A great everyday soup that’s ready in less than an hour from start to finish, this is a standard basic recipe every lentil eater should have in their back pocket. You need just lentils and a few other pantry staples to make a really delicious soup that’s endlessly customisable. Serve as is or with a green salad and sourdough bread to make a nice filling meal.
Why You’ll Love This Soup
- It’s made with minimal ingredients like root vegetables, canned tomatoes, and dried lentils.
- It’s flexible – you can add different vegetables like frozen greens for more nutrients or to change the flavour profile a bit. If adding greens, stir them in at the end of the cooking time.
- Like most vegetable soup, it’ll fill you up without bogging you down. Lentils add protein and the vegetables boost the fibre even more.
Ingredients
- Lentils: use brown, black, or green lentils. Red will work in a pinch but are a bit too soft for this soup.
- Potatoes: use starchy potatoes for a slightly thicker soup, or waxy if you prefer more of a bite to your veg.
- Broth: any vegetable broth you like. Water will work as long as you season properly.
- Vegetables: if you want to use a standard mirepoix, add a couple ribs of celery along with the carrots and onion. Otherwise try additional root vegetables like parsnip or kohlrabi.
- Tomato paste: substitute a big splash of dry red wine if you don’t have tomato paste, adding it and cooking for the same time as the paste.
If you like this lentil vegetable soup, I recommend these recipes: reader favourite lentil potato stew, cabbage lentil soup, and curry carrot potato soup.
Step by Step
Step 1: cook the carrot and onion over low medium heat for about 15 minutes.
Step 2: stir in the tomato paste, potatoes, and garlic, cooking for another five.
Step 3: add the tomatoes, broth, and lentils, then simmer.
Step 4: the soup will be ready after about 20 minutes.
How to Store
Storage: keep leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Cool to room temperature before refrigerating and reheat as usual.
Freezing: transfer fully cooled soup to an airtight container on the same day it’s cooked and freeze for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Expert Tips
- Trust the lentils: it will seem like a very thin soup when you add the dried lentils, but they’ll soak up much of the broth. I haven’t tested this recipe with canned lentils – you’d have to reduce the amount of broth but I’m not sure by how much.
- Season to taste: as with any soup and most savoury recipes, you should taste it before serving to check if the amount of salt and spices suit your palate. Every broth will be more or less salty, your tomatoes might have salt added, and so on, so use your cooking intuition here.
- Stick with low and slow: the primary cooking period of the carrots and onion, then five minutes for the tomato paste, both play a huge role in boosting the soup’s flavour. If you try to rush either of these steps, you’ll end up with a thin-tasting soup.
More Lentil Recipes
Lentil Tabbouleh
Lentil Cottage Pie
Red Lentil Pancakes
Lentil Mushroom Curry
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Tomato Lentil Soup
Description
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 medium carrots halved lengthwise and sliced into 1cm (⅓ in.) half-moons
- 2 medium potatoes diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 400 grams (13.5 oz.) canned diced tomatoes
- 800 ml (3 ¼ cups) vegetable broth or water
- 150 grams (1 cup) brown lentils
- 2 teaspoons sea salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over low medium heat. Once hot, add the oil, onion, and carrots. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and the onions are translucent. Reduce the heat if the vegetables start to stick.2 teaspoons oil, 1 medium onion, 2 medium carrots
- Add the potatoes, garlic, and tomato paste. Cook for another five minutes, stirring once or twice. The tomato paste should darken and look a little brown.2 medium potatoes, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Stir in the paprika and oregano, then add the canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, and lentils. Season with salt and pepper.1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 2 teaspoons sea salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 150 grams (1 cup) brown lentils, 400 grams (13.5 oz.) canned diced tomatoes, 800 ml (3 ¼ cups) vegetable broth
- Increase the heat to bring the soup to a low boil, then reduce the heat to a high simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. The soup is ready once the lentils are softened.
- Taste the soup and adjust seasoning as needed, then serve hot. Keep leftovers in the refrigerator for up to five days or freeze up to three months.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.