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Coconut Lentil Curry Bowl Recipe

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This Coconut Lentil Curry Bowl is a one-pot dinner that comes together in about 30 minutes. It’s so easy to make with very little hands-on prep time. This vegan, gluten-free meal is full of flavor and is immensely satisfying. 

overhead shot of Lentil curry bowl with a green striped napkin and gold spoon

Do you want to know what’s an absolute tragedy?  My kids don’t enjoy any meals where their food is mixed together or with any type of sauce.  Yes, the one-pot meal, a busy mom’s dream dinner, is my kids’ worst nightmare.

I’m a persistent gal, though, and one thing I’ve learned about feeding children is that their tastes and preferences do change, especially if you continue to serve them a variety of foods over time.  I haven’t given up on the one-pot meal.  I keep trying.

I served this dinner to Meghan and Luke along with whole grain naan bread, raw vegetables, and applesauce.  I added more to the meal (easy things I didn’t have to cook) because I knew they wouldn’t eat a lot, if any, of the one-pot meal I was serving as the main entree.close up shot of chickpeas, kale, and lentils in a white bowl

I reminded Meghan that she loves chickpeas, and even though she was reluctant, she picked them out and ate them.  Luke will do what Meghan does usually, so he followed his big sister and ate his chickpeas.  They both were a no-go to try the kale or saucy mix of lentils, and I didn’t push it.  They devoured their naan (a favorite) and also ate all of their carrots, red peppers, and applesauce.

Recipe Ingredients

Coconut curry lentil ingredients2

It’s always my goal to have easy-to-find ingredients that make incredibly delicious meals on top of being healthy. I think I’ve accomplished that here! I use canned coconut milk for this, and Lite coconut milk is my preference, but you can certainly go with full fat if you’d like.

How to Make This Easy Coconut Lentil Curry Bowl Recipe

 

  1. In a large high-sided skillet, combine the red lentils, tomatoes with their juices, coconut milk, water or broth, curry powder, ginger, turmeric, and salt.

A large skillet with coconut milk, diced tomatoes, minced ginger, and a wooden spoon stirring.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 18 minutes.stirring in kale and chickpeas with a wooden spoon3. Stir in the chickpeas and kale and allow to cook another 3-5 minutes, until the kale is wilted and bright green. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro and serve.

That’s it! This is a super quick and easy dinner.  Quick, easy, AND healthy.  Not an easy-to-come-by combination!

Oh, and full of flavor.  I just love coconut and curry together, and the fresh ginger, lime, and cilantro just bring the whole thing together.

I didn’t eat any bread with this because of my anti-inflammation diet, but it’s perfect with warm naan bread.  If you need a vegan, gluten-free, weeknight meal that is super satisfying, this is exactly what you need.

If you try this, please give it a star rating below! It’s so helpful for other people to see who’s tried and liked the recipe. I think you may also love this Vegetable Grain Bowl recipe!

Print

One pot coconut curry lentil bowl with chickpeas and kale

overhead shot of Lentil curry bowl with a green striped napkin and gold spoon

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

This is a one-pot dinner that comes together in about 30 minutes. This vegan, gluten-free meal is full of flavor and is immensely satisfying. It pairs perfectly with warm naan bread.

  • Author: Healthy Happy Mama
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: main meal
  • Method: stovetop
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3/4 cup red lentils
  • 1 (15 1/2) ounce can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion with juices (I blended mine a little to avoid big tomato chunks that my family dislikes, but that is optional)
  • 1 (15 1/2) can lite coconut milk
  • 1 cup water or vegetable broth
  • 1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
  • ~1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 (15 1/2 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 4 cups roughly chopped, deveined kale
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

  1. In a Dutch oven or large high-sided skillet, combine the red lentils, tomatoes with their juices, coconut milk, water or broth, curry powder, ginger, turmeric, salt, and pepper.
  2. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 18 minutes.
  3. Stir in the chickpeas and kale and allow to cook another 3-5 minutes, until the kale is wilted and bright green.
  4. Stir in the lime and cilantro and serve. Enjoy!

Notes

  1. Canned coconut milk is what you need here. Lite is my preference, but full-fat works, too.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 610
  • Sugar: 12.5g
  • Sodium: 655mg
  • Fat: 15g
  • Carbohydrates: 97.3g
  • Protein: 32.8g

Keywords: coconut lentil curry

Even though I am going to wait a month to give you a detailed update of how things are going with my new diet and finger pain, I can’t wait to tell you how things are going. After one week on an anti-inflammation diet, I have seen a significant improvement in my finger pain!

One week ago, I could not bend my finger in the morning and throughout the day making a fist was impossible. I can do both of those things now and the pain is much less. I did not expect to feel a difference so quickly, but I am more determined than ever to continue with the changes I’ve made.  I’ll give you more details in time, but I just wanted to give you a quick update since I’m so excited about the results so far.  Thanks again for all of your comments and support.

 

Note: This post was first published in 2014. Photos were updated and a video added in January 2020. 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Stephanie says

    This was our first plant based family meal and it set the bar high! So easy to make the the flavors were incredible! This will be in regular rotation!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  4. Julie says

    Loved this! So easy and satisfying. I swapped the kale for spinach becasue that’s what I had. Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  10. [email protected] says

    Yum! This looks so good. Must make soon…for me, because I know my crazy kids will have no part in it.

    I can’t even get my 3 year old to eat a sandwich unless I separate each component. Luckily, I have older kids too, so I know that at some point the “pickiness” will go away.

    Reply

  13. Alexis @ Hummusapien says

    This looks SO perfect! Love that it’s a meal in a bowl–my fave. So sad to hear that the kiddos don’t let things with sauces all mixed together…but I guess I could understand that. Pinning!

    Reply

  15. Amy says

    Awesome job with the diet change- lowering animal product consumption is the best thing you can do for inflammation, and it decreases animal suffering and environmental destruction to boot. Very glad you are going to stick with it!

    Reply

  16. Gwen @simplyhealthyfamily says

    Seriously, what’s up w these goofy kids? Mine are the same way! I think it’s written somewhere that kids are ment to test your every attempt to make life easier/healthier/more organized. I made something similar w cauliflower and the darlings refused to eat it unless I seperated it on a plate. Hello, it’s a curry bowl?

    Reply

  18. Alina says

    I made a lentils, beans, kale stew and it is delicious (this is how dinner looks at our house). I am going to try your curry as we love curries at our house. We eat the stew with polenta as we can’t have gluten. But some naan bread would be delicious:).

    Reply

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