Red Lentil Vegetable Soup is a healthy, hearty, satisfying meal in a bowl. Perfect for a weeknight meal served with crusty bread.
It’s thick, rich and flavorful – and super nutritious. Lentils are a good source of soluble fibre, protein, folate, and other minerals and vitamins. The carrots, onions, celery and potato add even more nutrition. You can adjust the flavor and spices to your taste with coriander, more cumin or even hot sauce or chili flakes. We love the lemon in the soup which gives it gives it a bright zing.
We typically serve this lentil soup as a full meal with crusty bread. And maybe a salad. But of course you can use a smaller portion as a starter. Be careful though – it’s filling. One more thing, it freezes well, so it’s a great make-ahead soup.
Shortcuts for Red Lentil Soup
- Throw all the vegetables in the processor for a rough chop (pulse a few times) instead of dicing them all by hand.
- Use garlic in the jar or frozen garlic cubes instead of mincing garlic cloves.
Tailor To Your Taste
- Substitute cilantro for the parsley. Here’s a quick 101 on Herbs: The Bare Essentials.
- Add 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Use a cup of diced tomatoes (no juice) instead of tomato paste
- Alter the seasonings to your taste
- Use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth
- Add more broth to make it a thinner soup
- Puree all or part of the soup with an immersion blender
- Omit the lemon
Make Ahead
- Red lentil and vegetable soup can be frozen for a couple of months. We like to freeze it in smaller lunch-size portions.
Red Lentil Vegetable Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 3 carrots, peeled
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 potato, peeled
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp ground cumin or curry powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- Optional: pinch of cayenne, chili powder and/or coriander seed
- 4 cup vegetable or chicken broth (1 box)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup red lentils
- 1/2 large lemon, zest and juice
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
Instructions
- PREPARE THE VEGETABLES: Dice carrots, onion, celery, potato. SHORTCUT: Cut vegetables into large chunks, put in food processor and pulse until roughly chopped.
- SAUTE VEGETABLES, GARLIC: In a medium-large pot, heat oil to medium high. Add vegetables and saute until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and saute another minute or two.
- ADD SEASONINGS AND OTHER INGREDIENTS: Add tomato paste, cumin or curry powder, salt and pepper (and optional seasonings if using). Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in broth, water and lentils.
- COOK: Bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat to simmer. Cover partially and cook for 30 minutes or until lentils and vegetables are tender.
- FINISH THE SOUP AND SERVE: Add lemon juice, zest and parsley (or cilantro). Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil on top and additional lemon wedges if desired.
Other hearty soups you might like are:
Beef Barley Vegetable Soup
Vegetarian Pea Soup
