This homemade one-pot healthy lentil soup recipe is so delicious, it’s sure to become a dinner staple in your home!
The Best Lentil Soup Recipe
While you can find thousands of recipes for how to make lentil soup from scratch, this is the hands-down winner of anything I’ve ever tried, thanks to a secret cooking trick that honestly makes all the difference.
If you want a traditional lentil soup that will quickly become a family favorite, I highly recommend giving it a try. The classic soup is ultra thick, filling, hearty, and made with just nine ingredients.
Originally, the recipe was my grandmother’s, and it actually won first prize when she entered it at a country fair!
The soup has been on regular rotation in my family for years, and I’ve adapted the original version to make it my own.
If you’re browsing online trying to decide which lentil soup recipe to make, this one will not let you down.
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Wholesome Soup Ingredients
Here’s everything you need to make the lentil vegetable soup: onion, celery, tomatoes, vegetable broth, carrots, rice or barley, a little salt, dried rosemary, and optional pepper to taste
The recipe is so delicious and easy to make, just one taste and you will never go back to buying canned soup again.
One of my favorite parts about this soup is that it freezes well, so you can portion it out and freeze the leftovers for a rainy day – I use these BPA-Free Glass Meal Prep Containers.
Full of nutrition, plant based protein, fiber, and so much flavor, it is pure healthy comfort food in a bowl!
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How To Make Lentil Soup
Trick #1: Pulverize the base ingredients – This trick makes all the difference!
So many lentil soup recipes skip this step, which is a huge mistake! Blending the base ingredients not only lets you thicken the soup without adding flour or cornstarch, it also adds so much depth of flavor. The trick is to pulverize before adding the lentils so you get all the benefits of the extra flavor without having to sacrifice texture.
Trick #2: Keep it simple.
While ingredients such as kale, sweet potato, cumin, paprika, garlic, spinach, or lemon zest all might make nice additions, this classic lentil soup is so good on its own that there’s honestly no need for extra add-ins or spices. By keeping it simple, you allow the main ingredients to really shine.
Trick #3: Cook until carrots are soft.
You’ll often see carrots as an ingredient in soup recipes, and for good reason. As long as you add them at the right time, their natural sweetness will transfer to the broth while cooking and balance the flavor of the soup.
This particular recipe calls for the carrots to be added in the middle of the cooking process, ensuring they’re perfectly soft without being overcooked.
While you can definitely serve the soup the day it’s made, the taste is even better if you wait 24 hours, because doing so gives the individual flavors a chance to come together and intensify. There’s actually a long scientific explanation for why leftovers always seem to taste better the next day; it’s not just in your head!
Serving Suggestions: Banana Muffins or Keto Muffins
The soup is especially good with homemade English muffins from the Hello Breakfast ebook.
Can I Double The Recipe?
The recipe as written yields about five cups, and it can easily be doubled to feed a larger family or if you want enough leftovers to freeze. The soup is also great for meal prep.
Do You Have To Soak The Lentils First?
Nope! Unlike other dried legumes or beans, lentils can safely be cooked without soaking. (Split peas and mung beans also do not require soaking.)
If you have time, soaking dried lentils overnight increases digestibility and reduces cooking time, but it’s also perfectly fine to either skip the soaking or make this lentil soup using canned lentils.
Should I Use Green Or Brown Lentils?
It’s your choice, as both work well.
I haven’t tried red lentils here, but many readers have commented that they’ve successfully made this soup with red lentils.
Can I Make It In A Slow Cooker?
You can! Follow the same instructions as if cooking it on the stovetop, skipping the simmering step and instead cooking in a crock pot on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours, or until carrots and barley are tender.
What About Instant Pot Lentil Soup?
Sauté the onion in oil if desired, using the sauté function, then pulverize with the celery, tomatoes, and broth. Add all remaining ingredients, lock, and set to high pressure for 2 minutes. Once done, cancel and carefully do a quick release.
The recipe can be vegetarian and vegan, low calorie, gluten free, soy free, dairy free, low fat, oil free, and it’s so rich and thick that it’s almost more like lentil stew than soup.
Hopefully you will love it as much as we do!
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Watch the easy lentil soup recipe video, above
Lentil Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 a large onion, diced
- 1 1/2 tbsp oil (can be omitted for fat free)
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 14 oz chopped tomatoes
- 14 oz vegetable broth
- 1 1/2 cups cooked or canned lentils
- 1/4 cup chopped carrots
- 1/4 cup uncooked pearl barley or rice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- optional pepper to taste
Instructions
- To make the soup: either sauté onion in oil or just combine it with the celery, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Pulverize. Then add all remaining ingredients, lower to a simmer, and cover. Simmer 25 minutes or until carrots and barley are tender. Taste, and add additional seasonings if desired. If you try the recipe, don’t forget to leave a comment or rate it below!*Notes: I usually add the oil for its rich flavor, but especially if you’re used to low-fat soups, this one is still good without it. The 1/4 cup barley adds thickness to the soup by soaking up some of the liquid during cooking. If using dried lentils, cook them before starting the soup. (If using canned lentils, drain and rinse first.) Canned diced tomatoes are fine; you just might want to cut back on the salt in the recipe if using tomatoes with salt.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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Larry says
It’s impossible for me to overstate my love of this recipe. I make it once a week in the instant pot. I add mushroom, and after it’s cooked, pre-cooked farro. Just getting into the vegetarian lifestyle, and this recipe has been a lifeline.
Once again, thank you Katie.
Lou says
I make this for my wife and me tonight. It was fantastic! She told me I should have doubled the recipe. She also said we should make a large stockpot of it and can it. When I made it I used the caned diced tomatoes with basil garlic and oregano. Other than that it as according to the recipe. I cooked the lentils myself.
Jen says
I have made this several times now and it is SO good! Easy to make and the most comforting bowl of lentil soup. Leftovers hold up really well too.
Meghan says
Hi Katie! Thank you for all of your amazing recipes. With an overwhelming amount of food bloggers out there these days, I always know I can trust your recipes. Question for you: I just sprouted a bunch of lentils. Have you ever made soup with sprouted lentils, and if so, do you do anything differently?
Jason Sanford says
We honestly haven’t tried it, but be sure to report back if you experiment!
Jason (media relations)
Mer says
Started making this over quarantin- delicious and easy! My 7 year old enjoys it as well🙂
Thank u!
Monika says
Such a wonderful soup! My family loves it (including two toddlers!) Thank you!
Emily S says
I made this in the instant pot and cooked for 4 mins on high pressure and the lentils were still very undercooked…did the recipe mean to say cook for 12 mins instead of 2? Thanks!
Emily S says
Nevermind just saw the note to cook the lentils before starting the soup in the original recipe…oops!
Marie-line Villers says
I wonder if I could make this without onion… I assume not as it’s a base ingredient?
CCK Media Team says
Sorry we have never tried so honestly can’t say how it would taste.
Ashley says
How do you “pulverize” the ingredients after you’ve already cooked them in a pot?
Don’t you pulverize in a blender?
Do you just smash the ingredients (onion, celery, tomatoes, and broth)?
CCK Media Team says
We use a hand blender (immersion blender) or you can use a regular blender and then just transfer to a pot.
Alison says
Maybe b/c I used dry lentils in the recipe and let the soup cook long enough (around 35 minutes) until the lentils were tender, I needed about 5 cups of liquid (about 3 cups broth and 2 cups water) with 1 cup dry lentils and 1/4 cup barley. The soup came out great, but really needed more liquid. I’m not sure if dry lentils measure out differently than cooked ones. Thank you!
Ginny says
Absolutely delicious and easy to make! I used regular diced tomatoes (didn’t have the low sodium type), so didn’t add any salt. I used a mix of colored lentils, too. Instead of veggie broth, I used chicken bone broth. I mistakenly used my immersion blender AFTER I added the lentils, so I made sure I only did a partial blend~turned out nice and thick! My family loved this recipe, Katie! I will be making it soon again, and will add some spinach I need to use up. A keeper, for sure! Thanks!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you for making it 🙂
Amy says
This soup is amazing! Simple, healthy, and tasty! The balance of the flavors is great – sweetness of the onions and the slight acidity of the tomatoes. I have made this recipe about 5 times now, and I always double the recipe because my boyfriend eats a whole serving (half the pot) of the recipe in one sitting! Thank you Katie for this great recipe! 🙂
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for trying it!
Patty says
INSTANT POT FRIENDLY! I absolutely love this recipe, and I have made it many times on the stove. Recently, I received an instant pot as a birthday present and wanted to try it out in my new toy. Two minutes wasn’t nearly enough, especially for the barley. I found that 10 minutes on high pressure plus 12 minutes lapsed time before releasing the pressure manually was necessary. NOTE: I made mine with barley and canned lentils, and I made sure to immersion blend as you directed (definitely makes a difference). Thank you for the recipe–it is definitely a favorite.
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for making it 🙂
Jennifer Parsons says
My whole family loves this. At the end, I add in a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and some chopped spinach. We eat this once a week with bread and butter. Perfect weeknight meal now that it is getting chilly!
CCK Media Team says
Your way sounds delicious!
Gail says
This soup is delicious. We are not vegans or vegetarians but appreciate some of the all purpose vegetable recipes on here because they don’t use any specifically vegan ingredients, they are just good for everyone!
Dolores Charpentier says
I just printed this recipe and hope to try it this week. I love red lentil soup and will use red lentils, which cook quickly in the broth.
I have a question about printing from your web site. when I select “image” and “nutrition,” neither print with the recipe. can this be addressed?
thank you.
dolores
CCK Media Team says
Hi! Thank you so much for wanting to try it 🙂
We don’t have the image option because a lot of readers said it was wasting ink when they went to print it. Unfortunately the service we use still lists it as an option on the recipe page but it’s not actually an option for that reason. Probably the best bet for what you’re hoping for is to just copy and paste the actual recipe and then the image and nutrition facts into a word doc and print from there!
Ruth says
Wonderful soup! Just made it the second time.
Edythe says
Amazing, quick, delicious lentil soup, using canned organic lentils. Instead of pulverizing, I used a potato masher. Halfway through cooking; the flavor is full and robust. I didn’t have barley, substituted quinoa. Better than any vegetarian recipe for lentils to date.
Jeanie says
Delicious flavors in this soup. I actually added a whole 32oz carton of broth. But also added more carrots and potatoes, plus kale at the end. I also used a fresh sprig of rosemary. Tasty and hearty vegetable soup!!
Gayle says
I’m excited to try this! Have you ever tried it with toasted quinoa in place of rice or barley?