Switched reluctance (SR) motors are expected as low-cost variable-speed motors in industry applications. However, large torque ripple from magnetic saliency constructions is one of serious problems. Strong nonlinearity of magnetic operating area makes the analysis as well as control much difficult. In the paper, we propose a novel torque control method based on the idea of direct neighboring phase torque distribution technique for SR motors, that provide an efficient drive performance for SR motors with very small torque ripple and less negative phase torque. In addition, the proposed method is simple, so the control algorithm can be implemented easily by low cost processors and minimal memories. The results of simulations and experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and impact of the proposed method.