Ginger Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Stew with Lentils and Kale

Ginger sweet potato and coconut milk stew is super flavorful, beautiful, and extra hearty with kale and lentils. Ready in about an hour!

Prep time: PT20M

Cook time: PT45M

Total time: PT65M

Rating

4.99 stars (611 reviews)

Keywords

chili, cilantro, coconut milk, coriander, cumin, curry, fall, kale, lentils, sweet potato, turmeric, winter

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 medium yellow onion, small dice
½-1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1 ½ lbs (690 grams) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
½ cup dry brown lentils, picked over
4 cups vegetable stock
13.5 oz (400 ml) can full fat coconut milk
1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped (about 4 packed cups of chopped kale)
To garnish: chopped cilantro, extra chili flakes, lime wedges, nigella seeds

Cuisine

Dairy-free
Gluten-Free
Vegan
Vegetarian

Steps

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the coconut oil to the pot and let it melt. Add the onions to the pot and stir. Saute the onions, stirring occasionally, until translucent and quite soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chili flakes, coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Saute spices until very fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the ginger and garlic to the pot and cook for another minute. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
Add the sweet potatoes to the pot and stir to coat in the spices. Add the lentils to the pot and stir once more. Season everything liberally with salt and pepper. Add the vegetable stock and stir, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Place the lid on top of the pot and bring to a boil.
Once the stew is boiling, lower the heat to a simmer. Keep simmering until the sweet potatoes are almost falling apart and the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. The liquid should also be reduced by almost a third.
Add the coconut milk and kale to the pot and stir. Place the lid on top and continue to simmer the stew until the kale is wilted and bright green, about 3-4 minutes. Season the sweet potato and coconut milk stew again with salt and pepper. Bring the stew back up to a strong simmer and check for seasoning. Adjust with more salt, pepper, chili etc. if necessary.
Serve the sweet potato and coconut milk stew hot with chopped cilantro, extra chili flakes, lime wedges to squeeze on top, and Nigella seeds (if using).

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 sixth of the recipe
Calories: 305 kcal
Carbohydrates: 35.5 g
Protein: 7.25 g
Fat: 14.6 g
Saturated Fat: 12 g
Sugar: 10 g

Reviews

Lyddie on 2025-11-09 (5 stars):
I cannot stop eating this. So delicious and so easy!!
Andrea Locke on 2025-11-06 (5 stars):
Soup is excellent and I’ll make it again!
Sarah on 2025-10-28 (5 stars):
I made this for the first time in a long time. I forgot how great it is. So easy. So delicious.
Kim Wilson on 2025-10-15 (5 stars):
This is about the 5th or 6th time I've made this soup. Extremely flavorful with an interesting combination of herbs and spices. The coconut milk rounds it off very nicely. Great on a chilly fall or cold snowy winter day! I'll be making this again and again and...
Shannon on 2025-10-13 (5 stars):
Brilliant- thanks so much!!
bigpict on 2025-10-10 (5 stars):
this looks fantastic... and perfect for the gray Fall day. thank you!
Cat on 2025-10-07 (5 stars):
Delicious! I started this in a saucepan and then switched it over to the slow cooker for the afternoon. I like to cook it so the potato disintegrates - this makes it definately a stew/curry as opposed to a soup. I only used half a can of coconut milk in addition to stock so it’s nice and thick. I also increased lentils to 3/4 cup.
Shannon on 2025-10-07 (5 stars):
Loving this! Could I make this in a crockpot? I wanna make it for work
Sai on 2025-09-22 (4 stars):
Wow this was tasty. Like other reviewers, I thought it needed more spices. I doubled the spices initially but I probably should’ve tripled them since I still had to add more at the end. I also doubled the lentils and added garam masala and lime juice to help balance the sweetness. All that aside, I’ll absolutely be making this again!!
Ioana on 2025-09-22 (5 stars):
Hello, This looks amazing! Can we use red lentils? Thank you Ioana
KT on 2025-09-21 (4 stars):
I'd call this more of a soup than a stew because as is, the recipe has way to much liquid to be considered stew. However, this is delicious after a few tweaks. I double the cumin, coriander, and turmeric. I also add more sweet potato or butternut squash and whatever other veg I have on hand... peppers, cauliflower, etc to prevent it from being full on soup. The flavour is amazing and it's actually a stew after those tweaks.
WAYNE on 2025-09-09 (5 stars):
This looks wonderful, but I love red lentils for the protein they pack. Can you use them instead?