Don’t settle for bland Lentil Soup! Make it right and you’ll have everyone begging for seconds….and thirds… This lentil recipe is one of the best nourishing, simple dishes you can make with dried lentils that’s 100% delicious. Use green lentils, red lentils, brown lentils or a lentil soup mix.
All it takes is a hint of spice flavourings, bay leaves and finishing it off with a touch of lemon to elevate this soup. It’s an easy recipe that delivers terrific results, a 5 star reader favourite with hundreds of feedback from readers!
Want to add some protein? Try this Beef & Lentil Soup!
Lentil Soup
Lentil soup is quite possibly the least sexy sounding soup on the planet.
At least, in my world. Regular readers know that I’m all about big flavours. Spicy, herby, curries – kapow, kapow, kapow!
But you know what? A well made Lentil Soup recipe is can’t-stop-eating-it good. You’ll go back for seconds and thirds, then you’ll be taking big tubs of it to work for lunch and happily have it for dinner again.
And – I’m going to say it (*head swell*) – plenty of readers have said this is the best lentil soup they’ve ever had!
A well made Lentil Soup recipe is can’t-stop-eating-it good.
Is lentil soup good for you?
If you’re wondering if lentil soup is good for you, the answer is yes! Lentils are nutritious, rich in minerals, protein, low in fat, high in fibre (digestive health). They are a terrific vegetarian source of protein with 25% of the calories in lentils attributable to protein.
Lentils are a carbohydrate, but it’s slow burning which means it keeps you fuller for longer. Studies also suggest that lentils are good for heart health.
The added benefit is that they are low in calories with 116 calories in 1 cup of cooked lentils (which is roughly the amount per serving of this lentil soup).
What does lentil soup taste like?
It tastes savoury and has a flavour boost from a hint of spices. There’s an undertone of natural sweetness from the soffrito flavour base of onion, carrot and celery. My favourite part is the texture! It’s thick and comforting, and just made for dunking in hot crusty bread!
What goes in Lentil Soup
Here’s what goes in my lentil soup. Nothing fancy, just everyday ingredients.
So what makes this Lentil Soup so good?
A touch of spices.
Cooking the onion, carrot and celery slowly so they sweeten and make a beautiful flavour base.
Lemon – The “secret” ingredient. Yes really. Little tip I picked up from Ina Garten. Just a bit of zest and squeeze of fresh lemon makes all the difference which takes it from really good to great!
Do you cook lentils before adding to soup?
Nope! Dried lentils cook in 35 minutes in the soup, and there’s no need to soak them either!
What type of lentils are best for lentil soup?
Dried lentils are best for lentil soup. You can use most types of lentils for this recipe – brown, green, red or yellow, though it will affect the colour of the soup. I’ve used green lentils, pictured below.
The only type of lentil I do not recommend is Puy Lentils (little black French lentils) because they hold their shape and don’t soften like other lentils.
Can you used canned cooked lentils?
Yes you sure can, and directions are provided in the recipe notes. But it’s better made with dried lentils because of the texture in the soup, there’s only 10 minutes difference in cook time and it’s more economical!
How to make Lentil Soup from scratch
Sauté your onion, garlic, carrots and celery over over low heat for almost 10 minutes. Take your time here – the lower the heat, the longer you take, the more these will transform to create an incredible flavour base for the soup!
Add everything else other than the lemon;
Simmer 35 minutes until lentils are soft; and
Finish with a dusting of zest and spritz of lemon.
A hint of lemon earthiness from the zest and touch of freshness from the juice just jazzes up the soup and takes it to that next level!
You’ll find that the lentils mostly breakdown and naturally thicken the soup. But what I like to do to get a really luscious creamy texture is to give the soup a quick whizz with a blender stick (or transfer a couple of cups to the blender) to puree SOME but not all the lentils.
That way you get the benefit of both worlds – creamy soup with soft bits of lentils. YES!
How to store lentil soup
Lentil Soup will easily keep for 5 days in the fridge, making it ideal for cooking on the weekend and serving throughout the week. And it also freezes 100% perfectly for 3 months – even longer!
Every time I make this, I always wonder why I don’t make it more often. It’s healthy, filling, super economical, freezes perfectly, versatile and it’s seriously good.
Serving this with some sort of warm crusty bread for dunking is not optional. It’s an essential part of the Lentil Soup experience.
But it is optional whether you slather said bread with butter, or grill it with cheese! Here are a few options – including making your own ultra easy homemade bread with NO YEAST:
– Nagi xx
Watch How To Make It
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Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped (white, brown, yellow)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large carrot , chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 2 celery ribs , chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 2 cups / 400g dried lentils , green or brown, rinsed (Note 1)
- 400g / 14 oz crushed tomato
- 1.5 litres / 1.5 quarts (6 cups) vegetable or chicken stock / broth, low sodium
- 1/2 tsp each cumin and coriander powder
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika powder
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 lemon (zest + juice)
- 1/4 tsp salt and pepper, each
To Serve
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
- Warm bread, to serve
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes.
- Add celery and carrot. Cook for 7 – 10 minutes or until softened and the onion is sweet. Don’t rush this step, it is key to the flavour base of the soup.
- Add all remaining ingredients except the lemon and salt. Stir.
- Increase heat and bring to simmer. Scoop scum on the surface off and discard (do this again during cooking if required). Place lid on and turn heat down to medium low. Simmer for 35 – 40 minutes or until lentils are soft.
- Remove bay leaves.
- Thicken Soup: Using a stick blender, do 2 or 3 quick whizzes to thicken the soup (see video below). Or transfer 2 cups to a blender, let it cool slightly, then hold lid with tea towel and blend then transfer back into pot.
- Add a touch of water if you want to adjust soup consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Grate over the zest of the lemon then add a squeeze of lemon juice just before serving. Garnish with parsley if desired and serve with warm crusty bread slathered liberally with butter!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Recipe originally published March 2017, spruced up with new pics, new video and fresh new writing. Absolutely no change to recipe – it’s been a firm reader favourite from day 1, so I wouldn’t dare touch it!
More totally delicious lentil recipes:
Sexy Lentil Salad – try it, then you’ll get the name….
Dal – Indian lentil curry. The highest and best use of lentils, full stop!
Coconut Lentil Curry – outrageously addictive, and easy (I make this for a curry fix when I don’t have time for dal)
Mejadra (Middle Eastern Spiced Lentil Rice) – so good you can eat it plain, seriously!
Browse all Beans and Lentil recipes
Life of Dozer
He contributes less than nothing to this household, he actually contributes negative. Dropping fur everywhere, shaking vigorously so it flies everywhere along with an inordinate amount of sand, constantly sprawling out in my path so I’m forced to step over him (remember, I’m vertically challenged = giant steps).
Giant 💩 all over the backyard. Barks furiously at tree branches swaying in the breeze but I swear, he would happily show a robber where my jewellery box is in exchange for a pat.
Useless!!! (And yet we love them so much, don’t we? 🙂)
PS Another example of his uselessness – he spends 22 hours a day doing this. The other 2 hours are spent a) eating b) hoping to eat c) playing.
Obsessed with this soup – it’s the third time I’ve made it in 2 weeks 😂. So hearty and satisfying. Thanks so much for what will now be a delicious household staple.
Lentil Soup – Nothing short of AMAZING!!!!
Quick – easy to follow instructions – You infused it with LOVE and it came through to our bowls!!!
This recipe is fabulous! The lemon adds so much… and, yea, I confess I used 4 gloves of garlic rather than the 2 recommended, but I was otherwise faithful to the recipe. Thank you. A definite keeper!
There’s a tiny mistake: Lentil soup does not store in a fridge for 3-5 days: It just magically disappears in under 48 hours 🙂
I don’t know if I left a comment before..but this lentil soup is awesome! I’d never made it before, but we made it for our Meals on Wheels clients and all the kitchen help LOVED IT! I’ve made it many time since, for friends who are sick, and they rave about it! It’s so easy and delicious! I made a pot tonight to share with 2 more friends who are sick…I did forget to blend it up some, so I’ll do that in morning!
I only had French lentils on hand so used those. I was out of carrot and celery so substituted organic sweet potato and mushrooms. It was delicious. Threw some in the blender for 10 month old, but the rest of us including 3 year old ate it unblended. Sweet potato gave it a creamy texture similar to what blending half would have done and the lentils did hold their shape.
This lentil soup was amazing! I ended up making a few different versions that were more or less blended for different consistencies. The blended Lentils actually ended up creamy and comforting, and the flavours were so rich and cozy. Thank you for sharing this recipe! I will definitely be making it over and over!
Tried my grandma’s recipe but no one liked it. Yours was surprisingly delicious and even my daughter ate it even though she doesn’t like lentils.☺☺
Is it 1/4 cup of celery & carrot or 1 1/4
Hi Terry, it’s one and a quarter cup each of celery and carrot
Although your have a section that says how to make it from scratch, you didn’t go over how to make the soupy part – without having to buy chicken or vegetable broth?
I always hear that lentil is good but never made anything with it. Last night I made a pot but couldn’t eat it. We had the Middle Eastern chicken and it filled us. So, this is our lunch today while we WFH. Yummy! Even my husband who is not a fan of lentil agreed and he had a bowl. 🙂
I found this recipe about a year ago and it has become my favorite soup recipe. The flavor combinations are perfect, and I also love to add sausage in it which kicks it up another notch! Thank you for this amazing recipe.
I followed this exactly and it is so delicious! Thank you very much.
I made the lentils today for dinner. So good. I will freeze the leftovers for another time. There are only the two of us.
Delicious! I added some sweet potatoes to this as well, so yummy!
Any chance you have the nutritional value that you could share?
It’s definitely delicious! Didn’t have so skipped on the celery and carrots. After reheat of leftovers add a little Parmesan or feta…yum!
This recipe was deelish! I did a few tweaks and worked with what I had. I used a bit of smoked paprika, instead of buying. I needed to use up the Trader Joe’s Shredded Smoked Chicken I had in the fridge. The smokiness of the paprika and chicken got along famously! I also wanted additional protein. I used less chicken broth, and made more of a stew. It stays with me longer. The lemon is a MUST!! It definitely elevated the dish to a whole other level!
Absolutely delicious!
I used red and green lentils as i didn’t have enough of either and combined veg and chicken stock to make up the 6 cups. My husband said he hadn’t tasted a soup so good for a long time.
Nagi, you’re the best, love all your recipes
Delicious!!! Absolutely must make it if you haven’t! I left out the celery because I don’t like it. I used passata instead of crushed tomatoes because that’s what I prefer. I didn’t add lemon just because I forgot. I added extra cumin because yum haha. I didn’t need to blend it because mine was thick enough, probably because I used red lentils. Paired it with butter on fresh baguette 😋😋
Tried this soup last winter and it has now become a regular part of my menu… Delicious comfort food!