If you’re feeling something fancy on a weeknight or a quick meal for the holidays, this creamy sweet potatoes and lentils skillet recipe has you covered either way!
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If you’re a fan of dal type of dishes you are going to love this one. Alternatively, maybe you love lentils but not a fan of curries, this is the dish you are looking for.
This is the kind of dish that looks fancy, but without the stress.
It’s quick enough for a weeknight, especially with easy clean up, but it’s fancy enough to still take and serve to guests for the holidays.
Bonus tip: Even more fun is chopping the sweet potatoes and kale really small and turning this into a dip at the holidays. People will love the variation on traditional dips.
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Why You’ll Love this Lentils Dish:
- Cozy, but Elevated – it feels special because with it’s rich and creamy sauce. You’ll want this for weeknights, but it’s totally worthy for guests and holidays too
- Big Flavor with Simple Ingredients – Sweet Potatoes, Kale, Lentils, lots of spices, and a few other simple and easy to find ingredients make this dish come together. Besides spices, there’s only 8 total ingredients.
- Flexible Serving – Serve it with grains, bread, plantain chips, or just by itself. There’s so many ways to change it up that you never get bored with this recipe. Even the vegetables could be changed up or added too.
Ingredients for creamy spices lentils and sweet potatoes:
Gather your ingredients!
Lentils
We’re using canned lentils, but you can also use homemade cooked lentils. You just want to make sure they are cooked prior to starting the recipe. Brown or green lentils are what we are using.
Substitute: You can also use red lentils just noting that they will break down more while simmering and do not typically hold their shape. You could also swap the lentils for chickpeas or white beans like butter beans or cannellini.
Sweet Potatoes
You’ll want to cut your sweet potato into ½″ cubes in order to make sure the cooking time can stay around 30 minutes. The smaller your cubes, the faster they will cook.
Substitute: You could use regular russet or yellow potatoes, as well as carrots, beets, parsnips, etc. Swap, switch up, or do a combo!
Kale
Leafy greens add nutrient value as well as brightening up the color of the overall dish. We prefer chopping on the smaller side when serving kids.
Substitute: Kale can be swapped with spinach or another leafy green.
Cashew Cream
This is just blended unsalted, roasted cashews with water blended together to make a thick cream. It’s what helps our sauce get that rich, creamy consistency, while adding additional protein to the dish.
Substitute: Canned full-fat coconut milk is a great sub, as is blended silken tofu. Alternatively, you could use any thicker plant based milk like creamy oat or soy milk, these just may take longer to reduce and you may want to add in a teaspoon or two of flour or cornstarch to help thicken.
Vegetable Stock
We prefer to use a low-sodium stock so we can adjust the salt later as needed.
Spices
We’re using a combination of fresh herbs, aromatics, and dried spices in order to bring flavor to all aspects of this dish.
Substitute: Cilantro can be swapped with parsley. Lemon can be swapped with lime.
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Creamy Lentils and Sweet Potato Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large sweet potatoes, cut into ½” cubes (~200g)
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 ½ cups low-sodium vegetable stock (360g)
- ½ cup cashew cream (120g)
- 15.5 ounces cooked brown lentils* (440g)
- 1 cup kale, chopped (just the leaves) (67g)
- 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add 2 tablespoon olive oil and heat. Once hot, add in your cubed sweet potatoes and cook for 5-6 minutes, flipping every 1 to 1 ½ minutes, so all sides become golden brown.
- Add in 1 teaspoon each oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder, ½ teaspoon each black pepper and salt, ¼ teaspoon each ground coriander and cinnamon, and ⅛ teaspoon each ground nutmeg and red pepper flakes if adding (more or less to taste). Stir together and allow to cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Add in 1 ½ cups vegetable stock and using a wooden spoon, scrap the bottom of the pan to remove anything stuck to the bottom (this is called fond).
- Add in ½ cup cashew cream and stir together until well combined. Then, add in 15.5oz (2 cups) cooked lentils, and 1 cup chopped kale. Stir together well. Add in the zest of the lemon and ½ the lemon juice. Stir together and taste. Add more lemon juice if desired. Let cook until the kale has wilted, about 4-8 minutes depending on your preferences. Top with 2 tablespoon fresh cilantro and stir together. Serve with grain of choice or toasted bread.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Cashews are the ingredient we need to consider. For the cashews, depending on your allergens, you can use full fat coconut milk, blended silken tofu or blended white beans (cannellini or butter beans) as an alternative.
Otherwise, you can use your favorite safe for you plant based milk with a teaspoon or two of cornstarch added in to help thicken – this method may require more time to reduce.
This can be stored once cooled in the fridge for up to 5 days. You may need to thin the sauce if desired.
Yes, once cooled, this can be frozen for up to 3 months by placing in an air tight, freezer safe bag or container.
A simple salad goes well and then we usually pick a grain like rice, quinoa, or farro to serve on the side.
Love this dish so much! The first time I made it I used canned fullfat coconut milk and it was delicious. This time I made the coconut cream and it was next level delicious.
This is awesome! We’re so happy to hear that you loved the recipe!
I had saved this recipe a long time ago. Just based on the picture it looked so yummy. I finally made it and it is SO yummy for something so simple. I even announced to all my coworkers while eating leftovers for lunch, that this was defintely going into my lunch rotation. I didn’t use the cinnamon or nutmeg, I don’t really like those flavors but added a bit of smoked paprika. I used spinach instead of Kale because it was what I had and it worked great. The dish thickened up over night which made it even better. Absolutely scrumptious!
We are thrilled to hear that you finally got around to making this recipe after saving it for so long! It makes our day to know that it lived up to the photo and has earned a spot in your lunch rotation. We love how you made this dish your own. The smoked paprika sounds like a fantastic addition for a savory kick, and using spinach instead of kale is a great substitution. It is wonderful to hear that the leftovers thickened up and tasted even better the next day. Thank you so much for sharing your delicious modifications and experience with us
So good!
Thank you so much!
I’m not a guy that cooks much if the recipe is longer than 3 items, but this was very easy to make and delicious. I’ve made this multiple times now. I suggest you try it out without the cilantro and then add the leaves at the end, if you wish.
Love this! We love when our recipes feel easy to make, and thank you for sharing your tip about the cilantro!
I don’t usually like lentils but I crave this! It’s so light and comforting.
Awww, thank you so much! We really appreciate you giving the recipe a try!
This was so yummy. I am vegetarian not vegan so I subbed the cashew cream with cream cheese and I cooked on low for about 30 minutes longer. This is the second recipe I followed off of this site and I will definitely try more!
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try! We truly appreciate you coming back for more recipe and we’re happy to know that this one was a hit for you!
This is amazing! We had it with some good toasted sourdough bread and the flavors went great together. I highly recommend it!
Love that! So glad you enjoyed it