Coconut Curry Lentil Soup
This Coconut Curry Lentil Soup is one of our favorite soups to make on chilly nights. It’s savory, extremely flavorful, comforting, and completely plant-based. We hope you love it as much as we do!
We first made this soup a few years ago after tasting something similar at a local restaurant. We loved the taste of it and the different textures so much that we worked hard to recreate it from memory, and this is the result! The restaurant has since closed, but we continue to make this soup every time the weather gets a little cooler. It combines our love of creamy coconut milk and rich curry powder with the brightness of cilantro, tomatoes, and lime. We like to top it off with creamy avocado, a light shower of more cilantro, and a drizzle of coconut cream for extra pizzazz.
Ingredients for Coconut Curry Lentil Soup
To make this soup, you’ll need a few ingredients, most of which are shelf-stable and can be kept in your pantry ahead of time. We love that about this dish, because you can stock up on a few of the ingredients, then when you’re ready to make this soup, all you need to get are a few fresh things.
Here’s what you need:
- Veggies – this soup has yellow or sweet onions, carrots, and shallots for nutrients, savory flavor, and natural sweetness.
- Ginger – we love the subtle heat of ginger, and it goes so well with the curry powder.
- Spices – curry powder and cumin provide the base of the flavor in this soup.
- Red split lentils – these cook quickly and don’t need to soak ahead of time, so they’re the perfect option here.
- Broth – we like to use vegetable broth to keep this plant based, but you could use other kinds of broth instead. Use gluten-free broth to keep this soup gluten-free.
- Fire roasted tomatoes – this soup benefits from the acidity and roasted flavor of the tomatoes.
- Coconut milk – this gives the soup a nice creaminess.
- Cilantro – we love the herby flavors of cilantro in this soup, but if you don’t like cilantro, you can skip it or use parsley instead.
- Toppings – we like to top it with avocado, coconut cream, and more cilantro.
Making the Soup
One of the reasons why we love this soup is that it’s super easy to make. You start by heating olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven and cooking onions and carrots in it. Next, you’ll add the ginger, shallots, season them with salt, and cook them with the other veggies.
Much of the soup’s flavor comes from cumin and curry powder. To amplify their flavor, cook the spices in a little extra olive oil in the middle of the pot before mixing them with the vegetables. Then stir in the lentils and add the tomatoes, broth, coconut milk, and some of the cilantro. Bring the soup to a boil, then cover it and cook until the lentils are soft enough to eat. Taste the soup for seasoning. If the broth you used is low sodium, you may need to add a little more salt. Remove the cover and taste the soup for seasoning. If your broth is low sodium, you may need to add a little more salt.
Top the soup with a drizzle of coconut cream, avocado, and the remaining cilantro.
Coconut Curry Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced small (about ¾ cup)
- 2 inch piece of ginger, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 ½ tbsp curry powder
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- ¾ cup red split lentils
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 14 oz can coconut milk
- 1 medium bunch of cilantro, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- Avocado for topping, optional
- Coconut cream for topping, optional
- Yogurt for topping, optional (note: unless using plant-based yogurt, this will make the soup vegetarian, not vegan)
Instructions
- Rinse lentils well in a fine mesh strainer and set aside.¾ cup red split lentils
- Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots to the pot and cook until beginning to soften, about 3-5 minutes.1 onion, 2 medium carrots
- Add ginger, shallots, and salt, mix with the other veggies, and cook for about a minute.2 inch piece of ginger, 1 shallot, 1 tsp salt
- Make a well in the middle of the pot and add 1 more tbsp of olive oil. Add the curry powder and cumin to the oil to fry it for a few seconds and then mix the spices with the vegetables.1 ½ tbsp curry powder, 2 tsp cumin powder
- Add the lentils to the pot and stir. Let the lentils cook with the veggies for about a minute.¾ cup red split lentils
- Add the canned tomatoes and stir in the vegetable broth, coconut milk, and about 3/4 of the chopped cilantro.6 cups vegetable broth, 1 14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes, 1 14 oz can coconut milk, 1 medium bunch of cilantro
- Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the cover and taste the soup for seasoning. If your vegetable broth is low sodium, you may need to add a little more salt. The soup is done when the lentils are soft enough to eat but have a very slight bite to them.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top with a drizzle of coconut cream or a dollop of yogurt (which will make this soup vegetarian instead of vegan), sliced avocado, and the remaining cilantro.Avocado for topping, Coconut cream for topping, 1 medium bunch of cilantro
