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
Cate says
The first time I cooked this, I followed the recipe exactly, except for stirring a few times throughout, and it turned out perfectly. However, my stomach wasn’t so happy with all the lentils. After reading about it, I decided to soak the lentils first as this is meant to make them easier to digest. Unfortunately though the recipe this time has turned out much more soupy because of all the water the lentils absorbed. Do you know of any way to get around this? Could I reduce the quantity of tomatoes?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Cate – unfortunately I don’t have any experience with soaking the lentils ahead of time, I’m sorry it’s turning out soupy because of it. I wish I had some knowledge to provide but I’m not sure how to help here 🙁
Kelly says
Could I use frozen cubed butternut squash as I already have it. Or would it be too watery?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Kelly – I imagine frozen would work but I haven’t tried it myself!
Shannyn says
I sauteed the onions and garlic as mentioned in the comments above, I also found the recipe could use a splash of some acid (to my taste anyway) so I put in a bit (maybe a tsp? I eyeballed it) of apple cider vinegar which added some more depth to my dish.
Taylor Stinson says
Happy you enjoyed Shannyn!
Shanen says
Hi Shannyn,
I’ve never seen this spelling of our name before. I’ve got an uncommon spelling of it too.
Shanen
Emma says
Great recipe. Will definitely make again. Next time I might use a little bit more moisture. I used frozen spinach, it was perfect!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you liked it Emma!!!
Dani says
Does your nutrition breakdown include the basmati rice?
Taylor Stinson says
Yes it does 🙂
Beth McCrea says
I ADORED this recipe!
Just one note: Like all alliums, the onions & garlic should be sauteed first before going in. mellower, more balanced aroma and a slightly sweeter flavor. The flavors in the dish will be more integrated & will taste better. There will also be a more balanced aroma. If they are just dumped in & cooked directly in the slow cooker, they’ll add a raw pungency & a stronger sulfurous aroma.
Astell says
I’ve never cooked with lentils before so I tried this recipe as it was just ridiculously easy to make. The dal came out fantastic. I halved the recipe and cooked on low for 4 hrs. It’s so delicious and will definitely become a regular meal for me. Thanks you
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy to hear that Astell!!! Lentils are SUPER easy to cook and full of protein. So glad you loved this recipe 🙂
Angela says
I made this tonight. I was worried about the lentils coming out a little too al dente, so I added a quarter cup of water. Otherwise I followed the recipe as written, though I admit I only stirred it once before it was time to stir in the spinach. It came out 100% perfect and delicious.
Bridget says
This was so yummy!! I did cook the onions and garlic in oil and blended the spices into the garlic/onion mixture before placing in the slow cooker. I also added 1.5 cups of broth as I was nervous about the amount of liquid. It turned out perfectly. After many slow cooker recipes turning out “so-so”, I’ve decided not to put raw onions in anymore. Much improved flavour to take the extra 5-10 minutes to pan cook first.
Taylor Stinson says
This sounds like a great idea Bridget! Glad it turned out so well for you 🙂
Erin says
Can I make this in an instant pot?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Erin! I’m sure you could – I just can’t give alternative directions because I haven’t tried it myself. I imagine it would be as simple as dumping everything in and then pressure cooking for 5 minutes though!
Erin says
Thank you! Just got my instant pot but may just use the slow cooker function on it for this recipe.
JP says
Did you try this in the Instant Pot? How many minutes did it require?
Andrew says
What entails one can of coconut milk?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Andrew – typically a can of coconut milk is 400mL. Hope that answers your question!