Green Curry Lentil Soup is a rich, creamy, Thai-inspired soup made with smoky sausage, sweet potatoes, lentils, and a swirl of coconut milk. A generous helping of Thai green curry paste brings an herby punch with hints of ginger, garlic, and citrusy heat, while the sausage, spinach, and lentils give it nourishing staying power. It’s the kind of soup that tastes like it simmered all day but comes together in under an hour, making it perfect for busy weeknights when you want something filling and satisfying without a lot of fuss.
Big Flavors, Not-So-Big Effort
The thing I love most about soup, I think, is that it can flex to perfectly match your mood. Feeling down and draggy? Soup’s gotchu with something light and brothy. Frozen inside-out from a day in the snow? A big mug of chunky proteins in a thick and creamy base will warm you right up. Carb cravings running on overdrive? A pasta-filled soup will fix everything.
And when your vibe is something bold and flavorful, soup’s on the job. As with this Green Curry Lentil Soup. At its heart, it’s a fusion of Thai-inspired flavors that season an old-fashioned chunky base of lentils, sweet potatoes, and lots of sausage.
The green curry paste, with its bright, sweet, almost citrusy flavors, is a wonderful complement to the savory notes of the smoked sausage. And you control the spice level, from mild to wild. It’s all good!
Green Curry Lentil Soup is —
- Comfort food with sassy flair: Familiar cozy soup vibes spiced up with exciting Thai-inspired flavors
- Packed with protein: Lentils and sausage make this soup filling and satisfying
- Ready in under an hour: A delicious, family-pleasing option when you need something fast to the table without compromising on flavor.
- Easy to make ahead: Stores well in the fridge or freezer and makes delicious leftovers and good-mood workday lunches.
If you’re like me and believe that curry spices and lentils are a match made in heaven, you might also enjoy my Red Lentil Masala Soup and my Vegetarian Curried Lentil Stew. So hearty and delish!
Key Ingredients
Lentils — There are many types of lentils, and each has their own characteristics that impact cooking times and textures. Choose brown or green lentils, which cook fairly quickly and retain their shape and texture. They’re also the most common variety found at the typical American grocery store. See Cook’s Notes below for more information about lentils.
Sweet Potatoes & Smoked Sausage — Sweet potatoes are a popular ingredient in lentil soups, and I wanted to add a strong savory element that would complement both the lentils and the green curry flavorings. Smoked sausage works beautifully here and it’s easy to handle and prepare, as it’s pre-cooked.
Green Thai Curry Paste — One of my all-time favorite ingredients, Thai green curry paste consists of green chilis and Thai-cuisine ingredients, such as ginger, lemongrass, and galangal. At the retail level, green curry pastes vary significantly in terms of their ingredients and spice levels. The Thai Kitchen brand, commonly found in grocery stores, is not spicy-hot at all, while the popular Maesri has a good bit of a kick to it. All spicy levels work in this soup, so choose your fire!
Ginger and Garlic — Ginger and garlic are must-haves for Thai-leaning soups like this one. Whether you use pre-packaged pastes or mince them fresh, it’s up to you. Don’t ever feel guilty about using shortcuts, especially when they mean the difference between making homemade soup and not making homemade soup!
Coconut milk — For best flavor and texture, be sure to use a full-fat canned, unsweetened coconut milk that was packaged for cooking rather than drinking. The coconut milk packed in the aseptic boxes is usually quite a bit thinner, often sweetened, and mixed with other preservatives. It’ll do in a pinch, but when you have the choice, go for the canned!
Cook’s Notes
- Types of lentils: Lentils come in all kinds of sizes and colors, including yellow, red, green, brown, black, and dark green.
- Yellow lentils are most often used in dal.
- Red lentils have had their outer layers removed, letting them cooking quickly and break down into tender mush, like oatmeal (see my Marry Me Red Lentil Soup).
- Green and brown lentils are similar in heft and texture, and are good options for your typical soup or stew, as they hold together well (see my Rustic Lentil Soup).
- Black beluga lentils are small and firm, and have an amazing texture for stews and chilis — I love them! (See my Vegetarian Lentil Chili.)
- Dark green French du Puy lentils are similar to beluga lentils in texture and firmness (see my Creole Lentil Soup).
- Before cooking your dried lentils, be sure to rinse them well to remove dirt and dust, and then pick through them to remove any tiny rocks or debris.
- The cooking time I’ve indicated in this recipe is the standard time for appropriately aged green and brown lentils. Unfortunately, when buying off the grocery shelf, you have no idea how long they’ve been sitting there or what kind of conditions they’ve been exposed to. Sometimes, lentils are less “fresh” than we’d like, and they take longer to cook to a tender bite. And sometimes they never reach that tender bite. Check the package for an expiration date before buying.
- As I mentioned above, the spice level of green curry paste can vary wildly from brand to brand. If you’re new to it, my advice is to read the reviews before buying a brand, and then taste it before measuring out for the soup. Use your best judgment as to how much, depending on who you’re making the soup for. For the photos and video here, I used the entire jar of the mild Thai Kitchen brand.
How to Make Green Curry Lentil Soup
Ready to make the recipe? Skip to the recipe card now to see the full ingredient list, quantities, prep/cooking times, and printable, detailed instructions. Or, keep scrolling for a visual walk-through of making the soup.
Prep notes
Here’s a quick guide for prepping the ingredients, if you need it (not including anything that simply needs to be measured out of a container, such as dried herbs and liquids).
- Slice the onion in half, then peel and dice, discarding the root or stem end.
- Clean the spinach leaves and pat dry, then roughly chop. I also like to remove any long stems. They’re perfectly edible, but have a weird texture in soup.
- Chop the smoked sausage link into small cubes. I usually slice the rope in half lengthwise, then in half once again, and chop across to create the cubes.
- Scrub the sweet potato and chop into 1/2″ cubes. It’s up to you whether you peel the potato first or not. If I know the source (such as my backyard) I usually leave the peel.
- Clean the green onion well to remove any loose dirt, cut off and discard the root end, and then slice thinly. All the parts are good, from white to light green to dark green.
- Pluck the cilantro leaves off the stems, rinse well, pat dry, and then mince.
Step 1: Saute the aromatics
Cook the onions, smoked sausage, and sweet potatoes in little oil until the onions have softened and the sausage takes on golden edges.
Step 2: Add the seasonings and lentils
Stir in the curry paste, ginger, and garlic and mix well. Pour in the lentils and broth.
Step 3: Cook and finish the soup
Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and cover partially with a lid. Stir once or two during the cook to ensure the lentils don’t stick to the bottom. Reduce heat to low and stir in the coconut milk, spinach, and cilantro. Let warm through and serve with a topping of green onions!
Storing
Green Curry Lentil Soup stores beautifully in both the fridge, for lunch leftovers, and the freezer, for future meals. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer.
This is one of those soups that feels like a warm hug in a bowl: spicy, savory, and oh-so-satisfying. Whether you serve it as a weeknight dinner or prep it ahead for easy lunches, it’s bound to become a favorite. If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment below or tag @SoupAddict in your social posts.
Green Curry Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 onion , diced
- 1 small sweet potato (about 8 ounces), scrubbed and cut into 1/2″ cubes
- 7 ounces smoked sausage (1/2 rope), diced
- 2-4 tablespoons Thai green curry paste*
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste (or 1″ piece fresh ginger, minced)
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 3/4 cup green or brown lentils , rinsed and picked over for debris
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 14 ounces unsweetened canned coconut milk
- 1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves , chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
- 1 green onion , sliced
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a 4-quart soup pot or Dutch oven over medium until the surface shimmers. Add the onions, sweet potatoes, and smoke sausage and saute until the onions have softened and the smoked sausage has cooked through (about 10 minutes).
- Spoon in the green curry paste, ginger, and garlic and mix well for a few minutes, letting the curry paste become fragrant.
- Add the lentils and broth and increase the heat to bring the soup to a gentle simmer. Give everything a good stir, making sure the ingredients are covering by the liquids. Set a lid slightly ajar on the pot (to let steam escape) and cook for 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through, scraping the bottom to ensure nothing is sticking to it.
- At the 20-minute mark, take a small spoonful of lentils and carefully taste (it’s hot!) for lentil doneness. They should be tender and not chewy. If they need 5 more minutes, check the liquid levels, cover ajar, and continue cooking.
- Reduce heat to low.
- Stir in coconut milk and spinach leaves. Let heat until the spinach has wilted.
- Before serving, top with the cilantro and green onions.