Thai Red Curry Lentil Soup with Rice! Nutrient-dense lentils are shining like a star in this awesome, satisfying soup.

Cozy, comforting, and fragrant, this Thai Red Curry Lentil Soup with Rice is packed with delicious Thai flavors, protein packed lentils, wholesome veggies, and hearty rice that is sure to wow your family. A delicious soup that is brimming with bold, rich flavors.

Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.

Hi there, Ameera here!

Give me all those delicious Thai curry flavors!  I love Thai dishes. What can be better than a comforting and cozy soup with all that Thai curry delivers? We love lentils, and we love Thai curry, this dish was destined to be a new favorite.

You gotta give this one a try!

Tips for Success:

• Flavor Profile: This is a delicious Thai red curry flavored lentil soup that is served with steamed rice mixed in as a soup.   Place about ½ cup (+/-) of hot steamed rice into a soup bowl, then ladle the soup over top of the hot steamed rice and mix in.
• Broth: This soup recipe makes plenty of broth with the idea that you can add steamed rice when serving.  If you wish, you can add more lentils so that there will be less broth.  The soup broth is on the thinner side.  It is not a creamy broth.
• Baking Soda: Baking soda is often used as a neutralizer for dishes that contain a lot of acidity, typically from tomatoes.  We use it in this soup to remove some of the tomato acidity (from the tomato paste and petite diced tomatoes) without losing the tomatoey flavor. When you add it, the mixture may bubble up, then settle down as it neutralizes the acidity. Additionally, the baking soda also helps speed the cooking process of the lentils.
• Simmer Lentils: Do not cook lentils at a rolling bowl, they will cook too fast and cause them to split and get mushy.
• Testing the Tenderness of the Lentils: Just pull out a few lentils and give them a taste to check for tenderness.
• Next Day: Red curry paste can sometimes take time to mellow out.  We have found that while this soup tastes delicious immediately after making; however, it tastes even more amazing when made earlier in the day or the next day where the flavors marry and mellow out in the fridge.
• Adding of Sea Salt: We recommend adding the sea salt near the end as sea salt tends to toughen the shell of the lentils which may take the lentils longer to cook if added too early.
• Amount of Sea Salt: We had family members completely divided over the amount of sea salt needed to season this soup, feel free to adjust to suit your own tastes accordingly.
• Instant Pot: You can make this recipe in the Instant Pot, adding all the Base Ingredients and Spice/Herb Mix to the pot, stir well to combine.  Set the pressure time for the type of lentils selected.  After the soup has cooked in the IP, release the pressure, then add the Other Ingredients and sea salt at the end.  Allow to set for 10 minutes for the flavors to marry before taste testing for additional seasoning.
• Lite Unsweetened Coconut Milk: The unsweetened light coconut milk is optional.  The soup doesn’t need it, but it tastes great with it. You can also use unsweetened plain plant milk, but you may need to adjust the Thai red curry paste (not use as much) as the light coconut milk is thicker and has more flavor than plain unsweetened plant milk.  We tried the recipe both ways and we definitely preferred using light unsweetened coconut milk from the can over the plain plant milk. Light Unsweetened Coconut Milk is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, full fat unsweetened coconut milk is not.
• Curry Powders: All curry powders are not the same.  There are tons of curry options and blends.  Use your favorite curry blend.  Each blend tends to accent different spices within the blend.  We have found that some blends are heavy with turmeric and tend to be slightly acidic on the backend of the palate and others may contain a lot of heat.  Feel free to adjust spices based upon the curry blend selected.
• Taste Testing: Thai red curry tends to build on the palate, before ramping up any seasonings, taste test 3 times to determine if additional seasonings are required.

Leftovers and Freezing:

Leftovers will generally keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.  Store in a covered container.  Reheating can be done on the stovetop or in the microwave.

This dish can be frozen.

Pantry Products Used:

• Vegetable Stock:   We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. 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.
• Lentils:  We used Palouse Brand Small Brown Lentils.  They are delicious.  They hold their shape well and have a slightly nutty taste to them.  Feel free to use your favorite brown lentil or French lentils.
• Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium.  You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
• Red Curry Paste:  We used Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste.  We suggest Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste for this recipe as other brands could possibly contain a lot of heat.  If not using Thai Kitchen, then start out on the very low end and build from there.
• Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

Kitchen Products Used:

• Ceramic/Enamel Lined Dutch Oven or similarly large stock pot

If you try this comforting soup, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us!  We would love to hear from you.

Thai Red Curry Lentil Soup with Rice

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• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 15 Minutes
• Cook Time: 50-60 Minutes
• Total Time: 65 Minutes +Rest Time
• Yield: 11.5 Cups 1x
• Category: Soup
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Thai Inspired
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Cozy, comforting, and fragrant, this Thai Red Curry Lentil Soup with Rice is packed with wholesome lentils, veggies, and rice.

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Ingredients

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Base Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
• 1 red bell pepper, fine dice
• 1 carrot, fine dice
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 3 Tablespoons red curry paste *
• 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth *
• 5 cups water
• 1 – [ 14.5 oz. can ] petite diced tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari *
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda *
• 1 ½ cups dry brown lentils (or French lentils), picked through and rinsed *

Spice/Herb Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 ¼ teaspoons curry powder (+/-) *
• ½ to 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt (+/-) *

Other Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• ½ cup light coconut milk (can) optional *

Serving Ideas:

• Steamed rice (of choice)

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Instructions

1. Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients (except the sea salt) in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
2. In a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven or similar stock pot, add the diced onions, red bell peppers, andcarrots; sauté over medium heat until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 9 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of vegetable broth or water if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
3. Next add the minced garlic, ginger, tomato paste, and red curry paste, sauté, stirring constantly for one minute, then add all the remaining Base Ingredients (except the baking soda and lentils) and the Spice/Herb Mix. Stir well to mix, bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer.
4. Add the baking soda, stir constantly for 30 seconds to allow the baking soda to settle, then add the lentils, stir. Cover the pot (ajar), simmer with a gentle low boil for 30 to 40 minutes until the lentils are tender.
5. When the lentils are tender, add the lime juice, light coconut milk, and sea salt. Simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes. Remove from the stove and allow to sit for 10 minutes for the flavors to marry.  Serve with steamed rice mixed in.

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Notes

*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used. 

*Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.   

*Servings: 5 to 6 (makes 11 ½ cups)

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