An easy weeknight curry recipe made with red lentils, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, and spinach. Vegan, gluten-free, healthy, and delicious.
This is a big day, friends. No, I don’t have any new book or baby announcements on the agenda – but today is the first day in four years that this vegetarian food blog has a lentil recipe! I have at least 39 chickpea recipes (more if you count the ones I probably forgot to tag) but let me present – the almighty lentil.
I realize that many of you probably really love lentils… they’re a great source of protein, especially if you’re vegan or vegetarian. My relationship with lentils has been so-so, but lately I’ve been giving them another chance. So far, I’ve found that I’m ok with red lentils. (baby steps)
If you’re like me and are ready to be converted, this red lentil sweet potato stew is a darn good place to start. Though it’s a bit of a hot mess, it’s been one of our favorite recipes this fall. Unlike most soups that I make, it’s not broth-y or creamy. Instead it has a deliciously thick texture that’s somewhere in between.
It’s spiced with ginger, curry & cardamom and brightened with generous squeezes of lime. It’s great the first day, the second day, and… well… it didn’t last any longer than that in our house, but it won’t be long before I make this one again.
Curried Red Lentil Sweet Potato Stew
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- 1 large sweet potato, chopped
- 2 teaspoons muchi curry powder*
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¾ cup dried red lentils
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- ½ cup frozen peas, thawed
- 2 cups baby spinach
- Juice of 1 lime, plus extra lime wedges for serving
- Juice of ½ small lemon
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
- Garnish with fresh cilantro (optional)
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- ½ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and a few pinches of salt and pepper and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, garlic, ginger, and sweet potatoes and stir. Add the curry, cardamom, and another pinch of salt and pepper. Stir again and cook until the spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the lentils and broth. Reduce heat and simmer until the carrots and sweet potatoes are soft, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender (or a potato masher) to coarsely blend the stew. Add the green beans, peas, and spinach and cook for another few minutes. Add the lime juice, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes, if using. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more spice, lime, and salt and pepper to balance the flavors to your liking.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro, if using, and serve with lime wedges. If desired, combine all yogurt sauce ingredients and serve on the side.
If you over-spice your soup, add a splash of white wine vinegar to tone down the heat.
Jeanine, please tell me….
Do you rinse/soak the red lentils too ??
There’s always a lot of “soapy water” kind of look when I do. I keep doing it until the water is clean and clear. But, nobody says you do or you don’t.
Your answer is appreciated.
Hi Marcielle, you could rinse them, but there’s no need to soak.
I loved the flavor of this soup and will definitely make it again. However, I also couldn’t get the green beans to soften. It sort of ruined the texture, because it was so creamy and soft except for the crunchy green beans. Will omit them next time, add them earlier or precook them.
The flavor of this was wonderful . I’d add the green beans earlier – here they are left too the end with spinach. I’m not a raw green bean fan so I had to cook them longer in the lentil mix and everything turned into a mush without enough texture to call it a stew .
I’ve made this several times and it’s super delicious. I decided to up the curry powder to 3 tsp, and I was pretty generous with the salt (which I recommend). I also used frozen green beans, which worked very well. The lime and lemon juice really take this dish to the next level. The best part is, it tastes even better the next day as the cardamom really pokes through!
Thanks for the update on preparing the lentil soup 🍲
This is amazing! I’m now on my 2nd large bowl. I made a few changes (didn’t want to venture out). I used Japanese sweet potatoes, sirracha instead of red pepper, added a variety of greens, and topped it with chopped green onions (green and white part). I didn’t make the yoghurt sauce as I an vegan, but might try next time with vegan yoghurt. This will make it into rotation on my menu. Thanks.
THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! I could not find muchi curry powder at my local grocery store (Food Cellar) but instead I made my own based off the spices you listed…didnt have fenugreek or cloves and I wasn’t sure what the ratios were, but I did:
1 tsp of each: turmeric, black pepper
1.5 tsp of each: cumin, ginger, coriander, cayenne, caraway
2 tsp garlic powder
Mixed it all together and then took 2 tsps of that combo as the recipe specified. Was flavorful and spicy, but not too spicy (disclosure: I love VERY spicy food so maybe my judgement isn’t the best). Thanks Jeanine, I loved this!
I’m a little late to the party here, but just made this. For sure, it is absolutely the MOST delicious soup I’ve ever had. Came together so easily. We couldn’t even wait to put it in a bowl, we ate it directly from the pot! The cardamom really makes it in our opinion. (Not a fan of lentils either, never used cardamom before).
Thanks for the fab recipe!
5 stars
This was truly delicious. I think the lemon/lime juice was key. Gave it some zing. I added a couple tablespoons of brown sugar and more water but altogether, excellent.
Excellent! Just made it using garam masala and subbing one cup of the broth for coconut milk (and omitting green beans/peas– just didn’t have them on hand). Really delicious.
This was delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I didn’t have muchi curry powder, but subbed another curry powder and added some garam masala with great results.
Hi Ashley, so glad you liked it!