Lentil Sweet Potato Stew
This healthy lentil sweet potato stew with kale is easy to make in 1-pot with simple ingredients in about 45 minutes. The recipe is vegan, high in protein, and naturally gluten-free.
Recipe Features
- quick and easy – with minimal prep and mostly hands-off time, this recipe is easy to whip up any night of the week
- make in advance – the flavors only improve the next day making this stew great for meal prep
- dietary-restrictions – this recipe is oil-free, nut-free, gluten-free and vegan
Ingredient Notes
The ingredients for this stew are very simple but here are a few things to consider:
- broth – any vegetable broth or stock works, either liquid, cubes or bouillon powder
- tomato paste – have extra? freeze it in an ice cube tray for later!
- kale – any kind of kale works, can be subbed with spinach
- lentils – I would recommend sticking to green or brown lentils for this recipe, you could use red but it will be more of a mushy dahl-type consistency and the cooking time will be less
How to Make this Recipe
Cook the onion, garlic and ginger in a couple tablespoons of water, broth or oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in the curry powder, salt, ginger and tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes.
Add the lentils and broth and simmer covered for 15 minutes, then add the carrot and sweet potato and simmer uncovered for another 15-20 minutes until everything is tender and cooked through.
Finally, stir in the kale and let it sit for a few minutes to heat through. Then serve and enjoy!
How should I store this?
The stew will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 5 days or can be frozen for up to 2 months. If freezing or storing for later, let it cool before sealing and storing.
Related Recipes
If you’re enjoying this delicious stew, you might want to try these too:
- Curried Butternut Squash Lentil Stew
- Vegan Chickpea Quinoa Stew
- Vegan Sweet Potato Peanut Stew
- Spicy Peanut Stew with Rice and Chickpeas
- Curried Chickpea Potato Stew
Did you try this recipe?
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Lentil Sweet Potato Stew with Kale
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 5
- Category: Entree
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegan lentil stew is easy to make, full of flavor and perfect for meal prep. Enjoy it for a warming, hearty and healthy plant-based meal.
Ingredients
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3/4 cup green lentils, uncooked
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed (approx. 3–4 cups chopped)
- 6 cups lightly packed kale, de-stemmed and chopped
Instructions
- Cook the onion and garlic in a 2 tablespoons of water or broth 5 minutes in a large soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the curry powder, salt, ginger, tomato paste and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the lentils and broth, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Add the carrots and sweet potato and simmer uncovered for another 15-20 minutes or until the carrots and sweet potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.
- Stir in the kale, turn off the heat and let sit for a few minutes. If the lentils are soft and most of the liquid is absorbed, it’s ready!
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Let leftovers cool then store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freezer for up to 5 months.
Kale may be omitted or substituted with spinach if you don’t have any on hand.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/5th of recipe
- Calories: 263
- Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 52 g
- Fiber: 15 g
- Protein: 12 g
Keywords: vegan lentil stew, sweet potato lentil stew
UPDATE NOTE: This recipe was originally published on March 20, 2014. It was updated with new photos and text on June 5, 2020.
I’m actually in the middle of cooking this right now. Well, technically, I’m at the end of cooking and I should be adding the kale right now, but the carrots and sweet potatoes are still full-on crunchy following the cooking times in the recipe. I’m turning up the heat and covering it now. I have a feeling my lentils will be mushy by the time I get the veggies cooked through. If I make again, I’ll put the carrots and sweet potatoes in before the lentils.
★★★★
Hi Deryn,
Have you by any chance used yellow lentils for this? I’m at the end of the week and am shopping tomorrow. I have a lot of carrots, a large sweet potato and yellow lentils. Only arugula and romaine left in the greens dept. What do you think? ย Btw, I’ve been enjoying your recipes for a few years now. I’ve used a few of them for my mom, who is on a plant based, low fat diet for her diabetes. Your soups are always a hit! Thank you so much.ย
Mary
I haven’t but it should be fine. The stew will have a different texture (more mushy) and the cooking time will be a be shorter but yes, you can use them if you like! Let me know if you try it! And thanks, so glad you’ve been enjoying everything!
Wow is this a great flavorful, comforting vegan stew!! Only changes I made was 4 Tablespoons curry powder ๐ and I’m addicted to chickpeas so I added some of those too.
Make this is all I can say!
★★★★★
Hmm.. this looks good but so different from the previous one. Do you have the other one somewhere? ย This has way more lentils I think. ย
I’m sorry, I’m not sure which one you mean. Have you browsed the soups and stews section? I do have a sweet potato peanut stew and a number of other lentil stews. Thanks!
Loved this! I made one change just substituted fresh spinach for the kale as I’m not a fan. I’m not vegan or vegetarian but go meatless quite often. This is one of my favorite recipes.
★★★★★
Can I put this recipe into the slow cooker?ย
You could but I’m not sure for how long since I haven’t tested it. Let me know if you try it!
Loved this soup, as with all Derryns recipes this was so easy to make.
★★★★★
Absolutely delicious, pretty darn easy and very nutritious!
★★★★★
Dear Deryn,
The instructions on the back of the lentils I bought are completely different from yours–I’m supposed to boil them for 5 minutes, cover and let stand for 4-8, and then remove and drain. I’d love to make your recipe, but I’m not sure whose instructions I should be following.
Thanks!
You actually want to use uncooked lentils in this recipe, so no need to use the instructions on the bag. Use 3/4 cup dry, uncooked lentils for this recipe, following the instructions as written. Enjoy!
I’m not sure what happened, but the lentils came out mushy and the liquid didn’t really absorb. Ah, the joys of learning to cook! Any ideas what I might have done wrong?
What kind of lentils did you use? Did you follow the recipe exactly?
I used green sprouted lentils, and yes, I followed the recipe.
Sprouted lentils have been pre-soaked so have a reduced cooking time and won’t absorb as much liquid as regular dry, uncooked lentils, so that’s probably what happened. If using sprouted, you’d probably need to reduce the cooking time and liquid quite a bit. I would probably add everything but the lentils (using less broth), then when the potatoes and carrots is almost tender, add the lentils and cook until softened. I’m not exactly sure on the time and liquid adjustment for using sprouted lentils though since I’ve never made this recipe with them.
This looks delicious! So hungry right now!
This dish is cooking away just now & so looking forward to enjoying it later……..my all time favourite stew especially in Autumn!
Thank you for this recipe! It was really delicious! My husband had a rare, aggressive cancer five years ago and we became vegan the day he received his diagnosis…he had 6 months to live and a vegan lifestyle has given him another chance at life!! A month ago we did a 60 day juice fast and are totally committed to maintaining our health. I am always searching for delicious recipes and this definitely caught my eye! I have added it to our culinary repertoire and we will enjoy it again & again! Thank you again Deryn!
This is comfort food at its best. I used coconut oil in place of olive oil and the tropical flavor came through nicely. This will become a staple in my house. Thanks so much Deryn.
★★★★★
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it. Total comfort food. Thanks so much!!
This was absolutely DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for the recipe! I can’t wait to eat this again!
This stew was absolutely perfect. I left out the salt and used low-sodium vegetable broth, and it was still incredibly flavorful, filling and delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
These are my favorite ingredients, making for our vegetarian potluck this evening. Thanks for he inspiration.
★★★★★
What type of lentils do you use?
Either red or green uncooked lentils work ๐
Thanks for this recipe, I made it last night and think it’s just perfect!
★★★★★
It is just perfect, isn’t it? I love this dish ๐ so yummy, flavourful and comforting.
Yum! Just made this for and it is super relish! I have acid reflux and have to avoid tomatoes and onions. So i used onion powder instead and added a cup of mixed veggies to help bulk it up. Thank you for sharing!
Wonderful!! So glad you enjoyed it ๐ Thanks for letting me know!
Yes, it’s spring, but we just got 4 inches of snow on Saturday! Stew is EXACTLY what I need! I’m 100% ready for spring and summer, but sadly, we are still dealing with winter-like weather!
If you can believe this โฆ my husband JUST tried lentil soup for the first time a couple of weeks ago. How is this possible?? I eat it all the time – and he sheepishly admitted he hadn’t ever tasted it. So we ordered it at one of our local restaurants, and he loved it!
Now that I’ve converted him to enjoying lentils, I am in need of delicious recipes – like this! Sweet potatoes and kale? Super nutritious and I won’t need to feel guilty if I want a second bowl! ๐