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.
I made this about a month ago as directed except that my husband wants meat, even if not much for his meals, so added about a cup of diced smoked brisket. I didn’t blend it as prefer some texture and it was a hit. Froze half and have eaten that as well. A few days ago hubby was asking when I was going to make it again and I bought a rotisserie chicken and will add that this time. We have enjoyed a variety of your recipes which are easily followed along with your notes. It feels like a friend is sharing their recipes and they are ones that I can trust. Thanks for all the work that you put into this endeavor.
Happy New Year!
I need to make a soup for someone who can’t eat onions. Is there a substitute you would recommend?
Shallots or leeks might work. Leeks may be best. They offer great flavor but are mild in taste and extremely nutritious.
Simply delicious! I had ran out of coriander but substitute with some tandoori masala spices. Also seasoned with some Chinese chicken bouillon powder (I’m addicted to the savory powder). Great recipe overall. Thank you for all you do!
Amazing lentil soup is an understatement. I stumbled across your blog by total luck. I had hit a flavor block with lentils. I was tired of my boring fall lentil soup recipe. Thank you Nagi for rekindling my love for lentils.
This is delicious! I will definitely make this any day of the week.
Thank you.
We love this soup and have made it several times. Today my wife asked for me to put in some frozen spinach, so I added a 12 oz. bag. Really delicious with or without. It is really hard to screw this up and I certainly add as I’m going through. Sometimes a little more paprika, sometimes more cumin. We actually are not fans of coriander (Adverse cilantro family here, Everyone!) so we double the cumin and omit the coriander. Sorry that Will (AKA Charlie Brown – Good grief…) has a hard time following… PS- The program is just fine.
Forgot to remove the bay leaves before blending!!! 🤦♀️
Hope the myth that bay leaves are poisonous is really a myth…
Just made this in our Instant Pot. Used the saute setting for the onion and garlic per instructions, then added the carrots and celery to the saute for 10 minutes. Turned off the IP and added everything else, (including 2 cubed potatoes and a couple of diced turkey sausages for flavor). Added 3t of chicken bouillon powder to 6.5c of water to make my own stock (all in IP). Set IP to ‘manual’ for 17 minutes. Then did a 30 min natural release. There was no need to blend the soup, everything melded perfectly and it was delicious. (I did not add any additional salt) Thanks for the great recipe.
Delicious, will be part of my regular rotation for the nutritional value, taste and simplicity. Thank you Nagi !
OK recipe, terrible presentation. How can you stretch a recipe out so far that it’s impossible to follow? Well, this one shows how far. Good grief, get with the program if you hope to have more followers,
This is a good blog so there is always some context to the recipes.
There is always the option to go directly to the recipe details or video at the top of every blog. Maybe you missed this in your eagerness to get cooking?!
LOL I was meant to type ‘food’ blog…but indeed it’s a good food blog at that 😂
This recipe is amazing as you stated in the title. I made it in the instant pot sautéing to start and then added the rest of the ingredients, high pressure 13 minutes and just NR. Forgot about blending for thickness and the lemon rind and juice, still loved it. I also love Dozer like you and everyone else does. Thanks for all your great recipes.
This was a big hit with my family! My 8 mo granddaughter loved it! I added some cubed smoked ham and served it with warm naan. A recipe to keep for sure!
Soooo good! I added a handful of coarsely chopped swiss chard, stems removed.. i also added the lemon zest at the beginning with all the other ingredients.
this is exactly the lentil soup that i was craving. i added some chili powder at the end
Such a simple comforting and delicious recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Nagi, you really scored big with this one at our house. Recipe followed to the letter and what a prize.
I made this soup last night. Easy to make and good instructions. When I served it I added a dollop of cream and some parmesan. The lemon zest/juice was from left field and I may have overdone it a bit but still, Yum! Great recipe. Thanks
I’m a big soup fan, and this may now be my favorite!!
You are so right about making sure the onions are cooked until sweet, and adding fresh lemon and zest, it did wonders!!
I did make some alterations for extra flavor.
Adding about 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, a 3rd bay leaf, a few extra pinches of paprika, about an extra 1/4 tsp at least of cumin, added more vegetable stock and broth (and just a tiny bit of water) for more flavor as well, and could only find diced tomatoes, though I think it added very well to the texture (immersion blended the larger pieces at the blending step and left some in diced form to stay in the soup).
Thank you for the recipe!
Wow! This is super delicious! I was bit afraid of adding lemon zest and juice, but this adding the soup more taste!!! Thank you so much for awesome recipe, always, Nagi:)
Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious! Simple and easy, I will definitely make it again!