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Instant Pot Lentil Curry is an easy one-pot meal when you need a quick dinner. It’s comforting, flavorful, and easy to customize with any veggies you have on hand.
This recipe is the perfect option when you need a delicious gluten-free meal. It’s hearty, creamy (without using dairy), and relatively hands-off once you add everything to your electric pressure cooker.
Looking for a stovetop version? Try Sweet Potato Curry (made with red lentils) or Thai Chickpea Curry for even more options.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This recipe calls for green or brown lentils for the best texture. Red lentils can also be used, but they have a naturally mushy texture when compared to other varieties, so the curry might feel a little more soup-like with that swap. If you would prefer to use different types of lentils, be sure to review the recipe notes below.
Using curry powder makes this recipe convenient to prepare (no need to keep the curry paste in your fridge), and if you don’t have fresh ginger or garlic, you can also use dried spices instead.
Other vegetables, like sweet potatoes, celery, and tomatoes can be added in, too, so feel free to customize it to your liking.
How to Make Instant Pot Lentil Curry
1. Sauté.
Press the “Saute” button on your Instant Pot and add in the olive oil, onions, carrots, and red bell pepper. Stir for 5 minutes until the vegetables soften.
Press the “Off/Cancel” button and add the curry powder, garlic, and ginger. Stir briefly until the spices smell fragrant.
2. Pressure cook.
Add in the water and use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot. This ensures that nothing is stuck to the pot that will trigger a burn error later.
Pour in the dried lentils, coconut milk, and salt. Stir well and secure the lid. Move the steam release valve to sealing, then cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. It will take the pot roughly 10 minutes to pressurize, so the screen will read “ON” until then.
3. Natural pressure release.
When the cooking cycle is complete, the screen will read L0:00. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, which means you don’t need to do anything until the screen reads L0:10.
At that point, move the steam release valve to “venting” to release any remaining pressure. You’ll know it’s safe to remove the lid when the floating valve drops.
4. Season to taste.
When you remove the lid, stir in the fresh cilantro. This is also a great time to stir in any leafy greens you might want to include, such as baby spinach or chopped kale.
Season with extra salt to taste (I usually add an additional 1/2 teaspoon), along with a squeeze of lime or lemon juice to help brighten up the flavor. You can also try a pinch of red pepper flakes if you’d like extra spice, or a splash of maple syrup for a sweeter flavor.
Serve this dish warm over perfectly cooked quinoa, cauliflower rice, or basmati rice and garnish with fresh cilantro. It’s also delicious with a side of naan bread for dunking.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also store it in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in the microwave or in a pot on the stove top for a quick meal later!
Frequently Asked Questions
Red lentils cook even faster than green lentils and will give this recipe a mushy texture. With that being said, they taste just as delicious, so feel free to use either one as long as you adjust your expectations on the texture.
Yes, you can use vegetable broth or chicken broth in this recipe (if you don’t need a vegan option), but you’ll want to cut back on the salt in this recipe since store-bought broth will already have sodium in it.
Add a can of tomato sauce to this recipe for a richer curry sauce.
Looking for more Instant Pot recipes? Try Instant Pot Lentil Soup, Steel Cut Oats, or Vegan Chili for more ideas.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion , chopped
- 2 medium carrots , chopped
- 1 bell pepper , chopped and seeds removed
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 inch fresh ginger , minced
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup dried green lentils
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 (15 oz.) can coconut milk
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- lemon slices , for serving
Instructions
- Press the "Saute" button on the Instant Pot. As soon as it starts to heat up, add in the olive oil, onion, carrots, and bell pepper. Stir until the veggies start to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the garlic, ginger, and curry powder and stir for one more minute. Press the "Off/Cancel" button right away, and add the cup of water to prevent the spices from burning to the bottom of the pot. Use a spatula to scrape the bottom, making sure that no veggies or spices are stuck. (This will prevent a burn error later.)
- Add in the green lentils, salt, and coconut milk, then secure the lid. Move the steam release valve to "sealing" then use the Manual or Pressure Cook button to cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. It will take roughly 10 minutes for the pot to pressurize, so the screen will read ON until then.
- When the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. When the screen reads L0:10, you can move the steam release valve to "venting" to release any remaining pressure. When the floating valve in the lid drops, it's safe to open the lid.
- Stir in the fresh cilantro and adjust any seasoning to taste. I usually add in an extra ½ teaspoon of salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten the flavor. Serve over cooked rice with extra cilantro on top, if you like. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Instant Pot Lentil Curry recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it.
Loved this. Used lancinot
Kale, low-fat coconut milk, left out the bell pepper, used farms masala, added a bit of fish sauce for umami. I puréed it and my baby loves it! Will make again.
I if I want to double this recipe,would I just double the amounts of everything listed including the water? Thanks
This might sound crazy, but could you freeze this? By the way, I’ve made it and it’s amazing!!
Thanks for this reciPe, i had everything in the fridge and cupboard to make it. I used garam masala instead of curry and ginger separately and threw in some chopped frozen kale aT the end. Smells awesome 🙂
Mine turned out nothing like the photo. More like water with floating veggies. Maybe I did something wrong or I need to reduce the water next time. Haven’t tasted it yet but it smells good. Thanks for sharing.
Same. Nothing like photo. Watery.
I used brown lentils and it was quite soupy but seemed to get firmer after sitting out a while. I liked the recipe but, maybe because of the pressure cooker, it lacked flavor. I’d double the curry spices next time.
I never use water in the instant pot. I always use broth or stock and am impressed with the flavor.
I absolutely love this recipe, and make it weekly.
hmm…I was so excited about this, used brown lentils (cooked for 15 minutes in the IP), and it’s really watery. Any recommendations for doing it differently next time? Way too soupy for my taste.
We like our curry to have lots of liquid that we can sop-up with the rice, but you’re welcome to reduce the liquid! Maybe try using 1 cup less water next time? I hope you enjoyed the flavor!
I found that it looked ‘soupy’ at first but I mashed it up a little bit and it looked like the picture! Sitting for a bit did wonders too. I love this recipe! XO
Do the leftovers freeze well?
I love curry! I could probably eat curry every day, but I find that a lot of recipes for curry taste very Americanized, so I was a bit hesitant to make an entire pot of it that I knew I would have to eat all week long. I am thrilled to report, however, that not only was this incredibly easy to make (I used the stove top method), but it was absolutely addictive! Every day at work as I heat it up someone asks me about it because it smells heavenly. And I’m really sad to say that I only have one serving left, which is rare after eating something four days in a row. I also have a love/hate relationship with cauliflower rice. I love it because I’m allergic to rice and it makes a good filler, but with a lot of dishes the cauliflower flavor comes through a little too much. So I decided to fancy this up a little bit and added tumeric, cumin and cilantro to it, and it blended beautifully with the curry. I will definitely make this again and again.
My came out soupy and in 10 min they turned into mush. Where did I go wrong.?
This recipe is a bit soupy– my husband likes his curry really runny, so that there’s lots of liquid to sop up with the rice. The only chunks are the vegetables. If you want a firmer lentil, try using another variety like green or brown. I find that red lentils do get mushier, which goes over better with my picky toddler because they add protein and blend into the sauce more unnoticed.