This Coconut Curry Lentil Bowl 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.
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 Coconut Curry Lentil Bowl 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.
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 n0-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.
I didn’t mean to talk so much about how this meal worked for my kids, but I know a lot of moms read and are probably interested in how dinner time looks at other houses. I know I am always curious. But let me move on to the dynamics of the dish before I lose your interest! (Too late?)
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+curry together, and there’s also fresh ginger, lime, and cilantro that bring the whole thing together. I ate just 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 Coconut Curry Lentil Bowl is exactly what you need.
PrintOne pot coconut curry lentil bowl with chickpeas and kale
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.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: main meal
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 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 (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
- 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, and salt.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 18 minutes.
- 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 and cilantro and serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 610
- Sugar: 12.5g
- Sodium: 655mg
- Fat: 15g
- Carbohydrates: 97.3g
- Protein: 32.8g
Keywords: easy dinner recipe
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.
Alina says
April 14, 2014 at 1:32 pmI 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:).
Maryea says
April 15, 2014 at 8:14 amOoooh polenta is a great idea!
cheri says
April 14, 2014 at 4:39 pmWhat a great dish, love this combination. So nice to here this meal worked with your children, sounds like persistence pays off.
Maryea says
April 15, 2014 at 8:10 amWell, it didn’t work perfectly, but at least they ate some of it! 😉
Gwen @simplyhealthyfamily says
April 14, 2014 at 8:23 pmSeriously, 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?
Maryea says
April 15, 2014 at 8:09 amYes! Everything must be deconstructed. So strange!
Amy says
April 14, 2014 at 10:41 pmAwesome 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!
Maryea says
April 15, 2014 at 2:47 pmThanks, Amy.
Robyn B | Modern Day Missus says
April 15, 2014 at 1:23 amSo glad to hear that the anti-inflammation diet is working. Looking forward to receiving the one-month update.
I just love a curry with lentils and chickpeas!
Robyn x
Maryea says
April 15, 2014 at 8:08 amI will keep you updated!
Alexis @ Hummusapien says
April 15, 2014 at 12:12 pmThis 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!
lindsay says
April 18, 2014 at 7:33 amhow did you know i love one pot wonders and curry?! looks amazing and nourishing!
Maryea says
April 18, 2014 at 3:04 pmIsn’t curry fabulous? One of my favorite flavors!
Tonja says
April 20, 2014 at 3:36 pmSo awesome that you can see improvement already! What great inspiration! tonja
[email protected] says
April 21, 2014 at 8:44 amYum! 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.
Liz says
September 10, 2014 at 1:38 pmI love this recipe – easy and healthy. I’m adding this to my dinner line-up for this week 🙂
Maryea says
September 10, 2014 at 2:43 pmGreat! Please let me know how you like it. 🙂
Teresa says
January 20, 2015 at 4:44 pmdefinitely pinning this to make this weekend for my meals next week. Love curry and love easy! This looked delicious!
Maryea says
January 20, 2015 at 5:11 pmI hope you love it! This is one of my favorites. 🙂
Holly says
December 8, 2015 at 8:52 pmMade this recipe last night and LOVED it! We served over rice and it was a big hit. Thank you!
Maryea says
December 12, 2015 at 9:11 amI’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for letting me know.
Holly says
December 8, 2015 at 8:52 pmWe made this last night and LOVED it! We served it over rice and it was a big hit. Thank you!!
Lauren says
August 29, 2016 at 2:52 pmHow many servings does this make?
Lauren says
August 29, 2016 at 2:54 pmNever mind I see now!
Julie says
October 21, 2017 at 5:38 pmLoved this! So easy and satisfying. I swapped the kale for spinach becasue that’s what I had. Thank you!
★★★★★
Maryea says
October 23, 2017 at 10:28 amYou’re welcome! Glad you liked this. 🙂