Lentil Soup – This super easy and healthy lentil soup is huge in flavor, loaded with earthy, aromatic spices and a bit of heat. It’s great on its own but amazing with a warm slice of bread (or two). This oh-so-cozy dish will have you heading back to the kitchen for seconds or even thirds! 😋
This lentil soup recipe is ideal for weeknights or whenever you need a quick, effortless, and hearty meal. So don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you. Mostly pantry staple ingredients deliver a surprisingly straightforward meal.
Plus, who doesn’t love a healthy meal that also tastes great?! Low in fat and high in fiber and protein, lentils are absolutely good for you. And they keep you full longer, which is a big win if you’re trying to shed a few pounds. 🙌
Do You Have to Soak Lentils for Lentil Soup?
Many online recipes don’t call for soaking dry lentils, but I like to soak them for two hours before they hit the stovetop. Soaking lentils (or beans) reduces anti-nutrients, which means you get more nutrients when you dig in.
You may have noticed, too, that soaked beans and lentils are easier to digest. That said, it’s totally your call. Skipping the soaking will still result in a tasty lentil soup.
Recipe Ingredients
- Lentils – I love using French green lentils for this recipe. But yellow, brown, black, and red lentils are just as delicious as long as they’re relatively fresh.
- Chicken Broth – For a flavorful soup base, chicken broth is the way to go! If you want a vegetarian soup, swap it out for vegetable broth, but please don’t use straight water.
- Veggies – Onion, celery, garlic, carrots, diced tomatoes, and green onions are my go-to veggies for this recipe. Feel free to customize that list based on your preferences or what you have on hand.
- Seasonings – Ginger, cumin, smoked paprika, white pepper, cayenne pepper, S&P, and some fresh parsley or cilantro for garnishing give this soup deep earthy flavors and a hint of heat.
How to Make Lentil Soup
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then add onions, garlic, celery, ginger, and cumin. Stir occasionally for 2-3 minutes or until onions are translucent. (Photos 1-2)
- Season – Then add smoked paprika and soaked lentils. Stir and sauté for about a minute. (Photo 3)
- Veggies – Finally, add tomatoes, green onions, white pepper, carrots, and cayenne (optional). Pour in about six cups of chicken broth and salt to taste. (Photos 4-5)
- Simmer – Bring the lentil soup to a boil and let it simmer until the sauce thickens and the lentils are tender. It might take 30 minutes or more, depending on how you like your lentils. Throw in some parsley, adjust for salt and pepper, and thin the soup consistency with more broth if desired. (Photo 6)
- Serve warm with bread.
Recipe Variations
- You can substitute green lentils with brown, red, or yellow lentils. Chickpeas and split peas are also tasty.
- If you want meat in this soup, add smoked pork butt, ham hock, or even bacon. 🥓
- Skip the spiciness. If you don’t eat spicy foods, leave out the cayenne pepper. The smoked paprika will still give the soup that warm, cozy vibe everyone loves without the heat.
- Vegan lentil soup. Swap the chicken broth out with vegetable broth, and you’re good to go.
- Make a creamy lentil soup by pureeing your soup with an immersion blender.
Tips and Tricks
- When you buy lentils, use them within a few months. Older lentils take longer to cook and shed their skins during cooking. And it’s best not to mix newly purchased lentils with the old ones.
- Soaking your lentils for too long may result in a loss of nutrients. I’ve found soaking them for two hours is the perfect amount of time.
- You may think that your package of lentils is safe from unwanted intruders. However, sift through the lentils before soaking them to remove debris or pebbles.
- Keep tasting the lentils as they cook to see if they’ve reached your preferred consistency.
- A squeeze of fresh lemon juice enhances flavor.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Good news! You can certainly make a big batch of lentil soup ahead. Simply allow it to cool to room temperature before transferring it to an airtight container.
Then freeze it up for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw the soup in the fridge overnight and heat it on the stovetop on low.
Serving and Storage Instructions
Serve lentil soup warm with a side of bread or rice.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for 3-5 days. Reheat them on the stove over low heat.
What Goes With Lentil Soup
While the soup simmers, you can prepare a side dish or some homemade bread to go along with it. Bread-wise, I like pairing this soup with skillet cornbread or easy dinner rolls—thicker lentil soup plates well with a steamy serving of basmati rice.
And if you’re looking to serve a fun drink with this meal, Jamaican carrot juice goes well with all the earthy flavors. 🧡 Green lentil soup goes great with a good Syrah or Cabernet Franc.
More Cozy Soup Recipes to Try
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”wWMdQAst” upload-date=”2019-11-26T22:22:31.000Z” name=”Lentil Soup” description=”Lentil Soup – super easy, cozy and healthy lentil soup that is huge in flavor. Loaded with earthy and aromatic spices with a little bit of heat. Best enjoyed with slices of bread or on its own for lunch and dinner. You’ll want seconds or thirds of this!” ]
This blog post was originally published in October 2017 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
Lentil Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 3-4 tablespoons (42-56ml) cooking oil
- 2 medium onion, diced (about 1¾ cups)
- 2 stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tablespoon (4g) minced ginger
- 1½ teaspoons (3g) cumin
- 2-3 teaspoons (4-6g) smoked paprika
- 1 pound (450g) lentils, soaked for 2 hours
- 1 14.5-ounce can (425g) diced tomatoes
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon (2g) white pepper
- 2-3 large carrots, chopped (about 1½ cups)
- ½ teaspoon (1g) cayenne pepper (optional)
- 6 cups (1.5l) or more vegetable broth (sub with chicken broth or water)
- 2 tablespoons (8g) or more chopped parsley or cilantro
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan with oil, then add onions, celery, garlic, ginger, and cumin. Stir occasionally for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent.
- Then add smoked paprika and soaked lentils. Stir and sauté for about about a minute. Finally, add tomatoes, green onions, white pepper, carrots, and cayenne (optional). Add about 6 cups of chicken stock and the desired amount of salt.
- Bring to a boil and simmer until the sauce thickens. It might take 30-45 minutes or more, depending on how soft you like your lentils. Throw in some parsley, adjust for salt and pepper, and adjust the soup consistency with more liquid if desired. Serve hot with bread.
Tips & Notes:
- You can substitute green lentils in this recipe with brown, red, and yellow lentils and even chickpeas.
- Use lentils within a few months of buying them. Older lentils take longer to cook and shed their skins during cooking. And never mix newly purchased lentils with the old ones because they won’t cook evenly.
- Soaking your lentils for longer may result in a loss of nutrients. I prefer it soaked just for 2 hours.
- You may think that your lentil pack is safe from unwanted intruders, but to be on the safe side, sift through the lentils before soaking them to get rid of debris or pebbles.
- If you want to add meat to this soup, pork shoulder, ham hock, or even bacon is amazing.
- Keep tasting the lentils as they cook to see if they’re your preferred consistency.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Alice B says
I want to try this soup, but I have a tomato allergy. Do you think it would be good without the tomatoes, or can you think of anything that would make a good substitute?
ImmaculateBites says
Just Leave it out . Tomato is used here as a thickener.
Jim Rupert says
For small brown lentils, DON’T SALT BEFORE SERVING!! Always cook them in water and add to the soup when soft. Cooking in broth or salted water results in tough “al dente ” lentils.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks for the tip.
Popoola Olawale says
I’m planning to cook this soup for the first time. Is there any substitute for the Chicken broth? Thank you. Wale
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Popoola! I am so excited for you to make this! YOu can substitute the chicken broth with water. Make sure to adjust the seasonings to taste and add any bouillon powder you can lay your hands on. If using bouillon powder, be careful with the salt content. Let me know how this works out for you 🙂 !
Janel Prasad says
This soup is a weekly staple at our house. It’s tasty, healthy, cheap to make and fills the tummies of two kids and adults. We love it! Thank you!
ImmaculateBites says
That’s good to know Janel. Thanks for taking the time out to let me know.
Lydia says
I have been looking for a good simple recipe for lentil soup and I think I just found it! Thanks, I am going to try it very soon.
imma africanbites says
Awesome! So excited for you to try this.
Antonio says
What’s the serving size ? I see the nutritional value but not the serving size. Is it one cup or two cups ?
Recipe is great !
Thank you !
imma africanbites says
Hi. I already updated the recipe box to correspond to 1 cup per serving size. Please be reminded though that numbers could vary depending on the product used.
Bibi Fonmedig-Nkwenji says
Imma,
Thanks for yet another great recipe. This lentil soup came very handy today with the crazy weather and most importantly on our NO MEAT Friday during this lent period.
The entire family loved it.
I find myself running to ImmaculateBites every now and then for more food inspirations. Lol…
You are the best.❤️
imma africanbites says
Awww. You’re always welcome in this little online kitchen. 🙂 Glad you love it as much as I do!
Andrea D Williams says
Making this soup presently, thank you for the easy to follow directions!! I appreciate it. And it looks and smell delicious, my grandchildren are all coming from upstairs to investigate the aroma Lol
imma africanbites says
You’re most welcome! I’m always happy whenever my recipes are a hit too with the kiddos. Enjoy! 🙂
Hope says
this recipe is fantastic!
It was my first experience making lentil soup, and I couldn’t have asked for a more delicious dinner.
Delicious, simple, nutritious.
Amazing!
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Thanks!
Ivy says
I’m going to try this tonight. Except we are going to put in leftover smoked sausage for our meat. Cant wait to see how it comes out.
Dana says
I’ve made this soup twice now and it’s been excellent both times. Thanks for the great recipe!
imma africanbites says
Glad you love it, Dana! Thanks for stopping by!
C P says
This was great. Just had it a couple of days ago ans husband is looking forward to be making it again. Thanks.
ImmaculateBites says
Great! Thanks for the feedback!
C P says
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I’ve tried a lot of other ones and I love them and as a result i trust your opinion concerning flavors. I recently ran out of lentils, but I have a whole bag of green split peas that I need to use…would you personally recommend subbing out the lentils for the peas? Seems like it would taste pretty weird to me…what are your thoughts? Sorry for the weird question, but thank you in advance.
ImmaculateBites says
Not at all weird . It would do just fine here . Go ahead and give it a try. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Sylvie says
It is so cool that you can adjust the portions onthis recipe! Idon’t know what tool you use to do this, but it is really useful. 🙂 will definitely try this recipe.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Sylvie! Good to know ! It’s a great tool makes calorie counting and portions easier to control.
Betty says
I am making this for dinner tomorrow night along with some cornbread. Yummy. Thanks again for the great recipe.
ImmaculateBites says
My pleasure ! Do let me know how it works out for you. Thanks!!