Lentils (a legume) itself tastes like a mix of a great pea with a bean. As a result, it’s slightly peppery with a mix of earthy and creamy textures. The rich broth of curry flavours and spices are absorbed by the lentils, because of this, it adds to the taste of the legume! As if all of this wasn’t enough, the richness of the coconut cream adds a smoothness that is unmatched.
Why is lentil soup amazing?
One of the things I really love about this soup is that it’s a great guilt-free comfort food indulgence. The main reason is that it is packed with lentils, which are:
- An excellent source of fibre. One cup of cooked lentils contain 16 grams of dietary fibre.
- Lentils contain 90 percent of your recommended daily intake of folate, 37 percent of your iron, 49 percent of your manganese and 21 percent of your iron. Hello, nutrients!
- Extremely filling. I especially love this since it’s a great vegan protein source!
Lentil Soup FAQs:
What goes well with Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil Soup?
Lentil soups, in general, are extremely versatile. For a rich and thick soup like this one (or even my Easy Spiced Lentil Soup), your best bet is to pair it with something starchy that absorbs the flavour. It would also be good to pair the soup with a light dish such as a side salad.
Here are some recipes that are a personal favourite:
- Nice fluffy Vegan Cornbread. Perfect to soak up flavours
- Dip some No Knead Bread (Dutch Oven Bread) into it to soak up the flavour!
- A light and airy side salad like a fresh Vegan Caesar Salad.
- Some people (aka my husband) like it with a side of rice. For a healthier option, choose cauliflower rice!
How to freeze lentil soup:
The good news is that this Lentil Soup freezes well! There are two main methods of freezing lentil soup.
The first method :
- Chill your Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil Soup in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Ladle the chilled soup into your re-useable silicone bags (I love these Stasher bags) until half-filled
- Remove all air from the stasher bag
- lay flat side down in your freezer
The second method :
- Place your Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil Soup in ice cube trays
- Put ice trays in the freezer
- Remove your iced soup from the trays and place in your saver bags halfway up
- Push the air in bags
- Lay flat side down in the freezer
One thing is for sure that this soup is sure to please the tastebuds and the body. I can’t wait for you to try this recipe, friends. Eat up and enjoy!
Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil Soup
This Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil Soup is packed with amazing lentils simmering in a rich and creamy curry broth. The perfect one pot meal! Great for lunches at work and also busy weeknights!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste - I use this vegan one
- ½ red onion
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon liquid aminos/gluten free tamari/coconut aminos
- 1 1/2 cups red lentils
- 1 can 13.5 ounce 383g coconut milk (full fat or lite)
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- juice of 1 lime
- ½ tablespoon sambal oelek or Sriracha optional, for heat
- Top with lime & chopped purple cabbage optional
Instructions
Instructions
Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil Soup
- In a pan over medium high heat, heat the sesame oil. Add in the minced ginger and curry paste to fry it, stirring into the oil, for about 1 minute.
- Add in the chopped onion and the garlic and cook until the onion is slightly translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Place the sea salt, black pepper, coconut sugar, and liquid aminos on top and stir everything together. Add in the lentils and stir again.
- Add in the coconut milk and the veggie broth. Bring the soup to a boil and then lower to a simmer, allowing to simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes, until your lentils are fully cooked through. Stir the soup occasionally. You can let it simmer even more if desired.
- Squeeze the lime over, stir, and then remove from heat. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Add in any of the optional add ins/toppings. Stir in the sambal oelek (or Sriracha) or scotch bonnet pepper sauce if using.
- Enjoy!
NOTES
OIL-FREE: yes you can make this oil-free, just use 2 tablespoons extra veggie broth instead of oil.
FISH FREE CURRY PASTE: Many curry pastes have fish sauce in there. Be sure to check yours to ensure it’s vegan. This is the one I use! I stock up on many at a time :).
Nutrition
Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 9.5g | Fat: 9.4g | Sodium: 771.7mg | Fiber: 5.7g | Sugar: 3g
by Jessica
leave a comment
34 comments
Send this to a friend
This looks fantastic! If I’m unable to get it, would there be a suitable substitute for liquid aminos/gluten free tamari/coconut aminos? Doesn’t have to necessarily be vegan. Thank you for any tips- I’m looking forward to making this!
Thank you so much for reading Clara! A good substitute for liquid aminos is low sodium soy sauce. Our best tip is to look out for over-salting its always better to add more salt at the end. I hope this helps!
This was easy and delicious! We did make some soy curls and put on top at the end for a little added heft, and we ate it with naan on the side. Very filling without feeling too heavy. Thanks Jessica!
This soup is delicious! Thank you for sharing!!
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe Zoe! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
Super easy and so wonderful. We are it for four days 🤣 We paired it with homemade Naan.
This recipe was SO simple and incredibly tasty! My meat-loving fiance LOVED it. We served it with Chapati bread (found at Costco) and it was immensely satisfying.
Ooo this recipe does go well with bread. Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment Allison!
Hi!! I was wondering if by any chance I can use canned green lentils 🤷♀️ I really haven’t cooked with lentils in the past but I think this is all I have! The recipe looks AMAZING!
Hi Nicole,
Thank you so much! Yes you can! If it’s already cooked (I’m guessing it is since it’s canned), I would add definitely lessen the time to probably just a ten minute simmer at the end so the flavour is incorporated. I hope that helps so much!
Jackpot! Did you know that a Pinterest search for “lentils+ coconut milk” brought this recipe up first (or near the top, anyway)? It looked like just what I needed and even more, what I wanted because CURRY was also a component. I made this in an Instant Pot because I needed dinner in a hurry, made it per your instructions, almost (just 1T of the red curry paste I have because we’ve learned to add more later and I added chopped red bell pepper because I had some to be used and they haven’t hurt lentils or curry yet at my house!). Hubby said, “Wow, this is really good!” after spoonful number one. The only thing I can’t agree with is the serving size, since it will only ever be a three serving amount here; it’s that delicious! Thanks for your great recipe and I’m following you now to try more of your great food love.
Wow, thank you so much, Dianne! We love reviews like this, it really made our day! Thank you so much for reading and trying our recipes, we hope that you enjoy even more of them.
I am a huge soup fanatic so I can’t believe I’m saying this… but… this was hands down the ULTIMATE BEST SOUP I have ever eaten. In my life. Omg. Like…. OMG.
Such a wonderfully perfect combination of flavours vamps up a classic lentil soup, brining it to NEXT LEVEL delicious. The only problem is that my hubby and I ate all 8 servings last night between the two of us….. so next time I might need to make a triple batch! 😀
Thanks for creating my new favourite soup!!!!!!
Oh wow, thank you so much, Jordan! We’re so happy that you and your partner think so highly of our soup! Thanks again for leaving such a nice review and for reading!