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When you’re in need of warming comfort food, but you also want healthy, this Coconut Sweet Potato Lentil Soup with Rice is just the soup recipe to make. All made in just ONE pot (or in your instant pot), in less than an hour, and using good for us ingredients like sweet potatoes, red lentils, warming spices, and creamy coconut milk. It’s cozy, a little spicy, and filled with vegetables. Finish each bowl off with steamed rice and you’ll have the perfect healthy bowl of sweet potato soup for lunch or dinner.
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When I get stuck creatively, I try to look at flavors and foods just slightly out of my comfort zone. I tend to fall back on cozy foods…pastas, creamy soups, and pretty much anything roasted. Those are my go-to’s and very much in my comfort zone.
This is why, when I get in a recipe rut, I love to step outside my box, and explore flavors I don’t use as often as I should.
Enter this soup.
Lately all I want to cook is the comfort foods I know and love. Which is totally fine, since I whole heartedly believe that you should make what’s inspiring you. With our cold, snowy weather I’m embracing all the comfort foods…after all, I think it’s what I’m best at!
That said, I was ready for a flavor switch up, and decided to explore some Indian inspired recipes.
Instead of googling anything, I text my soon to be sister (because my older brother is gettin’ married this summer!). Lyndsie is one of the more well-rounded eaters I know, and great for recipe ideas. She quickly responded with mulligatawny soup. At first I thought she spelled something wrong. But after some googling I discovered that mulligatawny soup is an East Indian curry soup. It’s traditionally made with veggies, sometimes lentils, sometimes apples, and coconut milk.
Honestly, I saw a ton of different versions online, so I’m not sure what’s really traditional. The point here is that I drew the inspiration for this soup from mulligatawny soup. This is not a mulligatawny soup, but it’s similar…ish, and 100% delicious.
When I set out to make this soup, I knew it needed to include three things: sweet potatoes, lentils, and rice.
I LOVE a rice based soup (have you made my favorite tortilla soup…or my wild rice soup?!). Since I haven’t made one in a bit, I knew using rice for this soup was key. I wanted lentils for protein, and sweet potatoes for, well, just because I love them…and they’re in season!
So those were my three must have ingredients. From here I built up the rest of the soup and it quickly came together.
You’ll start by cooking up some onions, garlic, and lots of ginger. These are major flavor boosters, so don’t skip them. Then toss in your sweet potatoes, yellow curry powder, and a pinch of cayenne for some heat. You could easily add some carrots and celery for extra veggies.
Add broth and red lentils, then simmer until the lentils are extra soft, which only takes about 15 minutes or so. You can also do this all in your instant pot (which I included directions for). But I honestly think it’s just as quick and easy to do this on the stove top.
Once the lentils are soft, stir in the full-fat coconut milk and some spinach, and simmer to warm through. And like that, the soup is done! I don’t like to add the rice directly to the soup. Instead I add the rice to bowls and then pour the soup over. This way the rice doesn’t soak up all the soup’s broth while it sits.
This soup is SO flavorful, SO full of color, and filled with good for us ingredients. Yet it feels totally comforting with the sweet potatoes, creamy coconut milk, and rice. I love serving it with my homemade naan (obviously). It’s our favorite over here.
Best part, well aside from all the deliciousness, this requires only one pot and is ready in less than 45 minutes. Perfect.
If you make this coconut sweet potato lentil soup please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the How to Video:
Coconut Sweet Potato Lentil Soup with Rice from Half Baked Harvest on Vimeo.
Coconut Sweet Potato Lentil Soup with Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more or less to taste
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or water
- 3/4 cup dried red lentils
- kosher salt
- 1 can (14 ounce) coconut milk
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 2 cups cooked basmati rice
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, plus more for serving
- fresh Naan, for serving
Instructions
Stove-Top
- 1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion and cook 5 minutes until soft. Add the ginger, garlic, and sweet potatoes and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cayenne and cook another minute. 2. Add the broth and lentils. Season generously with salt. Bring the mix to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes, until the lentils are soft and the sweet potatoes tender. 3. Stir in the coconut milk and spinach, cook 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cilantro. 4. To serve, divide the rice among bowls and ladle the soup overtop. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with Naan on the side. Enjoy!
Instant Pot
- 1. Set Instant pot to sauté. Add the olive oil and onion and cook 5 minutes until soft. Add the ginger, garlic, and sweet potatoes and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cayenne and cook another minute. 2. Add the broth and lentils. Season generously with salt. Cover, select the manual setting, and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.3. Once done cooking, use the quick release function and release the steam. Set the Instant pot to sauté. Stir in the coconut milk and spinach, and cook 5 minutes. Turn the instant pot off. Stir in the cilantro.4. To serve, divide the rice among bowls and ladle the soup overtop. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with Naan on the side. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Absolutely delicious recipe! I used 1/4 tsp cayenne (half the amount the recipe called for), low fat coconut milk, which was pitch perfect versus the full fat, and in my humble opinion, the rice wasn’t necessary. I made the rice, but much prefer the soup on its own with no rice. Felt too heavy with the rice. 🙂
Hey Kathryn,
Awesome! Thanks so much for making this recipe and your feedback, so glad to hear it was enjoyed!
I love this soup
I don’t know how many times I made it
Still one of favorites
Hey Ulrike,
Happy Sunday! Big thanks for making this recipe so often and your comment, I love that it always turns out well for you!
Hi Tieghan, are the calories per serving really over 1,800? This seems like a typo. Would you please clarify?
Thanks!
Hi Margie,
I always recommend that if the nutritional information is important to you, you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I’m eating “Heart Healthy” and this soup was prepared and served by my wife for supper tonight. Even though it didn’t contain any meat, it was quite tasty! I’m tracking my daily nutritional intake but there was no nutrution information available for the soup. Would you have something more complete than 1813 kcal?
Thanks so much, Tom!!
So sorry, this is the only info we have at this time.
Wishing you all the best!
Oh man is this good!!! Smells amazing! I used hot Jamaican curry powder because that’s all I had and used green lentils… went to 3 grocery stores and all were out of the red! This will def be in my regular rotation! Yum!
Hey Despina,
Thanks so much! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe and appreciate the feedback! Happy Tuesday!
I made this on Sunday and it was a BIG hit. I adjusted the recipe to make 12 servings and it is all gone! I thought I’d have leftovers for the week. lol. I will make another 2 batches so I can freeze some. Thanks so much for this great recipe.
Hi Lisa,
Fantastic! Thanks a bunch for making this dish and your feedback, I’m so glad to hear it turned out well!
Made this tonight. Was delicious! We are on a low sodium low fat diet so used unsalted everything and replaced coconut milk with low fat coconut yogurt!
Hi Julia,
Happy Friday!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, I am so glad to hear it was a hit!
Cozy, easy weeknight meal. I’ve made many times over the years and always hits the spot. I love reading what little changes people make in the comments. Lime sounds so smart. I’ll add next time.
Hey Chelsea,
Amazing! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe so often and your feedback, so glad it is always enjoyed!
Made this last night. Even my meat eater husband and son loved it. One thing it REALLY needs though is freshly squeezed lime juice (one lime) when done cooking. Total game changer on the flavor: does not make the soup taste like lime, but soup benefits from a little acid at the end. When serving, I not only garnished with chopped cilantro but a sprinkling of peanuts, as well.
Hey Melanie,
Awesome! Love to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! xx
Each time I make this I love it! But can I freeze it? It would sure be nice to have a secret stash on hand in the freezer when we’re craving it on a busy day 😉
Thanks so much, Monique:)
Yes, you could totally freeze this!
I just asked about freezing and realized now I hadn’t scrolled down through the comments for enough! I will try it!
This recipe is the best!!! I’ve made it numerous times, so yummy and comforting to have during those busier weeks! Thanks for sharing!
Hey Colleen,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, so glad to hear it turned out nicely for you! Have the best weekend:)
this is delicious–I added a squeeze of lime to my bowl and it really brought the whole thing together.
Hi Liz,
Happy Sunday!! Love to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for making it and your comment! XxT
Ok. It’s a snow day and I was looking to NOT head to the store. What I had to sub:
Chile Powder for the Cayenne Pepper
Frozen kale for the spinach
Coriander powder for the cilantro
Ugh, I hate having to do that but you gotta do what you gotta do when you don’t want to brave the icy roads. I knew it would miss that freshness of the cilantro so I did squeeze lemon on individual servings and that helped.
Thanks for this flavorful recipe!
Hey Karina,
Fantastic! Love to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Have the best week:) xxT
This is pretty good as far as red lentil soups go. I’ve made the recipe twice. The first time I made it with light coconut milk, to cut back on saturated fat, but the saturated fat content is still pretty high so this time I decided to add homemade cashew cream instead. About 3/4 of a cup. It was a nice addition and lent a wonderful creaminess to the soup. Both times I’ve made this, I thought the soup could use more depth of flavor so I added lemon juice to taste this time and that did the trick. I served it with brown jasmine rice and Naan.
Thanks so much, Lisa! I appreciate you making this dish and sharing what worked well for you! Have a great week! xT
So easy and delicious! Subbed a can of chickpeas for the lentils because that’s what I had and it was perfection!
Hey Jen,
Lovely!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and your feedback, I love to hear it was enjoyed! Happy New Year!🥳🥂
What bread is in the photo? Is there a recipe for it? Looks so perfect for the soup!
Hi Annie,
Thanks so much! You bet, it’s my naan bread. Here is the recipe:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/herbed-garlic-butter-naan/
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx