Curry Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk

Smooth, creamy, and loaded with all the flavors of spiced curry, your whole family will love this Healthy Curry Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk. Made with pumpkin, butternut squash, mixed vegetables, and topped with all your favorite garnishes, it’s easy to enjoy this lentil soup all winter long!

The time of year has arrived for all things warm and cozy. Things like this Instant Pot Beef Stew, cups of homemade Bone Broth, and, of course, this easy and delicious Curry Lentil Soup with coconut milk.

And whether you are a vegetarian or a full-blown meat-eating carnivore, you’ll quickly fall in love with this curry-spiced and squash-filled lentil soup.

Easy to prepare, this soup tastes best when the lentils are simmered for at least 90 minutes to tenderize and thicken. In fact, I am a firm believer that all lentil soups taste better the next day. 

Key Ingredients

• olive oil
• onion
• carrots 
• celery
• butternut squash
• garlic
• apple
• water (or vegetable broth)
• canned pumpkin puree
• curry powder
• ground cinnamon
• ground nutmeg
• lentils
• full-fat coconut milk

I am a firm believer that full-fat coconut milk is best. Reduced fat, while lower in calories and overall fat content, is ok, the flavor is nowhere close to that of real full-fat coconut milk or cream. As a result, I would always find myself substituting with extra salt or over-garnishing.

Of course, use whatever works best for you and your family.

How to make Curry Lentil Soup

Aside from the awesome flavor of this lentil soup, is how easy it is to make. The hardest part of the whole recipe is chopping, stirring, and busting out your blender if you prefer a smooth, creamy soup rather than a chunky one.

In other words, this recipe isn’t hard at all.

1. First, cook the vegetables. Grab a large pot or Dutch oven and set it over medium heat. Add the olive oil and onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Add the carrots and celery and continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes with yes, more stirring. Finally, add the butternut squash, garlic, and apple to the pot, mixing well to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 5-7 minutes, or until butternut squash just starts to turn tender. 
2. Try not to burn the vegetables.
3. Add the water (or vegetable broth) to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring the vegetables and broth to a boil, just long enough. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. The vegetables have been slowly cooked, the broth is boiled, and now it is time to add the pumpkin puree, spices, and lentils. Use a whisk to fully incorporate the pumpkin and the spices into the vegetables and lentils. If the soup is no longer boiling, return it to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat to low and cover with a tight-fitting lid.
5. Simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes.
6. Add the coconut milk. After the lentils have started to cook and thicken, add the coconut milk to the pot. Stir well to combine, then continue cooking, covered, over low heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender and fully cooked.
7. Optional – For a more blended, less chunky, lentil soup, transfer part (or all) of the soup to a large blender and process until smooth. Take extra care and do this step in smaller batches if you are pureeing while the soup is still hot.
8. Season and serve. The final step in making curried lentil soup is seasoning and garnishing. Typically, the only additions I need to add are a pinch or two of salt, some pepper, and perhaps a little cayenne if I feel like a little heat.

Lentil Soup Garnishes

Picking garnishes for soup is a somewhat personal process. Like baked potatoes, some people love a loaded soup, while others do not. In the case of this curry lentil soup, I could have gone either way. Delicious enough to enjoy without all the extras, yet welcoming enough that I felt I could literally add it all.

• Additional cream– coconut cream (shown), milk creamer, sour cream.
• Yogurt– similar to adding a little extra cream to the top, yogurt and curry are essentially made for each other. The mellow tang from the yogurt is a perfect balance to the bold curry spices.
• Nuts or seeds– I love a little crunch in my soup. I highly recommend adding sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds to this lentil curry soup.
• Green onion– my favorite garnish of all time, a little chopped green onion makes everything taste better.
• Fresh herbs– here I added some fresh thyme, although cilantro would also taste delicious.

How to store curry lentil soup leftovers

Great news! This delicious soup tastes just as good, perhaps even better, the next day! This makes the lentil curry soup a perfect meal to cook over the weekend and enjoy all week long for lunch and dinner.

To store leftovers, transfer any remaining curried lentil soup to containers with tight-fitting lids and refrigerate for 3-5 days. You may reheat this leftover lentil curry soup in the microwave or by transferring it to a small pot and warming it over medium heat. 

This curry lentil soup will thicken after cooling. Add water to the leftover soup until the desired consistency is reached.

Can you freeze leftover Lentil Soup?

Yes! Absolutely.

Allow soup to cool completely before transferring to a large freezer-friendly ziplock bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible, then place it on a flat surface in the freezer to freeze.

To thaw, allow the soup to rest in the refrigerator overnight, or place it on the kitchen counter at room temperature for 1-2 hours, then carefully remove it from the plastic bag and place it in a small pot to reheat.

For more soup recipes check out:

• Pho Recipe
• Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
• Minestrone Soup Recipe (Stovetop + Slow Cooker)
• Leek and Potato Soup (Dairy-Free)
• Bok Choy Soup Recipe
• Vegetarian Butternut Squash Black Bean Soup
• Miso Coconut Butternut Squash Soup
• Chicken Soup Recipe