Red curry lentils is my all-time favorite lentil recipe. Thick, creamy, saucy, and perfect as leftovers. Plus it’s healthy and easy!
Red Curry Lentils
Featured comment
Just made this for dinner. Yum! It was the perfect combination of spices. I felt like I’d ordered from an Indian restaurant. Thanks so much for the recipe!!!!
Stacy
Now is a good time to:
- wear cozy sweaters
- get a few candles going
- immerse your house in the flavors and smells of your favorite classic comfort-food-but-still-kinda-healthy simmering stovetop recipes.
For example, RED CURRY LENTILS DUH.
These red curry lentils are one of my all-time favorite recipes. As is usually my vibe, we’re working with very basic pantry ingredients here and simple, straightforward prep. It’s hard to mess this one up.
Just cook your lentils and toss them in up this spicy red curry sauce with sauteed onions and a shot of coconut milk. OH MY PERFECTLY SPICY GOODNESS.
I’ve kind of had a fling with lentils lately. Or wait, like, over the last 8 years. These guys, this one, that other one, and now a walk down memory lane back to the original that started my love affair? I can barely stand it. If you’ve never made lentils before, this is a perfect recipe to introduce you to the magic of the most cheap, healthy, versatile, and absolutely delicious little food in the pantry. The Humble Lentil reigns supreme.
Will you eat a big plate of these red curry lentils with rice? Or will you scoop up a creamy bite with a warm piece of naan? Or will you eat it cold out of the fridge with exactly zero judgement from me?
Only time will tell.
Variations For This Recipe
- Vegan Version: Just sub oil in for the butter!
- How to make in the Instant Pot: We have a recipe for that – follow our Instant Pot Red Curry Lentils here.
- How to make in a slow cooker: Another one for that! You can find our Crockpot Red Curry Lentils here.
Watch How To Make Our Red Curry Lentils
Common Questions About Red Curry Lentils
Can I omit the sugar in this recipe?
Yep!
Is this recipe meal prep-friendly?
Absolutely!
What type of lentil should I use here?
We’d recommend brown or green lentils for this recipe. We don’t recommend red lentils since they’ll overcook in this case.
Red Curry Lentils
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Red curry lentils is my all-time favorite lentil recipe. Thick, creamy, saucy, and perfect as leftovers. Plus it’s healthy and easy!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed and picked over
- 1/2 large onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1/2 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
- a few good shakes of cayenne pepper
- 1 14-ounce can tomato puree
- 1/4 cup coconut milk or cream
- cilantro for garnishing
- rice for serving
Instructions
- Cook the lentils according to directions. Drain and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute for a few minutes until fragrant and golden. Add all the spices (curry paste, garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, cayenne, sugar, garlic, ginger) and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato puree; stir and simmer until smooth.
- Add the lentils and the cream. Stir to combine and simmer for another 15-20 minutes (the longer, the better)! Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.
Equipment
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → The equipment section may contain affiliate links to products we know and love.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: Thai-Inspired
Keywords: red curry lentils, curry lentils, indian lentils
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our delicious lentil recipes page. Check it out!
Filed Under: All Recipes Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Healthy Legume Quick and Easy Rice Stovetop Tomato Vegan Vegetarian Winter
December 10, 2020
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
I’m looking for tasty lunchbox fare at the moment and these look just perfect.
This is the best for a portable lunch! And the leftovers are even better so its a win-win! 🙂
Oh that’s my kind of lunch! Anything that lasts me a few days is a bonus.
Ohhh yes! Love this. Red curry anything has me swooning.
Hmmm sounds delicious! I have some lentils leftover from the soup I made a while ago so will have to try this!
This is going on the dinner list!
This. Is. My. LIIIIEEEFFFEEEEEE.
Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever used any math (basics aside) beside cross multiplication in real life. I was an awesome math student and now I realize how damn silly it all was and means nothing in real life! ha.
I made your Thai lentils the other day (with the sweet potato) and loved ’em (so did my husband!). So now these must go on the menu, too!
My boyfriend keeps asking me to make the green curry lentils again (and again, and again). Maybe I’ll make these to mix it up a little! They look yummy!
The coconut green curry lentils were great, can’t wait to try this. I may use some Earth Balance butter instead of oil.
Ooh, I’m always looking for new things to make with lentils, and this looks like it will hit the spot! The curry-coconut-spicy-savory spot, that is. 🙂
oh god, this looks so good. you know what? i was organizing my spice cabinet yesterday at the new house and i came across a package of spice that i have no clue what it is (i always forget to label when i get spices in bulk) and now after reading your ingredient list, you’ve helped me figure out what it is! garam masala! hehe now i have some to make this 🙂 i’ve been looking for a healthy lentils recipe with super packed flavor!
Ohh geez. Spices are so hard to keep track of. I’m glad you remembered because now you HAVE to make this!
I would love to try out this recipe for dinner soon! What would you recommend serving with it…chicken of some sort?
I just had it plain, with cilantro and white rice and some garlic naan bread! But if you want meat, you could totally serve it with chicken. This might be too much but you could try another more creamy Indian dish, like this: http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/05/08/chicken-shahi-korma-recipe/
I’ll be trying these for sure. Love these kind of dishes and the flavors sound perfect 🙂 They look so creamy – love that coconut milk! 😀
I have the worlds biggest love affair with curry. I recently (okay, it was a year or two ago) discovered yellow curry at a local Thai restaurant, and I cannot get enough of it. I like to pretend I don’t know how to make it, so I won’t make it three times a week! I’ve never tried it with lentils, but any excuse will do!
I have never tried lentils before, so am eager to try this. I see you use red curry paste and curry powder. Is the curry powder just the regular yellow kind?
Yep! I’m not really sure it’s necessary to use the curry powder… I was just kind of grabbing spices and dumping them in, so you could probably get by fine with the curry paste because that’s where most of the flavor comes from. 🙂
I am so making this. I love Indian curries and this one is mixed with several of my favorite spices 🙂 I have a few curries up in the blog as well but I am excited to try a new one!!
Just stumbled on your blog and I love it! What an amazing adventure you have ahead! And this recipe looks amazing. I’ve been cooking a lot of beans lately, so I’ll have to give this lentil recipe a try!
Beans are the BEST, in my humble opinion! 🙂
So until I read this post I definitely didn’t know how I felt about lentils. After reading this post I’m convinced that they’re my new favorite food and I just don’t know it yet. I am adding all the ingredients to my grocery list and I WILL be making lentils this week!!
I want this for lunch!
I just had it for lunch (again!) and it was still so good a few days later!
YUM! This look wooonderful! 🙂
is the red curry paste the thai one??
Yep! I used this: https://www.mccormick.com/thai-kitchen
Cheap, vegetarian and healthy – sounds like a winner!
Yummy dish. This is really pure & delicious & can be cooked easily. It is vegetarian & above all, curry is my most favourite. Thanks for this dish.
OMG… Soooo delicious!!! Thanks for sharing!
I do love lentils, and I can make different versions of them. But I have never seen this one being made. Sounds delicious! I just have one question? Can you use any type of lentil?
You could use any kind of lentil, but it will taste different. Brown lentils are firmer and have an earthier flavor. Green lentils can take longer to cook and are also firm. Red and yellow lentils have a soft texture and sweeter flavor so they’re more suited to curries like this.
Thank you for the response to the lentil question. Yet, no matter how long I cook my lentils they are always hard and dry! What am I doing wrong?
Hi, Lydia! First off, were your lentils purchased recently? The older lentils are, the longer they take to cook. After a certain period of time, they don’t cook fully at all. Secondly, make sure you have enough liquid present for the lentils to soak up. Lastly, time. Simmer them on the stovetop for a long time or put them in the crockpot. Hope that helps! Good luck!
Soak your lentils for at least 20-30 mins if you want them to come out perfect every time!
Can I used canned lentils instead of dry?
Hi Julie! Yes, canned lentils should work just fine!