This soup packs in all the ingredients that would make your doctor happy (Lentils! Sweet potatoes! Leafy greens!) but is bolstered by fiery Thai green curry paste to keep things interesting. Store-bought Thai curry pastes can vary widely in flavor and intensity from brand to brand (we tested this recipe with Maesri), so there are also lots of aromatics like onion, ginger, and garlic to ensure there’s plenty of flavor to balance the earthy lentils.
Ingredients
4 servings
2
1
2
1
1
¼
1
¾
4
1
4
½
Preparation
Step 1
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add onion, garlic, and ginger; season with salt. Cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent and starts to soften, about 3 minutes. Add curry paste and cook, stirring and scraping bottom of pan constantly, until paste is fragrant and slightly darkened and mixture starts to stick to pan, about 3 minutes.
Step 2
Stir sweet potato and lentils into onion mixture, then add broth and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook soup, stirring occasionally, until sweet potatoes are cooked through and lentils are tender but not mushy, 20–25 minutes.
Step 3
Add coconut milk to soup; return to a simmer. Add spinach and fish sauce and cook just until spinach is wilted, about 30 seconds. Taste soup and season with more salt and/or fish sauce if needed.
Step 4
Ladle soup into bowls and top with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.
Leave a Review
Reviews (265)
Back to TopSuper good and very customizable!
Halley
Oregon
4/11/2024
This is a response to Cameron … looking for way to save recipes… I couldn’t find a way to do that either. But I found a workaround. I copy the name of the recipe and then paste it into the app (Epicurious) when it pops up in search results, I am able to save it. I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I intend to. Now it’s saved in my app.
JoyB
New York, NY
2/3/2024
Haven’t made it but I want to. I’m a subscriber and I don’t know why I cannot save a recipe on the web? I want to get it on my app… why don’t emails open in app, or ask if I want to see it on the app? It’s a PITA if I want to find it.
Cameron
Portland, OR
2/3/2024
Crazy delicious, I've made this twice in one week now!
Ev
Portland, OR
1/23/2024
OMG...THIS IS DELICIOUS!! Read some of the reviews to see how people change the recipe to make it to their taste . Because I am on a plant based diet, I made some changes. First of all, I used vegan chicken broth . I also I used precooked lentils and frozen spinach. I substituted some dulce flakes for the fish sauce, (about two tablespoons, chopped....I imagine some nori would do as well) I would also highly recommend cutting out the two tablespoons of coconut oil for frying and using full fat coconut milk. I love that this is easy!
Collette T
Las Vegas, NV
1/7/2024
Could have been great with some chicken thighs added in in the beginning - might try it next time!
Anonymous
New York, Ny
6/27/2023
I can tell a good recipe and this is one. I only gave 4 stars because I didn't actually make THIS recipe. Will explain: I used it as a "base recipe' for a similar dish- a sweet potato-coconut curry with greens- and it was a big help. I did not use lentils but added chickpeas to my final soup. And I used more sweet potato- 3/4 of which I blended in to the aromatic base and chicken broth. From there I added my own curry powder, coriander, turmeric and a pinch of Aleppo pepper if you have it. I used pre-blanched Lacinato Kale for greens and served with cous-cous and pinenuts. Maybe more Moroccan-ish? Overall idea was similar and I was grateful to have the ingredient proportions to help me. My husband and I loved it! Thank you very much.
MaryAnn Neblock
SE Pennsylvania
3/1/2023
Awesome recipe.
Anonymous
NJ
2/6/2023
Amazing. Also good with an added veggie if you want.
Karley
Los Angeles
1/26/2023
Great recipe, and Instant-Pot-able without really changing anything. Saute steps as directed I added lentils, sweet potato, and broth as directed and did 9 min pressure cook with natural release/keep warm Then added the coconut milk and spinach. Turned back on "saute" for a minute or two. Other notes: - Frozen ginger, 2 cubes - Maesri brand curry (almost a little too spicy for me!) - For broth, used my rich homemade poultry stock - Frozen cilantro added at end; didn't have fresh - My lentils cooked fine
Jenny W
Raleigh, NC
1/25/2023
It is great & easy and I swear, it is medicinal for those head-stuffed sniffly days of winter.
Sowinski4
1/7/2023
This is so tasty, I made it twice in 5 days! Made as written except with a little extra curry paste and we added rice vermicelli noodles at the end. A perfect, tasty meal with lots of nourishment for these cold nights.
Aileen
Halifax, NS
11/28/2022
This was so easy and delicious! My main change for next time will be to cut the salt - maybe in half? It probably depends on the broth you use (I used Better than Bouillon and water), but I thought it was a bit too salty the first day and then for whatever reason the saltiness became really intense in the leftovers.
Anonymous
Brooklyn, NY
11/14/2022
Very easy and delicious! I used prechopped/frozen ginger and garlic which cut down on my prep time even more. Definitely going to add this to my rotation and maybe try adding some more veggies. My lentils came out fine as the recipe directed, but that's because I used brown lentils which are a little smaller and take less time to cook than green. Maybe that's why folks had trouble with timing?
Anonymous
10/28/2022
Quite good. Relatively easy, one-pot dish. Not sure why some were having issues with the lentils. Ours came out almost too soft after 25 mins. This is going to make for great lunches with the leftovers. We added seared chicken breast for a bit of extra protein. Seared on high but didn't cook through. Diced and added with about 10 mins left. If you do add something like chicken, be very careful about how you season it. Ours wasn't too salty but it could have easily been too much. Ended up having to pivot and add frozen spinach because the fresh spinach we had on hand wasn't usable. Worked great. Without a doubt we'll make this again
dx
Oakdale, MN
10/24/2022