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.
I didn’t realize I only had a cup of lentils left until after I chopped everything. I used extra veg with 1 cup lentils and 3 ish cups of broth. I also used a couple of fresh tomato’s instead of canned since I was out of that. This turned out delicious!!! Adding to my rotation
Solid recipe with delicious and nutritious ingredients. Wouldn’t call it amazing based on taste alone. It probably needs more spices going, maybe fried at the start to power up the flavors? As a veggie lover, I liked the recipe but my family members weren’t as enthusiastic.
I made this with red lentils and added a touch of cayenne to give it a little kick. The red lentils are perfect I think; they tend to disintegrate, so there’s no need to use the stick blender, and the colour is fantastic. I’d baked sourdough the same morning with olives in it, and the combination was fantastic.
Change the directions in the lentil soup recipe. Whenever I make soup, I skim or remove the foam off the top, not “the scum.”
Made this soup tonight, it was just delicious. Used a whole lemon and was heavy handed with the spices.
Served it with frozen Aldi roti bread.
Awesome!
We were given some Lentils and wasn’t sure what to do with them? So glad I found your recipe DELICIOUS!!!!
I made it twice with some variations on the theme. It was delicious both times. I had no tomato paste this time so I used sofrito and some pasta sauce. I added the spices to the onion and garlic as well as chicken bullion. I omitted the lemon as well. I poured it over rice, so delicious and hearty. Thank you for the recipe.
Love it thank you! This changes the way I make lentil soup for ever!
Delicious. First time making Lentil soup. The only thing I would change next time is omitting the lemon. I liked the flavor just fine before I added it. Also, I added just a little shallot and substituted a half teaspoon of smoked paprika for regular.
It looks so uninteresting … is so easy to make … and somehow tastes divine! Amazing!
Terrific soup. As with some of the other comments:
– brown lentils were still a bit firm at 45 mins, but were fine after blitzing
– definitely add the lemon juice, and be generous with it. I used the whole lemon 🙂
The ‘seriously amazing’ in the title got my interest, I thought, how can lentil soup be ‘seriously amazing’? Well.. this soup well and truly answered my question. It is indeed seriously amazing. Agree that it needs the lemon to give it that lift. And my little modification is to add some pasta most the way through the cooking time, so it’s a lentil and pasta stew (I don’t blitz any of it). It gets devoured. And if there’s leftovers, it gets frozen in individual portions so they’re a quick and easy lunch or dinner option. I’ve made this about 4 times this winter season. So easy to make. And something to look forward to on a cold winter night.
This was so delicious! I was skeptical about adding in the lemon and lemon zest but, it took it to the next level! This recipe is a keeper!
So delicious, although my soup got soaked up by the lentils and there was no liquid left. Also can I use water instead of broth? Thanks for this great recipe.
Your note says not to use French Puy lentils. Do you have a variation that can be used with French lentils? Or it just won’t be good at all with French?
i made this soup and it was yum but maybe i did something wrong cuz i felt like i need more liquid. also can this recipe work for splite peas?
Split peas and lentils are different but they are both legumes., just different varieties. Yes, they can be subbed in this, and other recipes. However, be aware that their cooking time is much longer. You can shorten the cooking time by soaking overnight.
I know I’ve written a review last year about this soup, but I can’t stop raving about how delicious it is! I made a pot 2 days ago, froze some for later. We’ve made it a lot for our Meals on Wheels clients, and the volunteers always get some to take home! Of course I have to make more than 1 batch! At home, I prep my veggies early in day or a day ahead, Then when I ready to make it, it doesn’t take that long. Mine had a bit of a bite on the lentils at the cooking time, but is fine for me. It’s a personal presence. And you don’t have to soak or precook these lentils, just add to the soup. I’m looking forward to making the Smoky Roasted Tomato soup!
I’ve made this soup multiple times because it is so good and satisfying. I tripled the seasonings and used 1 and a quarter cups lentils but kept everything else the same
10/10. I can’t think of a single way to improve this soup, has definitely warmed my soul on an snowy winters day
I tried this recipe because I would like to add lentils to my diet. It was out of this world! I have already made it twice this week, and we are in the middle of a heat wave!
Great recipe, I added a leek as it needed using up and served with some plain yoghurt