These Indian-Spiced Lentils are hearty and delicious and loaded with comforting flavors. If you’re not familiar with red lentils, they’re rich in fiber, protein, and nutrients and super quick cooking. This meal can be on the table in under 30 minutes when made on the stove top, or tossed in a slow cooker for later if you prefer that method. It’s delicious on its own, or served with some steak, chicken, or shrimp on the side. We love it over hot white rice with a dollop of plain yogurt. My kids all love it scooped up with Naan or these Easy Yogurt Flatbreads.
Ingredients Needed
- Red Lentils – find these in the dry goods near things like dried beans and peas
- Fresh spinach
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Onion
- Garlic
- Fresh ginger – you can sub dried if you need to
- Chicken broth – feel free to use vegetable broth for a vegetarian option
- Curry paste and/or powder – my favorite combo is both yellow curry paste and curry powder, more info below
- Spices: mustard seeds, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper
- Sugar – just a tiny touch to balance flavor
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh lemon or lime
- Cilantro
- Optional for serving: white rice, naan flatbread, plain greek yogurt, olive oil
How to make Indian Spiced Lentils
- Start by sautéing onions and garlic in a large pot.
- Add garlic, ginger, and spices. Sautéing your spices brings out the flavor!
- Add your canned tomatoes and broth and then stir in the lentils.
- This mixture will cook quickly. It only takes about 10-15 minutes.
- Finish off the dish by adding some fresh spinach to wilt, then some fresh cilatro and a squeeze of citrus to brighten the whole dish.
- You can eat these plain or over rice. We also love it scooped up with naan or another type of flatbread. It’s also great with a scoop of plain yogurt on top with a drizzle of olive oil.
Which curry should I use?
This recipe is flexible depending on your tastes. You can use a variety of curry pastes, or a curry powder. I actually like to add both! I do find you get an incredibly full, well-rounded flavor when using a curry paste, but I’ve been burned (literally haha) many times not realizing the curry paste I’m buying holds the heat of a thousand suns. My personal favorite is this dish is a yellow curry paste, and I’ve been buying this one from Amazon. Though sampled straight out of the jar you can feel a lot of heat, I sense zero spiciness when added to my dish. Here’s some tips:
- Start by adding just a little bit. Even like 1/4 teaspoon. You can then add more at the end to taste. I usually add about 2 teaspoons total, in addition to a teaspoon of curry powder.
- I like to put a cup full of my finished lentils in a small bowl and slowly add curry paste to dissolve completely and then add back into the pot. This helps not accidentally leaving a blob of paste in there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days or freeze in individual portions for a quick meal later. I love my Souper Cube containers for layering rice with lentils on top for a ready-to-go freezer meal.
It can be spicy if you like spice. If you want it heat-free, omit the cayenne pepper and make sure to not choose a curry paste with a high spice level.
You can but green lentils tend to hold their shape and have a little more texture than red lentils. They won’t melt into the soft texture that red lentils will. But they do stand up to extended cooking times, making them a good option for the slow cooker.
Yes! Feel free to replace some of the broth for coconut milk, or simply making the recipe as written and adding coconut milk at the end. It’s a very flexible dish.
Slow Cooker Indian Spiced Lentils
Equipment
- Slow Cooker optional
Ingredients
- 2-3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 2-3 teaspoons yellow curry paste see notes
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth more if desired
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups red lentils
- 5-10 ounces spinach fresh and chopped or frozen and thawed
- juice of ½ lemon or one lime
- handful of chopped cilantro
For Serving (optional as desired)
- white rice
- additional chopped cilantro
- dollop of plain greek yogurt
- drizzle of olive oil
- naan or other flatbread
Instructions
- Pick through lentils and discard any shriveled ones. Rise well with cool water and strain.
- Heat a large stock pot on the stove top to medium heat. Add 2-3 teaspoons oil to coat bottom of pan and add onions. Saute for 4-5 minutes until tender.
- Add garlic, ginger, curry powder, curry paste (feel free to start with just a little curry paste and add more to taste later), coriander, cumin, cayenne, and mustard seeds. Saute for 1-2 minutes, stirring often.
- Add diced tomatoes (do not drain), chicken broth, sugar, salt, pepper, and lentils.
- Bring pot to a boil and reduce to a low simmer. Cover pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until lentils are softened. (tip: this is super flexible, if you need more liquid, add some. If it's not thick enough, just simmer longer)
- Add spinach and stir to wilt. You can add as much or as little spinach as you want. If you don't like large pieces of wilted spinach, just tear or chop it before adding.
- Finally add cilantro and lemon or lime juice and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. You can also add more curry paste if desired, I suggest dissolving it in a small cup full of the warm broth from your pot first and then adding back in.
- Serve over rice with naan on the side with a dollop of yogurt drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled withe additional salt, pepper, and cilantro.
Notes
- Start by adding just a little bit. Even like 1/4 teaspoon. You can then add more at the end to taste. I usually add about 2 teaspoons total, in addition to a teaspoon of curry powder.
- I like to put a cup full of my finished lentils in a small bowl and slowly add curry paste to dissolve completely and then add back into the pot. This helps not accidentally leaving a blob of paste in there.
Questions & Reviews
I had never tried lentils before and I made this a few weeks ago and I loved it so much I have made it three times. Thanks so much for sharing it. I just ate some for lunch and it was tasty. The last time I made it I added some red bell pepper and carrots that was great too.
Made this a few weeks ago and loved it! So did my 2 year old! We ate it all week. I have my 2nd batch in the crock pot now, and my mom is coming over for lunch to try it because I raved about it! Thanks ladies!
I forgot to tell you I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was so, so fantastically good. I ended up buying yellow split peas since they cost half as much as the lentils and they worked fine. I didn’t even bother with rice, just ate the concoction by itself every day until it was gone. I’m definitely keeping this recipe at the top of my lunch rotation. Thanks so much!
This recipe is delicious. I put extra curry paste and substitute chili powder for cayenne b/c I love it spicy. I also added cauliflower and purple cabbage to make it even more nutritious. I didn’t have spinach so I used red kale. Thanks for sharing this!!
I just made this tonight and it is EXCELLENT!!! It was so quick to throw in the slow-cooker and it tasted so delicious!! Thanks for another great recipe!
I love Indian food so this recipe really appealed and when I served it to my son’s Indian in-laws they loved it too.
Made this for dinner this week (2 adults, 4 year old, 1 year old) and it was delish. My husband loved it and so did the kids. It served us twice for dinner plus 2 lunches for my husband for work. This is definitely going on regular rotation. Thanks!
I carried these to work for lunch. Smell was delicious and people kept coming over to ask what it was. The best dahl I ever had was similar to this from a Pakistani stand-up restaraunt in Heidelberg, Germany. It’s been 10 years but the taste of the lentils and rice lingers on. It is something about the subtle flavors of the combined spices. If you want, you can cube potatoes and add to the beans. Makes them a little lumpy but more substantial.
BTW, we keep ginger at the house all the time. when I am using a lot, I just put it on the shelf and slice off what I need. I also freeze it whole and store in a baggie. Grate it frozen. The skin doesn’t have to be peeled before use. It softens in the broth and you won’t notice it. Made Ginger-fig preserves this fall that go super well on biscuits.
My husband recently has wanted me to try more meatless dishes so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it! I used regular lentils (since the first store I went to didn’t have the red ones and I didn’t have time to run to a second store) and it turned out wonderfully. We loved the flavors! My kids thought it was pretty yummy too. Thanks for a new idea and recipe.
Thanks for yet another fabulous recipe! We made this for dinner tonight and my meat loving husband asked me if this could be added into our monthly dinner rotation! My three year old even gobbled it up! I love curry flavors and I might even try freezing some of the leftovers to see if I could turn this into a freezer meal too!
I froze the leftovers in individual servings and reheated some for lunch today and they were DELICIOUS. So it works! 🙂