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You’ll get immediate access to your download with simple shifts you can start today—because every small habit tweak helps.
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Start your new healthy lifestyle with these free recipes & Tips
You’ll get immediate access to your download with simple shifts you can start today—because every small habit tweak helps.
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Easy Lentil Soup Recipe
Lentil soup is a nutritional powerhouse.
It combines the nutrients, protein, good carbs and fiber in lentils with the antioxidant power of veggies, herbs and spices. Adding a little good fat from the extra virgin olive oil rounds it out into a perfectly balanced meal.
Lentils are especially high in B vitamins and minerals like iron, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. Many nutritionists consider lentils one of the healthiest things you can eat, especially if you’re on a tight budget.
This soup is incredibly easy to make and really inexpensive, even with organic ingredients you can make a giant pot of soup that will feed 6-8 people for less than $10.
I like to use the small dark green lentils (a.k.a. French lentils) because they’re sturdy and cook quickly. All lentil varieties are great and very nutritious, try different types (red, green, etc.) and find what you like best.
Think of this recipe as a guide and method to making lentil soup; add any herbs, spices or veggies that you’d like and make it your own. Once you get the hang of it you won’t even need to refer back to a recipe.
Easy Lentil Soup Recipe
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Author: Elizabeth Rider
Recipe type: Healthy, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free
Yield: 8
Ingredients
- 1 quart vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
- 2 cups purified water
- 1.5 cups lentils, rinsed (soaking is optional)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, finely chopped or grated
- 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (aged balsamic also works)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon course black pepper
- Optional: 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped (or one 12 oz can
- organic diced tomatoes)
- Optional: Any greens you’d like to add; look for something in season and at a good price at the store. Spinach is always a great option and has a mild favor. You’ll need about one handful of washed greens per person.
Instructions
- Spread the lentils out on a large sheet tray and pick out any debris (aka anything that doesn’t look like a lentil.) Legumes are harvested and stored in large quantities and sometimes little rocks or other things make their way in the bag.
- Pre-soaking really depends on personal preference; it helps soften the lentils faster but is not always necessary. I typically do not presoak my lentils. If you want to soak, pour the lentils into a large bowl and cover with purified water by 2 inches. If you’ve thought ahead enough, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave it on the counter for 8 to 12 hours. Drain the lentils and rinse them well before using.
- While the lentils soak, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the chopped onion, carrot and celery and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, cumin, oregano and pinch of both salt and black pepper to the pot. Stir and let cook another 3-5 minutes until the mixture is well combined and very fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic–turn the heat down if necessary as garlic burns easily.
- Add the bay leaf, rest of the salt and pepper, stock, water and soaked, rinsed lentils to the pot and bring to a full boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. The amount of salt you need will depend on what type of stock you use; start with one teaspoon and add more later to taste if desired.
- Add the tomatoes (if using) and let the pot simmer for about 40-50 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar. Discard the bay leaf before pureeing and serving.
- Depending on how you like the texture, use a handheld immersion blender to blend ⅓ to ½ of the soup. Or skip the blending if you like a firmer soup texture. If you don’t have an immersion blender puree 2 cups of the soup in a regular blender or food processor; include some of the the soup’s broth to blend smoothly.
Notes
1. Be very careful when blending hot mixtures and never fill the blender/food processor more than ¼ the way full as hot liquids expand when blending.
If waiting longer than one hour to serve, leave the soup pot on the stove but turn the burner to the lowest setting. You can leave it on the stove for 2-4 hours. If it gets too thick, just add another 1-2 cups water. This recipe is really flexible.
2. Optional: Add one handful per person of chopped greens, like spinach or kale, to piping hot soup a few minutes before serving for even more flavor, nutrients and fiber. Add them last once you’ve turned off the heat so you don’t kill all of their nutrients, the greens will wilt from the heat of the soup in just a few minutes.
If waiting longer than one hour to serve, leave the soup pot on the stove but turn the burner to the lowest setting. You can leave it on the stove for 2-4 hours. If it gets too thick, just add another 1-2 cups water. This recipe is really flexible.
2. Optional: Add one handful per person of chopped greens, like spinach or kale, to piping hot soup a few minutes before serving for even more flavor, nutrients and fiber. Add them last once you’ve turned off the heat so you don’t kill all of their nutrients, the greens will wilt from the heat of the soup in just a few minutes.
Happy soup making!
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March 20th, 2013 at 5:25 pm
I woke up to a cold, dreary, and wet day, wanting to make a soup, and found this gem in my inbox! Lucky me, and many thanks, Elizabeth!
March 20th, 2013 at 5:31 pm
I woke up to a cold, dreary, and wet day, wanting to make a soup, and found this gem in my inbox! Lucky me, and many thanks, Elizabeth!
March 20th, 2013 at 8:05 pm
You’re so welcome!
March 20th, 2013 at 7:01 pm
I just bought some lentils at Trader Joe’s last week to make soup, but still needed a recipe – perfect!
March 20th, 2013 at 8:05 pm
Good, glad this helps!
March 21st, 2013 at 8:48 pm
Looks yummy Elizabeth! Quick question, last time I cooked lentils (red, I believe) I soaked them and cooked them and they turned to mush even following cooking instructions. I thought may be the soaking caused this, I’m confused. Thoughts?
March 21st, 2013 at 9:01 pm
Great q! Red lentils are the “mushiest” of all lentils, use French green, or soak the red ones less.
March 21st, 2013 at 9:09 pm
Thanks! 🙂
November 11th, 2014 at 4:31 am
What is the, “onion half*, (see image below)”, all about, Elizabeth? It’s in step 4. Thank you for this yummy recipe. Very much like mine but now I have a recipe to give out.
November 11th, 2014 at 5:27 pm
Oh! I used to stick a whole half onion in for flavor and then discard it, but it’s just as easy to do without it. I just removed that 🙂
November 22nd, 2015 at 8:15 pm
Hi Elizabeth, Do you have a vegetable stock (company) you can recommend or perhaps a recipe of your own you can share? Many thanks!
April 25th, 2017 at 12:10 am
Do the lentils have to be boiled and rinsed first?
March 31st, 2018 at 12:01 am
Thanks for the great start. Perfect first time! I added Kale leaves at the end and that was a success. Forgot to puree it but it was great nevertheless.
April 7th, 2018 at 2:26 am
I love the soup, so healthy and flavorful. please let me know the proper way to store it in the refrigerator. And how long can i keep it in the refrigerator? I’m the only one in the home who eats it.
FYI: i add sweet potatos on the second day. So yummy!!
Thanks
April 30th, 2018 at 10:00 pm
Just made this soup for dinner tonight. Delicious! Everyone loved it. Thanks so much!
May 1st, 2018 at 7:45 pm
Lisa, glad to hear it! This is one of my favorites, too. Thanks for stopping by to comment. ~E
October 25th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
Was searching for a lentil soup recipe without tomatoes and decided to give this one a try last night. Was a hit with 3 out of 4 of us… not too bad since the little guy is pretty picky so he doesn’t count. My 8 year old went back for a third serving! Thank you 🙂
December 17th, 2018 at 7:47 pm
Made your easy lentil soup. Everyone raved about it, came out excellent. I added a pinch of thyme and rosemary, only difference. Thank you.
December 19th, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Hi Connie, glad to hear it! I love this recipe, too. Never fails 🙂 Thanks for stopping by to share your comment with our community. ~E
December 28th, 2018 at 5:18 pm
I like your lentil soup recipe except for the hand full of spinach at the end because spinach contains a lot of oxalic acid. Oxalic acid binds with minerals especially calcium and prevent minerals from being utilized properly. Southerners blanch their greens for 30 seconds, remove from the hot water then immerse them in ice or very cold water . Then squeeze them and chop them and cook however they want them. Having a southern grandma and a Japanese mother, they both agreed this was the proper way to cook greens. The Japanese say that you will get kidney stones if you don’t blanch your greens. Mom would toast and grind sesame seeds and mix them with a little sesame seed oil and soy sauce to pour over cold blanched spinach to eat as a side or put in sushi rolls. Only turnip and mustard greens do not need to be blanched. I recently read that many people were found to have high levels of oxalic acid. There was no other information as to why. I studied nutrition in college where I learned about oxalic acid. So I will add some blanched spinach to my lentil soup.
March 27th, 2019 at 12:51 am
This was truly delicious! It’s hearty and flavorful, and the lentils are really satiating. I used regular brown lentils, did not soak them, nor did I blend them at the end. Thank you Elizabeth!
April 14th, 2019 at 3:50 am
Tried several receipes and yours was not only the best but also easy to follow thanks 😊
April 14th, 2019 at 7:54 pm
Elizabeth, do you have nutritional information for this soup? Making it for dinner tonight and I track every thing in myfitnesspal! Thank you