Easy Lentil Soup (One Pot)

The best, healthy hearty, easy lentil soup recipe, homemade with simple ingredients in one pot over stovetop. Loaded with vegetables, brown lentils, Italian herbs and spices.

Today's recipe covers all of the needs of perfect meal: healthy, hearty, flavorful! It is easy enough for a weeknight dinner but also can be eaten again for work lunches or sent in a thermos for your kids at school.

It packs flavor and nutrition all into one bowl since it is loaded with lots of vegetables. You should also try this Roasted Red Pepper Soup (One Pot) and this Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup (One Pot), which are perfect for chilly Fall and Winter days.

How to make lentil soup?

1. Saute ingredients- Heat butter and oil. Add onion, garlic, carrot, celery and saute until onion is softened and translucent.
2. Add remaining ingredients- Such as lentils, tomatoes, broth, cumin powder, coriander powder, Italian seasoning, paprika, ginger powder, salt, pepper, bay leaf and mix everything together.
3. Simmer and cook- Cover and cook for about 40 minutes, until lentils are soft and tender.
4. Blend- Uncover and U=use a hand-held blender to roughly puree the soup.
5. Adjust thickness- If soup is too thick, mix in a little more broth or water. If soup is too thin, cook uncovered until extra liquid is reduced.
6. Optional: Mix in some lemon juice to add a subtle zesty kick.
7. Enjoy! Garnish with parsley and dig in!

What sides to serve with brown lentil soup recipe?

Keep the sides simple such as:

• Salad- A simple green salad is the best choice or you can try this Italian Chopped Salad (One Bowl).
• Bread- Such as garlic bread, breadsticks, crusty Ciabatta bread for dipping, homemade biscuits.
• Crackers and croutons- Homemade or store-bought both work well.

Do you cook lentils before adding to soup? Do you soak lentils?

You do not have to cook or soak the lentils before adding them. You should however, rinse them because this removes any debris from the lentils.

What does this soup taste like?

Brown lentils have a deep earthly flavor and are similar to beans. So, the soup will taste much like a soup containing beans. The texture is more like a pea than a bean though. It's thick and rich.

Variations

Use other lentils- Or even a combination of multiple lentils together. Try red lentils, yellow lentils or even green lentils. The color of the soup will be different, based on whichever lentils you use and the flavor may be slightly different too.

Add other veggies in this lentil vegetable soup- Such as spinach, potatoes, kale, bell peppers, zucchini or yellow squash.

Try other herbs and spices- Indian curry lentil soup is a big hit with my family. You can also use Cajun seasonings or Mexican seasonings.

Make it creamy- Add heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk for a dairy-free option.

Chicken lentil soup- Add cooked shredded or cubed chicken.

Sausage lentil soup- You can also mix in cooked sausage or other proteins like ham, beef, bacon, tofu.

Make it spicy- Add cayenne pepper for a lot of heat or some red chili flakes for a milder heat.

Add barley- This creates a thicker and heavier version of this soup. More broth will probably need to be added.

Crockpot lentil soup- Skip the simmer step. Add all ingredients to the crockpot and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Tips and Techniques

How to thicken soup? Pureeing some of the soup and adding it back will help to thicken it. You can also keep simmering it uncovered until some of the liquid evaporates, making it thicker.

How to make soup thinner? Add more broth or water.

What lentils to use in soup? You can use brown, red, green, or yellow lentils. Each have a slight variation in flavor, but all will taste delicious in this recipe.

How to freeze soup? Make the soup and once it cools down, freeze in a freezer bag or sealed container. Reheat in a crockpot, microwave or stovetop.

Serve a crowd- Simply double all the ingredients to serve more people.

Make it less salty- Use unsalted butter and low sodium broth to prevent the soup from becoming too salty.

Fresh lentils- Pick the freshest lentils you can find. Old lentils may never soften or can shed their skins while cooking becoming unpleasantly "mushy."

Wait until the end to add lemon juice- Adding it too early in the cooking process can keep the lentils from becoming tender. Mix it in it at the very end.

Use nonstick pot- Because this prevents sticking and burning.

More One Pot Soup Recipes

• Beef Noodle Soup (One Pot)
• Beef Barley Soup (One Pot)
• Vegetable Beef Soup (One Pot)
• One Pot Lasagna Soup
• Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe (One Pot)

Recipe

Happy cooking everyone!