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?
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A touch of spices.
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Cooking the onion, carrot and celery slowly so they sweeten and make a beautiful flavour base.
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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
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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!
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Add everything else other than the lemon;
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Simmer 35 minutes until lentils are soft; and
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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
Lentil Soup
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:
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Sexy Lentil Salad – try it, then you’ll get the name….
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Dal – Indian lentil curry. The highest and best use of lentils, full stop!
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Coconut Lentil Curry – outrageously addictive, and easy (I make this for a curry fix when I don’t have time for dal)
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Mejadra (Middle Eastern Spiced Lentil Rice) – so good you can eat it plain, seriously!
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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.
Claudia says
I made this flavorful soup today, exactly as the recipe is written then added a little shredded parmesan to my own bowl. So delicious. Only regret is that I didn’t make the cheesy garlic bread. Will do that tomorrow with leftovers. Thanks for another winner, Nagi.
Tracy says
This soup is so tasty and full of flavour. I added into the soup at the end of the cook time, some cooked elbow shaped pasta. My husband loved it so much he went back for thirds.
Thanks Nagi so much for such a beautiful flavoured soup.
Jacky says
The fact that you put “seriously amazing” wasn’t necessarily the reason I tried this recipe. My husband loves lentils. Me, meh. This recipe truly is Amazing, I’ve SERIOUSLY AMAZING! It’s warm, it’s packed with flavor and absolutely, positively delicious. The slow cooking of the veggies really tops this recipe off. You can’t rush it. I cannot say enough about it. This is going on our dinner rotation. Oh, and the are just as good, if not BETTER, the next day! Thank you sooooo much for sharing this gem of a recipe!
Nagi says
I’m so happy it was a hit Tracy, thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Vicki says
The flavor was great! However every time I make lentil soup skins come off the lentils and don’t go away even after blending the soup. What am I doing wrong? I really hate getting a mouthful of those tough skins.
Claire R says
i’m a college student, so i basically just used what i had which was orange lentils, carrots, pasta sauce, cumin, pepper, and a couple other things. I wish I could make it like the recipe said, but it was still so delicious! thank you for the recipe!!
Sue Walker says
making it now. whole house sure smells good. I also added some asparagus stalks, left overs, can’t wait to try …..
Sue Walker says
Well, that was mighty tasty!!!! Thanks so much. Husband even took it to work!!!! :-0
Becky says
Hi Nagi,
Do you think it is possible to make this in the slow cooker too?
Thanks
Nagi says
Hi Becky, not this one as written sorry, you really need it to get to a simmer – N x
Rick May says
I knew this would be good but it is in all honesty amazingly delicious! The lemon with the smokiness of the soup….the crusty bread 🥖. I absolutely love this recipe and it’ll be in the lineup from now on. Super simple with incredible results! Love it. Thank you so much.
Brenda says
My daughter and I loved your soup recipe and think it is the best lentil soup we have ever tasted and made. The lemon kind of scared me, but you were right it was absolutely amazing and I would never leave it out. Thanks for such a great recipe.
Jo says
Love your floopy Dozer! Just put this lentil soup on and it smells amazing as it cooks. Its a rainy day here and this will just make it all the better!
Marion Jackson says
When making this soup, if I’m going to freeze it, should I still add lemon zest and juice at end of cooking or wait until I’m eventually going to eat it? Can’t wait to make this as I love lentils
Nagi says
Hi Marion, it’s fine to add it before freezing, but yes, after defrosting – taste and then maybe pimp it up with a little fresh lemon too 🙂 N x
Jaime says
So so good! My children were not fans, but my husband and I loved it! Even my mom liked it and she’s not a fan of lentils. As someone else mentioned- use the lemon for sure! Although the flavor is subtle, it adds such a great depth of flavor to the soup. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Sumari Time says
I probably made the soup at least eight times now. I love it and it’s something I can almost eat everyday! It’s healthy, it’s tasty, it freezes well if you need to give yourself a break. Less meat, more lentils! Yum!
Jenny says
THE only lentil soup I like. It is delicious.
Kelly says
Will try this soon. Can’t wait looks yummy
Alice says
I’ve just made it with green lentils…I didnt have any bay leaves but it turned out lovely all the same. So tasty…definitely going to be on my weekly soup list 😋
Patti says
I made this tonight, and it was great! I hate people who rate a recipe that have changed it, but… I only changed things I didn’t have, lol! I didn’t have celery, so put in a few pinches of celery seed. I used a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes instead of crushed tomatoes. I used green lentils, 8 cups chicken stock, (hate having a half box hanging around). I cooked it 30 mins, but should have let it go a little longer. Buzzed it briefly with stick blender, but it was still a little thin for me. So I put in a small handful of instant mashed potato flakes, which thickened it up. I served it with homemade pumpernickel bread out of my bread machine. 😋
Thanks for the recipe!
Jess says
Hi Nagi! Have you tried doing this with mung beans?
Nagi says
I haven’t Jess – would love to know if you give it a go though! N X
Lyn Nguyen says
One of my top 5 go to soups! Super tasty, healthy, cheap and easy to make. Hits the craving spot every time.
Sharon J says
Excellent! I’ve been a lentil soup eater since childhood. This was a fresh very tasty twist on my go-to recipe. Definitely will make it again!!
David Jones says
Made tonight for 1st time and recipe is fantastic. I made no changes but I did use smoked paprika instead of regular before I thought about it, If you do so it will smell smoky while cooking but the taste is perfect, and I will likely use again. Simmered covered at final stage for 35 min, soup was a bit thick so thinking next time I will increase chicken broth to 7-8 cups, or just add water at end per recipe. Really a tasty and healthy dish, I did omit salt – personal preference – and was out of lemons but neither affected the great taste. Definitely will make again!
Ana says
Is 1 serving 421 grams of the lentil soup?