This tasty green lentil soup makes a comforting, healthy, budget-friendly one-pot meal to please the entire family. It's vegan, loaded with plant-based protein, and absolutely delicious.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Total Time35 minutesmins
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Mediterranean, vegan
Keyword: Green Lentil Soup
Servings: 4
Calories: 427kcal
Author: Katia
Ingredients
1½Tbspolive oil or extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
1medium-sized onion, diced
1large carrot, diced
1large celery rib, diced
2-3garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1tspground ginger
½tspground cumin
½tspground coriander
2 cups(400 grams)green lentils or brown lentils
6cupsvegetable broth, or chicken broth (low-sodium)
1Tbsp tomato paste, or 1/3 cup diced tomatoes
2bay leaves
½tspfine salt, or according to taste
¼tspblack pepper, plus more to serve
1small potato, cut into chunks(it's optional, add it if you prefer a thicker texture)
Instructions
In a large pot or Dutch oven heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery and cook for 5-6 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent.
Then add garlic, spices, and cook for one minute, stirring continuously.
Add the remaining ingredients, bring the mixture up to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium low and put the lid on. Simmer for about 30-35 minutes, or until lentils are soft.
Turn the heat off, let it cool slightly, and remove the bay leaves. Then transfer half of the soup to a blender, blend, return the soup into the pot and give a good stir. Alternatively, you can use a hand blender to whizz only part of the soup.
Now taste and make sure you're happy with seasoning and consistency, you might want to add more salt and pepper according to your taste. And add a little bit of water if you prefer a thinner soup. ¼
Serve it warm, with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, black pepper, and crusty bread. Enjoy!
Notes
Lentils: green lentils, French lentils, brown lentils are fine. I've never tried this recipe with red lentils, but I think they should be fine.
Storage instructions: keep in the fridge, stored in an airtight container, for up to 3-4 days.
Freezable: divide among airtight containers (leaving 1-inch space at the top), and freeze up to 2 months
I either make my own vegetable broth cooking vegetable scraps and herbs or I use hot water and vegan low salt vegetable broth cubes.
Seasoning: If you don't use low sodium vegetable broth, add only 1/4 tsp of salt and then adjust the seasoning at the end as you never really know how strong the salt from the broth is.