Slow Cooker Red Lentil Curry (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Name: Slow Cooker Red Lentil Curry
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 480 min
Total time: 485 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 cup red lentils; 2 cups water; ½ white onion (chopped); 1 tbs. fresh grated ginger; 1 package frozen cauliflower; 3 tbs. curry seasoning; 1 tsp. cumin; 1 tsp. turmeric; 1 tsp garlic powder; ½ tsp. salt; 1 29 oz. can puree tomatoes; 1/2 can lite coconut milk; 2 cups cauliflower rice (quinoa or basmati rice); 1/2 cup lite coconut milk; 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

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This slow cooker red lentil curry will leave you full and satisfied, with the addition of carrots and cauliflower. Served over cauliflower coconut rice, this curry is the perfect way to warm up on a cold night. Gluten free, vegan, and so simple, this meal will be waiting for you when you get home from a long day at work!

I have a confession. I’ve always been a little scared to make curry at home. I figured I could never create those iconic flavors without a ton of spices and time. But I of course was wrong. I will tell you I took some simple shortcuts to make this meal accessible to most home cooks. I used store bought curry powder, turmeric, garlic powder, ginger, and cumin to build the flavor profile here. This is a recipe I want you to feel good about serving to the entire family, and having to fuss over dinner after a long day is a win in my book. You may want to hold back on adding all the curry powder until you portion out a few servings for the kiddos though, it is just slightly spicy (nothing Dave couldn’t handle though, so it’s not that hot lol).

Growing up, I had never heard of curry, nor was I exposed to many different cultures of food. My mom made a home cooked meal every night. We rotated between the same 5-8 recipes all year long. Tacos and spaghetti were as exotic as we got! Needless to say, as an adult, I’ve really enjoyed getting to experience food. Now that I”m grown up, it blows my mind that my mom would come home and cook for an hour or more most nights just go get dinner on the table. I love to cook and would spend my entire day in the kitchen, but sometimes after a long day, it’s the last thing I want to do. My poor mom would have loved to have a slow cooker back in those days, to save her from cooking every night!

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It seems like now a days everyone is always on the go. It blows my mind when I’m talking to ladies at the gym just how jam packed their schedules are. It’s a surprise to me that anyone gets fed, let alone having time to cook dinner every night! But that’s what the slow cooker is for!! Just add all you ingredients before you leave for work, turn it on low for 8 hours and when you get home, your house will smell amazing and dinner will be ready.

I originally created this recipe for my nutrition clients for their easy to follow meal plan. I truly believe that having food planned and prepared is the best way to meet your nutrition goals. If you are interested in learning more, make sure to check out the 30 day fat loss meal plan.

Red Lentil Curry Recipe Tips

I served this slow cooker red lentil curry with coconut cauliflower rice I made as a way to offset some of the heat from the curry. It was super simple. To make cauliflower rice, you just add cauliflower florets to a food processor and pulse until they look like rice. Then you microwave for 5-6 minutes on high. Add 1/2 cup of lite coconut milk, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. ground ginger. If you don’t want to make cauliflower rice, you can make basmati rice and add the coconut milk and ground ginger to the basmati rice.

When you are buying coconut milk, be sure to read the can. Because there is so much fat in the coconut milk, it’s important to make sure that you are using a BPA free can. I found that the Lite Coconut Milk at Trader Joe’s is in a BPA free can, you can also get it on Amazon Native Forest Organic Coconut Milk Lite (affiliate link)