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Dinner winner! This is such a great Instant Pot recipe. It’s delicious for the whole family, which is such a win. Thank you!
Kristen Johnson
If your picture of fall does not involve butternut squash and red lentils and cauliflower cooked in a coconut-creamy red curry sauce and poured over a mini-mountain of steamy rice, are we even friends?
I’m not even sure where to start. This curry is cozy beyond cozy. There’s just enough curry paste to make your tastebuds perk up, and the texture is creamy, but still with some tender veggie pieces intact, and it’s all just so yummy.
Also: it is totally vegan, gluten free, dairy free, full of vegetables, all the things. And somehow it was still the container of leftovers that I found myself reaching for all week amidst cheesy pastas and meaty leftovers.
Hello, unicorn: healthy, delicious, seriously ridiculously easy.
Making The Instant Pot Cauliflower Curry Magic
Everybody in!
Cook for 5 minutes and give it a stir.
The end!
Oh, The Things You Can Do With Instant Pot Cauliflower Curry
- You can serve it over rice, with naan, or just… plain, I guess? Like a stew?
- You can make it more or less spicy with the addition of hot sauce, cayenne, etc. My daughter loved the non-spicy stuff right out of the Instant Pot, but we added some heat for the adults.
- You can saute the onions and garlic first to get the most out of your aromatics. I did this once and it was great.
- You can use dried onion and garlic, because sometimes chopping all that up is just… a lot.
- You can use fresh cauliflower and squash.
- You can use frozen cauliflower and squash.
- You can add fresh ginger, fresh basil, fresh lime juice… anything to make it pop a little bit.
- You can add other vegetables – greens like spinach or kale added after cook time are especially good.
- You can add other protein like tofu or chicken.
- You can freeze it! I like to freeze it uncooked, and then just transfer the whole frozen container of stuff to the Instant Pot.
- You can use the stovetop instead – see recipe notes.
This food – this entire fall season, this back-to-cooking routine, this type of recipe – this stuff gets me REAL excited. And I didn’t expect to fall so hard and fast for one of my first fall recipes, but here we are.
Whatever you’re doing in your life right now… it’s a straight up guarantee that you could benefit from some Instant Pot cauliflower curry.
This recipe was inspired by my friend Angela at Oh She Glows! You can check out her original recipe here.
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Instant Pot Cauliflower Curry:
Instant Pot Cauliflower Curry
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot Cauliflower Curry! Tender cauliflower, butternut squash, and red lentils cooked in a coconut-creamy red curry sauce and poured over a mini-mountain of steamy rice. YUM.
Ingredients
- half of an onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 cups squash, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
- 1 14–ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Immediately release the pressure to prevent overcooking the veggies.
- Stir and season with more salt, or something spicy if you want. Give it a few minutes to cool and thicken slightly. Serve with rice. The end! It’s SO GOOD.
Notes
The vegetables will slightly break down, and red lentils are naturally kind of soupy, so the combo creates kind of a semi-pureed texture which is really, really yummy (and doesn’t require a blender).
If you use frozen vegetables, they get mushy faster, so I’d recommend cooking for more like 4 minutes instead of 5!
To make this on the stovetop: saute the onion and garlic in a little bit of olive oil, add vegetables, lentils, and liquids, and simmer for 10 minutes or until everything is tender. Keep over low heat to let it gradually thicken as the vegetables break down, or use an immersion blender to get a semi-pureed texture.
If you are strictly vegan, the Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste (our fav!) is vegan-friendly. (affiliate link)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Thai-Inspired
Keywords: vegan curry, vegetarian curry, Instant Pot curry, cauliflower curry
Make It A Freezer Meal!
Freeze Together:
- half of an onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 2 cups butternut squash, cubed
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 3 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- one 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
To Cook:
INSTANT POT: From frozen, add 1 cup water before cooking. High pressure for 6 mins + quick release.
SLOW COOKER: Add 1 cup water before cooking. High setting for 4 hours.
FINAL STEP: Serve with rice and cilantro!
View more healthy freezer meals here!
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best Instant Pot recipes page. Check it out!
Saw this recipe and I couldn’t wait to make it.
Got my sister to pick up the red curry paste for me and — Walla –.
Didn’t disappoint us.
I made 1 for now and a dump bag for freezer.
Can easily enjoy it then as well.
Very good. I’ve been making a very similar recipe for a few years from another blogger. When I saw you post this, I wanted to try your version as we like many of your recipes. Very good. Will keep this one on file. – thanks
I am thinking about making this off-grid (lol) so I would make in a dutch oven and won’t have access to an immersion blender — will the texture and flavors not be it or do you think this would be fine?
I don’t usually comment but I felt the need to because I think 5 minutes is too long in the instant pot. It made my vegetables. Mush
I have tried your taco recipes though.And your sauces and they’re all good.
Love this recipe, made it plenty of times in my old pressure cooker (not instant pot brand).
I recently bought an Instant Pot Pro, and I got the burn message. Any ideas what is going wrong? Do I need to layer and not stir?
Yummy!! I love easy recipes that are so good. I didn’t realize I was out of red curry paste until I had chopped everything so I subbed harissa paste. Still good!! This will be on repeat this summer as it’s already too hot to use the stove.
This was delicious! I’d like to add garbanzo beans, if possible. When could I add them so they don’t become too mushy?
I think the garbanzo beans would do ok if you add them in Step 1 and cook for the 5 minutes. Adding them in step 2 would work too though!
The weather has turned so it’s the perfect time of year for this curry! It’s always a hit around here for the kids and adults. Just have to make sure the toddler is wearing a bib because she eats it by the fistful.
This was SO good! I sautéed the onion and garlic and added ginger as well. Topped with lime and cilantro at the end. I love how simple and delicious it was! My baby also enjoyed which is a bonus!
In the Southern coastal part of India, where I belong, coconut milk/grated coconut in the curries is a hit. This addition of coconut gives a unique flavor to the dish and makes the texture creamy.
This recipe looks very delicious. I am surely going to try this 🙂
Delicious! Amazing! Going on the rotation. I was too lazy to deal with squash, so I used carrots. I also doubled the cauliflower.
If I have a regular pressure cooker (not instant pot brand), would the cook time still be the same? Thanks!
We’ve never used a manual one, but would assume so if it’s high pressure!
Wow, this one is the finest and cool recipe I’ve ever seen
Hi! I made this using the Freezer Directions last week and am ready to cook today…….do I need to thaw before cooking? Or can it go right into the Instant Pot frozen? Thanks!
It can go right in frozen!
This was a very handy recipe to stumble upon late Thursday night and used up a lot of stuff lingering in my pantry/fridge.
It’s definitely tastier the second day, and the seasonings could definitely use a boost. Next time I’d probably add some cumin, coriander, and chili powder to the pot, and when it’s done cooking add a drained tin of garbanzo beans and a squish of lime juice.
Hello! This looks amazing!
I am meal prepping for baby and was thinking of adding chicken breast to this recipe – if I do the freezer version, should I add the chicken raw or cooked? And then does that affect the insta pot cook time??
This is so simple, yet packed with flavors!! Perfect for a cold rainy night. I added a little fish sauce and fresh lime juice at the end to kick it up a little. Thanks for another great recipe!!
The lentils go in dry, right? I’m having a hard time envisioning them cooking in 5-minutes but the instant pot magic also never ceases to amaze. 😉
Yes, dry! 😉
This recipe was amazing, easy and healthy and all I can say is Pinch of Yum, once again, hits it out of the park. I already am looking forward to my leftovers for tomorrows lunch. By the way, my husband was a bit skeptical and he kept going back for more. This is a KEEPER!!!!
Omg, so delicious! Had a bunch of chopped cauliflower to use and am so glad to have found your recipe!! Thankfully I had all the ingredients (last of my lentils & curry paste, tho!). My husband pan fried some fish and it went great w this dish. Thanks for the double recipe too!
I made this as per the recipe and it was terrific. Easy, tasty, healthy. Kept some out and stuck some in the freezer. Great recipe.
Do I need to alter the instructions for multiplying the recipe for 12 servings and cooking it in an 8qt Instant Pot? It should come out the same, right?
Cook time and everything else should be the same if you’re doubling the recipe. Enjoy!
I made this with the exception of using sweet potatoes instead of squash. And I had no red curry paste so substituted curry powder and garam masala. Sooo good! And easy with using the instant pot. I was a little worried that the lentils wouldn’t cook but they cooked beautifully to a porridge consistency. The veggies weren’t overdone, I followed the five minute instructions and then quick release. This is a new favorite – so easy and flavorful!
I subbed sweet potatoes for the butternut squash, brown rice for the lentils, and curry powder for the paste, added chickpeas and it was delicious. Oh, and I didn’t have garlic or onion so did powdered for both.
Really loved this. Super easy and very flavorful as written. I wonder if some of the variation in reviews has to do with different brands of curry paste since that’s where much of the flavor comes from.