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    Home » SOUPS + CURRIES

    Instant Pot Curried Lentil Soup

    March 23, 2023 12 Comments

    Curried Lentil Soup made in the Instant Pot in 30 minutes!

    Easy curried lentil soup made in the Instant Pot with red lentils, red curry paste, curry powder, ginger and garlic. This recipe is based on an Ottolenghi recipe on Epicurious.

    Jump to Recipe
    A bowl of curried lentil soup, topped with cilantro, scallions, and sour cream, with tortillas on the side.

    Want to make this recipe perfectly? Check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post you need most.

    Jump to:
    • ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
    • 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
    • 🔪 Recommended Equipment
    • 👩‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works
    • 👩‍🍳 Preparation Tips
    • 📇 Similar Legume Soups
    • Instant Pot Curried Lentil Soup
    • 🌱 Sign up for my emails, and get my 5 tips for easy vegetarian meals!

    Some of my favorite recipes are from rummaging around my pantry. This soup was from just such a ransacking. I was in the mood for soup, and when I found 3 kinds of dried lentils, I knew a pot of curried lentil soup was in my future.

    ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

    • Only the yellow onion needs to be chopped, so there's very little prep involved in this recipe. Everything else is either in a can, jar, or tube.
    • The Instant Pot speeds the cooking, so that this soup is ready in 30 minutes. Perfect for a weeknight meal.

    🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes

    For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.

    • Yellow onion
    • Garlic - Either garlic cloves or Gourmet Garden Garlic Paste sold in a tube, found with fresh herbs in your market.
    • Ginger - Use Gourmet Garden ginger paste because it's soooo quick, or finely grate a ginger root.
    • Curry powder
    • Garam Masala - garam masala is a spice mix commonly used in Indian dishes. You should find it with the spices in your grocery store.
    • Red curry paste
    • Red lentils
    • Chopped tomatoes - you can chop your own, but I use canned diced tomatoes.
    • Vegetable broth - or Better Than Bouillon Roasted Vegetable Paste
    • Coconut milk - I recommend full-fat.

    Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.

    🔪 Recommended Equipment

    • Pressure cooker
    • Chef's knife

    👩‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works

    • Lentils are often used in Indian dishes, particularly the softer lentils. These are the red, orange and yellow varieties, which are split legumes. This means they cook up quickly.
    • Their earthy flavor and texture combine very well with coconut milk and curry.
    • Additionally all lentils go great with chopped tomatoes, as their earthiness needs some acid.
    Close up shot of red lentils, also called orange lentils on a blue napkin.

    👩‍🍳 Preparation Tips

    • This soup can be made on the stovetop or an electric pressure cooker, such as an Instant Pot.
    • I often use Better Than Bouillon for broth, and keep their Vegetable, No Chicken, and No Beef bouillons on hand. They last a long time, and are packed with flavor. If you use this product, however, eliminate the kosher salt as you will not need any additional salt. I recommend no more than 2 teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon added to the soup. If your markets don't have this product, you can order it online.

    📇 Similar Legume Soups

    If you've never tried black chickpeas, I highly recommend this Chana Masala with Black Chickpeas. The post explains what they are, how to work with them, and where to purchase them.

    This Persian ashe mast soup is a chickpea yogurt soup made with yellow lentils. It's full of flavor from grated onion and fennel, various herbs, spices, and garlic. It's amazing, and totally unlike anything you've probably ever had. You can use canned chickpeas, or go here if you want to know how to cook chickpeas from dried.


    A bowl of curried lentil soup, topped with cilantro, scallions, and sour cream.
    Print Recipe
    5 from 17 votes

    Instant Pot Curried Lentil Soup

    Curried red lentil soup with tomatoes, garlic, ginger, and coconut milk, made in the Instant Pot, and ready in 30 minutes. Lightly adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe on Epicurious.
    Prep Time3 mins
    Cook Time27 mins
    Total Time30 mins
    Course: Vegan Soup
    Cuisine: Indian, Middle Eastern
    Keyword: curried lentil soup
    Servings: 4 servings
    Calories: 214kcal
    Author: The Wimpy Vegetarian

    Equipment

    • 6-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker, such as the Instant Pot
    • Chef's knife

    Ingredients

    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
    • 1 tablespoon garlic paste, or finely chopped garlic
    • 1 tablespoon ginger paste, or 2 ½-inch piece of ginger, finely grated
    • 1 tablespoon curry powder
    • ½ teaspoon garam masala spice mix (see Notes)
    • ½ teaspoon red curry paste
    • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
    • ¾ cup red lentils
    • 1 14.5-oz can chopped tomatoes, along with the sauce
    • 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
    • 1 13.5-oz can unsweetened coconut milk

    Optional Toppings

    • lime wedges, for serving
    • ¼ cup chopped scallions, for garnish
    • ¼ cup chopped cilantro, for garnish

    Instructions

    • Select the Sauté function on your Instant Pot (or other electric pressure cooker). In the inner cooking pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and sauté until softened and translucent, about 7 - 8 minutes. Be sure to stir them fairly often so they don't burn. 
    • Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, garam masala, red curry paste, salt, red pepper flakes and pepper. Stir and sauté for about 3 minutes, until very fragrant. 
    • Stir in the lentils and tomato sauce, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the broth. Set aside ¼ cup of the coconut milk, and add the remaining coconut milk to the pot. Stir to combine.
      Pro-tip: If the coconut milk has separated in the can, pour it into a large bowl and whisk until re-combined.
    • Lock the lid of the electric pressure cooker into place, making sure that the vent on top of the Instant Pot is in the closed position. Select Manual cooking and set the cooking time for 15 minutes. 
    • When the cooking is complete, Quick Release the vent to immediately release the pressure. 
    • Serve with the reserved coconut milk (to drizzle on top of the soup), scallions and lime wedges.

    Notes

    Garam Masala is a spice mix commonly used in many Indian dishes. It's commonly made up of black and white peppers, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves and cumin, but there are many variations. You can make your own, or purchase it in the spice aisle at your market like I do. 
    If you use Better Than Bouillion, eliminate the kosher salt as you will not need any additional salt. I recommend no more than 2 teaspoons of Better Than Bouillion, Roasted Vegetable Paste. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 27.7g | Protein: 9.7g | Fat: 7.7g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.6g | Sodium: 888.1mg | Potassium: 428.4mg | Fiber: 11.7g | Sugar: 3.4g | Vitamin A: 608IU | Vitamin C: 6.4mg | Calcium: 46.6mg | Iron: 3.3mg

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    Curried Lentil Soup made in the Instant Pot in 30 minutes!
    Curried Lentil Soup made in the Instant Pot in 30 minutes!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kristina

      February 19, 2019 at 6:17 pm

      5 stars
      Thanks for the breakdown of different lentils, good to know! Love how quickly this soup comes together in the IP. Great recipe!

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        February 19, 2019 at 8:07 pm

        5 stars
        Thanks so much Kristina!! It's super quick thanks to the IP!

        Reply
    2. Tisha

      February 19, 2019 at 10:23 pm

      5 stars
      Definitely something I need to warm up on these snow days we are having!!!

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        February 19, 2019 at 10:55 pm

        5 stars
        You too?? We got several feet of snow last week alone!! And yes, dishes like this are perfect for snowy days and nights 🙂

        Reply
    3. Patty

      February 20, 2019 at 1:05 am

      5 stars
      What a heartwarming soup, exactly we need right now, can't wait to make this delicious soup!

      Reply
    4. Nathan Wyper

      February 20, 2019 at 1:42 am

      5 stars
      This looks so delicious, I make lentil soup all the time so next time i will change it up a bit by following this recipe!

      Reply
    5. Valentina

      February 20, 2019 at 11:56 am

      5 stars
      Hope you are recovering from the skiing incident. I assume this delicious helped you feel better. 🙂 I love the description of all of the different colors of lentils. Such a great resource. I'm bookmarking it! This dish is perfect for our rainy weather in LA. (Nothing like the snow, I'm sure.) 😉

      Reply
    6. Eha

      February 20, 2019 at 6:56 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you for both a great soup recipe and the breakdown of the various lentils on the market - very useful tho' in Australia we mostly buy red and Puy lentils. Have loved lentil soup since childhood in Northern Europe - now mainly cooking Asian and Middle-Eastern fare spicier versions are on the table . . . garam masala is a very common spice mix in most pantries here. Hope that your ACL miraculously just got sprained . . . a fortnight back I dropped a major weight on my big toe breaking it and still have four weeks to go before I shall have proper mobility talk about painful !!! Best to you: do hope you won't need surgery ., . .

      Reply
    7. Madison from cookwarestuff

      February 21, 2019 at 1:58 am

      5 stars
      wow...this looks sooo good & delicious, and this is perfect soup in this snow days....i will definitely trying to making this in upcoming weekend...Thanks fro sharing.....and keep shared your new dishes....!

      Reply
    8. Alice Beef

      February 15, 2020 at 5:58 am

      5 stars
      My son loves to eat soup and your recipe gives me a lot of useful ideas to prepare the healthy meal for him. Thank you so much for your creative and sharing.

      Reply
    9. Goli

      January 12, 2022 at 11:16 am

      5 stars
      So delicious!!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        January 12, 2022 at 1:18 pm

        5 stars
        You're so welcome! I'm very happy you liked it so much!!

        Reply

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    Susan at The Wimpy Vegetarian

    Hi there! I'm Susan.

    A mostly vegetarian married to a mostly carnivore, living in the mountains with our doodle, on Lake Tahoe. My cookbook, Simply Vegetarian, was named #1 best cookbook for new vegetarians. Come join me in simplifying life, starting with dinner!

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