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Basic Lentil Soup Recipe

Basic Lentil Soup
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: | Makes: 6 servings

Lentil soups can range from superhearty to watery and tasteless. This soup is the best of both worlds: filling and flavorful, yet light and vegetarian.

To see this recipe with illustrated steps, check out The Basics: How to Make Lentil Soup.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium celery stalk, small dice
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and small dice
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, small dice
  • 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 quart low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with their juices
  • 1 1/4 cups lentils (any color except red), rinsed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
  • 2 ounces spinach leaves (about 1/2 a bunch)
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering, about 3 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season with several generous pinches of salt and pepper.
  2. Add the broth, tomatoes with their juices, lentils, bay leaf, and thyme and stir to combine. Cover and bring to a simmer, about 15 minutes. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low and continue simmering, covered, until the lentils and vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes more.
  3. Taste and season with more salt or pepper as needed, then stir in the vinegar. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. If you prefer a creamier texture, purée half of the soup in a blender and add it back to the pot.
    Write a review | 13 Reviews
  • Basic Lentil Soup Recipe
    5

    This turned out very tasty! With a little hot sauce it was perfect!

  • Basic Lentil Soup Recipe
    5

    Yeah. This was great. I modified it to my tastes a little. But a great base recipe.

  • Basic Lentil Soup Recipe
    5

    This is a very inexpensive soup, so splurge a bit and use French green lentils. You'll never go back. I splurged a bit more and used San Marzano tomatoes. I also diced up and fried two slices of center-cut bacon (which I pureed along with half the soup) just to give the soup a bit more depth. So it's not vegetarian but it is exceptional! Would serve to guests in a heartbeat.

  • Basic Lentil Soup Recipe
    5

    Fantastic! While I mistakenly skipped a step or two, the recipe exceeded my expectations. Thanks for sharing.

  • Basic Lentil Soup Recipe
    4

    This is a great soup recipe. I substituted mushroom stock for the vegetable stock, and I liked the added flavor. I cooked it a little longer than the instructions, and as a result needed to add about a cup of extra water at the end to get to the consistency I wanted. I did no puree any of it because I already found it relatively thick.

  • Basic Lentil Soup Recipe
    5

    Vipmonicakes, the splash of red wine vinegar makes the soup! Just like a squeeze of lemon/other acid to a broth-based dish brightens all the flavors, the red wine vinegar adds depth and dimension to the lentils. Not to worry- it doesn't taste 'vinegary'. Don't leave it out! Even our picky youngest child loved this!

  • Basic Lentil Soup Recipe
    5

    This was simply devine!!! I tweaked the seasonings, because, in my opinion, the amounts above weren't enough. It was sort of bland. I also added additional seasonings, smoked paprika, an italian blend of oregano, red pepper and basil, and lemon pepper.

  • Basic Lentil Soup Recipe
    5

    I know this would be good, because for years I've made a version of this with a couple differences--1/4 cup tomato paste instead of the tomatoes, tarragon to taste, one tablespoon brown sugar, a splash of white wine tarragon vinegar (added after cooking). 15 minutes or so in the pressure cooker at 15 lbs of pressure. We don't puree half the soup because it thickens a lot by the next day, and we enjoy having it brothy one day and thicker the next.

  • Basic Lentil Soup Recipe
    4

    This is a good recipe, but for some extra body you can add some barley, and kick it up a notch with some hot chili sauce: http://imunchie.com/bobjgourmet/munchies/love-spicy-vegetable-soup

  • is the red wine vinegar really necessary? what difference would it make if i leave it out? (ive never used it before)

  • emilynaglegreen, generally red (and orange lentils) cook in about half the time of brown or green lentils. So for texture (not taste) purposes we stuck with longer cooking lentils to avoid the mush factor. Amy Wisniewski, CHOW

  • Sounds great -- but why the prohibition against red lentils? I have everything else on hand to make this but only red lentils.

  • Good recipe, but IMO the lentils should be added Last after the veggies are partially cooked (5 to 10 minutes). Cook for 10 minutes further and check - lentils go from firm to mush in a heartbeat.

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