Best Lentil Soup
This healthy lentil soup recipe comes together quickly with pantry ingredients. Simple spices, fresh greens and a squeeze of lemon make it the best! Vegan.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 3, 2024
This soup recipe was a long time coming! Over the years, I made some lackluster lentil soups that never saw the light of day on this website. No vegetarian food blog would be complete without a proper lentil soup, though, so I perfected one of my own.
Here it is. My lentil soup is made with mostly pantry ingredients but includes hearty greens and a squeeze of lemon for bright, fresh flavor. Itโs seasoned with a few of my favorite spices and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Honestly, itโs the best lentil soup Iโve ever had.
The original title of this recipe was โSpiced Vegan Lentil Soup,โ which is accurate, but a mouthful. With over 500 five-star reviews, I think itโs safe to call this the Best Lentil Soup. Period.
Whether youโre looking to lighten up your meals or warm up with a steaming bowl of soup, this healthy lentil soup recipe is for you! Itโs one of my all-time favorites and I hope it becomes a staple in your kitchen as well.
How to Make the Best Lentil Soup
Five reasons to love this recipe:
- The recipe calls for seasonal vegetables and affordable pantry ingredients, but tastes gourmet.
- This lentil soup has an amazing hearty texture thatโs lightly creamy (yet there is no cream). The trick is to blend up a portion of the soup once the lentils are tender, and then pour it back into the pot. Itโs like magic.
- This nutritious, well-balanced soup counts as a meal if you enjoy a generous portion. Lentils are rich in protein, fiber, iron and folate.
- Lentil soup packs well for lunch in a leak-proof container, and it tastes even better the next day.
- This soup freezes and defrosts well. Make soup now and enjoy it later!
Watch How to Make Lentil Soup
Please let me know how this lentil soup turns out for you in the comments. Iโm always so eager to hear from you.
If you love this soup, check out my hearty vegetarian chili, favorite black bean soup and pinto posole. You can check out all my soup and stew recipes here.
Donโt miss my lentil minestrone recipe in my cookbookโif youโre a fan of this soup, youโre going to love it.
Best Lentil Soup
This simple vegan lentil soup recipe comes together quickly with mostly pantry ingredients. Be sure to have your ingredients prepped and ready before you start cooking! Recipe yields four large bowls of soup, or six more modest servings.
Ingredients
- ยผ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ยฝ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, lightly drained
- 1 cup brown or green lentils, picked over and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup chopped fresh collard greens or kale, tough ribs removed
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice (ยฝ to 1 medium lemon), to taste
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. One-fourth cup olive oil may seem like a lot, but it adds a lovely richness and heartiness to this nutritious soup.
- Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion and carrot and cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and is turning translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, cumin, curry powder and thyme. Cook until fragrant while stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Pour in the drained diced tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes, stirring often, in order to enhance their flavor.
- Pour in the lentils, broth and the water. Add 1 teaspoon salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper. Raise heat and bring the mixture to a boil, then partially cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape.
- Transfer 2 cups of the soup to a blender. Securely fasten the lid, protect your hand from steam with a tea towel placed over the lid, and purรฉe the soup until smooth. Pour the purรฉed soup back into the pot. (Or, use an immersion blender to blend a portion of the soup.)
- Add the chopped greens and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the greens have softened to your liking. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice until the flavors really sing. For spicier soup, add another pinch or two of red pepper flakes.
- Serve while hot. Leftovers will keep well for about 4 days in the refrigerator, or can be frozen for several months (just defrost before serving).
Notes
Soup recipe roughly based on Americaโs Test Kitchenโs lentil soup in The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, with reference to The First Messโ favourite lentil soup.
Recommended equipment: I love my Vitamix blender and Le Creuset 5.5-quart Dutch oven (affiliate links).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistโs advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This is my new favorite soup!!! The recipe is FIRE!!! When I saw cumin and curry as an ingredient, I was like..hmmm, that sounds interesting and far from bland so I gave it a try. I didnโt have Kale on hand, but I had a half of a cabbage head so I used that insteadโฆSO GOOD!!! I was going to half the batch, but Iโm so glad I didnโt!!! I had it for dinner and now Iโm having it for lunch!!
Can I use canned lentils for this soup?
Hi Gina, yes but that will reduce the cooking time.
Iโve made a double batch of this twice and it so amazing. The combination of spices is so perfect. Itโs a great thing to eat when you have a cold because the spices really help unclog a stuffy nose. I like to freeze the leftovers for those days when I donโt feel like cooking. Thank you!
Too much cumin! I used less than 2 tsp and it was still overwhelming. Ruined it for me.
What if Iโm out of curry powder
Hi Kimberly, you could substitute an equal amount of a blend of turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and chili ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, and/or black pepper. These are the common ingredients in curry spice blends.
Truly the best! Thanks Kate.
This was the perfect lentil soup. Going in rotation. Changed nothing.
This recipe is perfect. Itโs a delicious addition to my rotation of soups. Thank you for sharing it.
100% great and so easy. Prep all and set up first then begin. Two things: for heartiest I used two tablespoons tomato paste instead of canned . I actu- ally had a can of tomato paste frozen by tablespoons on foil in ny freezer. I just popped two in the lentils soup. i also added two links of Italian sausage out of casing and cut up small. Made it super tasty!
Hi!
Unfortunately I donโt have a blender. Is it okay to just make the soup without it? I know itโll change it a bit but hopefully not too much! Thanks!
Hi PR, yes it will just be chunkier with more broth without blending. It will have a different texture but still taste great!
This is absolutely amazing! I somehow always butcher anything with lentils, but this came out perfect and flavorful. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Hey Kate! This soup has been on my weekly rotation for quite some time now. Itโs perfect as-is. Your website is always my first stop when searching for a new dinner/lunch idea. I just want you to know how much I appreciate you and your delicious recipes. Give Cookie a belly rub for me!
Hi Lianne, thanks so much for your kind words!
This is the most delicious soup EVER! Thank you for sharing your amazing creation!
I have had this recipe pinned for a while. I made it today and it is delicious! I didnโt have diced tomatoes so I used crushed instead. I added spinach in place of the kale. I only added 1 cup of water as I like a thicker soup and I didnโt blend it. I will make this again!!
Hi Kate!
Canโt wait to make this, thank you so much!
Canโt you please tell me what kind of curry powder to buy?
Thank you!!
Hi Myra, I have been using Penzyโs curry blend lately, and also like Morton and Bassett.
Thank you sooo much Katie!!
There are so many curries and I donโt like one or two, but the best dish Iโve ever had was at a Thai restaurant years ago and I sadly donโt have a clue what it was but it was orangish-reddish, lol!
Just quicklyโฆIโm sooo happy I stumbled onto you!! Although a CO native, my entire family is all over OK! AndโฆIโve also been a Chiefโs fan for about 48 years!
I โค๏ธ Cookie and love your names here together! My three fur babies are my life. Iโm sorry for the huge loss of your sweet baby. Their only design flaw is they canโt live as long as us.
Thank you again for your quick reply! Cannot wait to make this soup and for the time I can sit and explore your content!
Have a beautiful day!!
Thank you for this delicious and simple soup! Itโs becoming a regular in my meal prep rotation and freezes beautifully. Iโve almost memorized it! Itโs very flexible, too. Iโve tried it with black lentils, with spinach, and added small pasta noodles. Also great with a little nutritional yeast mixed in. Iโll be making this for a long time, Iโm sure!