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Home » Recipes » Soup, Stew & Chili

Published: Feb 22, 2018 · Updated: May 13, 2022 by The Kitchen Girl

Vegan Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
1.3K shares
4.96 from 21 votes
Jump To Recipe

Vegan Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry is an easy Thai curry made with lentils, chickpeas, curry paste, tomatoes, coconut milk, and ginger. This chickpea curry recipe is a vegan collection favorite and includes Instant Pot, slow cooker, and stove instructions.

lentil chickpea curry, rice, tomatoes, and cilantro in white bowl on blue background
Table of Contents hide
1) Vegan Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry
2) Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry Ingredients
3) How to make Chickpea curry in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker?
4) How long do you pressure cook lentils and chickpeas?
5) What I love about this chickpea curry
6) Vegan Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry

Vegan Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry

This Vegan Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry recipe is a plant-based curry made for Instant Pot, Stove, or Crockpot. It's an easy vegan curry with garbanzos, Thai red curry paste, tomatoes, and coconut milk. It's so rich and creamy, it's hard to believe it's vegan! It's one of my favorite Thai meals that practically cooks itself!

Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry Ingredients

  • coconut oil (or any oil)
  • green onions
  • fresh ginger
  • fresh garlic
  • red curry paste
  • cherry tomatoes (or canned tomatoes)
  • coconut milk
  • dried brown lentils
  • cooked chickpeas
  • water
  • salt
  • (optional) cooked brown rice or cooked quinoa for serving

How to make Chickpea curry in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker?

  1. Chop veggies and open canned ingredients.
  2. Saute veggies in oil in the cooker on the saute setting.
  3. Add remaining ingredients
  4. Close/lock/seal lid, set pressure cooker button for 6 minutes on HIGH pressure.
  5. Allow 10-minute natural pressure release
  6. Serve warm
instant pot with chickpea curry, wooden utensil, dry lentils, cherry tomatoes, fresh cilantro and white bowl with rice

How long do you pressure cook lentils and chickpeas?

For this Thai curry recipe, you definitely do not want to overcook the brown lentils. So I use a manual time of 6 under high pressure with a 5-minute natural pressure release. Any longer than that, your lentils might resemble mashed potatoes.

lentil chickpea curry, rice, tomatoes, and cilantro in white bowl on blue background

What I love about this chickpea curry

  • it's naturally vegan AND gluten-free
  • budget friendly (because it uses everyday ingredients that can be cross-utilized with other ingredients)
  • freezer-friendly...so you can have it on hand at all times
  • easy to make
  • almost hands-free
  • packed with protein, fiber, and flavor
lentil chickpea curry, rice, tomatoes, and cilantro in white bowl on blue background with blue towel

Want more healthy, plant-based comfort food recipes?

  • Vegan Thai Coconut Vegetable Curry
  • Southwest Vegan Tortilla Soup
  • Sweet Potato Black Bean Quinoa Chili
  • Instant Pot Vegan Tuscan White Bean Kale Soup
  • 3-Bean Vegan Chili
  • Thai Coconut Soup

Recommended tools

  • chef knife and cutting board
  • Instant Pot 6 Qt DUO 60
  • serving ladle
  • Airtight storage containers
lentil chickpea curry, rice, tomatoes, and cilantro in white bowl on blue background

Vegan Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry

Vegan Thai Lentil Chickpea Curry is an easy Thai curry made with lentils, chickpeas, curry paste, tomatoes, coconut milk, and ginger. This chickpea curry recipe is a vegan collection favorite and includes Instant Pot, slow cooker, and stove instructions.
4.96 from 21 votes
Print Pin
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 5 1-cup servings
Author: Traci The Kitchen Girl

INGREDIENTS
 

  • 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil, or preferred oil
  • 2 med Green Onions, sliced; separate white stalks from green tops
  • 1 tablespoon Fresh Ginger, grated
  • 4 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon Red Curry Paste (or yellow or green)
  • 12 Cherry Tomatoes, or 1 (15 ounce can) diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 (13.5 ounce can) Coconut Milk
  • 1 cup Uncooked Brown Lentils, rinsed and drained
  • 1 ½ cups Cooked Chickpeas, or 1 (15 ounce can) drained
  • ½ cup Water
  • ½ teaspoon Sea Salt

Instructions
 

Lentil Chickpea Curry Instant Pot Instructions:

  • Select "Sauté" on the Instant Pot and heat the OLIVE OIL.
  • When the display reads "Hot", add Add GREEN ONIONS (white stalks only), GINGER, and GARLIC; sauté a few minutes until slightly tender, stirring frequently.
  • Add CURRY PASTE and TOMATOES; sauté a few more minutes until fragrant, stirring frequently.
  • Add COCONUT MILK, LENTILS, CHICKPEAS, WATER, and SALT.
  • Press the "Cancel" function on the Instant Pot. Secure the lid and turn the pressure release valve to the "Sealing" position.
  • Select "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" and set the cooker on "High" pressure for 6 minutes.
  • When the cycle completes, allow the pot to sit 10 minutes (undisturbed) for a natural pressure release (NPR).
  • Then, release any remaining steam by turning the pressure release valve to the "Venting" position, using an oven mitt for protection.

Lentil Chickpea Curry Stove instructions:

  • Heat OIL in a large skillet over medium high heat.
  • Add GREEN ONIONS (white stalks only), GINGER, and GARLIC; sauté (and stir) a few minutes until slightly tender; add CURRY PASTE and TOMATOES; sauté a few more minutes until fragrant, stirring frequently.
  • Add COCONUT MILK, LENTILS, CHICKPEAS, WATER, and SALT; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20-30 minutes (until lentils are tender and cooked through).

Lentil Chickpea Curry Crockpot Instructions:

  • Heat OIL in a large skillet over medium high heat.
  • Add GREEN ONIONS (white stalks), GINGER, and GARLIC; sauté (and stir) a few minutes until slightly tender.
  • Transfer sauteed veggies over to a 3+ quart Crockpot.
  • Stir in CURRY PASTE, TOMATOES, COCONUT MILK, LENTILS, CHICKPEAS, WATER, and SALT.
  • Cover and set Crockpot on HIGH 2 hours or LOW 4 hours.

Serving instructions, toppings, and storage

  • Serve warm over rice or quinoa, garnished with cilantro, green onion (tops), and lime.
  • To store, allow to cool completely. Refrigerate in airtight containers up up to 5 days or freeze up to 1 month in freezer-safe containers.
Tried this recipe? I'd love your review!Visit the comments below and tell me how it went.

NUTRITION

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 177kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 242mg | Potassium: 482mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 745IU | Vitamin C: 13.1mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 3.4mg

Nutrition data provided as courtesy estimates using unbranded ingredients from a nutrition database. Please consult preferred resource for precise data.

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lentil chickpea curry, rice, tomatoes, and cilantro in white bowl on blue background with image title

More Soup, Stew & Chili

  • Vegan Pho Recipe
  • Easy Asian Soup Broth
1.3K shares
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About The Kitchen Girl

Hi! I'm Traci and I'm sharing my easy recipes with everyday ingredients, straightforward instructions, and ALL the flavor. We have food for every occasion. Start with my easy dinner recipes and eat happy tonight!

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Comments

  1. Wendy says

    October 02, 2021 at 12:56 pm

    5 stars
    I may have already commented, but will again. This is our go-to recipe for easy curry, because of the simplicity and so many variations possible. Today, we used panang curry, used yellow pear cherry tomatoes and a red dahl rather than brown lentils. When my kid is here, we use the yellow curry with a dash of the red. Sometimes we use regular onions, sometimes green onions. We double the recipe and make rice on a weekend and pack all our lunches for a week. I brought this for a work potluck and had at least four requests for the recipe. Thank you! This is really a winner.

    Reply
    • The Kitchen Girl says

      October 03, 2021 at 6:32 am

      Awww this makes me so happy to hear! Love the red dahl curry idea ... I need to try that myself. Thank you sooo much for taking the time to leave this detailed comment. Much appreciated!

  2. Vickie says

    September 18, 2021 at 9:14 am

    5 stars
    Home run in my house of picky eaters.

    Reply
    • The Kitchen Girl says

      September 18, 2021 at 9:25 am

      Yayy! So glad to hear it and thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated!

  3. Courtney says

    November 23, 2020 at 2:31 pm

    Help, the recipe says canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained in the ingredients. But the instructions say add the chickpeas ‘with juice’. Am I supposed to reserve the chick pea liquid and add it Making in an instant pot.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • The Kitchen Girl says

      November 23, 2020 at 2:54 pm

      Hi Courtney, omgosh ... good catch! Don't reserve liquid 🙂 I just fixed the recipe instructions. So sorry for confusion.

  4. Squeekyboots says

    January 11, 2020 at 9:05 am

    5 stars
    Very good basic curry lentil recipe! If you want to kick it up a notch with more heat and more robust curry flavoring, don't replace but augment the Thai curry paste with a healthy tbsp of Patak's hot curry paste + two tablespoons of yellow curry powder.

    And don't skip the green onions, like I did the first time: didn't have any so I used finely chopped red. The second time the green made a subtle but noteworthy difference in flavor.

    Reply
    • Traci Antonovich says

      January 12, 2020 at 7:22 am

      Hey thanks for the review and the tips! So glad you liked it 🙂 I'm also crazy about green onions in this dish lol.

  5. Katie says

    August 13, 2019 at 5:25 am

    5 stars
    I’m in love! One of my new favorites!

    Reply
    • Traci Antonovich says

      August 13, 2019 at 6:09 am

      Yay Katie! So glad to hear it...thanks 🙂

  6. Vanessa says

    November 06, 2018 at 2:07 pm

    How should I alter the recipe if I am using dry chickpeas?

    Reply
    • Traci Antonovich says

      November 06, 2018 at 2:52 pm

      Hi Vanessa, you'll need to fully cook the chickpeas before making this recipe, otherwise, you'll overcook all of the other ingredients trying to get the chickpeas cooked. Does that answer your question?

    • Vanessa says

      November 10, 2018 at 5:54 am

      Yes, thank you! I’ve made this several times with canned chickpeas and I love it!

    • Traci Antonovich says

      November 10, 2018 at 2:50 pm

      Awesome! So glad to hear it!

  7. Caroline says

    July 30, 2018 at 9:39 am

    5 stars
    I was a little worried when it seemed like all your reviews said 'can't wait to try this,' lol.

    But I just made it and it's DELICIOUS! I didn't have cherry tomatoes so I used a can of Rotel and I left out the 1/2 c. of water.

    That probably made it a bit spicier, but we don't mind. Sooo good - I'm eating it without the rice!

    FIY: I used full fat coconut milk and Maesri brand red curry paste found on Amazon.

    Thank you for my new go-to lentil recipe. ❤️

    Reply
    • Traci Antonovich says

      July 31, 2018 at 1:02 pm

      Awesome Caroline...I'm so glad to hear your success with this one. It's a top fav of my IP recipes! I'm going to make some today, in fact! 🙂 Sounds like yours turned out perfect with those changes...thanks for the comment!

  8. Jen says

    April 24, 2018 at 9:17 pm

    This looks awesome. 2 questions 🙂 I normally only have dried lentils on hand do you know how this would affect the cook time? I also normally buy my chickpeas frozen so how much extra liquid would you estimate I add. This looks awesome.

    Reply
    • Traci Antonovich says

      April 27, 2018 at 7:47 am

      Hi Jen, apologies for the delayed response (I usually have a 12-hour turnaround). Great questions! You want dried lentils (I just edited the recipe to clarify that) and since canned garbanzo juice yields about 1/2 cup liquid, you can add 1/2 cup water to the recipe since you're using frozen beans. You may feel you don't even need the extra liquid depending on your preference for consistency. Hope it helps...and hope you love the recipe like I do! 🙂

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