Instant Pot Curry
Published 9/19/2022
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If you’re looking for a quick and healthy dinner to make, you will love this Instant Pot curry recipe made with sweet potatoes, lentils, and kale.
Instant Pot Curry with Sweet Potatoes, Lentils, and Kale
We are huge fans of healthy Instant Pot recipes because they’re fast to make, easy to prepare, and a great way to meal prep for the week.
Get your veg in with this delicious and flavorful Instant Pot Curry. It packs in all the veggies, protein, and fiber all thanks to sweet potatoes, lentils, and kale.
For this recipe you only need less than 30 minutes from start to finish and you’ll have a healthy dinner ready for you and your family.
Featured Ingredients
Spices
- Curry powder: you’ll need a full tablespoon of curry powder for this recipe.
- Ginger powder: we used dried ginger powder, but you can also use freshly grated ginger.
Veggies
- Sweet potato: sweet potato is a complex carb and adds so much flavor and texture. You can also use normal potatoes or butternut squash instead,
- Onion: onion is a great base flavor for curry.
- Kale: kale is a great green to add to Instant Pot curry.
Legumes
- Lentils: dried lentils add both protein and fiber. You can also use dried split peas as well.
Other
- Coconut milk: full-fat coconut milk compliments ginger and curry quite nicely and is the liquid base of this curry.
- Hot sauce: hot sauce is optional, but adds a great amount of heat to every bite.
- Maple syrup: a splash of maple syrup adds just the right amount of sugar to bring out all of the yummy curry flavors.
How to Make Instant Pot Curry
Saute
Add olive oil to your Instant Pot and turn on the saute feature. Next, add in diced onion and spices and saute until fragrant. Turn off saute feature.
Add and Cook
Add water, sweet potato, carrots, ,and lentils and mix.
Then seal your Instant Pot and turn to high pressure. Set timer for 1 minute. Let your Instant Pot build up (this might take a few minutes). Once it starts counting down, you’ll hear it beep after just one minute…it’s almost done! Let it naturally release for 3 minutes before manually turning the valve to quick release.
Add Final Ingredients & Serve
Open your Instant Pot and give it a quick stir. Add in your kale and full-fat coconut milk and stir one more time! Serve on your favorite grain or cauliflower rice!
Storage
Store leftover curry in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
How to Freeze
Let the curry cool completely. Then, transfer it into an airtight container and seal it. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Instant Pot Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 cups water
- 2 sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup red lentils or dried split peas
- 1.5 teaspoons fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1 cup chopped kale, stems removed
- optional: 1/2 tablespoon Frank’s hot sauce
- optional: 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Press Sauté and add the olive oil to the Instant Pot. Once the oil is hot but not smoking, add the onion, curry powder, and ginger and stir just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Press Cancel to stop the cooking cycle.
- Add the water and use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot, making sure nothing has stuck. Add the sweet potatoes, carrots, lentils, salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Stir well to ensure the lentils are covered in water, then secure the lid and move the steam release valve to Sealing. Select Manual/Pressure Cook to cook on high pressure for 1 minute.
- When the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure naturally release for 3 minutes, then move the steam release valve to Venting. When the floating valve drops, remove the lid and add the coconut milk and kale. Stir until the kale has wilted, about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed, adding the hot sauce or maple syrup if you want it hotter or sweeter!
- Serve the curry warm over the grain of your choice and garnished with the cilantro. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week.
Tips & Notes
- Red lentils cook much faster than other varieties, so I don’t recommend swapping them for green or brown lentils here. You would have to increase the cooking time, which would overcook the other vegetables.
- Nutrition does not include grain of choice.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook
This recipe was first seen in the Fresh and Healthy Instant Pot. Megan is the queen of vegan and paleo recipes and her cookbook for sure doesn’t disappoint! All 75 of these recipes are gluten-free and refined-sugar-free, making for 75 easy recipes for light meals to make in your Instant Pot!
We chose to make her sweet potato curry recipe because 1. we are sweet potato obsessed and 2. I never say no to curry! (I mean have you made our coconut curry chicken yet?). I also know that a lot of you have been looking for more vegan Instant Pot recipes to make and this one fits the bill perfectly!
Before we jump into the recipe, check out The Fresh and Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook on Amazon, Target, and Barnes and Noble!
In my family of 4, only I thought this way okay. My husband who literally eats canned tuna inside mac and cheese with a can of crushed tomatoes thought this was awful. He couldnt even eat it…. definitely not yummy as I had wished.
This recipe is delicious! I’ve had my IP for about 3 months now, it was very exciting when the UK started stocking them! I’ve explored a few curry recipes, but this by far is my favourite! The perfect consistency when using red lentils.
I’ll be trying some more of your recipes over the coming weeks!
Glad you loved this!
I didn’t trust you with the one minute and made it two and was wrong, you were right (of course), lol but it was still delicious and I will definitely make this one again, and follow your actual directions. We used both maple syrup and hot sauce and it was a perfect sweet/hot combo.
😛 Glad you still loved it!!!!
Hahaha I’m also doing the recipe now and didn’t trust the 1 minute… happy I did it anyways! Can’t wait to taste it :).
I am glad you posted this because I too was wondering about that 1 min … but I will do as you recommend and follow the recipe !
This was delicious! 🙂
Can you substitute almond milk for the coconut milk?
Hey Shelly! I wouldn’t substitute anything for the coconut milk. It’s the basis of the sauce and really makes the flavor!
Can I double this recipe if needed?
So good and filling on a cold night! First time I’ve made curry and my kids ate it up! Thanks much!
Mike H.
So easy and soooo delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
This recipe marked the maiden voyage of my new instant pot. I chose this because it looked similar to my favorite Curry and I wanted to compare it. It was so easy, so fast, and SO GOOD!! Will be bookmarking to use again, thanks!!
YASSS! So glad you had a great first experience with your IP!
I’ve made this recipe weekly for my lunches, it is sooooooo good! Nourishing, satisfying, and so perfect for vegan lunches in the cold months! Thank you for the great recipe!