Spinach and ricotta stuffed shells
Pasta shells filled with spinach and ricotta beneath a tomato sauce.
About 55 min · 540 kcal · 30 g protein per serving
Vegetarian
Instant Pot lentil and vegetable dal with spinach
Red lentils, carrot and tomato cooked to a soft dal in an Instant Pot in about 40 minutes, or in a slow cooker over a day, with spinach stirred through and Greek yoghurt on top. Smooth and mild, it suits a small appetite and keeps well for the week.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 16 October 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm 320 g of rinsed red lentils collapse after 8 minutes at high pressure without foaming through the valve
- Confirm the slow cooker times on LOW and HIGH
- Photograph the finished bowl
- Time
- About 55 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 4
- see below
- Energy
- 465 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 34 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 4 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains milk. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- vegetable stock. Vegetable stock often contains celery, and some contain milk or gluten; check the label, especially if you need it vegan.
- chopped tomatoes. Tinned tomatoes vary in added salt; the sodium figure uses a standard salted tin.
Cooking steps
Rinse the red lentils in a sieve under cold water, rubbing them between your fingers, for 1 to 2 minutes, until the water runs almost clear.
Set the pressure cooker to Sauté. Warm the oil and cook the chopped onion and finely diced carrots for 6 minutes until the onion softens, then add the grated garlic and ginger, the cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli powder and stir for 1 minute.
Pour in the stock and scrape the base clean, stir in the lentils, then pour the tomatoes over the top without stirring. Seal, cook at high pressure for 8 minutes, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then quick release the rest.
Slow cooker instead: soften the onion, carrots, garlic, ginger, cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli powder in a frying pan as above, tip them into the slow cooker with the lentils, stock and tomatoes, stir once, and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, until the lentils have collapsed.
Stir the dal hard so the lentils break down, adding a splash of hot water if it is thicker than you like. Stir in the spinach until it wilts, then the lemon juice.
Serve in bowls with 100 g of the Greek yoghurt on each and the chopped fresh coriander.
The useful detail
Rinse the lentils until the water runs almost clear. The loose starch on unrinsed red lentils foams as the pot comes to pressure, and a natural release is the other half of the same care: opening the valve while the dal is still boiling inside sends that foam out through it.
Make it work for you
One serving is A bowl of dal, about a quarter of the pot, with 100 g of Greek yoghurt on top. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Kale instead of spinach
Chewier. Strip it from the stems, shred it finely and give it 3 minutes on Sauté.
Per serving: about the same energy, about the same protein, about the same fat.
Sweet potato instead of carrots
Sweeter, and it melts into the dal. Cut it into 2 cm dice.
Per serving: about 15 kcal more, about the same protein, about the same fat.
Leave out the yoghurt for a vegan bowl
Looser and sharper. It takes away about 10 g of protein a serving.
Allergens: Removes milk. Check the stock label.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
Red lentils give this dal most of its protein and nearly all its fibre, and the Greek yoghurt on top lifts the protein further without meat.
| Energy | 465 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 34 g |
| Fat | 7 g |
| of which saturates | 1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 72 g |
| of which sugars | not calculated |
| Fibre | 14 g |
| Sodium | 890 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 4. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| red lentils | 320 g | FDC 174284Lentils, pink or red, raw | 1146 kcal | 76.5 g |
| rapeseed or other neutral oil | 14 g | FDC 172336Oil, canola | 122 kcal | 0.0 g |
| onion | 150 g | FDC 170000Onions, raw | 60 kcal | 1.7 g |
| carrot | 150 g | FDC 170393Carrots, raw | 62 kcal | 1.4 g |
| garlic | 15 g | FDC 169230Garlic, raw | 22 kcal | 1.0 g |
| fresh ginger | 20 g | FDC 169231Ginger root, raw | 16 kcal | 0.4 g |
| ground cumin | 4 g | FDC 170923Spices, cumin seedFoodData Central records cumin seed; ground cumin is the same seed, milled. | 16 kcal | 0.7 g |
| ground coriander | 3.5 g | FDC 170922Spices, coriander seed | 11 kcal | 0.4 g |
| ground turmeric | ¼ tsp | Not calculatedA quarter teaspoon of ground turmeric weighs well under a gram, which is under 2 kcal at the energy density of any dried spice. | · | · |
| chilli powder | 1.5 g | FDC 171319Spices, chili powderFoodData Central's chili powder is a seasoning blend that includes salt, which is why its sodium is high. | 4 kcal | 0.2 g |
| vegetable stock | 880 g | FDC 171583Soup, vegetable broth, ready to serve | 44 kcal | 2.1 g |
| chopped tomatoes | 400 g | FDC 170051Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, packed in tomato juice | 64 kcal | 3.2 g |
| spinach | 200 g | FDC 168462Spinach, raw | 46 kcal | 5.7 g |
| lemon juice | 15 g | FDC 167747Lemon juice, raw | 3 kcal | 0.1 g |
| Greek yoghurt | 400 g | FDC 170894Yogurt, Greek, plain, nonfat (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program) | 236 kcal | 40.8 g |
| fresh coriander | 10 g | FDC 169997Coriander (cilantro) leaves, raw | 2 kcal | 0.2 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 4 | 1854 kcal | 134.3 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Ingredients marked “Not calculated” are excluded and could add at most 2 kcal to the whole recipe. of which sugars could not be calculated, because one ingredient’s record does not cover it; the row above says which. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool it quickly, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. The FDA chart gives soups and stews 3 to 4 days. It sets thick in the fridge. Add the yoghurt and fresh coriander when you serve, not before storing.
- In the freezer
- The same chart gives soups and stews 2 to 3 months in the freezer for best quality.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout, stirring so it heats evenly.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
Try another recipe
Mushroom and lentil cottage pie
A savoury mushroom-lentil filling with a soft potato topping.
About 1 hr · 360 kcal · 20 g protein per serving
Vegetarian