Warm and deliciously fragrant spices make this yummy Moroccan-inspired sweet potato and lentil stew a new family favorite. A fabulous Whole Food Plant Based recipe. Vegan, oil free, sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Hi, Robin here!
Chris and Katie love Moroccan food. Katie has a friend from Morocco who makes super delicious tagines and stews. They are always raving about her culinary wizardry. They describe her food as spicy, tasty, fragrant, and warm, along with a bunch of other superlatives that come to mind when hearing them talk about their love of the Moroccan cuisine.
Moroccan Cuisine
This dish is a nod to Moroccan sweet potato and lentil stew. It has all the traditional spices, but toned down slightly to suit those who have not tried these flavors. We were looking for “spice” and beautiful flavors, but went with a subtler version to entice our readers who are new to the Moroccan cuisine. We also wanted children, who are new to these spices, to find the dish tasty as well.
Budget Conscious
If you already have the spices on hand, then this dish is very economical. Dry lentils are relatively inexpensive. We buy them in bulk whenever there are sales. I literally have dozens upon dozens of half gallon mason jars filled with lentils in my pantry.
Leftovers
What is so nice about this recipe is, it makes a lot so you are ensured some leftovers for lunch (or dinner) the next day and the flavor develops even more. We were so thrilled with this dish the day we made it that it was hard to imagine it could taste even better the next day. But, it DID! YUMMMM!
Easy as 1, 2, Stew!
What I really love about this dish is how incredibly easy it is to make, you start by sautéing the onions and carrots, then you literally throw everything else into the pot and cook it. It doesn’t get much better than that, right?
Ameera here!
Yup, Chris and Katie have been raving about Moroccan cuisine for several years now. We were long overdue to pull this delicious nod to Moroccan food together.
Let me tell ya, I fell in love with this dish after the first bite. It is bursting with flavor and the texture is the perfect stew consistency. Top it with cilantro for the ultimate tasting experience! Oh yeah!
It is just that easy and oh so delicious. It has this incredible layer of flavors where the savory spices compliment the earthiness of the lentils and sweet potatoes. At the end, you add baby spinach to add another layer of texture. It is thick, tasty, and divine.
Give it a try, we are super sure you are going to love it too!
This post contains affiliate links, and I may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
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Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Stew
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Moroccan
Description
Warm and deliciously fragrant spices make this yummy Moroccan-inspired sweet potato and lentil stew a new family favorite. A fabulous Whole Food Plant Based recipe. Vegan, oil free, sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 large carrot, finely diced
- 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 1 ½ cups uncooked small brown lentils *
- 7 to 8 cups water (or broth) *
- 1 cup vegetable broth *
- 1 – [ 14.5 oz. ] can petite diced tomatoes, pureed
- 2 cups packed – fresh baby spinach
Herb/Spice Ingredients:
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon cumin (see recipe notes*)
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander (see recipe notes *)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric (see recipe notes*)
- 2 ½ to 3 teaspoons sea salt (+/-) *
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (+/- to taste)
Optional Toppings:
- Fresh cilantro – chopped – topping for individual servings
Instructions
- In a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven or similar stock pot, add the finely minced onion and carrot; sauté over medium heat until they begin to soften, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of water if the onions and carrots start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
- Add all the other the remaining ingredients to the Dutch oven, except the baby spinach and cilantro, bring to boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Stir well to incorporate all the ingredients.
- Simmer uncovered over medium-low heat for 45 minutes. At 45 minutes, push the potatoes over to the side of the pot (as much as possible) and remove approximately one cup of the cooked lentils and place them in a wide bowl. Smash them with a fork or potato masher, then return to the pot. This will give the stew more varied texture.
- Test the flavors, add more spices (see recipes notes), if necessary, to achieve the level of flavor you desire. Add the baby spinach and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Discard the bay leaf.
- Top individual servings with freshly chopped cilantro.
Notes
*Small Brown Lentils (Pardina/Spanish Brown): You can substitute any type of lentil for the brown lentil (other than red); however, you may need to adjust the cooking time. Small brown lentils typically cook a little faster than green lentils. We have found that the Small Brown Lentil works beautifully with this recipe.
*Diced Sweet Potatoes: Since the sweet potatoes are in the stew for an hour, do not diced them too small or they will disintegrate.
Vegetable Broth/Water Ratio: We use Pacific Organic Vegetable Broth. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients; however, this brand of vegetable broth does have a strong flavor so less broth is required when compared to the water ratio. We use a higher water to broth ratio because of this. If you use another brand of vegetable broth, then adjust the water/vegetable broth ratio accordingly. For example, if you are using a very mellow vegetable broth, you might consider 6 cups of vegetable broth and 2 ½ cups of water for this recipe. Please adjust the recipe (broth/water ratio) accordingly based upon the vegetable broth brand used if you are not using Pacific Organic Vegetable Broth.
*Spices: You can control the spice level and heat level on this recipe. We have included the minimum spice amount to get a hint of the Moroccan flavors. This will allow you to introduce Moroccan flavors to family members who may have not tried the Moroccan cuisine and would love to experience it. However, if you really want to spice things up, you can easily increase the spice amounts indicated in the recipe, or add additional spices to adjust this recipe to meet your own spice preferences; however, be careful, as sometimes when you add too much spice, the flavors start to compete with one another and you end up with a bitter note to your dish. Add small amounts at a time until you achieve the spice level you love!
*Water Amount: Use 7 cups to achieve a more thicker stew, and conversely use 8 cups if you are looking to have a less thick stew. Again, please see the notes on adjusting the broth/water ratio based upon the brand of vegetable broth being used for this recipe.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Storage: Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. Eat within 7 to 10 days.
This post contains affiliate links, and I may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
Your food always looks so amazing Robin!!! This soup looks divine. Much love, Marina
Hi Marina, Thank you so much. You are too kind and sweet. I sincerely appreciate you leaving such a generous and wonderful comment! <3 -Robin 🙂
I don’t have a Dutch oven. Can I use a stainless steel pot?
Hi Karen 🙂 Yes, a stainless steel pot works just as well! We listed the products/cookware we used, which was a dutch oven. We use a ceramic/enamel-lined dutch oven and we love it because when working without oil, foods tend to stick to the bottom when sautéing them and the ceramic/enamel-lined dutch helps prevent sticking. However, there are some great stainless steel pots out there that works just as well! We’d love to hear how it goes! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do! <3
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I am not a cook so I can’t figure this out. I don’t want “toned down.” I like very spicey. Can you tell be how many times to double the spices for a nice kick? TU
Hi Dorie 🙂 We are so excited that you are planning to make this yummy stew! Everyone’s “spice” level is different. Our suggestion would be create the stew as is, then when the dish has simmered around 30 minutes taste the flavors. After you do a taste test, if you want more spice, try adding a half more of the amount of each spice (1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp coriander, 1/4 tsp turmeric) simmer a little. Then taste again. Adjusting the flavors to fit your taste. Our philosophy is add spices in a small amount and slowly increase them. You… Read more »
This was so delicious! I added a bit of curry powder since I had it on hand… but otherwise stuck right to the recipe it’s wonderful! Thanks so much. I’ll be adding this to my regular rotation.
Hi Michelle 🙂 YAY! We are SO glad to hear that you enjoyed our Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Stew! Love that you added some curry powder! We appreciate you taking time to let us know <3
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I used sweet meat squash in place of the sweet potato, came out delicious!
Hi Katie, AWESOME! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed our stew! Thank you so much for leaving a comment, we truly appreciate it! We are so happy that you enjoyed our recipe and to hear that a sweet meat squash worked well 🙂
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
The photos in this post are great! Very vivid and colourful.
Hi Adrianne 🙂 Thank you so much! We truly appreciate your kind words on our photography! Wishing you a wonderful day! <3
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Can this be cooked in an instant pot?
Hi Candis 🙂 We haven’t tried this recipe in an Instant Pot, but we don’t see why it won’t work. We think you’d have to adjust the liquid ratio and add the spinach at the very end and let the spinach wilt into the hot stew. Unfortunately, we cannot offer any specific Instant Pot instructions. But if you try it, we would love to know how it worked for you 🙂 Thank you so much!
-Ameer and Robin 🙂
Did you try this in an instant pot? How did it work out if you did?
I have made lentil soups this way: 15 minutes MANUAL HIGH. My notes state QR (Quick Release), HOWEVER when you quick release with lentils or beans it can be a mess inside of the Instant Pot, so I would recommend a Natural Release for at 10-15 minutes, then QR. If the beans are still a little undone, put the lid back on and set it for 1 minute manual. Hope this helps.
I made this, but added way more cumin, turmeric,, salt, hot sauce, and pinch of lemon juice. It was great.
Hi Neena 🙂 Awesome! We are so glad that you enjoyed this dish and adjusted the flavors to what you love! We appreciate you taking the time to write <3
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Hi, very keen to try this. Can I just clarify if you drained the tomatoes or used the juice as well in the recipe.
Hi Lynne,
No, do not drain the tomatoes. I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as we do! <3
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Hey! Looks great! Why can’t red lentils work?? I have some on hand.
Hi there Shannon 🙂
Unfortunately, red lentils cook really quickly and start to break down once cooked. For this stew, the lentils would turn to mush by the time the sweet potatoes would be cooked. However, you could try to use the red lentils by putting them in the stew later. You would want to add the lentils in so that the doneness of the sweet potatoes and the doneness of the lentils happen at the same time. We hope this helps!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I just made it and it is delicious! But it sure did make alot! I am thinking of freezing some for another time. Do you think it would freeze okay?
Hi there Ellen 🙂
Yay! We are so excited that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much! Yes, it can be frozen.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Hi there, thanks for this, looks amazing!
I’m gonna try to make it tonight but I want to know if I need to soak the lentils couple hours before cooking them?
Thank you 🙂
Hi there Ana Maria 🙂
Thank you so much for your kind words. It is not necessary to soak the lentils before cooking them. We just rinse really well, then place them in the pot as instructed. We hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do <3
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Can this be make in the instant pot
Hi there Lisa 🙂
We have not made this in an instant pot before, but we have had many people say they’ve enjoyed it via Instant Pot. We don’t have settings for you, but if you try it, we’d love to know how it went.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Unsure if the fact I’m Australian (we like things authentic and tasty/spicy) or if spent time living In Moroccoo, but I i found this recipe EXTREMELY bland… I seriously could barely eat… so froze to use as bass for future cooking. Just did first trial cook – added a lot of different spices, more stock and wild mushrooms and veges (+ chickpeas)….. absolutely gorgeous. Awful as stand alone meal if you’re used to authentic flavours, but seems to be great go-to base for those not scared to cook and taste, and amend as you go!
Hi there Sally 🙂 We love spice as well, and Michael (Ameera’s husband) is Middle Eastern, so we are very familiar with the flavors. We are so sorry to hear your stew didn’t turn out flavorful as you had hoped and we are glad that you were able to intuitively adjust the spices to fit your preference. We follow the WFPB diet and use a specific broth that is awesome and packs a ton of bold flavors so we use more water to broth ratio. Knowing that not everyone will use this brand of vegetable broth, we have a pretty… Read more »
I just made this and it turned out pretty bland, even though I added more coriander and cumin than was indicated in the recipe. So, to add more Moroccan flavor, I added 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cayenne, another 1/2 tsp cumin and another 1/2 tsp coriander. Adding those helped a lot.
Hi there Peggy 🙂 We are so sorry that this dish turned out bland for you, but glad you were able to add spices to adjust it to your preference. We have a ton of notes regarding the flavor of this stew as it is an “introduction” to the Moroccan flavors. In our recipe, we use a bold, flavorful vegetable broth, and we have some pretty detailed and awesome notes about this and how to adjust if you don’t use this particular veggie broth. It could potentially be the broth/water ratio, and to adjust the broth/water ratio based on the… Read more »
This was absolutely amazing! even our picky eaters loved this. I am amazed 🙂 I used chicken broth and fresh turmeric and skipped the cilantro. This is a keeper.
Hi there Leah 🙂
Yaaayyy!! So glad that you and your family enjoyed this recipe! This is definitely a favorite in our home. Love the addition of fresh turmeric! We appreciate your wonderful feedback! Thank you so much <3
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
How many grams sweet potato? You say 3 but they come in so many different sizes lol
Hi there Suzan 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. The amount of sweet potato is personal preference, and it doesn’t change the consistency of the soup. You can use large, medium, or small potatoes based upon how much you’d like to be in the soup. Hope this helps <3
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This was divine…we increased the spices slightly and added garlic and grated fresh ginger 🙂 my daughter said that I should make this weekly. It was that good!!
Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Hi there Doadear 🙂
Yaaayy! We are so thrilled to hear that you and your daughter really enjoyed this stew! We love how you made it your own with garlic and ginger – yum!! Thank you so much for taking the time to write, and we truly appreciate your wonderful feedback!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this tonight in my instant pot. It was great! I doubled it except the liquid, there wasn’t quite enough room (8 qt. IP). I used homemade chicken stock for all liquid. The spices were perfect for my family: ages 4, 2, 9 months all loved it and so did the teenager and adults. I cooked on manual high pressure for 15 minutes and did a quick release. The lentils could have used a couple more minutes. So I tried to bring it to pressure again but it began to burn. So I turned it off and kept it… Read more »
Hi there Alisa 🙂
Yaaayy! We are so thrilled to hear that you and your family loved this recipe!! We love how your made this dish your own, and appreciate taking the time to write you method for cooking via Instant Pot! Thank you so much for taking the time to write, and we truly appreciate your wonderful feedback!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Hi there Vanessa 🙂
It’s our pleasure to share! This would keep about 5 days in the refrigerator and about 3 months in the freezer.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Could you use a crockpot?
Hi there Kathy 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us! We haven’t tried to make this recipe in a crockpot, but we don’t see why not. If you try it, we’d love to know how it goes.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this today for a midday meal. This dish was another family hit from the archive of M&M Kitchen Adventures! Thank you! I doubled the recipe. I used eight cups of generic organic broth and ten cups of water. The sweet potatoes I used were ginormous, and I cut most of them large, but some smaller. I had just shy of three cups of lentils. I also had to keep it warm on the stove for a couple of hours. The result of those factors eliminated the need to smash the lentils. It had enough body. I added a… Read more »
Hi there Lisa 🙂
Yaaayy!!! We are so thrilled that you and your family enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing how your made this dish your own. We appreciate your awesome feedback!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this last week and it disappeared in no time. I had to keep out the vegetable broth and black pepper, but other than that, the rest worked for my family. Thank you for the fantastic recipe.
Hi there Maidellyn 🙂
Yaaaaayyyy!!! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write. We appreciate it!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I forgot to mention that I did add some parsley, basil, and celery, since I had to eliminate the vegetable broth. But I was just trying to mimic flavors that would usually come in the broth.
Thank you so much for sharing how you made this dish your own. We appreciate your feedback!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this tonight and my kids loved it! I added an extra carrot, a few stalks of celery, 3 cloves of garlic, and used tomato sauce but added it at the end so it would not prevent the lentils from softening as they cooked. I also added an extra 1/2 t. cumin, 1/2 t. coriander, and 1/2 t. cinnamon. It was delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi there Ann 🙂
Woo hoo!!! We are so thrilled that your kids loved this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing how you made this recipe your own. We appreciate your wonderful feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Wow! Absolutely loved the Moroccan sweet potato & lentil stew. We added a small red chilli including seeds & served with toasted flatbreads & fresh coriander, which was delicious. Consistency was perfect, used 7 cups of water with 2 vegetable stock cubes. Also threw in some French green beans at the end. Enjoyed after football with a large glass of red too! Great flavours & didn’t even miss the meat!! Loads left over so will freeze & use on a busy work day. ???
Hi there Julie 🙂
Woo hoo!! We are so excited that you loved this stew. Thank you so much for sharing how you made this dish your own. We appreciate your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Making this right now. How much is a serving size? Thank you! 🙂
Hi there Lisa 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We apologize for the late response. This recipe card indicates 6 servings. We just equally portion out six servings to create our serving size.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This was delicious! I had all of the ingredients on hand, so this was perfect. I used about 2.5 times the spices, maybe more. 😉 Thank you for a very warming stew!
Hi there Michelle 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
hey! at what point do you add the spinach? i couldn’t find it in the instructions.
Hi there Leah 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We mention adding the spinach in step 4 of the instructions.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I bought cooked lentils, how would I adjust the liquids? I understand I would not add lentils until end. Would liquid amount stay the same to cook the sweet potatoes?
Hi there Jeanne 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. Cooked lentils would work well in this soup, and adding them towards the end would be ideal so the lentils do not breakdown. We think that the liquid amount might need to be reduced, but since we haven’t personally tested it, we do not have any exact measurements. If you try it, we’d love to hear how it went. Thank you so much!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Would like to know about how many cups or weight amount of the sweet potatoes you say three but some of mine our huge ?
Hi there Jayne 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We made this recipe in 2018, so it’s been awhile. We are guessing that you can’t go wrong with approximately 5 to 6 cups of sweet potatoes. I hope this helps.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Another wonderful M&M kitchen adventure that earned 5/5 stars from my mom and me! We made the recipe pretty much as written, but our veggie broth is less flavorful so we did 4 cups broth and 3 cups water. Also, our sweet potatoes were HUGE so we only used two and we skipped the parsley based on personal preference. The taste and texture were amazing and my mom has already asked if we can make this again. 🙂
Hi there Kathy,
WOOO HOOOO!!! We are thrilled that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! Thank you so much for the awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
This is one of my favorite dishes. I’ve tried several recipes but non have compared to the perfection of this one. I always have to add my own flare but not this time. Only thing I added was a green chili to give it a tad bit of heat😁
Hi there Amanda,
YAYYYY!!! We are thrilled that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a fantastic review.
-Ameera and Robin