Coconut Curry Lentil Soup (Vegan)

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This sweet, colourful and aromatic variation on the traditional recipe for lentil soup adds a layered flavour profile. It is packed full of nutrient-rich vegetables and married with the curry flavours making for a delicious dish that works great for any season.

Why this is the Best Lentil Soup
Spices in this Lentil Soup
Best Lentils to use in this Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
Making the Best Recipe for Lentil Soup
Making the Base for Lentil Soup Broth
Building the Broth Flavour
Adding the Spinach to the Lentil Soup
Serving the Coconut Curry Soup
Veggie Lentil Soup Storage

Why this is the Best Lentil Soup?

The savoury spices make this the best lentil soup in my opinion. I am also a huge fan of curries. The sweet coconut taste paired with the curry in a flavourful explosion makes this a rich and layered version of an otherwise bland veggie lentil soup.

Spices in this Lentil Soup

This recipe for lentil soup combines the traditional recipe with the flavours of a curried dal (curried lentil purée) which are 2 of my favourite things. If you are comfortable with dal spices, you can definitely go further by adding more of those delicious Indian flavours. For example, you could also add 4-5 cardamon pods and red pepper flakes for a bolder flavour. Alternatively, you could also replace the spices in this recipe for vegan lentil soup with a Thai flavouring and use a red, yellow or green curry paste.

The flavours for this soup are:

• Bold
• Fresh
• Colourful
• Layered
• Aromatic
• Sweet

Best Lentils to use for soup

You can use any type of lentil for this curry. However, some lentils cook a little softer than others and make for a much thicker soup. I chose the brown lentils because they keep their consistency similar to green ones but a red lentil will dissolve into the soup and make it thicker.

Choosing medley of Vegetables

I picked a medley of sweet vegetables for this soup because I felt that they worked great with the curry flavouring. However, you can use a variety of vegetables for this soup. You can throw in some carrots, peas, kale, butternut squash, potatoes, whatever you have on hand and feel is appropriate.

Equipment

• Large soup pot (5 Quarts or 10 liters)

Ingredients

• Ginger
• Onion
• Garlic
• Sweet potatoes
• Dried brown lentils
• Coconut milk
• Vegetable broth
• Cinnamon
• Yellow curry
• Fresh spinach
• Corn

Making the Best Recipe for Lentil Soup

Making the Base for Soup Broth

To start, you’ll need to get all those beautiful aromas to come out. To do this, sauté the ginger, garlic and onion over low heat. Just make sure you watch these and stir constantly because they can easily burn. Sauté for about 2-3 minutes and add in your sweet potatoes then continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Building the broth flavour

Deglazing is the best way to take all of the flavoured bits that have stuck on the pot’s bottom and flavour the broth. You do this by taking a cup of the vegetable broth and letting it simmer for a few minutes. All of those deliciously sautéed bits will loosen and be used to flavour the soup. Once that is done, add the rest of the broth along with the coconut milk, lentils, curry powder, and cinnamon stick and cover. Bring up the temperature to medium-high till you have a simmer and then bring it back down to medium-low. Slow cook lentil soup over a simmer
for about 20-30 minutes or until lentils and sweet potatoes are tender.

Adding the Spinach to the Soup

I don’t like to boil fresh spinach; all of the vitamins, enzymes and nutrients stay intact if you just stir in the fresh spinach into the already heated soup. However, if you decide to use frozen spinach, you would need to keep the pot boiling so that you don’t cool off the soup too much. You can also add the corn at the same time since canned corn is already cooked.

Serving the Coconut Curry Soup

To serve, you can top with coriander, sliced green onion, and squeeze in a wedge of lime for a little extra zing. If you would like it to be extra spicy, you can sprinkle on some cayenne and pepper. Enjoy!

Veggie Lentil Soup Storage

This soup can last up to 5 days in the fridge. Alternatively, you can freeze it individual-sized portions for up to 6 months.

Some other delicious curry recipes

If you liked this recipe and would like to try some of my other recipes with a curry flavour profile. Here are in my opinion my best curries.

• Curried Jackfruit Tacos with Coriander mint Chutney
• One-Pot Thai Cauliflower Coconut Curry
• Butternut Squash Thai Soup