There is something so comforting about the combination of sweet onion and warm curry spices with lentils and rice and tangy, creamy yogurt. Brown rice and green lentils get pressure cooked in a curry spiced aromatic broth to create a flavorful plant-based dinner. It’s packed with whole grains, fiber, plant protein, and a dose of (optional) greens. Plus, we’re using the blender here to finely chop both our aromatics and kale to save on time and energy. It all gets topped with cooling tangy yogurt, bright citrus, and crunchy nuts for a delicious combination of textures and flavors.
If you’re looking for a stovetop option, this Spiced Lentils and Rice with Garlicky Yogurt is a similar older recipe that still remains a favorite.
Note: the pressure cook time totals around 40 minutes (10 minutes to come to pressure, 15 minutes cooking, 15 minutes natural release). This is all hands off!
Ingredient highlight
Lentils! My favorite small but mighty pulse! They are packed full of protein, fiber, , iron, zinc, potassium, and B vitamins. One half cup of uncooked lentils (or about 1 ¼ cup cooked) contains 24g of protein.
Servings 4 -6
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cook Time 45 minutes Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion peeled and quartered*
- 1-2 carrots about 6 oz, trimmed, quartered*
- 3 cloves garlic*
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt divided
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup short grain brown rice
- 1 cup green lentils
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- ½-1 bunch kale stems removed, finely chopped (about 1-2 cups blended)(optional)
- Chopped fresh herbs parsley, cilantro and/or scallions, for topping
- Chopped toasted almonds for topping
For the lemony yogurt:**
- 1 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp lemon or lime juice
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- *We’re using the blender to chop up all of our veggies. Alternatively, you can chop finely by hand.
- **Alternatively, you can just top with a generous dollop of yogurt and hefty squeeze of lemon or lime.
- Add animal protein! ~ I love topping this with mini beef or lamb patties. Just pan-fry small patties seasoned with salt and pepper. I do this often to meal prep protein for the week.
Instructions
- In a high speed blender or food processor, add the onion and blend until finely or roughly chopped, using a tamper tool to encourage blending. Add the carrots and garlic and repeat until everything is chopped up (if there are any random large chunks, you can just chop by hand).
- In a 6-qt Instant Pot, press the “saute” button and set it to “high” or “more”. Once hot, add the oil, chopped onion mixture, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, aromatic, and most of the water has been cooked out, about 5 minutes (if you have time, cooking this for 10 minutes will give you a deeper flavor).
- Add curry powder, turmeric, black pepper, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds to toast the spices. Press “cancel”, then stir in the water, rice, lentils, soy sauce, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt.
- Cover with the lid, set the valve to “sealing”, and pressure cook on high for 15 minutes. Once the timer goes off, let it naturally release for 15 minutes, then manually release the rest of the pressure by turning the valve to “venting”.
- Meanwhile, rinse out your blender and add your kale or greens (if using). Blend until finely chopped, using the tamper tool to help it blend. Add the greens to the Instant Pot and fluff/mix it in. The residual heat will wilt the greens.
- In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, lemon or lime, and salt until smooth.
- Serve warm topped with lemony yogurt, herbs, and nuts.
Stovetop instructions:
- Follow the recipe as is, but increase the water to 4 cups and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through. I'm basing this off of this recipe!
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Toast and chop nuts for topping
- Chop herbs for topping
- Chop up the onion, carrot, and garlic in the blender
- Blend up the kale (if using)
- Cook the lentils and rice ahead
- Make the yogurt sauce
Substitutions:
- You could use jasmine rice in place of brown (that was how I originally tested it), the rice will just turn out a bit mushy but I actually love it that way too. Just reduce the pressure cook time to 10 minutes with a 10 minute natural release.
- To make vegan, use a vegan yogurt alternative.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up leftover lentils/rice in the microwave until warmed through. Top with lots of yogurt sauce (or yogurt and lemon), herbs, and nuts.
- If you have leftover chimichurri from the Steak Tacos, mix it up with some yogurt and use that as a topper. It’s delicious!
- Top with pickled red onions.
- Top with a fried egg.
- Cook ground meat in similar spices and salt (or make simple meat patties). Lamb or beef work best!
