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We swooned over this Slow Cooker Indian Lentil Soup with coconut milk and spinach and this soup is vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free. It’s also quite low in carbs; just use more spinach and fewer lentils if you want a version that’s even lower in carbs.
PIN Slow Cooker Indian Lentil Soup to try it later!
I know some of you are going to take one look this Slow Cooker Indian Lentil Soup and veto it because you think the Indian spices, the red lentils, or the spinach is just not going to appeal to you. But that would be truly sad, because the entire time we were making this easy slow cooker soup, Jake and I just couldn’t stop tasting it and remarking on how good it was!
Admittedly Jake is an Indian food lover, and I’m a fanatic for red lentils, but still we’re pretty picky about what we consider to be “blog-worthy” and this delicious soup more than made the cut. I loved it with a generous squeeze of lime.
The soup was adapted from a recipe for yellow split pea dal I saw in a fun little book called 50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker (affiliate link) but truthfully I changed it up quite a bit in my version. What I didn’t change is the fact that this delicious soup is vegan, making it a perfect choice for a plant-based dinner idea.
What ingredients do you need?
What kind of lentils are best for Indian Lentil Soup?
I highly recommend using red lentils for this soup! The red lentils will dissolve much more quickly, helping the slow get done sooner in the slow cooker. Red lentils also have a slightly sweeter flavor compared to green or brown lentils.
What size slow cooker did I use?
I used a 5-1/2-Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe, but it could have been a little smaller.
Is Indian Lentil Soup low in carbs?
When I calculated the nutritional information for this recipe I realized that because there is a lot of low-carb spinach, vegetable broth, and coconut milk, this tasty soup only has 11.8 net carbs per serving. If you’d like to make a version that’s even lower in carbs than that, just use more spinach and fewer lentils and it will still be delicious!
Want more ideas for Slow Cooker and Instant Pot lentil soup?
If you’re a fan of using lentils in soup you can find more interesting ideas in a collection of Slow Cooker and Instant Pot Lentil Soup Recipes on my Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker site.
How to Make Slow Cooker Indian Lentil Soup:
(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- Heat olive oil, then cook the onions until they’re slightly brown.
- Add minced garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground turmeric, garam masala, and ground cinnamon and cook 1-2 minutes more.
- Put the spiced onions in the slow cooker.
- These are the red lentils I love so much for soup. Pick them over and discard anyone discolored ones and rinse with cold water before you add them to the slow cooker.
- We used canned vegetable broth and added enough water to make 4 cups.
- Add the lentils and vegetable broth to the slow cooker with the onions and spices and cook on high for about 2 hours or on low for about 4 hours.
- After 2 hours, the ground turmeric had given the lentils a beautiful yellow color and they were starting to dissolve into the soup.
- Turn the slow cooker to low and add coconut milk and chopped spinach and cook about 30 minutes more.
- Season the soup generously with salt and fresh ground black pepper and serve hot.
- This soup is delicious with a squeeze of lime added at the table!
More Delicious Soup with Lentils:
Lentil, Sausage, and Cabbage Soup
Vegan Lentil Soup with Spinach
Slow Cooker Greek Lentil Soup
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Ingredients
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. ground coriander seed
- 1 tsp. ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp. Garam Masala
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cup red lentils
- 4 cups vegetable broth (see notes)
- 1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
- 4 cups chopped fresh spinach (or more)
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized frying pan. Add the onion and cook over medium-high heat until it’s starting to brown, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground turmeric, Garam Masala , and ground cinnamon and cook 1-2 minutes more. Put the spiced onion mixture into the slow cooker.
- Pick over the lentils and remove any discolored ones. Put lentils in a colander and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear.
- Add lentils and vegetable stock to the slow cooker and cook on high for about 2 hours or on low for about 4 hours. (The lentils should be softened and starting to fall apart when you add the other ingredients.)
- Turn slow cooker to low and add the chopped spinach and can of coconut milk. Cook about 30 minutes more, or until lentils and spinach are done to your liking.
- Season with a generous amount of salt and fresh ground black pepper (to taste) and serve hot, with sliced lime to add at the table if desired.
Notes
I used a 5-1/2-Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe, but it could have been a little smaller.
We used 2 cans vegetable broth, 14 oz. each, and added a little water to make 4 cups.
This recipe was adapted from a recipe for yellow split pea dal in 50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker (affiliate link)
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 128Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 698mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 5gSugar: 3gProtein: 7g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
All types of lentils and split peas are approved for the original South Beach Diet, but serving size is limited. In a soup recipe like this with lots of other ingredients you can eat a moderate size serving for Phase One. Lentils may be high in carbs for other low-carb eating plans, but if you check the nutritional info for this recipe you’ll see it’s relatively low in net carbs and you can reduce the carbs even more by using fewer lentils and more spinach.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Slow Cooker Recipes or Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest or on Facebook to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
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