30-Minute Potato Cauliflower Red Lentil Curry

Made this to purge the fridge and freezer so lots of modifications based on what was on hand: ground cardamom, ginger, coriander and mustard, full can coconut milk, 2 cups potato, 2 cups cauliflower, soy sauce, no bell pepper, no serrano. Delicious!!

It is beyond good. I had to pry myself away from the pot or there wouldn’t be any left for supper. Oh so delicious. Thanks so much for this recipe.

This has a nice depth of flavor! I used powder spices instead of whole spices and added a little extra broth to make it more soupy.
Other successful modifications include: chickpeas in place of cauliflower, cashew cream instead of coconut milk, and jalapeño in place of serrano.
Definitely on the repeat list. I’ve made this a few times and it takes me longer than 30 minutes, but totally worth it!

“This is the best curry you’ve ever made,” said my husband, and I agreed.
I had cauliflower. I had red lentils. I had spices. I came here and the transformation happened!
It did seem like a lot of sauce in the pan, but we served it over quinoa, which soaked it up beautifully. Transcendentally delicious!

This is delicious! Here are my notes:
I subbed 1 tsp ground cardamom for the pods and put it with the mustard seed, cumin seed, and coriander seed in my mortar and pestle for some gentle smashing to break them up just a bit. I used refined coconut oil and keep some water nearby for a little deglazing when needed. Used frozen ginger, light coconut milk, purple sweet potato, jalapeño instead of serrano, red and orange peppers (my peppers were small), and canned diced tomatoes that I pulsed lightly in my mini food processor for a few seconds. When it was ready, it seemed kind of thin, so I made a slurry of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of cold water and stirred it in and it thickened right up. The chopping does take a while, or I might be slow, but it’s worth it. Served over brown rice. I have enough ingredients for another batch which I may need to make tomorrow to freeze!

Fellow fans of MB – this recipe is rad. I skipped the cauliflower (not a family favorite) and at the point you add the coconut milk I added a block of Trader Joe’s Firm Tofu. PROTEIN party! Fiber party. All the amazing things. I have finally found an off the shelf curry powder that my crew likes which makes recipes like this a slam dunk.

I skipped the cardamom pods and added a 2 tsp of Cardamom powder when I added the curry powder. Enjoy!

This turned out good! I left the Serrano out so it’d be toddler friendly, and it definitely was! My 2 year old ate a large portion over rice. I was thinking she wouldn’t be into the gingery-ness of it, but was pleasantly surprised! We topped ours with Serrano and cilantro. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

Wow this was SUCH a hit! I used powdered spices instead of whole, and added chickpeas (plus a little extra broth). I did give it an extra ten minutes before adding the lentils because the potatoes were still very hard. Served with your vegan naan which is always excellent:)

I just keep coming back to this recipe – it’s sooo good! I’ll add in any extra random veg lurking in the fridge as it’s very versatile. Always a winner – thank you!

Oh. My. Goodness!
This tastes AMAZING! As soon as I read the recipe, I craved it! I’m in second trimester of my pregnancy and hadn’t found anything appetizing for weeks, until that moment!
I didn’t have any of the whole spices, just the ground. No Curry seasoning, but had garam marsala. Oh, and I’m not a fan of spicy, so I skipped the pepper.
I went for it. And oh my, it was incredible! It was so flavorful and light at the same time! I had it with rice and shared it with a bunch of kiddos and 3 of 4 ate it, and 1 loved it as much as I. That is a win in my book!

Thanks for all that you do!

This recipe is delightful! Since other commenters said the potatoes and cauliflower took a while to cook, I decided to roast them in the oven while I prepped the rest of the ingredients. By the time I got to the stage where you had to add them it was perfect timing! Then I didn’t have to wait for them to cook through in the pan, but they still took on the flavors of the dish. I recommend this if you’re short on time! I will definitely be making this again.

We adore this recipe! We add a little extra spice, and love the leftovers. Really tasty with some rice or naan.
One note: we now plan on it taking more like 45 minutes to make (start to finish). Maybe we’re slow at chopping, but this recipe is definitely worth the extra time!

I love this recipe and make it often. It’s a great, hearty meal that makes perfect leftovers. I prefer to make it with sweet potatoes and blend the diced tomatoes so there are no tomato chunks. Thank you!

OMG it was absolutely delicious! I used yellow potatoes, added more curry powder and seasoning salt, and it was perfect. The flavors were complex and all complimented each other perfectly. I think I might add more cauliflower or carrots next time, just because I like to capitalize on vegetables lol. But I can’t wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow and taste how the flavors have married even more. Thanks for this wonderful recipe! It will definitely become one of my staples.

This was sensational! I made it for a friend last night and had leftovers today, so good!

i made this without cauliflower because i didn’t have any, used cow’s milk instead of coconut milk, soy sauce instead of coconut aminos, and white lentils (i think? i’m not sure what they’re called) so it took way longer to cook. I would definitely add more salt, and if you’re like me and enjoy more spicy dishes (we are pakistani so we eat very spicy dishes) add some more spices as well. this was a nice, warming and comforting dish.

This was really delicious but I wish I’d listened to my gut when I hesitated about using whole cardamom pods. I love cardamom but that’s not fun to bite into. Next time I’ll sub with a bit of ground. Maybe same with the whole coriander (which I like more than my family does). Great recipe—my notes are just for anyone with slightly pickier eaters.

used sweet potatoes because i thought that they’d taste better with the coconut milk. doubled the recipe, used a whole head of cauliflower, increase the lentils to 1.25 cups, used canned whole peeled tomatoes that i mashed with a wooden spoon, used a whole onion instead of shallots, added garlic cloves, increased the liquid amount overall and omitted the coconut aminos/maple syrup, also changed up the spices (added garam masala, subbed more cumin seeds instead of coriander, used ground cardamom instead, added cayenne pepper instead of the serranos, added ground ginger instead of fresh ginger), and it’s a new favorite!! i almost always have these ingredients on hand so i will definitely be making again. i love how much i was able to modify it to my own needs and have it still taste delicious (per usual as with your recipes)!! thank you so much :)

This recipe is healthy and delicious, however it took a good 10-15 minutes longer than suggested to cook the potatoes and cauliflower.

This curry was delicious! I didn’t have any coconut milk so I used 2 cups of veg broth and it worked out really well. Not as thick but still very tasty. I also used garam masala instead of the individual spices and it was great. Thanks so much for this recipe!

I made this last night with a few modifications because of what I had on hand (canned brown lentils, no bell pepper or amino acids, ground cumin and cardamon since that’s what I had, and cashew milk). Despite all the changes it was good with plenty of flavor. It took WAY longer than 10 minutes for my potatoes and cauliflower to get soft, but my chunks were on the larger side.

Great recipe! I didnt have coconut aminos so i substiture Tamari sauce, and it worked great. I also substiture honey instead of maple syrup. Delicious! thanks a lot for the recipe!

I love this recipe! It has become one of my go to dinners! I have made it with a large can of tomatoes as well as the size called for in the recipe and I also normally use one tablespoon of Sharwood’s hot curry because we like it spicy! I’ve made this at least five times and will continue to make it. Thank you!

I meant to leave 5 stars along with my review so I’m reposting to say once again how much we loved this recipe and that it’s perfect as written though you can put in whatever vegetables you like and can substitute soy sauce for aminos. One tip is to put all the spices together in a little bowl before you dump them into the hot oil so that you don’t lose time in measuring them out – have them all ready to go in the pan together. So delicious!

I made it with cauliflower, potatoes and spinach instead of green pepper. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly except for using regular canola oil and using soy sauce instead of coconut aminos. It was seriously delicious and got thumbs up from the rest of my family. They raved about it. Agree that it’s more like 60-90 minutes from start to finish.

Loved the recipe! If I were to make it a second time, I’d replace the whole spices with ground spices. I personally wasn’t a fan of the whole coriander seeds. The flavor was too potent when you got a seed in your spoonful.

I also added cinnamon because I really enjoyed the flavor it added to the Massaman curry recipe (which is great too). It worked well in this one.

This is a beautiful curry. Exactly the right kind of comfort food for a Monday evening

Loved this recipe! The flavors were really rich and complex but it was actually really easy. It definitely took me a little longer than 30 minutes by the time I chopped all the veggies, but it still came to get together reasonably quickly and made for a good weeknight meal. It keeps well and I think it would freeze well too. Followed the recipe exactly but I think next time I’d try to make it one-pot.

Wow! This tasted amazing and ended up looking exactly like the photo(wasn’t expecting that)! I made a couple substitutions, using soy milk and brown lentils. This was perfect for my winter woes!

very delicious. I found I didn’t need the sweetener, as I used the entire can of coconut milk, and added 1/2 c. shredded unsweetened coconut.

I absolutely loved this recipe! It was perfect for the first snowy day in Toronto.

Mine had a lot of liquid, so I let it simmer off for an extra 20 mins. It did take me longer than expected with all of the prep of the veggies and spices, but it was well worth it. Next time, I would add a little less broth as the canned tomatoes add a lot of liquid. It made for a delicious stew served on fluffy basmati.

This recipe didn’t turn out for me at all :-(

It didn’t really thicken up at all and I was sort of left with a watery mess by the end of it. I used full fat coconut milk so really not sure what happened. Maybe need to add more?

I also added some garam masala as i had it on hand and since I used dried versions of most of the spices i thought it’d give it an extra punch (which sort of saved the day).

I would make it again but maybe try a few different things!

It also didn’t take 30 minutes at all unfortunately.

I made this last night for my husband and two kids. Was delicious! even my daughter who was skeptical really liked it. As we are not vegan, next time I might include sour cream on the side for my little one who it was a tiny bit spicy for.

Made this last night and it was a huge hit! Nice and filling! I subbed carrots for the cauliflower (not huge fans in this house) and used two can of coconut cream. Turned out amazing! We’ve been making an effort to incorperate two vegetarian meals a week because of all the reasons (lower cholesterol, better for the planet etc). Nice not to have to deal with raw meat for a change. THANKS DANA!

Loved this. I used a can of coconut milk as I didn’t want half a can lying about. It was more like a delicious soup for the first serving but the left over thicken up nicely in the pan whilst we ate.

So so delicious!! I only made two subs: 1) broccoli instead of cauliflower (because I served it over cauliflower “rice”) and 2) your cashew based Chipotle Aioli I had leftover from tacos instead of coconut milk (hate coconut, sadly). The chipotle flavor worked beautifully here. Especially if you like it spicy, as I do. Will definitely make again. Thanks!!

Dear Dana,

Your recipes are consistently delicious, beautiful, and nourishing. I’m so glad you are eating what your body wants and needs– it’s what we all should be doing!

I hope that the chaotic and negative comments die down soon. We are so grateful for your hard work and dedication to sustainable, healthy food.

With love,
Bobbi

P.S. I made this recipe with my Dad a few weeks ago and it was excellent, a meal for the soul! Thank you.

Really good. Easy and fun to make. But took over an hour… not that I care about cooking times but I would have been dismayed if I had tried to make this as a quick dinner on a weeknight. Thank you for the recipe!

So yummy! and very easy to make! however there was no way I was taking 30min doing this… only chopping and preparing the veg took me most part of 30min….in total I spend 1h30min doing this recipe, but it was totally worth it as the flavours are super nice.

Delicious recipe! Followed as is, but roasted the veg beforehand to add additional flavour and simmered for less time because the veggies were already cooked through after roasting. So good!

I love it

Wowowowow! I thought I did not like curry, but something inside me was really wanting to make this for awhile now. This was fantastic! I was able to find all the spices, in seed form, at my grocery store. Only thing I could not find was the coconut aminos. I used No Soy, Soy Free sauce by Oceans Halo as that was available at the store. Also, I put the diced tomatoes in the food processor like you suggested. I loved it! As I made this for my toddlers as well, I omitted the Serrano pepper. Finally, I served it over rice ? I will be making this again! Thanks so much!

Everyone except my picky toddler enjoyed this recipe. I couldn’t find mustard seed at the grocery store so it never made it in the pot but still came out good! It was a mix of spicy but sweet and hearty. I also subbed the 3 cardamom pods with 3 pinches of ground cardamon.

I will definitely be making this again and hopefully I can find some mustard seed.

Wow, so amazingly yummy. I added a curry paste and then curry powder to enhance the flavor. I also added a bit of smoked paprika which added a nice new dimension to the flavor. Definitely one of my favorites!

I made this for lunch and it was delicious! Can’t wait for dinner!

I’ve been making your recipes for the last few months and everything is always a guarantee to be delicious and simple every time. Loved this recipe, came out amazing! I added some spinach to it :)

I made this with sweet potatoes and it was very tasty. I used whole spices except for the cardamom; I couldn’t find whole pods so I used whole seeds. I used 1 tsp of whole cardamom seeds for a double batch, but I love cardamom more than a lot of people.

I agree with some of the other comments that it took a lot longer than 30 minutes to cook, even after discounting for the longer cooking time of sweet potatoes. I can make the 30-minute tempeh stir fry in about 30 minutes, but this one had a lot more prep.

I live at altitude, so cooking takes longer (especially for legumes), but prep and cleanup are really my downfalls. I would greatly appreciate if you did a post with video(s) that included tips for faster prep and cooking.

Thanks, and keep up the great recipes, Dana!

Just made this and it was delicious!! I was looking for a different recipe to switch up the normal Indian food I always make and this was it! The things I did differently were using the lentil water (which we do when making dhal) instead of vegetable broth and I added in some tomato paste because I love the tomato flavor. Awesome use of some amazing spices!

It did take me about 55 minutes to make it. But it was worth it! Good food can’t be rushed.
Thank you

Holy butts this was tasty. Nuff said.

I used a full 28oz can of whole plum tomatoes, which I roughly chopped up, and the consistency turned out very well. Since I had it available, and I find no point in making only 4 servings of curry, I used more cauliflower and more potatoes as well. For the spices, I didn’t have whole mustard, so I used some ground turmeric. I also used a Kashmiri curry spice blend, instead of regular curry. All in all, this turned out super, with plenty of leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day. The blend of spices and seasonings will probably taste even better the second day. I would definitely make this again!

Very Good!! My Family loved it! Thanks for the great recipe!!

Easy, fast, good-lookin’, healthy, insanely delicious — perfection?

This is a delicious curry and I have mad eyes it twice. The 30 minute preparation is deceiving though. By the time you assemble and prepare all of the ingredients, you need to think 90 minuteS rather than 30.

Delicious!! I made the recipe as written and served with naan. It definitely took longer than 30-minutes, but that is fine. Flavors are amazing. Thank you for another go-to recipe, I will be making this again soon!

The 10 min prep time seems near impossible. It took me 5 just to just up the shallots, not to mention the potatoes, cauliflower, bell peppers, etc.. If someone can prep this in 10 mins as a first pass, I would be shocked. The 30 min cooking seems near impossible as well. I am 45 mins in and have at least 20 more to go. It looks delicious and I am so pumped to try the finished product.

This smells delicious, however, we haven’t had a chance to eat it just yet. It is taking a LOT longer than 30 minutes for the sweet pot and cauliflower to cook. Not sure why the cooking time would be so far off…

Loved this recipe. We made it last night and it took about 50 min but we might just be slow-ha. We used broccoli instead of cauliflower but next time I think I’ll sub chickpeas instead of the cauliflower just to get some extra protein (we count macros hard). We kept everything else the same but added two very spicy jalepenos (with seeds) and it was AMAZING, the perfect amount of heat to go along with all of the delicious flavors Dana put together. I can’t wait to make this again and play around with more of the veggies we put in.

OMG! This is delicious!! I added 3 tbsp maple syrup, 3 tablespoons coconut aminos and 2 tsp of curry powder. I served it over quinoa. Went back for seconds. Thank goodness there is enough for lunch tomorrow!!!

Another delicious curry! It also took me a lot longer than 30 minutes (more like 60), but the end result made it worth the wait. I still have some left over for lunch tomorrow. Oh, and I used broccoli instead of cauliflower just because I prefer it, and served it all with a bit of basmati rice.

I made this twice, once with ground spices and once with whole. Either option works, but one time I did not puree the tomatoes, and I regretted it. Texture better with blended tomatoes. And I like the flavor better with sweet potatoes rather than white. Either way, delicious and nutritious, and great for lunches this week. One note – you do not want to put WHOLE cardamom pods in this, as the husks are inedible. Open the pods and use the seeds inside.

Adding rating, looks like it didn’t stick after it told me to add my email address.

I made this tonight and it was fantastic. I roasted the cauliflower and potatoes (1/2 a sweet potato + a few mini golden potatoes) while the lentils and aromatics cooked, because I don’t really like cauliflower unless it’s roasted. I also accidentally left out the bell pepper, but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. The sweetness from the maple syrup was perfect, and I loved the occasional bites of cardamom. Served it with brown rice. It might have taken a touch over 30 minutes, but it tastes like it took much longer than it actually did. Definitely will make again!

I made this and loved it! Tweaks: I used potato and broccoli for the veg, didn’t have cardamon pods so used about 1/8 tsp ground cardamom, didn’t puree any of it out laziness, didn’t have coconut aminos so used my last tbsp of tamari and a big squeeze of lime juice for fun, and stirred in torn spinach near the end. Served over basmati rice with cilantro and lime wedges. Very yummy, thanks for the recipe!

This was absolute amazing. So tasty. And so easy! I made this with your Palak Paneer and they complimented each other nicely.

My husband and I loved this recipe. When biting on a coriander seed it gives a nice little surprise of flavor! I used canned tomatoes and found it a bit too salty thus next time I will leave out the salt when using canned tomatoes otherwise it is a great recipe.

Super easy and quick and delicious, using coconut oil instead of olive oil to saute the spices at the start made it smell and taste extra delicious in my opinion.

I made this last night. It was incredible. I thought I would have to make a separate meal for my kids, but they loved it too. Iʻm so thankful for this recipe. The sauce is delicious and full of flavor, yet it is simple and straight forward to make. The long list of ingredients was overwhelming at first sight, but I had most of them already in my pantry. I highly recommend making this. Iʻm excited for leftovers tonight.

I’m with Kate. I made it last night and we really enjoyed it. I had a couple of substitutions; jalapenos for serranos, ground coriander for coriander seeds, orange peppers instead of red. It turned out fine but I spent a really long time chopping, dicing, and mincing to get there. Perhaps a video on knife skills? I’m sure I’m not efficient and have a lot to learn.

Excellent! I found that, to my taste, it needs more of the spices, and I added some ground cumin at the end to brighten the taste. Also, it wasn’t “hot” enough, so I sprinkled in some cayenne at the end to adjust the level of heat. Finally, I also added a bit of fenugreek for my taste. I also threw in a drained can of chickpeas to give the dish a bit of variety.

I don’t Facebook, Instagram or Twitter but I made this recipe and really really loved it. It was pretty easy, just lots of stuff to put into the recipe but it was worth it. One change for me was that I did not peel the yellow potatoes. These potatoes can get pretty mushy if over cooked so I made sure (1) I didn’t over cook and (2) left the skin on. I just made sure that I washed the potatoes really well before using. I have made numerous recipes from you and I thank you very much.

I tried this recipe today. The ingredients are alot so if you are not in a hurry you can do it. I did not do the absolute mustehich is yo have all your ingredients in place and as a result did not see that you must drain the cooked lentils properly. I did not have Serrano pepper. I found the dish a bit watery. Guess if you don’t drain the lentils this is what happens and you should probably reduce the amount of broth.

This combines two of my favorite dishes: aloo gobi and red lentil soup! What a delicious and natural pairing. Love that the lentils pack a protein punch making this a well-rounded meal. Well done!

We made this for dinner tonight. Substitutions: 1) I used powdered spices instead of whole seeds (1/2 tsp each mustard, cumin, and coriander and 1/8 tsp cardamom), 2) I left the diced tomatoes as they were right out of the can, and 3) I used soy sauce instead of coconut aminos. It took a lot more than just 30 minutes and we ended up eating around 10:00. And it was worth every minute! The flavors were wonderfully complex, the coconut milk was just enough to add creaminess without being overpowering, and all the textures made for a fun bowl of delight. We served it on basmati rice and added some cilantro and lime and it was AMAZING! Can’t wait for lunch tomorrow and leftovers!

Made for dinner and it was a biggest hit!!! Our family loved it!! They said it was the best soup ever

Tried this tonight. The suggestion that this takes 30 mins is laughable. It was just me prepping and cooking and took me triple the time. Maybe I’m defective, but I’ve made plenty of curries before and it still took me that long. The sauce itself was tasty, but a bit thin. I couldn’t get cardamom pods and used just the seeds instead. Worked great!