This spiced red lentil coconut stew is absolutely delicious. It’s actually one of my favorite soups. The balance of spices is perfect (in my opinion), and the soup is just so nourishing, thanks to the red lentils, sweet potatoes and spinach. I used spinach but kale or chard would work too if you prefer. The soup has a lot of spices but is not “spicy”. It’s flavourful but not spicy.

When using lentils, you always want to rinse them under running water through a fine mesh sieve. You want to see the colour of the water turning clear again instead of white because of the lentils. You also want to pick out any debris or stones you may see. It’s important to rinse lentils prior cooking but soaking, if you didn’t know already, is not necessary. Soaking is usually for beans or grains.

I use coconut milk in the recipe which balances the tomatoes beautifully and makes the soup dairy-free and vegan. The soup is ideal to make during fall and winter, or all year long if you like. It also makes amazing leftovers. Serve the soup with cilantro and pita or rice if you like.

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Spiced Red Lentil Coconut Stew

This spiced red lentil stew is made with red lentils, spices, tomatoes, spinach, sweet potato and coconut milk. It's vegan, gluten and soy-free. Serve with cilantro and a side of brown rice if you like.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 large onion, small dice
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 ½ teaspoon unrefined salt
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (14.5 ounces) can crushed tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
• 2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups frozen spinach or kale
• 1 can full-fat coconut milk
• Juice of ½ lime
• Chopped cilantro, for garnish

Instructions

• In a large pot, heat coconut oil over medium heat.
• Add onions, garlic and ginger, stir, and let cook for 2-3 minutes or until onions are soft and fragrant.
• Add cumin, coriander, salt, turmeric and red pepper flakes and stir to combine.
• Add tomatoes, lentils, sweet potatoes and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes or until lentils and sweet potatoes are cooked.
• Turn off heat, stir in spinach or kale, coconut milk and lime juice. Cover and let cook a few minutes more until spinach are cooked.
• Garnish with cilantro and serve with a side of brown rice if you like.