thai red lentil stew

I’m not gonna lie to y’all. This stew is not visually appealing….especially if you reheat it. I’m not sure where I got the idea to make this, but it tastes really good! The Thai red curry paste, which includes lemongrass, gives the dish a bright, somewhat tangy flavor. It’s like a ray of sunshine.

If you’ve never worked with red lentils before, know that they get mushy when cooked. The texture isn’t off-putting in the mouth, but definitely not beautiful. If you give this a try, I’d love to know what you thought.

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1/2 Tbs minced garlic

1, 8-oz package sliced Cremini mushrooms

4 cups chicken broth

1 tsp smoked or Kosher salt

1/4 cup Thai red curry paste, or more for more profound flavor (I used the Blue Dragon brand)

8 petite Yukon gold potatoes, quartered

1 Tbs butter-flavored olive oil or ghee

3 cups baby spinach leaves

Instructions:

  1. Using the saute function of the Instant Pot, cook onion and garlic in the olive oil or ghee.

  2. Add the salt, lentils, mushrooms, potatoes, curry paste and broth. Make sure the broth covers the contents. Stir to combine.

  3. Use the Soup/Stew function of the Instant Pot to cook the stew on high pressure for 4 minutes.

  4. Once the cooking cycle completes, release the pressure on the instant pot and allow complete decompression.

  5. Remove lid from instant pot and stir in the spinach leaves to wilt.

  6. Serve immediately.

    Note: The stew is pretty thick, but you can dilute it with some heated chicken broth and then serve over rice. I chose not to do this since I already had a starch (potatoes) in the stew.