One bite of this vegan Jamaican lentil curry will have your taste buds begging for more! A family favorite here will turn into your next favorite meal!
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You are simply going to love this vegan Jamaican lentil curry recipe.
It is a family favorite in our house and we know that it’s going to be a hit at yours as well.
While traditionally, Jamaican curries are made with meat, the lentils in this dish give the same mouth feel without needing to use animal products.
This dish pairs perfectly with our Jamaican Rice and Peas.
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love This Dish
- Flavorful – You’ll be amazed at how much flavor is in this dish! Each ingredient is thoughtfully picked out to have the most impact on the dish.
- Simple – Cooking is the longest part of this dish, which means you just have to wait but the dish itself is very simple.
- Allergy-Friendly – this dish is very allergy-friendly and with the minimal ingredients in with top allergens can be easily swapped
🥘Recipe Ingredients
Gather your ingredients!
- Lentils – We recommended using green or brown lentils for this recipe.
- Coconut Milk – this helps with creaminess and thickness of the curry
- Vegetable Stock – we recommend using a low sodium stock for this recipe to be able to control the salt level
- Vegetable Bouillon – this is helping with taste. You can use bouillon paste like in the photo above or use a bouillon cube
- Scotch Bonnet Pepper – the traditional pepper of Jamaica. This is a very spicy pepper, so you will want to make sure that you are careful with using it
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Substitutions and Variations:
- Lentils – red lentils could also be used but be mindful that they will break down in this dish, not hold their original shape and thicken it more. You may need to add more liquid. Alternatively, lentils could be replaced with chickpeas or tofu crumbles in this dish
- Coconut Milk – a thick non-dairy milk like soy or creamy oat would be the best replacement
- Vegetable Bouillon – you could use a vegan poultry seasoning in place
- Scotch Bonnet Pepper – many US grocers don’t sell scotch bonnet peppers, so if you cannot find this, you could use habanero instead
- Spinach – kale can be used instead
- Other Vegetables or Additions – other things to add could be green beans, sugar snap peas, cauliflower, baby corn, broccoli, mushrooms, tofu, chickpeas, and more
Step by Step Instructions for vegan lentil curry:
Step 1. In a large saucepan, cook onions and peppers until softened. This will take about 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 2. Add in garlic, green onions, ginger, and thyme and let cook for 2 minutes. Mixture should be fragrant. Then add curry powder, bouillon, garam masala, cumin, paprika, and allspice. Stir together and cook for 1 minute.
Step 3. Add lentils, potatoes, and carrots. Stir together.
Step 4. Add the broth and combine. Bring to a boil, add the scotch bonnet pepper, then reduce heat to low. Cover with a lid and cook on simmer for 15-20 minutes.
When ready lentils should be soft and vegetables tender.
Note: If at any time you feel like there’s not enough liquid, you can add more stock.
Step 5. Remove lid and add in spinach, coconut milk, and peanut butter, if adding. Stir together well. Let cook for 5 minutes, spinach should be wilted.
Step 6. Curry should be thick; however, if your curry feels too thick, add additional broth to thin out. Remove from the heat. Remove pepper and thyme sprigs. Stir in lime juice as desired.
Recipe FAQs:
Sub the coconut milk for another creamy non-dairy milk like creamy oat. Make sure there is no soy in your other ingredients.
Yes. Once cooled completely, you can store in an air tight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Yes. Use a large skillet to cook this recipe.
Yes, you can make and freeze this recipe ahead of time.
Other Vegan Jamaican Recipes to Consider:
More recipes to try
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🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Jamaican Lentil Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- ½ red bell pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 ½ tablespoon Jamaican curry powder
- 2 teaspoon vegetable bouillon paste (or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes)
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 cup dried brown lentils (or green lentils) (200g)
- 1 large russet potato, cubed
- 1 large carrot, cubed
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth (900g)
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, left whole
- 2 cups spinach, packed (60g)
- 1 cup canned coconut milk (240g)
- 1 heaping tbsp creamy peanut butter, optional
- lime juice
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium high. Once hot, add onions and peppers and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add in garlic, green onions, ginger, and thyme, and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add curry powder, bouillon, garam masala, cumin, paprika, and allspice. Stir together and cook for 1 minute.
- Add lentils, potatoes, and carrots. Stir together. Add the broth and combine. Bring to a boil, add the scotch bonnet pepper, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook on simmer for 15-20 minutes. Lentils should be soft and vegetables tender.
- Add spinach, coconut milk, and peanut butter, if adding. Stir together well. Let cook for 5 minutes, spinach should be wilted. If your curry feels too thick, add additional broth to thin. Remove from the heat.
- Remove pepper and thyme sprigs. Stir in lime juice as desired. Serve with Jamaican rice and peas.
Warm, spicy, flavorful and absolutely delicious. First st time making it but it is a keeper to be prepared over and over again. Thanks so much for sharing this I’m going to prepare the Jamaican peas and rice to go along with.
Perfect dish to go with it, glad you enjoyed!
This recipe is the Bomb! I’ve made it probably 8 times and everyone that I’ve served it to loves it! Even those who said they don’t like Curry!
Thank you for sharing this! We love hearing that the Vegan Jamaican Lentil Curry has been made so many times and that it wins over even the curry skeptics. That is always such a fun reaction to watch happen!
We eat a lot of curries at our house but this was our first Jamaican curry. It was a huge hit with the whole family and we will definitely make it again!
This is awesome! So happy that our recipe could be your first experience with Jamaican Curry. Glad to hear that you all enjoyed it!
I’ve made this a couple of times. The first time, I didn’t have a scotch bonnet pepper so this past summer I grew some. Second time I made it with the scotch bonnet pepper I grew was even better. I like to freeze small containers of this for quick and easy lunch.
i love that you grew your own! They freeze so well to use throughout the year
This curry is a weekly dinner in our house! The flavor from the spices is so warm and delicious, perfect for our cold winter nights!
Thank you so much! We’re honored to know our recipe has made it into your regular meal rotation!
This came out so good! My vegan and Jamaican Wife said 10/10! Thank you!
We’re honored! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try! We’re glad it was a hit.
This is just the best ! I make this recipe at least once a week. I love lentils and curry . My son demands it sometimes twice a week . I pair it with basmati rice and occasionally my sweet cornbread. This is a banger forreaalll!!!
This is Amazing! Love that this has made it into your weekly meal rotation. Any recipes that the kids respond well too is a win in our book!