This easy Red Lentil Stew is the perfect weeknight dinner when you want something healthy, quick, and delicious. Loaded with veggies and made in under 30 minutes, this vegetarian stew recipe can be made in the Instant Pot or on your stove top.
Let's talk about hidden veggies
This gem of a recipe—an easy Red Lentil Stew—was born from my desire to feed my kids more plant-forward meals. Our Lemony Mung Bean Soup recipe? Delicious, and packed with good nutrition. Perfectly spiced Red Lentil Dal? It doesn't get any cozier than those warming spices!
But my kids don't really vibe with those kind of meals, so I wanted to make something simple, lightly seasoned, and minimally spiced for their more sensitive palates. This Red Lentil Stew is loaded with plant-based protein, and although I don't really believe in hiding veggies in a meal (as a nutritionist, I think you should know what you're eating), this one has a good amount tucked in there.
It's fast and can be made either in your Instant Pot or on the stovetop (there are instructions for both below!) - it takes around about 30 minutes either way, though the Instant Pot will require less babysitting. It's good spooned over rice, served with pasta, or eaten on its own with a bit of crusty bread.
Best of all, this vegetarian stew is customizable. I've left the flavors fairly neutral as my big kid is extremely sensitive to spice, but I serve my own bowl with a good pinch of red pepper flakes over the top.
Featured Comment
Big hit with the whole family. The one and three year old both had seconds!! I love the shredded veggies. Genius. I will make this again, for sure!!!!
~ Becky ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Let's make Red Lentil Stew together!
I've included process shots for making both stovetop and Instant Pot Lentil Stew, and the recipe card at the end of this post includes instructions for both!
To make things easier, you'll want to get all of your chopping, dicing, and shredding out of the way before you start cooking. Also give your lentils a good rinse in cold water until the water runs clear.
Let's get started!
Step 1: sauté
Either heat a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, or set your Instant Pot to sauté normal. Add the olive oil and the onions, and sauté, stirring regularly, until they are translucent.
Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or two more, until the onion is just starting to brown.
Step 2: add the veggies
Add the carrots and zucchini, and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the vegetables have softened.
Step 3: sauté
Add the crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, and lentils to the pot.
If you're cooking on the stove top, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer with the lid ajar until the lentils are soft - this will take about 20 minutes.
If you're making Instant Pot Lentil Stew, hit cancel on the sauté function, then set it to pressure cook for 10 minutes.
Pro tip! Using a wooden spoon, give the bottom of the Instant Pot a REALLY GOOD stir, scraping the spoon along the bottom of the pot to ensure no lentils are sticking to the bottom, as this can trigger a burn warning.
Ways to switch up your Red Lentil Stew
This is my most basic red lentil stew recipe, but you can totally fancy it up the way you like. Here are some ideas:
- Add a bunch of greens toward the end of the cooking time - a bag of baby spinach will just cook right down.
- Replace half of the broth with coconut milk for a creamier stew.
- Add a teaspoon or two of ground turmeric, ground cumin, and half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to heat things up!
- Mix up the veggies you include! Try sweet potato, red peppers, cauliflower, eggplant... whatever strikes your fancy.
- Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice or a dollop of yogurt if you please.
If you customized your red lentil stew, please tell us in the comments what you've done and how it turned out!
Easy Red Lentil Stew (Instant Pot or Stovetop)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 large zucchini shredded - about 2 cups
- 2 medium carrots shredded - about 2 cups
- ¾ cup red lentils rinsed well
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes 2 x 14oz cans
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Place a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, or turn on your Instant Pot sauté function normal.
- Add the oil and heat until shimmering, then add the diced onion and sauté until translucent, 2-3 minutes.1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 medium yellow onion
- Add the garlic and sauté 2 minutes more.2 cloves garlic
- Add the shredded zucchini and carrots and sauté about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.1 large zucchini, 2 medium carrots
- Add the vegetable broth, red lentils, tomatoes, and thyme.¾ cup red lentils, 2 cups vegetable broth, 28 oz crushed tomatoes, 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- If you are using the Instant Pot, give the bottom a very good stir with a wooden spoon to ensure no lentils are sticking. This will prevent the burn warning from going off. Set the Instant pot to 10 minutes at manual high pressure. When the cooking cycle is done you can use either a quick release or natural release.
- If you are cooking on the stovetop, reduce the heat to medium-low an simmer with the lid ajar until the lentils are soft - about 20 minutes.
- Serve hot over rice or pasta.
Notes
- Nutrition Values are an estimate only.
- This is a great make-ahead recipe. The flavors only get better the next day, so I totally encourage you to meal prep this recipe. A batch of lentil stew will last up to five days in your fridge.
- You can also make a big batch and freeze individual portions. I freeze kid-sized portions using silicone muffin liners. Once frozen, you can pop them into a freezer bag and just pull out what you need at dinner time.
Sherry says
Made this tonight. Enjoying it now. Super tasty!! I didn’t shred the veggies I cubed them instead and worked great! Thanks for the yummy recipe! Nice way to incorporate red lentils for those of us who don’t love curry.
Katie Trant says
Hey Sherry, thanks so much for the comment. Love the idea of using cubed veggies here. I've never tried them cubed, but I'll definitely have to do that next time.
Kevin says
Been making this for several years now (because it's good!), and with/without variation to original recipe. Sometimes add sautéed tofu, and/or low salt soya sauce. Or maybe a splash of red wine vinegar at the end.
Thanks for the recipe!
Katie Trant says
Woohoo! So glad you enjoy this recipe as much as we do, Kevin!
Susan says
Wonderful recipe. The addition of the shredded veggies is genius touch. Thank you!
Katie Trant says
Yes! I love the shredded veggies, too!
Janene says
Thanks for this recipe Katie. It was quick, easy and tasty.
Katie Trant says
So glad you enjoyed this one, Janene!
Amanda says
I am so excited to have this for dinner tonight. It's simmering on the stove right now but after one little taste test I know it's going to be so good! I was looking for a recipe to use the red lentils that have been in my pantry forever. My husband is not a curry person so I was so glad when I found this recipe for a more italian style red lentil recipe!
Katie Trant says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this one, Amanda!
Heidi says
I made this a couple days back and just finished up the leftovers today! So good and SO easy. I didn’t have much in the way of ingredients but I had a potato and an onion and lentils… and then I added frozen cauliflower, a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of green chilis. It really is a great base for a “kitchen sink” type of hearty stew. I like more spice so I added some paprika and red pepper… will make again! Also I love that it makes you full and satiated for many hours.
Katie Trant says
Yay, so glad you enjoyed this one as much as we do, Heidi!
Tonya says
I made this tonight using a mix of frozen and fresh veg, 1 fresh celery stick, bunch of kale, green beans, onion and frozen garlic, broccoli, cauliflower and mixed veg (peas/carrots/corn). I used all the herbs/spices mentioned and it was delicious. It was the comforting bowl of lentils I was hoping for, will definitely make again using whatever I have on hand. I might try curry powder next time, make it more of a veggie dahl.
Katie Trant says
Hey Tonya, sounds delicious! If it's a dahl you're in the mood for, you should give our Red Lentil Dahl recipe a try!
María says
I've been making this red lentil stew every other week for a year now and I love it. It's easy and delicious. We usually have it over brown basmati rice. Thank you for sharing your great recipes.
Roos says
This recipe was a big winner! It was a risk making something new on weekday, but it came together so easily, did not require much thinking because the recipe is so easy to follow and I could just let it simmer for a bit and do other stuff. I chopped up the carrots to small pieces (worked well too) and my store was out of zucchini so I used some sweet red bell peppers (the pointy ones) that I had lying around. I used canned lentils (they were sitting in my pantry) and that worked fine too, and added some vegan chicken pieces just for texture. Served it over whole grain rice and it was great! Thank Katie!
Lia says
Excellent recipe! Was looking for a way to use up our red lentils and brown rice, and this was just the thing I needed! Very flavourful and just perfect to use up whatever veggies have been hanging out a little too long in your fridge drawer! We used shredded cabbage in place of zucchini because that's what we had, and we added a little chopped celery that was getting floppy, haha. Plus the carrots and onions called for, of course. I also did as you suggested and added the extra turmeric, cumin and a few chili flakes. Absolutely delicious! We served it over brown rice, which made it extra hearty when you stir it all together in your dish. Overall, 10/10 would make again, and I love how it helps me use up tons of veggies and get them into bellies! Thanks for sharing this superb recipe!
Claire says
I've been eyeing this recipe for a while and finally made. Glad I did, it's so good! I used brown lentils instead of red because that's what I had (and I don't care for the red mush that red lentils become). I also used a red onion instead of yellow because that's what was around. I really liked how many veggies are stuffed in there. I doubled the recipe and cooked it on the stovetop; the lentils needed about 35 minutes to get cooked to my liking.
Christelle says
Great! Easy, fast and tasty...my kind of meal. I made it with green lentils as I didn’t have any red and it worked like a charm. Approved my the big man, and the little one - which is a rarity. Thank you Katie’
Katie Trant says
Oh wow, good to know that this works just as well with green lentils. I'll have to try that sometime!
Andrea says
Easy, tasty, healthy! A win on all counts.
J says
I cooked this for dinner this evening. Such a simple, easy to cook recipe. It was delicious.
My 5 year old had seconds, and thirds (as did my wife and I). Our 8 year old tolerated it; you can't win them all!
There was only approx 2 portions left over to freeze, so next time I'll be doubling up on all the ingredients so we can freeze more. Thanks for another wonderful recipe 🙂
Katie Trant says
Yes! I'm so glad that most of you enjoyed it and that the 8-year-old at least tolerated it well enough 🙂
Heather says
I've just made this red lentil stew. I added the extra spices as you suggested and some aleppo pepper from Cote D'Azure that our local kitchen shop sells. Also some of that company's Abracadabra rub and of course some salt. It is delicious! We are having it over some brown rice from the freezer and a couple of lean but spicy turkey sausages from the local butcher. It'll be great to have some of this stew in the freezer.
Becky says
Big hit with the whole family. The one and three year old both had seconds!! I love the shredded veggies. Genius. I will make this again, for sure!!!!
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louise says
Katie, I made this after work last night and you were right when you said it comes together quickly! I used the final zucchini from our garden, so that was bittersweet... The stew was delicious, everyone loved it! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
alice k mynett says
I forgot the star rating when I sent my comments, so here it is now.
alice k mynett says
I have a pot of this goodness simmering on my stove. Added bonus - instead of veg broth, I USED THE LIQUID I COLLECTED WHEN I PUREED MY PUMPKIN (as you suggested!). Thanks for bumping up the nutrients on my dinner table! Now to put that pumpkin puree to work in a dessert.
Tanya says
This was amazing! My whole family (including my 18 month old toddler) loved it! I doubled the recipe up to make enough for the freezer. I also included the suggested spices, did half coconut milk and half veg broth and added some baby spinach right at the end. We are it with brown and wild rice. It was a whole pot of goodness.
Gail Hunt says
REALLY good, Katie. I made it spicy and added corn cut off the cob, and it was a big hit with us and our guests. The corn added a sweetness to the other great flavours.
ChriStine says
This looks amaze. Anything with lentils and I’m in.
Katie Trant says
You're easy to please, Christine. I appreciate that 🙂
julianne says
Lovely recipe. Thank you I swapped the zucchini (or as we call them in the UK, Courgettes) for Sweet Potatoes.
Sometimes I have it with some nice seeded bread and sometimes with Cheddar Cheese melted on the top. I'm vegetarian but not Vegan. Grilled cheese goes with it well.
Katie Trant says
Hey Julianne, now you have me craving grilled cheese now you have me craving grilled cheese.