An Easy Curried Lentil Soup

This is a great easy, flavourful soup recipe that’s ready in about half an hour. Using curry powder instead of individual spices makes curry lentil soup even easier – just use your favourite blend. It’s one of my go-to empty refrigerator meals and uses good simple ingredients.

The flavour of the soup will depend on what type of curry powder blend you use. I prefer one with more turmeric and coriander than cumin, but it’ll taste good no matter what. I’ve outlined the individual spices to use if you prefer to do that instead of using a premade blend.

Brown lentils are used here, not red, for their more toothsome texture. During the testing process for this soup I tried every lentil in my pantry and these small brown lentils came out on top. I’ve noted below what other types of lentils will turn out like, so you can use what you have on hand.

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Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

All the substitutions I’ve tried are listed below so that you can make changes to suit what you have on hand. If it’s not outlined, I haven’t tried it. These are my notes from recipe testing. See below for the full recipe card with complete measurements and instructions.

• Lentils: small brown lentils (mountain lentils) had the best results during testing, closely followed by Puy (French green) and beluga (black) lentils. These give the best texture without being too starchy or thickening the soup too much but black lentils will turn the soup a darker, muddy colour. Larger lentils can be used in a pinch but you’ll need to increase the cooking time. Red lentils make for a very thick soup, more like a red lentil curry.
• Carrots: any type of carrot will work. I never peel them, just give a good scrub, but peel if you prefer. Sweet potato can be a good substitute but it will have a softer texture.
• Onions: any onion will work, but I recommend yellow or white. Pictured are two because the onions I could get were quite small.
• Garlic: you want to slice the garlic here, not mince, so fresh garlic should be used.
• Ginger: fresh and dried ginger are not interchangeable. If you can’t get fresh ginger, it’s better to omit it. A thumb of ginger is a piece about 6cm long but the amount can be adjusted based on personal preference. Peel if you’d like.
• Curry powder: we like a version that has turmeric at the top of the ingredient list, but you should use your favourite. If it’s a very mild curry powder and you like a bit of spice, add some hot pepper flakes to the mix.
• Tomatoes: chopped or diced canned tomatoes are ideal. If you only have whole canned tomatoes, carefully cut them with scissors right in the can before adding to the soup. I haven’t tested with fresh tomatoes but I’m sure they could be used in an equal weight.
• Coconut milk: while I usually recommend full-fat coconut milk for the best taste, you can get away with low-fat canned coconut milk for this recipe. Reduce the amount of broth by about 50ml (about a quarter cup) if using a reduced-fat version. Don’t use the type of coconut milk that comes in a large carton for drinking, or creamed coconut.
• Broth: if you have vegetable broth on hand, great, use it. If not, it’s perfectly fine to use water to replace it in this recipe and season well to make up for the lower amount of salt. Other types of broth compete with the other flavours of the soup and can overwhelm it.
• Oil: if you do want more of a coconut lentil soup, use unrefined coconut oil for cooking to get more coconut flavour. Otherwise use your preferred cooking oil.
• Herbs: parsley or fresh coriander are optional, but do add a nice element of freshness to the dish. Frozen are almost as good.

How to Make Curry Lentil Soup

This doesn’t have a long cooking time, but the onions need to cook for about 10 minutes on low heat before adding anything else. A longer start like this cooks the onions properly, softening them and removing most of that sharpness. They’re not caramelised but they should be softened and very lightly browned.

Step 1: cook the onions on low-medium heat until very soft. They should be mostly translucent, with some golden edges. If they’re cooking too quickly reduce the heat and add a splash of water if needed to prevent sticking.

Step 2: add the garlic and cook a few minutes longer, then stir in the curry powder and cook for another 30 seconds. This quick frying of the spices helps to bloom them, releasing some of their natural oils and improving the taste.

Step 3: add the carrots, tomatoes, and other remaining ingredients. Cover and increase the heat to bring the soup to a strong simmer. Make sure not to boil too rapidly, which can cause the coconut milk to split. It will probably have a lighter upper layer as pictured here when first added but will incorporate as the soup cooks.

Step 4: simmer for about 20 minutes, until the carrots and lentils are cooked through. Try the soup and season to taste before serving. It might need more salt or a splash of something acidic, depending on your personal preference.

Expert Tips for the Best Soup

• Serve with: try serving the soup with rice, as pictured, or a whole grain like quinoa if you want to add more nutrition. We often serve with bread or naan.
• If the lentils are old: lentils that have been stored for a very long time will take longer to cook than relatively fresh lentils. They might have already been old when you bought them. Try a couple to check for doneness before serving the soup to make sure they’re cooked through.
• Add greens: hardy greens like baby spinach, chard, and kale are good additions to this soup. We often add frozen peas too.