Never has such a flavorful, hearty, and warming meal come together so quickly or using so many pantry staples. We love it with a dollop of yogurt on top, but feel free to omit or use a non-dairy yogurt to keep it vegan.
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What you’ll need
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Cups
$28 At Bon Appétit Market
Chef's Knife
$34.53 At Amazon
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
Spoon
$24.69 At Amazon
Dutch Oven
$133 $80 At Amazon
Wooden Spoon
$7 At Amazon
Ladle
$8 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
Makes about 8 cups
Ingredients
1
6
1
2
5
½
1
1
½
2
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Peel 1 onion and chop. Smash 6 garlic cloves with the flat side of your knife. Peel, then finely chop. Peel 3" piece ginger with a small spoon, then finely chop.
Step 2
Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in large Dutch oven over medium. Add onion and cook, stirring often, just until translucent, 6–8 minutes.
Step 3
Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring often, until garlic is starting to turn golden, about 5 minutes.
Step 4
Add 5 tsp. curry powder and ½ tsp. cayenne and cook, stirring constantly, until spices are aromatic and starting to stick to bottom of pot, about 1 minute.
Step 5
Add 13.5 oz. coconut milk and stir to loosen spices, then stir in 1 cup lentils, ½ cup shredded coconut, 2 tsp. salt, and 5 cups water.
Step 6
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low to keep soup at a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lentils are broken down and soup is thickened, 25–30 minutes.
Step 7
Meanwhile, remove 10 oz. thawed frozen spinach from packaging and squeeze between your hands over sink to remove excess water. Transfer to cutting board and coarsely chop.
Step 8
Add spinach and 15 oz. tomatoes to pot and stir to combine. Taste and season with more salt. Simmer just to let flavors meld, about 5 minutes. Taste and season again with more salt.
→ Frozen spinach: A shortcut we can totally get behind.
Step 9
Ladle soup into bowls. Top with yogurt, if desired.
Leave a Review
Reviews (287)
Back to Topyummy! we added cilantro and lime at the end - gave it a zing. it was very easy to put together. I will be making it again!
Scooter Doo
Seattle, WA
12/6/2023
The number of positive reviews got me hooked. I'm a very soupy kind of person, so this was a natural. One can take this in many directions, and it's hard to mess it up. Tons of flavor for very little work. I'd give it 6 stars. It looks, smells and tastes fabulous.
StuKin
CT
10/28/2023
Excellent recipe! I loved the flavor and color. I added one red and one yellow bell pepper, and two zucchinis because I needed to use them up, and because I like to veg up my meals whenever possible. I also added a teaspoon of whole cumin seeds, which were nice to bite into. I added the spinach directly from frozen to the pot (it was a bag, not a block). Topped with cilantro and lime juice. Next time, I’ll leave out the coconut flakes. I thought they were kind of strange and there’s enough coconut flavor in the soup from the coconut milk. I will definitely make this again!
Anonymous
Kennett Square, PA
10/25/2023
Wow --- delicious! I enjoyed making this one and it turned out highly flavorful. I used Penzey's "Now" Curry (so good) and made this exactly as written (well, except I accidentally added the tomatoes with the broth oops - but bygones, it still turned out great!). It is so yummy! While I didnt top it with Greek Yogurt (none on hand) and I dont think it needs it, I can see how it would still be good. Now I have lunch for the week ... will try it one day with Greek Yogurt! Yummmmmmmy! Will make this one again!
JLD
Ellicott City, MD
10/23/2023
Sounds delicious 😋
Anonymous
az
10/21/2023
This was good. I won't have any issues finishing the whole pot, but it also didn't taste very special. Someone mentioned that it could probably use more acid and I did find myself annoyed that I didn't go with my gut and swap the yogurt for greek yogurt. Adding regular yogurt did nothing for the dish.
Tanya
Milwaukee, WI
10/18/2023
5/5 for me on flavor! I don't think I've ever had a lentil soup in my life, but this was delicious and easy to make. I may have disintegrated my lentils by overcooking on my part but was still really good. The recipe is definitely entering my saved records. If anyone else has additional red lentil recipes, please let me know!
Harold S.
Jacksonville, Florida
10/7/2023