Lentil soup is a delicious soup packed with vitamins, minerals and plant-based protein. And it is made with pantry ingredients, plus long-lasting root vegetables, making it a great meal to pull together in a pinch.👌🏻
It it truly the BEST lentil soup recipe. It also has tons of immunity supporting ingredients too: garlic, lentils, oregano, thyme, lemon juice and more.
The bulk of the work is chopping the veggies, which is pretty easy. Just crank up your favorite tunes, friends, and get choppin’. 😎🙌🏻
We start with the base for many great soups: onion, celery and carrot. I like using baby carrots to make chopping a little easier.
Modifying the original recipe
This lentil soup is a vegan/ plant-based recipe.
But omnivores, feel free to take liberties. You can substitute homemade chicken bone broth, if you want. I am using vegetable stock in this recipe (or water + Better Than Bullion vegetable base, more accurately), but bone broth works well too.
We like our lentil soup really thick, almost like a stew.
If you want yours a little more liquid-y feel free to add more stock. I would start with an extra cup or so, and see how it looks as you cook. You can always add a little more at the end, if you wish.
I stirred in some spinach at the end, mainly to add some extra nutrition (and use up what I had in the fridge). This will taste just as good without that. So no worries if you don’t have any.
Same goes for the lemon juice. It really brightens up the flavor. But we have made this without the lemon juice, and it is still super delicious without it.
I used dried herbs, but for all you herb gardeners out there, you can totally use fresh instead. Fresh amount suggestion are included in the recipe card.
Can I freeze leftover lentil soup?
Yes! This recipe makes a really big batch, and the leftovers freeze really well.
Or, you can save leftovers in in the fridge for about a week. We love reheating leftovers for lunch.
What to serve with lentil soup
This soup is super hearty and can stand alone, if you want. I added some diced avocado on top of my leftovers, and it was really yummy.
We also love a side of southern skillet corn bread, or some rustic artisan bread on the side.
Lentil Soup Recipe
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Lentil Soup
Lentil soup is a delicious soup packed with vitamins, minerals and plant-based protein. And it is made with pantry ingredients, plus long-lasting root vegetables, making it a great meal to pull together in a pinch.👌🏻
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion medium, diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 1/2 cups carrots diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 cloves garlic finely minced
- 8 cups vegetable stock (I used 8 cups water + 1 2/3 Tablespoons Better than Bullion vegetable base)
- 14.5 ounces tomatoes (1 can, undrained)
- 2 cups green lentils (dried, or brown lentils work too! Rinse them off first.)
- 13 ounces red potatoes (2 medium red potatoes, diced into 1 inch pieces. Yukon golds or russets also work well.)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 Tablespoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano dried, or 1.5 teaspoon fresh
- 1 teaspoon thyme dried, or 1 Tablespoon fresh
- Salt and pepper to taste*
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 cups spinach roughly chopped
Instructions
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Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium low heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and bay leaf, and cook until softened (about 5 minutes).
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Add garlic, and cook 1 minute more.
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Increase heat to medium high; add in the vegetable stock, tomatoes, lentils, seasonings and bring to a boil.
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Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and cook 17 minute on a low simmer, stirring occasionally.
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Add potatoes, and cook another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom.
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When there is 2 to 3 minutes of cook time left, add in chopped fresh spinach.
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Optional: To thicken soup, use a potato masher, pressing down a few times (8 to 10) through the soup until reaching your desired thickness or consistency. Alternatively, you can use a stick blender: 2 to 4 quick pulses.
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Optional: Squeeze in the juice of one lemon, and stir to combine. This is optional, but it really brightens up the flavor.
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Optional: Finish of with some chopped fresh herbs for garnish. Parsley, green onion or fresh thyme would taste great!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutritional information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.
*If you use Better Than Bullion, there is a decent chance you won't need any additional salt. It is very salty on its own. Taste it first.
Linda Tiedemann says
I thought this was easy to make and very tasty – however I found that cumin was the overwhelming flavor and aroma – dominating the recipe. I would suggest cutting the amount from the full one tablespoon to maybe 1/2 tablespoon or even a teaspoon. I could not detect the bay leaf or the other spices. Also I found that the potatoes needed a little more time. I used vegetable broth which was good but again, the cumin was overwhelming. I tried adding a little shredded cheese on the top of each serving and that helped.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Thanks for the feedback, Linda! Yep, you can reduce the cumin next time.