I am really excited about this recipe and the prospect that one (all of you? hehe) of you will make this vegan lentil curry. I’ve been challenging myself to make more plant-based meals using cheap, everyday ingredients and this vegan lentil curry ticks all the boxes. And, of course, it’s healthy, incredibly delicious and only uses two pans!
Vegan Lentil Curry
I’m actually really surprised by how well this vegan lentil curry turned out! I wanted to make a lentil curry because a) it uses a lot of cheap, easy to get ingredients and b) is packed full of fiber from the beans and vegetables in it. However, if you google the term “vegan lentil curry,” you’ll notice that there are literally a zillion recipes out there. So I wanted to make something that wouldn’t just blend into the mass of other lentil curries. As such, I was experimentive with the types of spices I used and the result is an almost sweet (with no added sugar!!), creamy flavor. Ahh, it’s so so good and I can’t wait for you to try it.
CHeap And FUll of Fiber
As I mentioned above, not only is this recipe cheap to make, it’s healthy and packed full of fiber and protein. The majority of the ingredients in this lentil curry are vegetables (traditionally cheap ingredients) and beans. Buying generic (i.e. non-branded) cans of beans are very inexpensive. I couldn’t find any pre-made lentils, which was a bit annoying, and most of the bags of lentils were huge and more expensive than I was willing to pay. However, my supermarket, and most modern supermarkets, has a bulk section where I was able to buy exactly 1 cup of dry red lentils. For the coconut milk, I highly recommend visiting an Asian supermarket as they are much cheaper there. If you’re curious on more ways you can eat healthy on the cheap, be sure to check out this article I wrote a couple of years ago!
The fiber in this recipe comes from the garbanzo beans, lentils and all the other veggies! It really is a power bowl containing approximately 44g of fiber in the entire serving (which, remember, should last you 5-6 meals). Additionally, the beans contain some protein — this combination of fiber and protein is so filling and will keep you full for hours.
Here’s the Recipe
Without further ado, here is the recipe for my delicious vegan lentil curry!
Creamy Vegan Lentil Curry
Ingredients
- 1 cup red lentils dry
- 15 oz can Garbanzo beans
- 15 oz can chopped or diced tomatoes
- 13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 sweet onion sliced
- 2 celery sticks chopped
- 1 carrot sliced
- 3-8 mushrooms sliced
- 5 cups spinach dry
- 2 tsp hot curry powder I recommend you buy this from Penzey's - https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/hot-curry-powder/c-24/p-120/pd-s
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp garlic powder OR two garlic cloves chopped
- 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth OR 3 cups of water and 2 tsp bouillon vegetable or chicken
- Salt to taste
- Olive oil
Instructions
- Start by boiling your lentils to ensure they're soft and not rock hard. Boil for 15-20 minutes until soft -- be sure to salt the water and use a small amount of olive oil to prevent foaming. Use 3 cups of water for every 1 cup of lentils.
- While the lentils are cooking,start by preparing your mire poix (onion, carrot and celery sticks) and slicing your mushrooms
- Heat up a large pot with 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle some salt and pepper in the olive oil (trust me).
- Once the olive oil is hot (give it a minute or two), add the sliced and chopped onion, carrot, celery and mushrooms. Also add your garlic clove if you're using it OR your garlic powder.
- Next, add in the spices (hot curry powder, cinnamon and cardamom). Cook until the vegetables have softened, 5-10 minutes approximately.
- Once the vegetables have softened, add in the garbanzo beans, tomatoes and lentils. Either pour the water from boiling the lentils into the pot and add 2tsp of bouillon. OR get rid of the lentil water and use 3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth.
- Cook for 5 minutes and then add in the coconut milk.
- Cook for another 15 minutes and be sure to stir frequently. You want the water to reduce by more than half to give you a thick, creamy curry.
- Turn off the heat on your stove and add in your 5 cups of spinach. Mix it into the curry and watch as the spinach cooks down to almost nothing haha. Be sure to salt your curry at this point to taste.
- Serve with some cauliflower rice or whatever else tickles your fancy!
Notes
Feel free to use more spices to intensify the flavor.
Guys, I seriously cannot WAIT for you to try this! It’s one of the best recipes I’ve created and is absolutely perfect for meal prep. This curry will only make you use one small pot, for the lentils, and one big pot which makes clean up super easy. And here’s something fun I want to throw at you — the first person to make my vegan lentil curry AND share it on their Instagram stories (tag me, @honestlyfitness, please!) will win a special prize from me 🙂
I’ll be sure to note down who won, and what, when that happens. So looking forward to your feedback, and please, let me know if you can think of a way to improve this or if I wrote down something wrong in the directions. I am only human after all!
Honestly yours,
Alice
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