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!
Omitted celery and added portobello mushrooms & spinach. Puréed about half and then added back in.
This soup seriously is amazing!!! Mine turned out more like a stew but only because my pot wasn’t big enough to fit in all the stock. I also added in some smoked bacon. This is seriously divine, so hearty and comforting. Also great for students especially (like myself) if you’re on a budget but wanting something filling and delicious. Thanks so much Nagi!
Great recipe! Do you have a recipe for the cheesy bread you dip in the soup? It looks delicious!
Oops forgot to add my stars!
Hello just came across the website looking for recipes for lentils I found the perfect one! I just finished making and wow it’s a big pot of lentils for a single person. So do these freeze well? I usually when I’m cooking I make a big pot and then freeze serving so I have them later on to eat with no fuss! I’m new to lentils! So am I able to freeze these? Oh they’re delicious by the way!
Nagi, I just made this soup for the first time today, and it is a huge hit in our house. I made it exactly as written, and it was absolutely perfect!!! I will be making it again 🙂
I happened upon your blog by accident and very thankful, and I look forward to more of your recipes.
Thanks so much!
OH…..You just made me literally cry. Here I am making your soup (not done yet and I hope I don’t ruin it because I am crying over here LOL). I found your recipe in a food FB group and saved it until I bought lentils. So i literally have it on the stove right now. I scroll down to look at reviews…and I see your Dog. And I am just frozen in place. That is our Dog Buster. We had to put him down this year. We took him from a kill shelter and just knew he was old. We had him for like 6 years. OMG the way you described your dog is EXACTLY what I would have said (in a loving way of course) I sent it to my husband and we are all laughing and crying. Yep…your dog is our Buster. Food Food..Hair, Poop…all if it. I said to my husband “I swear to god I wrote that LOL. They look identical…..I mean like twins. Thank you for posting this. xoxoxoxo
Oh Erin! You are making ME cry reading that… I’m so sorry to hear you lost him, but I’m also so happy to think that Buster was so lucky to have you as his mum. Dozer sends big furry hugs your way!! – N xx
Even without Celery (for I didn’t have any around), this soup is so delicious and has such a satisfying effect. I ate it for the last 3 days (with fresh, soft flat bread) and will try it with Celery next week. Thank you for all these amazing recipes.
Getting ready to make this soup tonight. I realize I have two types of paprika in my cupboard. Regular and smoked. Help! I don’t know which will taste better. I can actually smell the smoked paprika but the regular has no scent. PS – Dozer is a cutie ☺️
Hi Pat, either will be fine, but I use regular here. N x
Thank you, Nagi! Since I wasn’t sure, I used both. Turned out Delicious!
Just pulled up this recipe to see what the proper proportions of lentils to liquid might be and decided to try your spice combo. Very good! but having a pop up ad window that obliterates the actual recipe is not helpful.
Hi Karen, I’m so sorry about that – we are having this issue looked at I promise! N x
So good! The lemon pushed it over the top. Made as written, but subbed frozen roasted cherry tomatoes from my garden for the canned tomatoes and left out celery as I didn’t have any. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this yesterday and it was seriously amazing! I added two chopped potatoes to the recipe and a couple of dashes of turmeric as well. It was rich and earthy.
I made the soup but I did not have celery or coriander. I also did not have the machine to blitz the lentils so I just manually smash them along the side of the pot as much as I could then stirred it up. The soup was amazing. Thank you for the recipe.
Great recipe! I’ve made this multiple times and it’s only gotten better 🙂
I’ve never made lentil soup before so I tried this recipe and it was JACKPOT…!! I did modify a little. I only had a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes and the recipe called for 14oz…I went ahead and used all 28oz. In my opinion it made the soup more vibrant…I also used 8 cups of veg broth instead of 6. I also added a little more garlic because I like it that way…!! The lemon juice and zest is definitely a MUST…as the recipe says, “do not skip this”…THANK YOU for a great recipe…
PS…total cook time was about an hour…
This a new winter family meal to put on rotation (and have lunch leftovers!) So simple but big taste. We topped ours with vegan sour cream.
I struggle to eat lentils because of the taste and texture, but love the taste on this recipe, it is just fantastic!
Thank you!
Tried this recipe today! Such a big hit. Loved it. Simple ingredients but packing huge flavors. Definitely a keeper.
2-7-21 Made the recipe last night. Refrigerated overnight, had it for dinner tonight. OMG, so, so good!! I added some cooked chopped chicken while reheating. Amazing taste, full of flavor but without heat, though we do love heat! Definitely a keeper. Hearty, full of flavor, very filling on a cold night in northern Indiana. Thanks for sharing!!
Omg amazing! I braved it and cooked in the Instant Pot for 20 minutes/slow release for 10-15. I didn’t have paprika so I subbed the spices with Cajun spices. Holy yum!!! Thank you