Vegan Coconut Lentil Soup
This Coconut Lentil Soup is packed full of flavor with ginger, garlic, herbs and coconut milk. It comes together in just 30 minutes for a delicious meal that is healthy, vegan and gluten-free!
About three years ago, my husband was under tremendous stress. It was so bad that he ended up developing gastritis and also symptoms of heartburn. Thankfully with a few life changes, it is mostly resolved and under control now. At the moment, t’s just triggered when the stress piles on or if he eats something loaded with tomatoes. As a result, there was a long period of time where I had to do without canned tomatoes.
Recently I shared this tomato loaded Creamy Quinoa Coconut Soup. As delicious as this soup was, my hubby couldn’t really do more than a bowl of it. To compromise, I played around with a different version that has tomatoes as an optional component. This Vegan Coconut Lentil Soup uses the same coconut, lentil and quinoa base, but changes up the flavors. Instead of the canned tomatoes, we are favoring more calming notes of ginger, turmeric, and thyme. Hoping this soup can be a source of comfort for any of you that might be struggling with these sensitivities.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Requires only 30 minutes of cook time!
- Most of the ingredients you might already have in your fridge and pantry! All the more reason to try this out.
- This soup is vegan, gluten free, and can be enjoyed as a tasty whole food plant based option.
How to Make This Soup
Heat your oil and begin to sauté the onions, celery, garlic, and ginger with some salt. To the pot add your herbs, spices and sweet potato and stir well to coat.
Add in quinoa, lentils, cherry tomatoes and coconut milk. Stir well to combine and then add vegetable broth and bay leaves.
Cover with a lid and allow soup to cook for about 30 minutes, making sure lentils and quinoa are completely cooked before serving.
Do you need to soak your lentils to make this soup?
Totally optional! When I’ve made this soup, I’ve used completely dry lentils from the package and it works out really well. Want to soak your lentils? Make sure to adjust the cook time as well as the amount of liquid as needed. Just add your soaked lentils and try cook for 20-25 minutes with 1 less cup of vegetable broth.
Is lentil soup healthy?
Since this coconut lentil soup is loaded with lentils and lots of veggies, you’ll definitely get your fill on fiber, protein, folate and potassium! This soup is also balanced with a protein rich carbohydrate from the quinoa, so this meal is a complete meal in a bowl.
Tips for Making This Recipe Perfectly
- The instructions for this recipe use dry lentils and dry quinoa. Changing these items to cooked items will require you to adjust the fluid and cook time accordingly.
- To make this soup creamy, make sure to go with full fat coconut milk. It won’t be nearly as creamy if you use a light coconut milk.
- This recipe can be made in a crockpot. Place all ingredients in your slow cooker, stir well and cook on LOW for 6 – 8 hours or HIGH for 3 – 4 hours.
More Soups to Try
Vegan Coconut Lentil Soup
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Coconut Lentil Soup is packed full of flavor with ginger, garlic, herbs and coconut milk. It comes together in just 30 minutes for a delicious meal that is healthy, vegan and gluten-free!
Ingredients
- 2 tsp neutral flavored oil or 1/4 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 1 jalapeno, diced (optional)
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp dry basil
- 1 tsp dry thyme
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 cup sweet potato, cubed
- 1/3 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup whole cherry tomatoes (optional)
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Heat your oil in a large pot and begin to sauté onions, pepper, celery, garlic, and ginger with a pinch of salt until onions have softened.
- To the pot add your oregano, basil, thyme, turmeric and sweet potato and stir well to coat.
- Add in quinoa, lentils, cherry tomatoes and coconut milk.
- Stir well to combine and then add vegetable broth and bay leaves.
- Bring the soup up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.
- Allow soup to cook for about 30 minutes, making sure lentils and quinoa are completely cooked through.
- At the end of cooking, feel free to add any extras like stirring in spinach to wilt or adding in some fresh parsley.
Notes
This recipe calls for dry quinoa and lentils. If using cooked lentils and quinoa, consider adding towards the end of cooking to warm up and reducing the broth according to your preference.
Lentils typically take 20 minutes to cook to a good tender texture. To prevent them from undercooking, make sure to cover with a lid while simmering to help steam them and cook them well. If lentils have not cooked through, add an additional cup of water, cover with a lid and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.
The tomatoes and peppers are optional in this dish! Feel free to remove them. Fresh tomatoes tend to be lighter option and less sensitive for some. If ultra sensitive, feel free to remove them all together.
This recipe can be made in a crockpot. Place all ingredients in your slow cooker, stir well and cook on LOW for 6 – 8 hours or HIGH for 3 – 4 hours.
Did You Try This Recipe?
Then let me know what you thought! Share your creations by tagging me on Instagram with the hashtag #plantbasedrdeats
★ Catherine
