Easy Thai Red Lentil Soup

5 from 6 votes

Recipe video above. This Thai red curry flavoured Red Lentil soup is unbelievably delicious!! Quick, inexpensive and cosy, I'm pretty sure this is the most exciting lentil recipe you'll make this year. :)

The recipe size is based on using a whole can of Maesri red curry paste (it's a small can), my favourite brand and also happens to be the cheapest (~$2.30). It's carried at regular grocery stores in metropolitan areas (Coles, Woolies), as well as Asian stores.

Spiciness - Mild. For less, reduce red curry paste (Note 2).

Vegetarian / vegan / gluten-free (double check curry paste. Maesri ticks all these boxes).

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Total Time35

Course: Main

Cuisine: Thai-ish

Keyword: red lentil soup, thai red curry soup, Thai soup

Servings: - 6

Calories: 482cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

2 tbsp virgin coconut oil (unrefined), or any other coconut or plain oil (Note 1)
1/2 cup Thai red curry paste , 1 whole can of my favourite Maesri! (Note 2)
1 tbsp finely grated garlic (~3 big cloves)
1 tbsp finely grated ginger (~2cm/0.8" piece)
1 1/2 cups dried split red lentils (or whole, green or yellow lentils - whole will take longer to cook, Note 3)
600g / 1.2 lb butternut pumpkin (optional) (US: butternut squash), or regular pumpkin ,peeled, cut into 1.5cm / 0.6" cubes (~4 cups), or sweet potato (Note 4)
400ml/ 14 oz can coconut cream , full fat (Note 5)
2 cups vegetable stock , low sodium (if using homemade, add 1/2 tsp salt)
2 1/2 cups water
2 tsp fish sauce (better) or 3 tsp soy sauce (for vegetarian)
1 tightly packed cup baby spinach - or kale leaves, leafy part of Asian greens, or stir in a bit of frozen spinach

For serving:

2 - 3 tbsp milk , for thinning coconut cream to use for bowl drizzling
Lime wedges (must!) - if you don't have, stir in 1 tbsp rice vinegar while simmering soup
2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander / cilantro leaves (highly recommended)
Red cayenne pepper (large red chilli) , finely sliced (optional)
Roti (best!), or naan, flatbread or even crusty bread - something for dunking! (Note 6)

Cups - Metric

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE:

Reserve 1 tbsp coconut for drizzle. Cook off curry paste, garlic and ginger. Add coconut, fish sauce, stock, water and lentils, simmer 5 min. Add pumpkin, simmer 15 min, serve with drizzle of reserved coconut thinned with milk.

FULL RECIPE:

Coconut drizzle - Set aside 1 tablespoon of the coconut cream (for garnish). Add 2 - 3 tablespoons of milk and whisk into a thick but drizzle-able consistency. (Warm in microwave if needed to remove lumps). Set aside.
Sauté curry paste **key step!** - Melt the coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the curry paste, garlic and ginger. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes until it darkens in colour and is not as wet (lower heat and scrape, if it starts catching on the base).
Simmer 1 (5 min) - Add the coconut cream, stock, water, fish sauce and lentils. Stir, increase heat to bring to a simmer, then lower heat to medium so it's bubbling gently. Simmer for 5 minutes. (I cut the pumpkin in this time).
Simmer 2 (15 min) - Add pumpkin and simmer for a further 15 minutes, or until the lentils have mostly broken down to form a thick soup and the pumpkin is soft. Tear baby spinach by hand, drop in and stir until wilted (~1 minute).
Serve in bowls, with a swirl of the coconut drizzle, sprinkled with coriander and fresh chilli if desired. Squeeze over lime juice before digging in, and I am really hoping you managed to score hot flaky roti for dunking! (Cook from frozen in pan, super easy!).

Notes

1. Unrefined coconut oil (also called virgin coconut oil) has tasty coconut flavour which adds a touch of extra coconut flavour. Sold in jars, firms up into a butter consistency when cool and melts with heat. Substitute - any other coconut oil (refined - which has coconut flavour removed) or any plain flavoured oil (eg. canola, peanut, vegetable).

2. Thai Red Curry Paste - Not all red curry pastes are made equal! Though for a curry I might insist you use a good one or make your own, for this lentil soup I am not as fired up because this isn't a curry where the paste is carrying the entire dish.

Spiciness - A whole can of Maesri Thai red curry paste (1/2 cup) makes this mildly spicy. 1/2 cup might sound like a lot, but this makes a lot of soup, around 2 1/2 litres (9 cups). Other more westernised brands (like Ayam, Volcom) are less spicy and a bit more sweet.

3. Lentils - Split dried red lentils cooked faster and breakdown more into a thick smooth-ish texture. Yellow split lentils are similar and will work but take 5 minutes longer to cook. Use leftovers to make Melting Afghan Chickpea Lentil Curry!

Whole dried lentils (red, brown, green) will work too, but they will take 30 - 40 min to soften (just add water if soup gets too thick), and skip the pumpkin because you need a stick blender to partially blitz to thicken the soup.

Don't use puy lentils (French lentils) as they hold their shape when cooked, or canned lentils (recipe not designed for it).

4. Sweet potato is also great but you'll need to add it at the beginning of the simmer time as it takes a little longer to cook than pumpkin.

5. Coconut cream is thicker and has more coconut flavour than coconut milk, so one can stretches further in this soup. If using coconut milk, you might want to use 1 1/2 cans - with 1 can, I wanted more coconut flavour!

6. Roti is that flatbread that has lots and lots and lots of flaky layers so you can just imagine how awesome it is to dunk into soup! Sold at some regular grocery stores in the freezer aisle, cooked in the pan from frozen in a few minutes. Use leftovers for dunking into curries - like this Quick Coconut Chicken Curry, this easy Lentil Curry, Melting Afghan chickpea curry or Butter Chicken!

Leftovers keeps 4 days, or freezer 3 months.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 6 servings (soup only).

Nutrition