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My cozy and comforting red lentil dahl recipe makes the best thick, creamy, lentil-packed stew. It’s loaded with flavor, made in one pot, and is ready in about 30 minutes. I love how it’s packed with plant-based protein and fiber.
Table of Contents
Whenever I want to cook a meat-free dinner for my family or something healthy, wholesome, and seriously comforting, I turn to my red lentil dahl recipe. It’s one of the few vegetarian recipes I learned during my time in India, and one of the few dishes that could have converted me from being a full-fledged carnivore to a strict vegetarian.
It’s so easy to make and uses just one pot to cook everything in. The stewed lentils are simmered until thick and creamy. I typically serve it over basmati rice, but you can also scoop it up with some naan or flatbread.
Dahl recipe highlights
Quick and easy: This dish cooks up in under 30 minutes. There is barely any prep work needed, too.
Budget-friendly: Red lentils are an inexpensive pulse that packs 12 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber into just a ½ cup. As a culinary arts graduate, I recommend making this to keep you full for hours without breaking the bank.
Multiple cooking methods: I prefer using the stovetop to make this dal, but I’ve also tested it in the slow cooker and the Instant Pot, so you’ve options!
Key Ingredients
This isn’t the full list of ingredients (scroll down to the recipe card for those). But instead, just a few notes about the main ones:
- Coconut oil. Or you can use olive oil or avocado oil.
- Onions, garlic, and ginger. The three key aromatics for any good spice-heavy stew. Please do not use any dried herbs, as
- My dahl spice mix. I’m using garam masala, turmeric, coriander, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
- Red lentils. I don’t recommend using any other kind of lentil here (except yellow split lentils). Red lentils are especially perfect for all types of soups and stews because, as they simmer, they become very soft and almost melt into the dish. Green or brown lentils hold their shape almost too well and require longer cooking times.
- Tomatoes. A can of chopped tomatoes is easy and convenient, but you’re more than welcome to dice the tomatoes yourself.
- Coconut milk OR coconut cream. This is the creamy element in the dal. Canned, full-fat coconut milk is best, but heavy cream can also be used as a substitute in a pinch.
- Vegetable stock. To help thin out the dal. You can technically use water, but the broth adds a lot of flavor.
- Baby spinach. Feel free to swap these for any leafy greens you like
How to make red lentil dahl
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Step 1 – Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion when it’s hot and cook until it softens. Then add the ginger and garlic.
Step 2 – Stir the spices into the pan with the aromatics. Let them cook for about 1 minute, then add the lentils, tomatoes, coconut milk, stock, salt, and pepper.
Step 3 – Bring it up to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer until the liquid has slightly reduced.
Step 4 – Stir in the lemon juice and spinach. Cook until the spinach wilts.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Don’t skip blooming the spices. This is the #1 tip I learned from my professor at culinary school. He says this is the best way to unlock their hidden flavors, resulting in a much more flavorful stew. We bloom the spices by adding them to the skillet and letting them cook off for about a minute before adding the other ingredients. Don’t skip!
- Add heat! Lentil dal has a mild level of heat and shouldn’t be too spicy. However, if you love spicy foods, you can add a diced chili pepper to the pan with the onion, garlic, and ginger, or add extra chili flakes.
- Use a curry spice mix. If you don’t have all the individual spices on hand, you can use a store-bought curry mix. They usually contain the main spices needed.
- If the stew is too thick, try thinning it out with a splash or two of vegetable broth.
Storage instructions
To store. Keep the cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To freeze. Dahl freezes very well for about three months! Let the leftovers thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
To reheat. Either reheat the lentil dahl in a pot on the stove or zap it in the microwave until it’s warmed through.
Easy Lentil Dahl Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 small onion sliced
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 tablespoon ginger peeled and grated
- 1 teaspoon garam marsala
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 7 ounces red lentils rinsed and drained
- 14 ounces canned tomatoes diced
- 13 ounces canned coconut milk full fat
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 large lemon juiced
- 1 cup baby spinach loosely packed
Instructions
- Heat the oil in the large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and saute until translucent.
- Bloom the spices. Add the garam masala, turmeric, ground coriander, cumin, and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring for a minute. Add lentils, tomatoes, coconut milk, and vegetable broth, and stir well. Season with salt and pepper and let the mixture boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, occasionally stirring for 20 minutes until the liquid is reduced.
- Pour in the lemon juice and spinach and cook until it wilts.
- Remove the dahl from the heat and serve with rice and naan.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently asked questions
You can, but brown and green lentils take longer to cook and won’t melt into the stew like red or yellow lentils.
While red lentils are best for this recipe, you can make them with other legumes, like canned chickpeas, beans, or green peas instead. I actually love them with split green peas, and they have a similar nutritional profile.
Simply fantastic. I have made it like 10 times, and it is super tasty !. Thank you.
This was soooo good. Even better the next day. I served it over cauliflower rice. Followed the recipe and it was enough spice for me. Easy to make and pretty healthy
I LOVE this the next day or two- the flavors get so much better 🙂
Excellent!!
Very easy and delicious. Thank you
This amazing recipe takes 30 min to make? Wow!!
I used to eat dahl in an ashram in India and in the US. Ghee was used in it. Is there something I can use the ghee in replace of another ingredient?
Thank you.
Sure, you can add a spoonful to the mixture before serving 🙂
To me, this is the perfect food. I am not vegetarian, but I really love a good veggie dish and this suits my tastebuds down to the ground. I’ve made this every week for the last month (since coming across the recipe!) because I just love it so much. Nobody in the house has complained that we’ve had the same thing every week and even the teenagers love it. I make 3x the amount and we all take it for lunch during the week. Amazing recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Can I use normal milk instead of coconut milk?
This was delicious and great on a cold winter night. It’s my 9 year old daughter’s second favourite dinner now (behind my homemade pizza 😊), this one will be on rotation in our house for sure!
😀 thanks so much, Nikki!
Just delicious, my autistic grandson thinks it’s the best! We have it with garlic naan bread.
This was very good!! I am now making it for the second time. I love the tomatoes in it and the flavor is very yummy!!
I did use a puree pulser to give it a thinner texture and I served it with white jasmine rice.Very good!! 5 ⭐
Soooo delicious! I used peanut butter powder, so I’m assuming it would be less fat oh and I used lite coconut, so I probably save some calories there also. Definitely going into my meal rotation.