This is a warming and spicy red lentil soup loaded with amazing flavor, nutrients and with a thick and comforting texture, just made for dunking in crusty bread!Recipe yields 5 cups of soup in total (approx 1 ¼ cup per serving).
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Total Time30 minutesmins
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Middle East, vegan, vegetarian
Keyword: Lebanese lentil soup
Servings: 4servings
Calories: 381kcal
Author: Katia
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1onion, diced
1large garlic clove, minced
1teaspooncumin
1teaspoonturmeric
1 cup(130 grams)carrots, diced
1 cup(130 grams)potatoes, diced
1 ½ cup(270 grams)red lentils, rinsed and drained
5 cups(1.2 liter)vegetable broth or hot water*
¾ - 1teaspoonfine salt, or to taste
⅛teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper, or to taste
½lemon, juice
1handfulcilantro or parsley, chopped
Instructions
In a large pot heat gently the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion starts to soften.
Add cumin, turmeric, garlic, and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.
Then add lentils, carrots, potatoes, and give a good stir.
Add the broth, salt, and pepper and bring to the boil*.
Reduce the heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the pot from the heat, check the seasoning and the consistency (you might like a thicker or a thinner soup, so you can add or reduce the amount of liquid - see notes)*.
Optional step: using an immersione blender you can puree the soup until it's smooth and creamy if you wish.
Serve with chopped parsley or coriander, a pinch of paprika if you like and freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste*.
Notes
.
Seasoning: If you use a vegetable or chicken broth that tastes quite salty on its own, it's important to adjust the seasoning at the end and not at the beginning as you never really know how strong the salt from the broth is. In this case, I would start only with a good pinch of salt, no more than that.
Lemon: dd a little lemon juice at a time and see which level of acidity fits your taste.
Leftover: it keeps well in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. t’s also freezable: divide among airtight containers (leaving 1-inch space at the top), and freeze up to 1 month.
Texture: This red lentil soup is quite thick. If you prefer a thinner consistency, just slowly add more broth until you’re happy with it. Otherwise, water it down a little bit and add more spices.
Nutrition facts: the nutrition values are for one portion and are based on an online nutrition calculator. It’s an estimate only and it should not be considered as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. Please see my disclosure policies.