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Instant Pot Red Lentil Butternut Squash Curry. This Warming lentil butternut or pumpkin curry is creamy and comforting. 1 Pot, 30 Min make in a Pressure cooker or Saucepan. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free nut-free Recipe. Jump to Recipe
The weather is getting cooler (read pretty cold) out here and every day we feel like we need a bowl of hot, warming comforting soup or stew. This butternut squash and red lentil curry works out perfectly for every meal.
The spices are sauteed with onion and garlic, then just put the lentils and butternut all in a pressure cooker or saucepan with some coconut milk and broth. Cook and done. This dal soup takes 1 Pot and less than 30 minutes either way. Serve as is garnished with some toasted nuts or with a side of fresh bread or flatbread.
This recipe is a modified version of the popular Butternut Coconut Lentil Dal from my Indian Kitchen Cookbook. The Dals in the book are closer to traditional recipes. This one uses more common spices and ingredients. and is creamy and rich with the coconut milk. Red lentils (masoor Dal) go so well with butternut or pumpkin!
More Instant Pot Recipes for fall
- IP Mushrrom Bourguignon. GF
- IP Mushroom Wild Rice Soup. GF
- IP Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce GF
- Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chickin(soycurls). GF – Creamy, Delicious
- Japanese Veggie Curry. GF
- Instant Pot Lasagna Soup with Red lentils. – So Easy
- More Instant Pot Recipes!
If you make this recipe, do let me know in the comments below, rate it and tag me on Instagram #veganricha.
Instant Pot Lentil Butternut Squash Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 4 cloves of garlic, (finely chopped)
- 1/2 medium onion, (finely chopped)
- 1 inch ginger, (finely chopped)
- 1 hot green chili, (finely chopped)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp garam masala , (or curry powder)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, (or cayenne, or both)
- 1 large tomato, (chopped small)
- 12 oz butternut squash, (or pumpkin) raw, peeled and cubed or frozen
- 1/3 cup red lentils
- 14 oz can of coconut milk
- 1/2 cup of water
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3-4 oz of baby spinach
- lime juice and cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Start the Instant Pot on sauté. Add the oil and once it has heated, add the mustard seeds and wait for them to sputter or change color. Add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chili and a pinch of salt. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the spices and mix well. Add the tomatoes and a quarter cup of water and cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally to avoid sticking.
- Add the butternut squash or pumpkin, coconut milk, lentils, water and salt. Mix well to combine and pick up the tomato from the bottom of the pot. Close the lid and pressure cook for 4 minutes. Carefully quick release the pressure slowly once cooking time is done.
- Open the lid and fold in the spinach and mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust the amount of salt, heat and flavor. Add a good dash of lime juice. Garnish with pepper flakes or cilantro. Serve over rice or flat bread or with fresh dinner rolls.
Sauce pan instructions:
- Follow step 1 and 2 in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the butternut, coconut milk, lentils, salt and water. Partially cover and cook for 12-14 mins or until the lentil and squash are cooked through. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more water if the curry is too thick and simmer for a min. Taste and adjust the flavor to your liking, add a dash of lime juice and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this for the third time in 3 weeks. Super delicious with amazing flavors. Used cumin seeds instead of mustard seeds and home made coconut milk. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
Love this recipe. My 14 year old even ate it!!!!!!*****
I am lazy and used cut up organic butternut squash so I didn’t have to cut it.
The second batch I made with EXTRA spinach (need to get what I can in that teenager!)
Thank you , I have shared this with so many.
Thank you! yes it’s an excellent way to enjoy more greens, and precut butternut squash is definitely a time saver!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I was hoping to add more lentils into the mix–how should I increase the water/liquids in the recipe to adjust for extra lentils?
Any adjustments if I add in more butternut squash, too?
how much more of each did you want to add?
Oh goodness… I’m a very novice cook, so I’m not sure what’s reasonable… But I’m also a large person with a large appetite, so my hope was to increase the most filling parts of the meal.
If I could get away with a whole cup of lentils, that seems good; otherwise I suppose 1/2 cup would do. And I was thinking about increasing the 12oz of squash to 16oz, at least.
no worries! sure, if you wanted to increase the lentils to 1 cup and that little bit more of squash then just increase the water up to 1.5 cups. this recipe is flexible =) enjoy!
Phenomal. I’ve had bad luck with online recipes lately, but this was flavorful and, with a little prep and help in the kitchen, felt relatively easy to complete! Left me feeling very accomplished and empowered in my amateur chef skills.
Doubled the recipe, used a whole 1lb bag of brown lentils and 2 lbs squash, increased water per your suggestion (doubled), increased cooking time accordingly as recipe indicated for brown lentils, and mixed in half a lemon’s worth of juice to finish… And it was SO tasty over rice. And now I have a bunch of hearty leftovers–a much better snack to reach for midday instead of various processed/packaged foods and more environmentally damaging options.
Absolutely adding this to my arsenal of weekly meals, and looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
Forgot to say, thank you so much for the help!
You’re very welcome! It can be frozen also after cooking. FYI
I’ve made this a few times with and without coconut milk, always fantastic. Perfect pantry recipe, as it also works with frozen spinach.
Absolutely delicious! The lime & spices complements the squash and lentils wonderfully. I did not have mustard seeds, so I substituted cumin seeds, which worked well with the garam masala. I will definitely make this again.
Delicious! Since I discovered this recipe, I’ve made it almost every week. Such a perfect blend of creamy, comforting, and healthy — with a zip of freshness from the lime and cilantro. 5 stars!
I am excited to try this for dinner, but I don’t have a way to weigh the squash. I have a medium size fresh butternut. Do you think I could use the whole thing?
probably. chop it up and add some and keep adding to get a good distribution. Too much of butternut might make it more butternut soup flavor
Hi Richa
This was our first time ever using our instant pot. We got the “burn” message and must admit we had gone a little off with your recipe adding additional carrots and a few more lentils + a little more liquid. However to solve, we hit cancel, quick vented, added a bit more water gave it a good stir and then tried again and it was happy to hit pressure and beautiful success – loved this and great taste. From research on internet these tips would have likely avoid our burn:
1. Have enough thin liquid and have this on the bottom if possible
2. Layer things that might thicken on top (e.g. put the lentils in last to sit on top)
3. After saute of onions / tomatoes etc make sure none of it has stuck to the bottom by giving it a good stir and eyeball check
James
Awesome! Those are the tips i offer anyone who gets the burn message. some of the pots just are more sensitive. My 6 qt wont give a burn even if the lentils stick to the bottom and do actually start to brown (i do recipe testing with various amounts) while my newer 8 qt is more sensitive and he same recipe sometimes ends up with a burn. So anytime you are using a thicker stew, less liquid recipe or tomato based, you definittly want to scrape the bottom. Sometimes it helps to let the pot cool a bit ( or use cold water/broth), and then close the lid. Also check the lentils, if they are not split lentils, they will tend to stick more
This is v-e-r-y good! I did add a red chili along with the green, and next time I will pressure-cook for 3 minutes rather than 4. My instant pot is big and the recipe doesn’t make that much, so my unit actually displayed the overheating error and I had to turn it off and slowly de-pressurize.
yes try for shorter time with a bit extra liquid. Also make sure to scrape any stuck bits. also check the lentils if they are split lentils. whole red lentils generally tend to stick to the bottom.
Really good! Thank you for your awesome recipes. None that I have made have ever failed <3
Thanks!