This sweet potato and coconut milk stew is a glowing shade of orange with vibrant pops of green from kale and cilantro. We use lots of chili and ginger in this vibrant vegan stew, along with a bunch of other spices. The flavor profile, spice combination, and recipe itself is inspired by Indian cuisine as well as Thai coconut milk-based curries. You get sweetness, spice, earthy vibes, creaminess, texture from the lentils, and a squeeze of lime rounds everything out. Fans of this will love my butternut squash stew with chickpeas & kale, which was inspired by this recipe!
The First Mess Cookbook
There is plenty of seasonal, plant-based soup and stew inspiration in my cookbook. You’ll also find vegan dinners, hearty salads and sides, and wholesome desserts.
If you count common spices as one component, this sweet potato coconut milk stew hits at around 10 ingredients. It’s very simple to make, definitely hearty, and accommodating for different dietary sensitivities. If a stew could have it all, this would be IT.
For my taste, it has just the right amount of richness from coconut milk–a real flavor bomb with a deep wholesome glow. Just the kinda thing I’m after lately. I love making it with homemade vegetable stock, but it’s not 100% necessary.
For a quicker, still satiating and flavorful lentil soup with greens, I recommend checking out my Lemony Red Lentil Soup. Just like this recipe, it’s loaded with spices and finished with zingy citrus. Another dinner recipe with similar flavors is my Harissa Coconut Lentils with Kale & Roasted Sweet Potatoes.
This remains one of the most popular recipes on the site and as you’ll see from the hundreds of reviews, it does well with a bit of improvisation! Using whatever greens you have on hand and any odds and ends works well because it has such robust flavor base.
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Ginger Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Stew with Lentils and Kale
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
Notes
- Coconut milk is naturally sweet and so are sweet potatoes. I like to go in with a lot of dried chili to balance things out, but of course add as much as you feel comfortable with.
- Chard or mustard greens would also be delicious in place of the kale.
Instructions
- 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).
My new favorite soup!!! Thank you for this recipe! I’ve made it a handful of times since finding it a few months ago and am obsessed. Super delicious exactly as it’s written. Everyone who has tasted it also loves it. The cilantro and lime squeezed on top at the end is a must. I also eat it with garlic naan bread.
I love this recipe but I am developing a coconut allergy and I have to stop adding the coconut milk. Is there anything I could use to replace it? I am not dairy free, so I am thinking of adding cream. I will miss the coconut flavor dearly.
Hi Wren,
Cream will work just fine here. You can probably get away with using less though–about 1 cup/250mL should do it. And you can just swap the coconut oil with olive oil.
-L
Such a delicious recipe!! Really hits the spot during cold weather. I made this as written the first time and loved it. I made it again last night with some tweaks after perusing the comment section, and loved it even more! I had a butternut squash I needed to use up so I used that instead of sweet potatoes – I loved the way the squash partially melted into the soup and helped thicken the broth. I also doubled the spices, used half as much coconut milk, and stirred some lime juice (about 1 tablespoon per batch) and cilantro into the pot at the very end. I also served with Frank’s hot sauce because I am obsessed, lol. The flavors were so, so good. You will not regret making a double batch of this!!
This is one my favorite recipes! I’ve made it multiple times. I’ve made it exactly as written and also made it with substitutions when I don’t have ingredients on hand but I’m craving it! – for example I did purple sweet potatoes and ground turkey. It comes out amazing each and every time!
This was excellent! I didn’t have kale si used spinach but followed recipe for everything else! The amount of lentils was just perfect- added filling but did not overwhelm the sweet potato and ginger. Will definitely be making again and again!