Curry lentil soup is a warming and comforting one-pot recipe. It consists of earthy lentils simmered with spices, tomatoes, and vegetables.
You can expect a bold and rich flavor, with earthy and aromatic notes and a creamy and chunky texture that’s deeply satisfying.
It’s perfect for fall and winter meals as a weeknight dinner or meal prep.
What is curry lentil soup?
Our curry lentil soup is an Indian-inspired recipe.
The lentils are simmered in a rich tomato sauce enriched with spices and vegetables.
It’s similar to a lentil curry but more saucy, without the coconut milk and with more veggies.
Like our other one-pot lentil recipes, such as Italian lentil soup, lentil vegetable soup, Turkish lentil soup, Moroccan lentil soup, and lentil chili, this one is easy, tasty, and healthy.
Ingredients for curry lentil soup
Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
Lentils
Use dried green lentils or dried brown lentils. Dried lentils don’t require soaking and can be cooked in about 30 minutes.
To learn more about lentils, check out our guide on how to cook lentils.
Substitute canned lentils for dry ones if you don’t have 30 minutes for them to cook.
If you want a recipe with yellow or red lentils, check out our red lentils soup.
Flavor base
We make the flavor base with olive oil, onion, carrots, garlic, and ginger.
Optionally, you can add bay leaves.
Substitute coconut oil or avocado oil for olive oil.
Spices
Curry powder, turmeric, ground cumin, and red pepper flakes are essential to flavor the curry lentil soup.
Other spices you can use are ground coriander and garam masala. Start with about a teaspoon each.
We don’t use curry leaves for this recipe as they are not a pantry staple and are hard to find where we live.
If you like to use them, add them to the pot with the hot oil and let them shimmer for a minute before adding the onion and the rest of the ingredients.
Vegetables
We recommend adding diced potatoes and chopped leafy greens such as kale, chard, bok choi, cabbage, or spinach.
You can substitute sweet potatoes for potatoes.
Crushed tomatoes
Canned crushed tomatoes are our favorite.
Substitute diced tomatoes, fire-roasted tomatoes, or whole canned peeled tomatoes for crushed ones.
Vegetable broth
We prefer vegetable broth to chicken broth so that the recipe is vegetarian and everyone in our family can enjoy it.
Feel free to use your favorite broth.
Salt and black pepper
Sea salt or kosher salt and a few twists of black pepper.
How to make curry lentil soup
Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add chopped onion and carrot and sauté for 3 minutes.
Stir in grated garlic, grated ginger, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, and red pepper flakes and sauté for one more minute.
Add vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, rinsed dried lentils, peeled and diced potatoes, chopped kale, or your leafy greens of choice.
Season with salt and black pepper, then simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked.
Stir occasionally.
Serving suggestions
Taste and adjust for salt and spices before serving.
Curry lentil soup is a nourishing and fulfilling main meal.
We recommend serving it with boiled brown rice, a dollop of Greek yogurt or non-dairy yogurt, quick pickled red onions, finely chopped scallions, and a squeeze of lemon or lime.
Storage
Make ahead: Curry lentil soup is an excellent recipe for meal prep. Its flavor improves a day after it’s cooked and keeps well for days.
Refrigerator: Let the soup cool down, transfer it to an airtight container, and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezer: This recipe is perfect for freezing. Let it cool down completely, transfer it to a freezer-friendly container, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Defrost curry lentil soup in the fridge over several hours or in the microwave with a thawing function.
Reheat: warm the soup in the microwave for a couple of minutes or in a saucepan. Add a dash of water if necessary.
Similar recipes
LENTILS: Lentil bolognese, lentil hummus, lentil patties, lentil sweet potato salad, cauliflower lentil salad, lentil salad, Mujadara, lentil loaf, lentil tabbouleh, lentil pasta, lentil carrot salad.
For even more lentil recipes, check out our lentil recipes collection.
SOUPS: Butternut squash soup, potato leek soup, kale soup, broccoli soup, black bean soup, cauliflower soup, Harira soup, chickpea soup, sweet potato soup.
For even more soup recipes, check out our healthy soup recipe compilation.
Curry Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 carrots cut into discs
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes more or less to taste
- 5 cups vegetable broth or more if needed
- 1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup dried lentils green or brown
- 1 pound potatoes peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
- 5 ounces kale or spinach, chopped
- 1 teaspoons salt or more to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
SERVES WELL WITH
- 4 wedges lime + Greek yogurt, brown rice, quick pickled red onions, chopped scallions or cilantro.
Instructions
- FLAVOR BASE: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot. Add 1 large onion (chopped), and 2 carrots cut into thin discs. Sauté for 3 minutes.Add 3 cloves garlic and 1 teaspoon ginger (grated), 2 teaspoons curry powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, and sauté 1 more minute. Stir often.
- LET SIMMER: Add 5 cups vegetable broth, 1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes, 1 cup dried lentils, 1 pound potatoes, and 5 ounces kale. Season with 1 teaspoons salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked.
- SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Taste and adjust for salt before serving.We recommend serving it with brown rice, a squeeze of lime juice, a dollop of Greek yogurt, pickled red onions, chopped scallions.
Video
Hello! Made this for dinner today after eyeing this recipe for months. Outstanding! Very filling and flavorful. I will be saving this in my successful recipe hall of fame. Thank you!
Hi Alex, that’s wonderful. We’re honoured to become part of a recipe hall-of-fame! 🎉
I’m delighted you enjoyed the soup, thank you very much for taking the time to leave a comment here. All the best,
Louise
My wife came and and toasted up some naan and we ate it with this soup. Omg and I never say omg it was amazing. Just saying, and I never leave comments!
That’s fantastic, Anthony! What a wonderful meal with Naan bread on the side, YUM!
Thank you for taking the time to write a comment here. All the best,
Louise
amazing recipe! I just made it , it’s so good. The only thing I did differently was I cubed the potatoes to half in squared, and added garam masala and cardamom. I’m supposed to have it for dinner but every time I walk by it a take a spoonfull. I never leave comments, it’s really good.
Yummy and highly nutricious! I subbed half the potatoes for cauliflower. I also did a dash of chili powder instead of crushed red pepper because my kids don’t like biting into crushed red pepper.
This is an amazing soup!!! My husband gave it 7 stars out of 5! It reminds us of our favorite soup at our favorite Indian restaurant. We are very excited to have found this recipe!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Yay, that’s wonderful Kelley. I’m delighted that your husband likes it too!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment here 🎉 All the best,
Louise
Hello, when u say “dry lentils “. Does that mean lentils that WEREN’T soaked overnight and right out of the bag? I ask bc I just soaked them overnight. So do I put the lentils at the end when it’s finished cooking?
Hi Mermaid,
When we say dry lentils we mean lentils that are not canned/not cooked/not soaked.
I you use soaked lentils they would still need to cook.
Not sure how long your soaked lentils need, but probably around 20 to 30 minutes. So you’ll need to keep that in mind when you add them.
I hope this helps.
Nico 🙂
YUM!! I’ve made many lentil soups before, but this one really stands out with how flavorful and comforting it is—it truly warms you up from the inside. I already know I’ll be making this one often, thank you so much for the amazing recipe! 🥣
Hi Mindy,
It’s our pleasure – I’m so delighted you enjoyed the flavors of this soup 💪
Thank you for your kind feedback, and for taking the time to leave a rating. All the best,
Louise
I loved this one! Made this in bulk this week. 😁
We made it twice in less than 3 weeks.
I think this has become one of our favourite soups EVER.
Thanks for sharing such a simple but great recipe!
Yay I’m so happy to hear you liked the soup, Marco.
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment here, we appreciate it!
Kindest,
Louise
There appear to be quantity errors on the amount of vegetable broth for the 2X and 3X ingredients. They read 10-6 and 15-6 respectively. I believe they should read 10-12 and 15-18.
Thanks R.G.
I fixed that now.
It was a coding issue with the calculator 🙂 Unfortunately it doesn’t multiply the second number correctly.
Have a great day!
Nico
Perfect. The house smelled so good afterwards too.
Wonderful, I’m so happy you liked the soup 🙂
All the best, Louise