This creamy Golden Lentil Soup is quick and easy to make with healthy vegan ingredients like yellow lentils, ginger, turmeric, curry powder and coconut milk and is incredibly delicious! You can also make the One-Pot Lentil Dal ahead and freeze it for meal prep!
The Best Golden Lentil Soup – Yellow Lentil Dal
I love my red lentil dal and Indian curry recipes, but this healthy Golden Coconut Lentil Soup is also one of my favorites! I already published a similar Indian yellow lentil dal recipe here on the blog a few years ago, but this updated version is a little bit better in my opinion!
What I find especially great about these simple one-pot dishes is that they are quick and easy to make without much effort! Plus, you can modify all my basic recipes for soups, stews, and curries any way you like by swapping out ingredients for other alternatives or even adding extra vegetables or protein sources.
You can serve Golden Lentil Coconut Soup just with flatbread or naan bread on the side, or like Indian curry or dal over rice.
Whatever you create with this recipe, the result will definitely be a healthy and filling dish for your whole family! The protein-rich and fiber-rich yellow lentils, as well as the many vitamins and antioxidants in the vegetables and spices, will give your body a big portion of nutrients and energy!
And the best part – It takes just 20 minutes to make this lentil stew!
Ingredients needed
- Onions: regular yellow or red ones.
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Carrots: or pumpkin or sweet potatoes.
- Yellow curry powder: or yellow curry paste.
- Turmeric
- Chili powder: or paprika powder to taste.
- Yellow lentils: or red lentils.
- Vegetable broth
- Coconut milk: full-fat from a can.
- Tamari or soy sauce: or coconut aminos for a soy-free alternative.
- Salt and pepper
To serve (optional)
- Parsley: or cilantro.
- Sesame seeds: or peanuts.
- Limes: or lemons.
- Flatbread: or naan bread or rice.
How to make yellow lentil soup
As always, I recommend checking out these step-by-step instructions and the recipe video first. Then you’ll find the full recipe with exact measurements in the recipe card below!
Step 1: Sauté the vegetables
First, sauté the onions until translucent. Then add the garlic and ginger and sauté briefly. Next, add the carrots and sauté briefly. Then sprinkle the spices on top and sauté briefly again. Finally, rinse the lentils in a fine-meshed sieve, then add to the pan and sauté briefly too.
Step 2: Cook
Now add the vegetable broth, coconut milk and tamari and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and let the soup simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender.
Tip: If the lentil soup gets too thick, you can add more vegetable broth or coconut milk. Or if you like it thicker, you can dissolve some cornstarch in a bit of water. Then stir the slurry into the curry and cook until it thickens.
Step 3: Serve
Finally, serve your golden coconut lentil soup in bowls and garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro, sesame seeds and a squeeze of fresh lime or lemon juice if you like. Enjoy!
Recipe variations
- Feel free to add various vegetables such as celery, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini or bell peppers. Just sauté them briefly with the onions before adding the lentils. It’s always a good idea to sauté the harder vegetables first and add the softer varieties later.
- If you want even more protein in your dish, feel free to add crispy fried tofu cubes or extra beans or chickpeas.
- You can control the level of spiciness by increasing or decreasing the amount of chili powder.
- Feel free to use other spices or add additional ones according to your taste.
How to store lentil soup?
The golden coconut lentil soup will keep in an airtight container for about 5 days in the refrigerator. However, you can also put it in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag and freeze it for up to 3 months.
This golden lentil soup recipe is:
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Super healthy
- Satisfying
- Quick and easy to make
- Versatile
- Creamy
- Flavorful
- Incredibly delicious!
- Perfect for lunch, dinner, and meal prep!
More vegan soup or stew recipes to try
- Red Lentil Dahl
- Granny’s Lentil Soup
- Sweet Potato Lentil Stew
- White Bean Stew
- Eggplant Chickpea Stew
- Thai Peanut Ramen Noodle Soup
- Minestrone Soup
- Sweet Potato Soup
- Thai Carrot Ginger Soup
- Creamy Cauliflower Soup
- Potato Leek Soup
- Roasted Pumpkin Soup
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Creamy Tomato Soup
- Vegan Lasagna Soup
- Mushroom and Rice Soup
If you try this easy vegan yellow lentil soup recipe, feel free to leave me a comment and a star rating! And if you take a photo of your dish and share it on Instagram or Facebook, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka because I’d love to see your result! Enjoy cooking! 😊
Golden Coconut Lentil Soup (Easy & Vegan)
Author:Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil for frying
- 1 onion finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 small piece of ginger chopped
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 tbsp yellow curry powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chili powder or paprika powder to taste
- 1 cup (180 g) yellow lentils or red lentils
- 3 cups (720 ml) vegetable broth
- ¾ cup (180 g) coconut milk
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) tamari or soy sauce or coconut aminos if soy-free
- salt and pepper to taste
To serve (optional)
- parsley or coriander
- sesame seeds
- limes or lemons
- flatbread or naan or rice
Instructions
*Note: Check out the recipe video + step-by-step pictures above!
- Heat the oil in a large pan or pot and sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes until translucent and lightly browned.
- Now add the garlic and ginger and sauté for another minute. Next add the carrots and sauté for further 2-3 minutes. Then sprinkle curry powder, turmeric and chili or paprika powder over the veggies, stir, and sauté for a minute.
- Put the lentils into a fine-meshed sieve and rinse under running water. Then drain, add to the pan and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
- Now stir in vegetable broth, coconut milk and tamari and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, for about 15 minutes until the lentils are tender. (If the soup becomes too thick, you can add more vegetable broth or coconut milk).
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and add more chili as needed.
- Serve the golden lentil soup in bowls and garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro, sesame seeds and a squeeze of fresh lime or lemon juice, if desired. Serve with flatbread, naan bread or rice.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Instead of carrots, you can use pumpkin or sweet potatoes.
- Leftover soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2-3 months. When reheating, simply add a little vegetable broth to thin it out.
- More tips and information about the recipe are mentioned in the blog post above!
IF YOU HAVE PINTEREST, YOU CAN FIND ME HERE AND PIN THE FOLLOWING PICTURE, IF YOU LIKE! 🙂
©Bianca Zapatka | All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post for the recipe. More info here. Thank you for supporting biancazapatka.com!
Disclosure for affiliate links with asterisk (*):This page may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. You can find more information here.
Feeling terrible today with a headcold so needed something healthy and comforting. This soup was the bomb! I used yellow lentils and added extra diced pumpkin along with the carrot. It was delicious. A squeeze of lime at the end really brought out the flavours. Teen boys rated it very highly with roti bread – I didn’t need any bread with mine. We aren’t vegan or vegetarian and we loved this
Thanks, great recipe.
Glad you enjoyed this lentil soup. Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
This lentil soup is fantastic! I usually tweak recipes to death before I make them but I followed this one as written and used the tip about adding sweet potatoes! After it was done I blended it a bit with the immersion blender for a smoother more uniform consistency. This recipe will be in rotation at my house from now on.
Great! Thanks so much for making the recipe! ♥️