Curried Lentil Bowl

Name: Curried Lentil Bowl
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked red lentils; 1/2 cup light coconut milk; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1/2 tsp turmeric; 1/2 tsp cumin; 1 tsp curry powder; 1 tsp coconut sugar or maple syrup; salt and pepper, to taste; 4 carrots, approx. 2 heaping cups; 2 cups chopped zucchini; 1 white onion, spiced, approx. 2 cups; 1 medium-sized sweet potato, chopped, approx. 2 heaping cups; salt and pepper; 8 handfuls de-stemmed and chopped kale, approx. 8 cups

posted: 08/12/19 — updated: 02/11/23 by Deryn Macey Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.

Jump to Recipe· 5 from 6 reviews

This curried lentil bowl features steamed kale, roasted vegetables and delicious garlic and turmeric coconut curried lentils. This hearty, plant-based bowl is lovely served warm in the Fall and Winter months but can also be served cold as a healthy, filling salad.

Curried lentils, kale and roasted vegetables in a bowl.

This cozy lentil bowl is full of nutrition and easy to make with just a few plant-based ingredients. It’s just delicious as is but if you want to adjust it, I’ve included some recipe addition and substitution ideas below.

Table of Contents

How to Make the Lentils

The lentils get cooked by bringing 2 cups of water to a boil, adding 1 cup of uncooked red lentils, covering and simmering until tender. This takes 10-15 minutes for red lentils.

Once the lentils are cooked, you’ll mix in turmeric, cumin, curry powder, garlic, sea salt and pepper.

I’ve also made this recipe with green lentils. If you’d like to use green, simply increase the cooking time by about 10 minutes.

Small saucepan with red lentils, curry powder, turmeric, coconut milk and garlic.

Curried red lentils in a small saucepan.

Curried red lentils with kale and roasted vegetables.

How to Prepare the Kale

Before proceeding with the preparation methods below, give the kale a good wash, tear the leaves away from the stems and cut the kale into bite-sized pieces.

Massaged Kale

If you prefer to keep the kale raw, I would recommend massaging it with just a tiny bit of olive, avocado or flax oil. This helps to soften the kale, improve digestibility and reduce any bitterness.

For about 4 heaping cups of kale, use just 1/2 tsp of oil. Use your hands to massage the kale until it becomes soft.

Steamed Kale

To steam kale, add a couple inches of water to a saucepan, bring to a boil then reduce to a light simmer. Place a steamer basket in the pan and add the chopped kale. Cover and steam for 3-4 minutes until it reaches your desired doneness.

Sautéed Kale

This is how I usually make kale for recipes like this. It’s not really sautéed kale so much as kale lightly cooked in a splash of water. I use this method because I’m lazy and it’s easier than steaming kale with a steaming basket.

I just add the chopped kale to a skillet with a few splashes of water and cook for a few minutes until wilted. It’s quick, easy, oil-free and prevents overcooking the kale. You wanted the kale just slightly softened which only takes a couple minutes, so keep an eye on it.

You could use oil instead of water if you wanted for truly sautéed kale but I just use water in a pan for a quick and easy alternative to steaming.

How to Roast the Vegetables

Chop, season, throw on a pan and roast away. I shared some handy veggie roasting tips here if you want to read more.

Oil or Oil-Free Roasted Vegetables?

To roast oil-free, I’d recommend lining your pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat but other than that, just chop and roast.

I will say oil-free roasted veggies come out on the dryer side, especially sweet potatoes and carrots. To prevent this, you can toss with a bit of vegetable broth before roasting.

If you don’t mind a bit of oil, toss all the veggies with 1/2 tsp olive oil to prevent them from drying out. That’s a negligible amount of oil once you divide the veggies into 4 servings so it’s up to you if you’d like to use some or not.

Raw sweet potato, onions, carrot and zucchini on baking trays.

What Vegetables to Use

For this recipe, I used carrot, sweet potato, onion and zucchini but bell peppers, snap peas, cabbage, parsnips, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, broccoli and potatoes all work as well.

Roasting Times

Some vegetables, such as zucchini and bell peppers, cooked quicker than starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots. How to get around this? I just roast everything together because I don’t really care if the zucchini is a bit overdone but if you want everything to be roasted just right, you can either stagger the cooking times or steam non-starchy veggies first so they cook as quickly as the non-starchy veggies.

Quick Cooking Time

These vegetables roast in 15-25 minutes.

zucchini
cabbage
onion
bell pepper

Longer Cooking Time

These vegetables roast in 25-45 minutes.

sweet potato
potato
carrot
brussel sprouts

For this recipe, I roasted everything on silicone mat-lined baking sheets for 40 minutes at 425.

Bowl with lentils, roasted vegetables and kale against a white background.

Recipe Variations

add pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds or sunflower seeds for extra fats and texture
use any vegetables you like for roasting: sweet potato, potato, zucchini, bell peppers, onion, garlic, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, carrot mushroom etc.

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