This Slow Cooker Lentil Curry with butternut squash, spinach and coconut milk is a delicious vegan recipe – serve with rice for a full meal!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
- Yellow onions – white onions or shallots would also work.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic cloves have the best flavor, but jarred minced garlic can be used in a pinch.
- Butternut squash – use another winter squash like Hubbard or acorn squash, or another vegetable entirely like sweet potato.
- Dry red lentils – you could also try dry green lentils.
- Coconut milk – substitute for light coconut milk or even heavy cream.
- Diced tomatoes – a can of crushed tomatoes would also be good here.
- Turmeric – saffron is the best substitute for turmeric.
- Curry powder – make your own using a blend of spices including ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, cardamom, ginger, dry mustard, cinnamon, black pepper and cayenne.
- Chili powder – use a mixture of paprika, cayenne, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder and cumin instead.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Spinach – stir in some kale or Swiss chard instead, or leave the greens out entirely.
- Fresh cilantro and sesame seeds – to garnish.
- Basmati rice – serve with any rice of your choice like brown rice or even quinoa.
How to make lentil curry in the slow cooker
Step 1: Add everything to the pot.
Add the olive oil, onions, garlic, butternut squash, lentils, coconut milk, diced tomatoes, turmeric, curry powder, chili powder, salt and pepper to the slow cooker in the order listed.
Step 2: Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
Step 3: Make the rice.
While the curry is cooking, make the basmati rice in a rice cooker or on the stovetop.
Step 4: Serve and enjoy!
Once the curry is done cooking, stir in the spinach. Garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro, serve over rice and enjoy!
What to serve with lentil curry
Here are some of my favourite side dishes to serve with this lentil curry recipe:
- Homemade naan or pita bread
- Basmati rice, brown rice, coconut rice or cauliflower rice for a low-carb option
- Steamed broccoli
- Vegetable pakora
Frequently Asked Questions
I haven't tested this recipe on the stovetop, but it should be pretty easy to adapt. Try adding everything to a pot on the stovetop, bringing it to a boil and simmering until the squash and lentils are soft, about 30-45 minutes. Stir in the spinach at the very end.
No, there's no need to soak the dry lentils before adding them to the curry. The lentils cook alongside the rest of the ingredients in this recipe. If you soak the lentils first, they'll likely release water as they cook, making your curry watery and like more of a lentil soup than a thick curry!
I'd recommend using dry red lentils for this recipe, but dry green lentils would work too.
Coconut milk is pretty essential to making this vegan curry, but if you're not concerned about keeping it a vegan and non dairy dish, you can swap it out for a bit of heavy cream instead.
If you find that your lentils are still a bit tough after cooking, they haven't cooked for long enough. Continue to cook in the crockpot until the lentils have the desired consistency.
Storing and reheating
One of the best parts of slow cooker recipes is that they're great for meal prep. You can just dump everything in the crockpot, have it cook all day, then enjoy it fresh or store it in the fridge for later.
If you have any leftovers of this lentil curry, you can store individual portion sizes in glass meal prep containers in the fridge. When you're ready to enjoy, reheat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. I'd suggest sprinkling a bit of water or vegetable broth over top before reheating to ensure the curry doesn't dry out.
Can you freeze lentil curry?
Freezing this lentil dal is super easy! You can freeze it in freezer-safe containers or Ziploc bags for up to 3 months. Let it defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat as normal, or reheat straight from frozen in the microwave for 6-7 minutes.
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Slow Cooker Lentil Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 small yellow onions diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small butternut squash cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 1/2 cups dry red lentils
- 1 (400mL) can coconut milk
- 1 (796mL) can diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 cups spinach chopped
- Cilantro and sesame seeds for garnish
Basmati rice
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to slow cooker in order that they are listed except for spinach, garnishes and rice.
- Cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours. Meanwhile, cook basmati rice according to package directions in a rice cooker or on the stovetop.
- Once dal is finished cooking, stir in spinach and then plate with rice, garnishing with sesame seeds and cilantro. Enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Paige says
Hi Taylor. Really looking forward to cooking this dish for dinner tomorrow! I’m not clear on the amount of squash I need though. “1 inch small butternut squash cut into 1/2cubes”. While I’ve got your attention, I googled passata and came up with tomato paste. Is that incorrect? Thanks so much for the killer looking recipe!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Paige! Yay, so happy you’re going to try it! 🙂 This is one of my older recipes and looks like it didn’t all get inputted by my new recipe plugin properly. If you buy a small butternut squash and cut it into 1/2 inch cubes that should work (I have updated the recipe to reflect that). And passata is strained or crushed tomatoes, not tomato paste. Hope that helps!
Paige says
Thank you! I did make it! The flavor profiles where all there. Yum! Since My family detests when squash gets mushy in my slow cooker, I simply roasted it prior. Also, sautéed my onions. The only bummer is my lentils didn’t get mushy. But for some reason they never do for me. Otherwise the taste was great! Thank you!
Brenda Cartwright says
Can you freeze this recipe ?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Brenda – I haven’t tried it myself but I assume you could! Let me know how it turns out if you do!
Jay says
I’m making this tomorrow for when I get in from work, just hoping it won’t dry outnas I leave for work at 7am and don’t get home until 6pm!
Jay 😄😄😄
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Jay! Wondering if you can set to cook on low heat for 6 hours and then have it go on the keep warm setting? That might help it not dry out! So happy you’re going to try it!
Me says
What size slow-cooker did you use for this recipe? It’s always good to know the size of the crockpot so we know how to size-up or down the recipe for our own. Thanks1
Taylor Stinson says
I used a 6 quart slow cooker!
J Evans says
Hi there,
This looks lovely, thank you! I’m keen to make this for my family. Please can you let me know how hot it is? I may need to adjust the spices a little for my toddler (who loves spices, but understandably can’t yet cope with heat).
Taylor Stinson says
Thanks so much for stopping by! This recipe is not spicy at all – the closest thing I can say that may be a tiny bit spicy is the garam masala but there isn’t a lot in there and it’s not too spicy to begin with. You should be fine without adjusting anything 🙂
Jennifer says
Just wondering, how much is half a jar of the tomatoes? They come in different sizes here 🙂 and I don’t want to put in either too much or too little. Thank you!
Taylor Stinson says
Sorry about that Jennifer! Usually about half a jar of crushed tomatoes is about 350mL or 1.5 cups – so you would be looking for a 700mL jar at the store!
Jennifer Delgado says
This recipe was amazing – thanks! My husband kept commenting that he would pay to eat it at a restaurant. I used 1 can of diced tomatoes instead of the strained tomatoes and added 1/2 cup of water. After 3 hours, my red lentils were a bit al dente. I don’t know if this was because I don’t have a real slow cooker (I have a rice cooker with a slow cooker function) or because I didn’t have enough liquid, but either way the flavor was so amazing we didn’t notice it. Next time I’ll make this on a stove top and simmer on low for about an hour.
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Jennifer – SO glad to hear this turned out well for you!! I find that the brand of red lentils I buy cook so fast so not sure why the lentils were still al dente but you could always add more liquid (broth maybe?) Thanks so much for letting me know you made this recipe, so happy you like it! 🙂
Bethany says
This looks delicious and easy! What type and how much onion do you use? It’s listed in the instructions but not in the ingredient list. Also, can you substitute canned diced tomatoes? Thanks…can’t wait to try this one!
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Bethany! So sorry about this – it’s 2 small yellow onions, diced. This has been updated in the recipe 🙂 And yes, you could definitely sub in canned diced tomatoes but if you are using a large can (e.g. 796mL) then cut that amount in half. If you choose to sub in canned tomatoes I would recommend you blend them in a food processor or blender to make the mixture smooth and watery – you need the liquid to help cook the lentils! Hope this helps!
Alie says
I’m thinking about making this, but one can of coconut milk doesn’t seem to be enough liquid to cook 2 cups of lentils. Am I missing something? Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Alie! This is a very thick dal – there’s also a half jar of strained tomatoes which adds a bit more liquid to the mix. Let me know if you try it 🙂
Alie says
Thanks! Also, what setting is it cooked on?
Taylor Stinson says
No worries! It says at the beginning of the recipe to put it on high – takes a bit faster to cook that way if you’re cooking after work. If you’d like it to cook during the day while you’re at work however, you can put it on the lowest setting and cook it for 6-7 hours!
Alie says
It turned out great! My family loved it! Thank you 🙂
Taylor Stinson says
Awesome, I’m so happy to hear that!! 🙂
bethrrrrrr says
When does the spinach get added in? Do you let it cook with the rice, or just throw it in with the finished dish?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Beth! Toss it in at the end right before serving – sorry about that, I’m updating the recipe now to reflect that 🙂
bethrrrrrr says
Thank you! Another thing–in the instructions you said chop onions, but they are not in the ingredients. One whole onion, half?
Taylor Stinson says
2 small yellow onions! So sorry – this has been updated!