An easy recipe for instant pot sweet potato lentil curry. This comfort food is the perfect weeknight dinner for anyone who loves sweet potatoes, curry or lentils.
This pressure cooker sweet potato lentil curry requires little preparation. You could almost call it a drop and go recipe!
It’s a quick and easy Instant Pot recipe that does not disappoint – 10-minute prep + 10-minute cooking time (including sautéing and 4-minute pressure cooking). If you add the time needed for the pot come to the pressure and a few minutes waiting time to release its pressure, your dinner will be ready in 30 minutes.
This easy vegetarian Instant Pot dinner recipe can be also turned into vegan if you use vegan curry paste (this easy red curry paste recipe from Minimalist Baker sounds delicious).
What to serve Instant Pot sweet potato lentil curry with?
Rice is typically served with curry dishes. Naan bread (Have you ever tried making homemade naan bread), Sweet Potato Flatbread (on the pictures) or quinoa are also delicious options.
The optional add-ons can vary but my favorites are avocados, sweetcorn, chilies and parsley.
How to make sweet potato lentil curry in Instant Pot
Turn on the saute function on your Instant Pot and pour in the olive oil. Add finely chopped onion and saute until translucent. Throw in minced garlic and stir for a minute.
At this stage, you can turn off the saute function. Now it’s time to add the rest of the ingredients: lentils, coconut milk, water, curry paste, turmeric, cumin, salt, ginger, tomato pasatta and concentrated tomato paste (some might call it tomato puree) & sweet potato.
It does not matter in what order you decide to add these ingredients as long as you give everything a good stir before locking the lid in its position.
Instant Pot sweet potato lentil curry is cooked under pressure for 4 minutes only! But remember, there is also time that the pot needs to build the pressure and then release its pressure. Check the recipe notes in the recipe card for more information.
Instant Pot lovers! I have more Easy Instant Pot Recipes on my blog. Here is a few you might also like:
- Instant Pot Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Instant Pot Chicken Lentil Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Curry with Pineapple
- Instant Pot Zucchini Mushroom Risotto
- Instant Pot Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms
Tips for making Instant Pot sweet potato lentil curry
- If you want to add more protein to this dish, I recommend using cooked and drained chickpea. The chickpeas should keep their shape and should not turn mushy (they did when I added them to mine).
- Sweet potato will turn mushy so it is important that you cut it into large chunks. If you don’t like turning the sweet potatoes mushy, I recommend cooking them separately on a stove top and adding them to your at the very end.
- I use extra virgin olive oil in cooking a lot. Now in this recipe, it can be easily substituted with cooking olive oil, vegetable or sunflower oil.
- This Instant Pot sweet potato lentil curry is delicious on its own but I like adding some toppings, if I have some in the pantry. These include sweetcorn (cooked/grilled corn on the cob would work well too), avocado, a few chilies, cooked quinoa, parsley or cilantro. These toppings are completely optional and don’t need to be used at all. Like I have already mentioned, you will fall in love with this Instant Pot sweet potato lentil curry with or without them!
- Lentils – I normally use brown lentils to make this recipe. Green lentils can also be used. I don’t have experience with French green lentils though. As for red lentils, I don’t usually use them in cooking as they are expensive. They also lose the nice color after cooking so I go for the cheaper option – the brown ones. I don’t recommend using split lentils, neither fast-cook lentils.
Want to see how to make Instant Pot Sweet Potato Curry? Watch the video!
Instant Pot Sweet Potato Lentil Curry
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion (large), finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove , pressed (see note 1)
- 1 cup uncooked lentils (see note 2)
- 1 large sweet potato (1 pound/450 grams)
- 13 ounces coconut milk (400 ml)
- 13 ounces tomato passatta (400 ml)
- 3 teaspoons Thai curry paste
- 2 tablespoons concentrated tomato puree
- 1 teaspoons turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoons cumin powder
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoons ginger
Optional extras:
- avocado
- parsley
- chili
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Instructions
- Turn on the SAUTE function on your instant pot. Add in the olive oil and finely chopped onion. Saute until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Now add the pressed garlic and stir around for about a minute.
- Turn off the SAUTE function. Add the rest of the ingredients + 1½ cup of water. Lock the lid in its position and turn the steam valve to SEALING. Press MANUAL (pressure cooking) and adjust the time to 4 minutes.
- When the cooking cycle is finished, wait 10 minutes before manually releasing the pressure.
- Serve warm with rice, quinoa, naan bread or flatbread.
- Optional add-ons: avocado, sweetcorn, parsley, chili.
Video
Notes
- If you don’t have a garlic press, you can finely mince the garlic with a knife.
- Make sure to use ordinary brown or green lentils and not the quick-cook ones for this recipe.
- This recipe was developed for a 6-quart/6-liter instant pot.
- The overall time does not include the time needed for the pot to come to pressure and release its pressure. Count with an extra 22 minutes in this case.
- Extra virgin olive oil can be substituted with cooking olive oil, vegetable oil or sunflower oil.
Jenni LeBaron says
This looks so hearty and flavorful. I love that you’ve included an additional option for extra protein that won’t lose it’s shape under pressure and that this dish all cooks right in my pressure cooker for easy prep and cleanup!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Jenni :)
Jill says
So colorful and healthy. This curry looks so delicious. And of course I love how quick and easy it is to make!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Jill! Hope you give it a go!
Dannii says
I love sweet potato and lentil curry and it looks so easy doing it in an instant pot.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
It is easy indeed, Dannii :)
Lisa Bynum says
I saw this on Instagram and thought it looks amazing! I just recently got an Instant Pot. I’m collecting new recipes wherever I can find them,
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Lisa. I love my Instant Pot. I cook in it at least twice per week :)
Ginny McMeans says
Oh, boy! An IP curry recipe that is straight-up vegan! This sounds so delicious and I can be eating in no time. I’ve got all the ingredients so I am very happy. Thanks!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Ginny, I am not sure if the Thai curry paste is vegan. I think there is fish oil in it.
Nicole says
I can’t eat coconut milk – is there a substitute?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
I only use coconut milk here but I would say that half and half could be used as a substitution. Let me know how it turned out for you if you try!
Nadja says
This definitely needed an extra minute or two. The lentils were still a bit hard after 4 minutes cooking and 10 minutes release. On the plus side, it only took 15 minutes to come to pressure instead of 22.
Otherwise a pretty good recipe. Served with basmati rice, made perfectly in the instant pot :)
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
I have noticed lately that the cooking time of lentils vary from brand to brand so this may be the reason why the lentils were still a bit hard.
Megan says
I want to make this for a large group of people… can i just double or triple the recipe or should i make it in batches? I loved it the first time i made it!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hey Megan, I am not sure about doubling it but I would not triple it as the pot should not be overfilled, especially when making things like curry. If you have the 8-quart instant pot I think you could double it. Hope this helps.
Kiley says
I’ve had success doubling it in the 8-qt, you just have to be careful to avoid the burn warning. I stir it until I see quite a bit of steam before sealing during the pressure cook setting.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks for letting us know, Kiley!
Summer says
HI
Looking at the ingredients list and I don’t have the tomato passatta. What would you recommend in its place? Diced tomatoes? Thank you.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Summer. Sorry for the late reply – yes, diced tomatoes will work but I find that they are not as flavorful a the passatta so you might need to adjust the seasoning at the very end. Hope this helps.
Trevor says
I really enjoy this recipe but it makes the instant pot give me the burn warning every single time. Any advice?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Trevor. I have no idea why as it has never happened to me. It seems that there is not enough liquid which is not the case here. Try to give everything a good mix so the liquid gets to the bottom of the pot. You could also add more liquid (coconut milk, tomato passata) but you might need to add more seasoning. Hope this helps.
Andrea says
I tried it several times and kept getting the burn notice as well. Can’t figure out why as I had plenty of liquid. Good flavors though!
Kiley says
I would suggest you don’t put the lid on immediately after hitting pressure cook. The pot will start to heat up, even with the lid removed. Stir occasionally until you see steam and then put the lid on, that should do the trick.
Jen says
I make this recipe all the time for my family. We all really enjoy it. It’s easy to throw together and I’ve never had a problem with it (lentils always cook just right and I’ve never had the burn notice). The leftovers also freeze well.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Jen. Thank you so much for finding time to comment. Hope you enjoy some of our other easy instant pot recipes. Happy Cooking!