Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite ingredients, especially during fall. This Sweet Potato Red Lentil and Coconut Curry is vegan comfort food at its best and consists of a handful of simple ingredients. It’s vegan and gluten-free. The best part is that it’s ready in under 30 minutes and includes a great variety of plants as well as some plant-based protein.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s is super nutritious! Sweet potatoes are high in antioxidants and vitamins (beta-carotene, vitamin C and potassium for instance).
- It also contains lentils- they are a great source of plant based protein.
- It’s ready in less than 30 minutes!
- It’s freezer- and meal-prep friendly!
How to Make Sweet Potato Red Lentil Curry
Preparing this curry is really easy so it’s a great option if you’re short on time.
Start by frying up some onion and garlic in a large pan. Then simply add all of the following ingredients: sweet potato cubes, lentils, veggie broth, spices, chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt.
Let simmer until lentils are soft and ready to eat. The amount of time needed for the lentils to be soft will depend on the type of lentils you use. The recipe works with a variety of lentils– just make sure to adjust the liquid needed for each type. For the recipe below I used yellow lentils.
Then add some coconut milk and make this curry even creamier.
Feel free to throw in some extra veggies. Baby spinach or olives would taste great for instance!
Serve with side dish of choice (I highly recommend (brown) rice or naan), sprinkle on some cashews and enjoy!
Ingredients & Substition Notes
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Red Onion: I prefer using red onion for this recipe simply because of the taste. White onion would work just as well though.
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Lentils: I used yellow lentils for this recipe but any type of lentils would work here. You could use yellow lentils, green lentils or red lentils. Make sure to adjust the amount of veggie stock/ water to your lentils. You could also replace the dry lentils with canned lentils. In that case, just leave out the veggie stock, let sweet potatoes simmer in a mix of chopped tomatoes and coconut milk. Add canned lentils at the end, when sweet potatoes are already soft.
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Veggie Broth: I use store bought veggie broth powder in all my recipes that contain veggie stock. I make sure that it contains almost no additives- it might take a while to find an appropriate one but once you’ve found a brand that you like, it saves a lot of time and energy. With the veggie stock powder that I use, 1 tablespoon of powder is enough to produce 2-3 cups of veggie stock.
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Indian Spices: The spice blend of curry, coriander, cumin and garam masala powder is absolutely essential for this recipe. They give this curry its distinct taste and shouldn’t be replaced or omitted. I used mild curry powder in this recipe- feel free to use hot curry powder it you prefer a spicier taste. Adding some chilli flakes would do the job as well.
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Coconut Milk: I used full-fat creamy coconut milk for this recipe to achieve a really creamy texture. If you’d like you could use only half of the coconut milk and add some water or another type of plant milk instead- the result won’t be as creamy though. Instead of coconut milk you could use yoghurt- but the taste and texture will change slightly!
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Rice: I love having brown rice as a side dish for this sweet potato curry. Alternatively you could also enjoy it with cauliflower rice. Naan bread would also make an amazing side dish.
Sides- What To Serve With This Curry?
- Flatbread: I absolutely love naan as a side dish with every curry there is.
- Rice: Rice makes a great addition to this curry. I prefer using brown rice over white because of its nutritional value.
- Salads: Different salads would also taste great with this curry, especially as a starter.
FAQs
Many people like using an instant pot to prepare their stews and curries. Especially if you’re using lentils that need to be cooked for quite some time, using some sort of slow cooker might be a great idea. However, I personally haven’t tried it yet.
This dish is great for meal prepping. It can easily be prepared the evening before and left in the fridge overnight. Simply warm it up the next day. If you’re adding cashews, I would not add them the night before but shortly before enjoying it. Otherwise, they might lose their crunchy texture.
This curry is also freezer-friendly. If you cooked really big batches you could divide it into various small portions and freeze it.
Between 3-4 days. Make sure you store it in a airtight container.
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Sweet Potato Red Lentil and Coconut Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil *sub soy sauce for an oil-free recipe
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 big (or 2 small) sweet potatoes, diced
- ½ cup red lentils *see notes
- ~3 cups veggie broth
- 1 tsp yellow curry powder
- ½ tsp ground coriander powder
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp garam masala powder
- 1x 15 oz tin chopped tomatoes
- 1x 15 oz can creamy coconut milk *see notes
- side dish of choice (rice, naan…)
Instructions
- Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic and fry until translucent.
- In the meantime, give the lentils a good wash (works best in a sieve).
- Add sweet potato cubes, lentils, veggie broth, spices, chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt and let simmer with a lid on for about 15+ minutes (depending on the lentils you used).
- Once lentils are soft, add coconut milk and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. At that point you could also throw in some extra vegetables like baby spinach leaves, some kale or olives (optional).
- Serve with side dish of choice (rice, naan…) and a drizzle of fresh lime juice. I also highly recommend adding some chopped cashews on top.Â
- Enjoy right away or store it in an airtight container – it will taste just as good the next day! It’s also freezer-friendly!
Video
Notes
- Lentils: The amount of time and liquid needed for the lentils to be ready depends on what type of lentils you choose (split lentils…). See notes on the ingredients section above.
- Spices: Intensity of spices can vary from brand to brand. Make sure to taste and adjust seasoning.
- Coconut Milk: If you would like to omit the coconut milk, you could use yoghurt instead. However, this will change the texture as well as taste of this curry a bit!
- How long does it last in the fridge? Between 4-5 days. Make sure to store it in an airtight container!Â
- Freezer Friendly? Yes.
Nutrition
