If you are looking for an easy weeknight or busy weekend meal, this lamb curry soup is just the thing! It is full of nourishing ingredients and bursting with flavor. This is my go-to recipe when I’m looking for something a little bit different in my ordinary meal rotation.
We eat A LOT of meat in our home. While most of the time, we don’t mind something as simple as frying up a steak or hamburgers for dinner, there are times when we want something with a bit more flavor. This lamb curry soup hits the spot in these situations. While it is great at any time of year, I personally love it in the colder months. Not only does the soup warm you from the inside out, it also is full of flavor in a season where the flavors of fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs are less available.
Easy Slow Cooked Lamb Curry Soup
One of the best parts about this soup is that you can throw all the ingredients into a slow cooker or dutch oven and forget about it. The house will smell delicious and you can go about the rest of the tasks of the day without spending hours in the kitchen. I personally like to cook mine in the oven but a slow cooker works great as well!
It is great recipe to start the in the morning and have for dinner or you can start it before you go to bed and have it for lunch the next day. While a minimum of 8 hours is best to break down the gelatin in the meat, I have easily cooked it for 12-14 hours and the meat is still tender and juicy.
Why I Love Lamb Curry Soup
- Nourishing Ingredients: Since this is a slow cooked piece of bone-in, tendinous meat, the gelatin in the tissues of the meat will break down into a nourishing bone broth.
- Bursting with Flavor: I love the all the intricate flavors or a curry. While this likely does not have all the complexities of an authentic curry dish, it is still full of flavor.
- Simple Recipe: For a long time curry dishes intimidated me because they seemed so complex with a lot of ingredients. I like that I can have all the flavor of a curry with a simple ingredient list and little time spent in the kitchen.
Ingredients
- Fat: Tallow, lard, butter, ghee, or coconut oil work best since they have higher smoke points which won’t cause them to oxidize while cooking.
- Bone in Lamb Cut of Meat: We source our lamb from a local farmer and the cuts we most often use are the “leg of lamb” or the “shank”. However, any bone in cut will work.
- Onion: An essential for any soup.
- Garlic: Savory and sharp profile.
- Ginger: Adds a zesty and lightly spicy note.
- Water: This will provide the liquid for the nourishing bone broth.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: This will help draw out all of the nutrients from the bone-in cut of meat.
- Salt: Enhances the overall flavor of the dish and brings out all the other flavors.
- Curry Powder: The very spice that makes it a curry soup!
- Cumin: Provides a warm and earthy flavor.
- Coriander: Adds a bright, citrus and floral note.
- Chili Powder: Spices up this dish.
- Turmeric: Brightens up the color of the dish while giving it a slightly bitter taste. It also has great anti-inflammatory properties.
- Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce or Tomato Paste: This is a personal preference. Since my husband eats a low fiber diet, we usually go with the sauce, but any of the three options work great. So many comforting, warm soups and stews include tomatoes.
- Chili Paste: Also spices up the dish. Can be adjusted depending on how much heat you like.
- Bay Leaf: Add a earthy and herbal note.
- Coconut Cream: Makes the dish creamy and slightly sweet.
- Extra Vegetables: Onions, peppers, carrots, or some sort of green are usually what I have on hand, but you can use whatever you think pairs well or you have in your fridge! Vegetables provide extra crunch and texture to the dish.
Instructions
- Place the fat to a dutch oven over medium heat. Salt and pepper all sides of the meat liberally. Brown cut of lamb on all sides. Remove the meat and set aside.
- Add the minced garlic, ginger, and diced onions to the fat rendered from browning the meat. Saute until fragrant (about 1-2minute).
- Add all the spices and saute for about one minute to release their flavors. Make sure to stir frequently.
- Pour water over the spice mixture to deglaze the pan. Make sure to scrape any of the seasonings off the bottom of dutch oven to prevent burning. If you plan to transfer to a slow cooker, I would pour a small amount of water in to get the pan deglazed and transfer it to the slow cooker before adding the rest of the water.
- Stir in the tomatoes, chili paste, and apple cider vinegar. Add the browned cut of meat back to the mixture. Submerge 1-2 bay leaves in the water.
- Cover the dutch oven with a lid and cook at 225 degrees or on low in the slow cooker for at least 8 hours.
- I usually just saute up any veggies I want ahead of time and add them at the end. However, you can also add them during the last hour of cooking and cook until to your desired texture.
- Pull any bones out and shred the meat.
- Stir in the coconut cream. Serve and enjoy!
Common Questions
Should I brown the meat before cooking?
Yes, I definetly recommend browning the meat prior to cooking. This high temperature cooking jump starts the fat rendering process and provides a nice crisp to the exterior of the meat.
How long should I cook lamb curry?
If you want a nice gelatnous, nutritious bone broth, you should cook for at least 8 hours. However, I have cooked it up to 14 hour (and you could probably go longer) as this continues to draw nutrients into the broth and develop all the wonderful curry flavors.
What foods pair well with lamb curry?
Since the cuts of lamb that we use are quite small, we often will cook up some over-easy eggs to drop into the soup for added protein. It also pairs well with rice, naan bread, or even any regular sourdough bread.
Does it matter what kind of tomatoes you add to the recipe?
In my opinion, it doesn’t. It’s totally a personal preference. If you want a chunky, heartier soup, I would recommend going with diced tomatoes. Tomato sauce will provide a smoother texture while tomato paste will provide a more concentrated tomato flavor. It’s totally up to you!
Even More From Scratch Recipes
Homemade Meatball Recipe: Without Breadcrumbs
Easy Lamb Curry
Equipment
- 1 Dutch Oven or Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp Fat tallow, lard, butter, ghee, or coconut oil
- Bone in Cut of Lamb Meat shoulder, shank, or leg of lamb
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 tbsp Ginger Minced
- 1-2 tbsp Curry Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1/2 tsp Ground Tumeric
- 6-8 cups Water
- 1-2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2-1 tsp Red Chili Paste add according to your spice preference
- 1 can Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, or Tomato Paste according to preference, see note below
- 1-2 Bay Leaves
- 1 14 oz Coconut Cream
Instructions
- Place the fat to a dutch oven over medium heat. Salt and pepper all sides of the meat liberally. Brown cut of lamb on all sides. Remove the meat and set aside.
- Add the minced garlic, ginger, and diced onions to the fat rendered from browning the meat. Saute until fragrant (about 1-2minute).
- Add all the spices and saute for about one minute to release their flavors. Make sure to stir frequently.
- Pour water over the spice mixture to deglaze the pan. Make sure to scrape any of the seasonings off the bottom of dutch oven to prevent burning. If you plan to transfer to a slow cooker, I would pour a small amount of water in to get the pan deglazed and transfer it to the slow cooker before adding the rest of the water.
- Stir in the tomatoes, chili paste, and apple cider vinegar. Add the browned cut of meat back to the mixture. Submerge 1-2 bay leaves in the water.
- Cover the dutch oven with a lid and cook at 225 degrees or on low in the slow cooker for at least 8 hours.
- I usually just saute up any veggies I want ahead of time and add them at the end. However, you can also add them during the last hour of cooking and cook until to your desired texture.
- Pull any bones out and shred the meat.
- Stir in the coconut cream. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
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