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.
Delicious!!! Thank you
Hi Nagi,
If you were of a mind to add some protein to this like, say Chorizo, how and when you recommend to do this?
Cheers
Hi Kieran! Right at the beginning with the onion carrot and celery. 🙂 Get it nice and browned, all that oil from the chorizo will add amazing flavour into the soup! And if someone of it gets blitzed up, it will be even MORE amazing (actually I do that with my carrot soup with bacon ie cook bacon then blitz it with the carrot). If it’s something like chicken, I would either cook the breast with the lentils for say 10 minutes, then pull it out and shred it, or if I wanted pieces I’d use thigh and brown it first, take it out, then proceed with the recipe as written and add the cooked chicken back in at the end 🙂 N x
If you go to the twitter feed of Thoughts of Dog you’ll see they do, indeed, contribute to all of us. That’s in reverse to Thoughts of Cat….
both very amusing reads
I’ll have to have a look!! N x
Delicious soup! We used bone broth in ours that I made the other day. It was amazing! Everybody enjoyed it which was great as I was worried that one would not eat lentils.
I see that I am not the only one tripping over the four legged children (we have 2!) But they are cute and very loving creatures 🙂 As sweet as ours are, I am not sure that they would let unwanted guests in. But I have been wrong before haha!
Sounds perfect Dawn!!
Dozer would show any thieves where the jewels are kept 😏
Yam-Yam) This is very tasty, I could not tear myself away from this dish, I ate almost everything alone! I’m very embarrassed)
I’m so glad you loved it, I LOVE hearing this!!!
Hi Nagi,
Thank you for another great recipe, I made it yesterday and it was a hit with the whole family.
I followed the recipe exactly but increased the amount of carrots. I also made cheese garlic bread (with toast slices didn’t have a loaf) and it compliments the soup very nicely.
Looking forward to today’s leftovers.
Cheesy bread goes with everything Yasmeen!!! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! N x
Greetings from Nashville! I was thinking about adding chorizo to the soup. Do you think it would overpower the flavors or add to them? Just curious and PS I LOVE your blog! Every recipe made has been a killer dinner! Thank you!
I think it would be GREAT Heather!! N x
I absolutely LOVE all of the recipes I have made from this blog, but this was the first one that was just okay for me. I have never tried anything with lentils before so maybe I am just not a fan of lentils.
I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy it April, I have such great reviews on it!!
This is how we make the lentil in Morocco. We eat it with grilled sardines or any other fish and Moroccan bread.
If the lentil is hard to cook, what we do is we soak it in water for several hours or overnight and it cooks faster.
Thank you for you lovely recipes 👍
Sounds fabulous Louby! I find there’s no need to soak with this recipe 🙂
Living in Greece, lentil soup is a staple meal during the winter months. I don’t usually add any spices aside from a stock cube (whichever flavour I have handy) and some ground pepper, a tin of chopped tomatoes or passata (depending on what I have in the cupboard) and I’ve never needed to put it through a blender. The quickest way to make it is in my electric pressure cooker which means it’s ready in about 20-25 minutes. One little addition I make occasionally, which really ramps up the flavour, is cooking up and then slicing some village style sausages and putting in at the end. Yummy!
Sounds great Emma! N x
I love this soup!!! So flavorful and so simple to make. Yes, you’re right. Adding the lemon zest and juice bumps the flavor up. I shall be making this a lot!
Can you use fresh tomatoes instead of tinned?
Hi Kanta, you’d need to blanch and skin them before using – I find it’s just easier to use tinned 🙂
This lentil soup is the bomb. The added lemon at the end makes this so delicious. I’ve made many other recipes that were good, but this will be my go to lentil soup!
Made this last night and it was so good! The addition of the lemon zest/juice is what really punches up the flavor. I did not even blend it as it was already pretty thick.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Kathy! N x
Thank you so much Nagi for this recipe. My granddaughter who is vegan was visiting and she really liked it. Even took some in a container for lunch on the bus!
Perfect Diane, I’m so glad it was a hit! N x
this was so good Naggie and I was just tasting to see if my lentils were done no salt or lemons yet.I love that big dog Dozer. Thanks for this recipe I will make it again.
You’re so welcome Cindy, so happy to hear you love it as much as I do! – Nagi x
I LOVE this recipe! It is so tasty and good for you! I altered a few things so that it can be made in 15 minutes. I use Trader Joe’s Mirepoiux (to save on chopping time) and Trader Joe’s vacuum-packed, refrigerated lentils (to save on cooking time). I reduce the veggie broth to 4 cups. I also add a cup of chopped kale (to get some greens in me). Thanks so much for a great recipe!
Sounds great Whitney!!
Do I need to soak the dried lentils first?
Hi Liz – no, just cook as per the recipe 🙂
Really liked this recipe – simple and very tasty!
Thanks so much Anna, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! N x
Made this today, definitely a keeper. Simple and delish!
Wahoo! Thanks Jennifer, I’m so glad you loved it! N x