This Instant Pot Curry with Lentils is the perfect easy and healthy weeknight meal that can be made vegetarian, vegan and even dairy-free! Skip the Indian Restaurant takeout and make this delicious Instant Pot Curry with Lentils recipe at home in just minutes!
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We love a good, wholesome and healthy weeknight meal in our family and this Instant Pot Curry with Lentils is one of our favourites! I’ve been making my One Pan Lentil Daal Curry for years and when I fell in love with my Instant Pot I couldn’t help but create an Instant Pot version of our favourite curry recipe! 
This Instant Pot Curry with Lentils is packed with nutrition – it’s high in plant-based protein, full of veggies, and it’s even kid-approved! Everyone in our family gobbles it up and asks for seconds, especially when I serve it over some delicious coconut rice and with a side of our favourite homemade naan bread!
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If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet and you’re navigating a busy life while trying to feed a hungry family 7 days a week, I’d highly recommend investing in an Instant Pot. Mine sat un-used on a shelf for 6 months until I finally had the courage to give it a try, but once I did I was absolutely hooked. I most often use the 8-Quart Instant Pot Duo (affiliate link) because I’m feeding a family (and we like having leftovers for the next day), but I test all my Instant Pot Recipes in the 6-Quart Instant Pot Duo (affiliate link) as well so you can be sure they’ll work for you too! If you’re looking for more delicious Instant Pot recipes, check out ALL my Instant Pot recipes HERE! 
Looking for more easy Instant Pot dinners? You’ll LOVE this Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Soup, this Instant Pot Fettuccine Alfredo, Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup, this Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, or this Instant Pot Roast Chicken and Gravy!
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I hope you love this Instant Pot recipe as much as we do! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite easy weeknight meal? I’d love to know!
Kitchen Products I Recommend:
Looking for even more delicious meal ideas? You’ll LOVE these ones I’ve linked below!
- Creamy One Pot Chicken Enchilada Pasta
- Thai Chicken Spiralized Zucchini Salad
- Ginger Soy Grilled Chicken
- White Wine and Herb Marinated Chicken
- Crispy Oven Fried Chicken
- Skillet Pesto Caprese Stuffed Chicken
- Honey Garlic and Lime Chicken
RECIPE VIDEO
Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this delicious and easy recipe. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel.
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Instant Pot Curry with Lentils
Recipe: Equipment
- 6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot
Recipe: Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 3 large carrots diced
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 cups red split lentils
- 3 1/4 cups vegetable stock
- 15 ounce canned coconut milk
- 2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
- chopped cilantro or parsley, rice and naan bread for serving
Recipe: Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to saute mode.
- Add the olive oil, along with the onion, bell pepper, carrots, and garlic.
- Cook for a few minutes, just until the onion and pepper soften.
- Add the ginger, turmeric, curry paste, tomato paste, salt and pepper, and stir everything together well, continuing on saute mode until everything is very fragrant (about 3-4 minutes).
- Add the lentils and the vegetable stock, scraping up any caramelized bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Hit the cancel button to stop saute mode, and add the lid to the Instant Pot.
- Set the valve to the sealing position and set the Instant Pot to cook on High Pressure for 7 minutes.
- After the cooking time is finished, release the pressure manually (it's a good idea to do this with a long-handled kitchen tool to avoid burning yourself, and to release the pressure under a hood fan in your kitchen, if you have one).
- Remove the lid from the Instant Pot once the pressure is released and pour the coconut milk into the Instant Pot.
- Stir well, and turn on sauté mode for just a few minutes (stirring regularly) until the sauce thickens (only do this if the mixture is very liquidy). Add the spinach and stir it in just until it wilts.
- Serve over rice with some fresh chopped cilantro and naan bread (optional).
Recipe: Notes
Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Absolutely delicious recipe!! I used an Autumn Lentil blend and cooked it for 10 minutes. It turned out perfectly 🙂 My husband loved this dish too! We are not vegetarian/vegan but we are trying to find wonderful recipes like these to take a break from meat here and there. This will definitely be in our rotation! Thank you so much for sharing!! 🙂
We’re so happy you and your husband enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback!
What can I use in place of curry paste
You can replace it with 1 teaspoon of curry powder.
I tried this using big brown lentils and 9 minutes in IP. Worked great! Flavor was sweet-ish and not the hot or spicy my husband expected. Very good.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback!
Are you using Thai red curry paste? I’d love to make this, but I’ve never heard of Indian red curry paste. Could you provide some info on the curry paste you used? Thanks!
I use a basic thai red curry paste and this recipe will work with any red curry paste.
It looks so yummy. I must try it.
Thanks so much! I hope you give it a try!🙂