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During the winter months, we all crave comfort food. Oftentimes, we feel that comfort food needs to be a guilty pleasure that’s heavy and overly filling. Enter this creamy curry lentil soup! It’s both in one: a meal in a bowl and a healthy soup, all at the same time.
I never try to place a guilt trip on food, but sometimes it’s important to make sure we have a balance. In this soup, there’s not much need for sacrifice! The red lentils in this soup cook into a creamy base complete with chunks of perfectly cooked sweet potatoes and swiss chard. The extra creamy note comes from coconut milk that also works to add a hint of sweetness.
This soup is all you need for comfort and nourishment! I think that is the ultimate comfort of all!
The ingredients in this curry lentil soup
- Onion and celery are the base flavors to start building the soup. The celery is sliced into slightly bigger pieces so it keeps some of its texture.
- Swiss chard in this soup needs to be used in two ways. First, the leafy greens are removed from the stems. The stems are then chopped and added with the celery to soften. Second, the greens are added at the end to retain their green flavor and provide some vegetable-like texture.
- Curry powder is the star flavor of this soup. I use yellow curry powder, but any curry powder will work!
- Red lentils are the absolute best part of this soup. Lentils pack a lot of protein and nutrition, but also provide that necessary comfort level with their starchy texture. As they cook, the lentils become creamy, helping to thicken the soup.
- Diced tomatoes are a great way to increase the number of vegetables in the soup along with the flavor. Canned diced tomatoes are always in season and have terrific flavor.
- Sweet potatoes provide the heartiness to make this soup a true meal. I always use white Japanese potatoes. They’re denser and drier, similar to an American potato, but with the nutrition that comes from a sweet potato.
- Coconut milk gives a great flavor and adds the smooth, creaminess the soup needs. For the best flavor, use full fat coconut milk.
This soup really is a winner. It has become my go-to soup recipe all winter long. What’s best is that the recipe is easy and comes together quickly. But with this flavor, it will taste like it took all day to make.
This makes the best leftovers and can also be “dressed up” for company. Serve with toasted coconut, cilantro leaves, or anything else that excites you!
More soup recipes
Beef and Barley Soup
Roasted Carrot Soup
Easy Taco Soup
Ham & Potato Chowder
Watch how to make this curry lentil soup
Creamy Curry Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 bunch Swiss chard greens and stems separated, with stems diced
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 cup red lentils
- 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups water
- 1 lb sweet potatoes cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 14.5-oz can coconut milk
Instructions
- In a 6-quart Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium. Add the onion, celery, Swiss chard stems, and salt. Sauté until the vegetables are softened, 6 minutes. Add the garlic, curry powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Stir until fragrant, 1 minute.2 tbsp olive oil, 1 medium onion, 1 cup chopped celery, 1 ½ tsp salt, 1 bunch Swiss chard, 3 cloves garlic, 2 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- Pour in the red lentils, tomatoes with juice, and water. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer until the lentils are par-cooked, 20 minutes.1 cup red lentils, 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, 4 cups water
- Add the sweet potatoes and return to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the sweet potatoes are soft, 15-20 minutes.1 lb sweet potatoes
- Add in the coconut milk and chopped Swiss chard greens. Stir until the coconut milk is dissolved and the greens are wilted, 5 minutes. Serve with toasted coconut and fresh cilantro.1 14.5-oz can coconut milk
Can’t wait to try this recipe. I have two questions: How would this recipe be if we used a no salt added can of diced tomatoes?
I thought this was SO good. I used unsweetened coconut milk. Don’t know if that was obvious to everyone else, but I wasn’t sure, and I’m glad that’s what I went with. This soup was so creamy and hearty, and I loved how the chard added almost a tangy(?) element. I expected it to be good, but this exceeded my expectations. The only thing I would do differently than the instructions is add the sweet potatoes at the same time as the lentils, because they definitely were not done after 20 minutes. They took about double that time. Adding this one to the recipe book!
Probably one of the most delicious soups I’ve had. It was incredibly easy to make and the house smells heavenly.
Yummy! Deep, warm flavors; satisfying aroma; a silky creaminess, and nutritious. This is a hearty, healthy meal in a bowl and will be a regular on my dinner menu. The second night we served this over jasmine rice – delish! Thanks, Kaleb!
Thank you, Kaleb for your delicious, wholesome and healthy recipe.
This soup was so satisfying. I added some canned jalapeños since I like spicy food but It was a prefect recipe.
Love your attitude and enthusiasm for life!!
Keep sharing and continue your good work.
This looks amazing and can’t wait to make it. My question is, can you freeze the soup for later? PS, I love your website and youtube channel.
This was Delish! I added spinach instead of kale because I had it in the house and that worked fine.
I used an immersion blender for the leftovers and loved that consistency as well. Thanks, Kaleb, this will be a staple for me!
Hi Kaleb,
Delicious recipe- followed to the recipe. The only thought I had while eating this was I felt it was missing fresh ginger for that little spicy element. Definitely making this again!
PS you’ve also inspired me to be more organized when cooking!
Needed way more salt. He didn’t add much.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious, rich flavors. I used spinach in place of Swiss chard, worked fine and used Ro-Tel Tomatoes to
Increase the spice. This is going to be filed with my favorite recipes, thank you, Kaleb! 😀
This is delicious. If you want to amp up the flavor even more here is how I have modified:
-add ginger (fresh or dried)
– use fire roasted diced tomatoes instead of regular
– use stock instead of water
I also subbed spinach for Swiss chard since I had a pack in my freezer.
This soup is amazing! I left out the chili flakes because I’m a wimp with heat, but the combination of flavors in this soup are fantastic. Thank you for introducing me to Japanese sweet potatoes—they are wonderful. Definitely a recipe I will make again and again!
The flavors of this soup are just amazing. I used baby Kale instead of the Swiss Chard as that’s what I had on hand – YUMMMMM
Kaleb, Does this soup freeze well?
Thanks for your recipes and taking us with you in your daily life! Enjoy you so much. Take care!
Sounds like comfort food and delicious! What can I use instead of coconut milk?
Recipes for Seniors and cooking for two would be great.
I love all the casseroles, but they are so big.
I made this for dinner and it was delish! My 3 year old loved it too!
Delicious Delicious Soup. Thank you for the the tutorial as well as the recipe!!!
This was fantastic. I was skeptical and didn’t think my family would like the curry so I only used one teaspoon. Next time I will add two. I also was out of fresh garlic, so I use garlic powder which worked.
I LOVE this soup! It is a great meal that was delightfully light but filling. The recipe called for just the right amount of each ingredient —- they all worked together to create a bright and flavorful soup!
P.S. I couldn’t find Swiss chard at my local HyVee store so just substituted with spinach- an equally fine replacement!