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Green Curry Lentil Soup

4.7

(265)

Image may contain Bowl Food Dish Meal Curry Soup Bowl Plant Stew and Pizza
Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Susie Theodorou

This soup packs in all the ingredients that would make your doctor happy (Lentils! Sweet potatoes! Leafy greens!) but is bolstered by fiery Thai green curry paste to keep things interesting. Store-bought Thai curry pastes can vary widely in flavor and intensity from brand to brand (we tested this recipe with Maesri), so there are also lots of aromatics like onion, ginger, and garlic to ensure there’s plenty of flavor to balance the earthy lentils.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 servings

Ingredients

2

Tbsp. virgin coconut oil

1

small onion, chopped

2

garlic cloves, finely chopped

1

1" piece peeled ginger, finely chopped

1

tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more

¼

cup Thai green curry paste

1

medium sweet potato, peeled, cut into ½" cubes

¾

cup brown or green lentils

4

cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1

13.5-oz. can unsweetened coconut milk, shaken well

4

cups (loosely packed) baby spinach leaves

½

tsp. (or more) fish sauce

Small handful cilantro leaves with tender stems and lime wedges (for serving)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add onion, garlic, and ginger; season with salt. Cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent and starts to soften, about 3 minutes. Add curry paste and cook, stirring and scraping bottom of pan constantly, until paste is fragrant and slightly darkened and mixture starts to stick to pan, about 3 minutes.

    Step 2

    Stir sweet potato and lentils into onion mixture, then add broth and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook soup, stirring occasionally, until sweet potatoes are cooked through and lentils are tender but not mushy, 20–25 minutes.

    Step 3

    Add coconut milk to soup; return to a simmer. Add spinach and fish sauce and cook just until spinach is wilted, about 30 seconds. Taste soup and season with more salt and/or fish sauce if needed.

    Step 4

    Ladle soup into bowls and top with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

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Reviews (265)

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  • Super good and very customizable!

    • Halley

    • Oregon

    • 4/11/2024

  • This is a response to Cameron … looking for way to save recipes… I couldn’t find a way to do that either. But I found a workaround. I copy the name of the recipe and then paste it into the app (Epicurious) when it pops up in search results, I am able to save it. I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I intend to. Now it’s saved in my app.

    • JoyB

    • New York, NY

    • 2/3/2024

  • Haven’t made it but I want to. I’m a subscriber and I don’t know why I cannot save a recipe on the web? I want to get it on my app… why don’t emails open in app, or ask if I want to see it on the app? It’s a PITA if I want to find it.

    • Cameron

    • Portland, OR

    • 2/3/2024

  • Crazy delicious, I've made this twice in one week now!

    • Ev

    • Portland, OR

    • 1/23/2024

  • OMG...THIS IS DELICIOUS!! Read some of the reviews to see how people change the recipe to make it to their taste . Because I am on a plant based diet, I made some changes. First of all, I used vegan chicken broth . I also I used precooked lentils and frozen spinach. I substituted some dulce flakes for the fish sauce, (about two tablespoons, chopped....I imagine some nori would do as well) I would also highly recommend cutting out the two tablespoons of coconut oil for frying and using full fat coconut milk. I love that this is easy!

    • Collette T

    • Las Vegas, NV

    • 1/7/2024

  • Could have been great with some chicken thighs added in in the beginning - might try it next time!

    • Anonymous

    • New York, Ny

    • 6/27/2023

  • I can tell a good recipe and this is one. I only gave 4 stars because I didn't actually make THIS recipe. Will explain: I used it as a "base recipe' for a similar dish- a sweet potato-coconut curry with greens- and it was a big help. I did not use lentils but added chickpeas to my final soup. And I used more sweet potato- 3/4 of which I blended in to the aromatic base and chicken broth. From there I added my own curry powder, coriander, turmeric and a pinch of Aleppo pepper if you have it. I used pre-blanched Lacinato Kale for greens and served with cous-cous and pinenuts. Maybe more Moroccan-ish? Overall idea was similar and I was grateful to have the ingredient proportions to help me. My husband and I loved it! Thank you very much.

    • MaryAnn Neblock

    • SE Pennsylvania

    • 3/1/2023