Best Lentil Soup
This healthy lentil soup recipe comes together quickly with pantry ingredients. Simple spices, fresh greens and a squeeze of lemon make it the best! Vegan.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 3, 2024
This soup recipe was a long time coming! Over the years, I made some lackluster lentil soups that never saw the light of day on this website. No vegetarian food blog would be complete without a proper lentil soup, though, so I perfected one of my own.
Here it is. My lentil soup is made with mostly pantry ingredients but includes hearty greens and a squeeze of lemon for bright, fresh flavor. It’s seasoned with a few of my favorite spices and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Honestly, it’s the best lentil soup I’ve ever had.
The original title of this recipe was “Spiced Vegan Lentil Soup,” which is accurate, but a mouthful. With over 500 five-star reviews, I think it’s safe to call this the Best Lentil Soup. Period.
Whether you’re looking to lighten up your meals or warm up with a steaming bowl of soup, this healthy lentil soup recipe is for you! It’s one of my all-time favorites and I hope it becomes a staple in your kitchen as well.
How to Make the Best Lentil Soup
Five reasons to love this recipe:
- The recipe calls for seasonal vegetables and affordable pantry ingredients, but tastes gourmet.
- This lentil soup has an amazing hearty texture that’s lightly creamy (yet there is no cream). The trick is to blend up a portion of the soup once the lentils are tender, and then pour it back into the pot. It’s like magic.
- This nutritious, well-balanced soup counts as a meal if you enjoy a generous portion. Lentils are rich in protein, fiber, iron and folate.
- Lentil soup packs well for lunch in a leak-proof container, and it tastes even better the next day.
- This soup freezes and defrosts well. Make soup now and enjoy it later!
Watch How to Make Lentil Soup
Please let me know how this lentil soup turns out for you in the comments. I’m always so eager to hear from you.
If you love this soup, check out my hearty vegetarian chili, favorite black bean soup and pinto posole. You can check out all my soup and stew recipes here.
Don’t miss my lentil minestrone recipe in my cookbook—if you’re a fan of this soup, you’re going to love it.
Best Lentil Soup
This simple vegan lentil soup recipe comes together quickly with mostly pantry ingredients. Be sure to have your ingredients prepped and ready before you start cooking! Recipe yields four large bowls of soup, or six more modest servings.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, lightly drained
- 1 cup brown or green lentils, picked over and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup chopped fresh collard greens or kale, tough ribs removed
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice (½ to 1 medium lemon), to taste
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. One-fourth cup olive oil may seem like a lot, but it adds a lovely richness and heartiness to this nutritious soup.
- Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion and carrot and cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and is turning translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, cumin, curry powder and thyme. Cook until fragrant while stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Pour in the drained diced tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes, stirring often, in order to enhance their flavor.
- Pour in the lentils, broth and the water. Add 1 teaspoon salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper. Raise heat and bring the mixture to a boil, then partially cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape.
- Transfer 2 cups of the soup to a blender. Securely fasten the lid, protect your hand from steam with a tea towel placed over the lid, and purée the soup until smooth. Pour the puréed soup back into the pot. (Or, use an immersion blender to blend a portion of the soup.)
- Add the chopped greens and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the greens have softened to your liking. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice until the flavors really sing. For spicier soup, add another pinch or two of red pepper flakes.
- Serve while hot. Leftovers will keep well for about 4 days in the refrigerator, or can be frozen for several months (just defrost before serving).
Notes
Soup recipe roughly based on America’s Test Kitchen’s lentil soup in The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, with reference to The First Mess’ favourite lentil soup.
Recommended equipment: I love my Vitamix blender and Le Creuset 5.5-quart Dutch oven (affiliate links).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Is the sodium content (1375.5mg) in the nutrition section correct for this recipe?
Hi Cor! The nutritional information is only estimates. More on my nutrition information here:https://asset-flow.pro/nutrition-disclaimer/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
This soup is awesome! so glad I made it. I put a little ham in it and only had a red onion. Also I didn’t use any water. I used chicken and vegetable stock for all of the stock..Best lentil soup I have ever had :)
Thanks for sharing, Cynthia!
You’re right! Best soup ever and the lemon is awsome, making it again today. Thanks so much
I’m glad you agree, Nicky! Thanks for your review.
AMAZING SOUP. We added corn on the cob pieces, cut into chunks and it was really tasty. Corn cooked right in the pot.
I’ve been sharing this recipe the last couple of days since it made it earlier in the week and I’m already ready to make it again.
I love that! Thank you, Nichole.
Amazing. I’ve always been hesitant to make lentil soup because it is so bland most of the time. This soup is very flavorful. It makes me want to become a vegatarian. Haha. I made small changes. First the salt. You don’t say what kind of salt. I leave salt out of recipes or cut in them in half. I think it ruins dishes. I used 1/2 tea of pink sea salt and it was perfect. Second, I used my immersion blender instead of a regular blender. That’s all I did different. It is so good.
Glad you loved it, Cathy! Thanks for sharing.
The flavors in this soup are amazing!! I’m not sure why but I had to double the cooking time & green lentils were still not as tender as I’d like… still completely delicious though!! I’ll definitely be making this again. Thanks Kate for always being my go to!
I’m glad you loved it! I’m sorry the lentils weren’t as tender. You could let it simmer a little longer if you like.
Ok, I took some liberties with this soup. I added zucchini, red & yellow peppers and pasta at the end. The family, including an 8 & 2.5 year old cleaned their bowls!
Thanks for sharing!
This is a great soup !! This coming from someone who uses all kinds of lentils with all kinds of spices everyday for curry. I still loved this one. I did add in two teaspoons of dry mango powder since the tomatoes weren’t as tangy as i expected. Thank you Kate for all your wonderful recipes. I thoroughly enjoy each one of them.
I’m glad you love it, Prabha!
I just finished off a huge yummy bowl of this!!!! Delish!!! Thanks for the great recipe!!!
You’re welcome, Kelley! Thanks for your review.
Very yummy soup. Will definitely be a regular at my house. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
You’re welcome, Rosemary! Thanks for your review.
my favorite recipe!! i make it almost weekly for lunches. thank you!! do you have the nutritional information for the soup?
HI Sofia! I’m glad you loved it. The nutritional information is below the notes section on the recipe. You need to click to expand and ensure you have cookies enabled in your browser.
Leftovers? Definitely not happening! So delicious, thank you
That’s great! Thank you, Emma!
This soup is amazing!!! Just wondering what is considered a serving size. I’m counting my macros and found the nutrition facts but it doesn’t state what a serving size is for those facts.
Hi Jodi! I would say roughly 1-1.5 cups as a serving size.
Wow!What an amazing soup! Very flavorful and delicious! I’m so happy I found this recipe!!!!
Thank you, Jasmine!
This soup is delicious. I used spinach instead of kale. Turned out really yummy!
Thanks for sharing, Lindsay!
The recipe looks great and can’t wait to make it! I’m just curious of where all the sodium comes from, is it mostly from the vegetable broth? If so would a vegetable broth with low sodium still work?
The canned tomatoes and vegetable broth. You can choose low sodium/no salt added and reduce the amount of salt you add to the overall soup as instructed.
Dear kate. Its cold by south african standards. Got the taste for a lentil soup. Just finished and i can’t wait to eat. Been tasting as i go..oh my gosh..yum yum ..the curry undertones..the added kale going to add a bit if sour cream..yum yum …yours is the best ever
I’m happy you are enjoying something warm during your cold season! Thanks for sharing, Heidi.
This is the best lentil soup ever! I keep wanting to like lentils, but usually find them to be meh. This was amazing! So much flavor! I made it low sodium with kale as written. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thanks, Donna!
This is the first and the best lentil soup i have made!
Thank you!
You’re welcome, Jelena!
Love this soup!!! Made a couple of adjustments, left the curry powder out and didn’t add the lemon juice. Amazing and what’s even better is you can make it your own.
I’m glad you loved it, Laurie!
Do the lentils need to be soaked?
Nope! Just follow the cooking instructions.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW I doubled the recipe, added cauliflour, and then doubled the spices plus maybe a little more ( we love spices ) and wow I wish I would have tripled it. This is AH-MAZING amazing amazing.
I made this tonight for a picky daughter and husband. I added a celery stick and about 3/4 C of butternut squash. It was excellent. Everyone enjoyed it. Definitely a keeper. The lemon juice does make a difference.
Thank you for sharing, Deb! I love that your picky family loved it.
This was amazing. This is the second recipe that I’ve tried. I tried to stay true to the recipe, the only thing I added was some potatoes. I think my favorite part was taking a portion of the soup and blending it. what a brilliant idea. Thanks again
I’m so happy you loved it! Thanks for sharing, Nancy.
Ok, so I would be remiss were I not to come back and give a review to this recipe. This is the recipe that introduced me to your blog and I’ve made this soup at least 15-20 times over the past two years. I bring it to parties/potlucks and people absolutely love it. People ask me for the recipe. It’s a home run. The only change that I’ve made is that I use the entire batch of collard greens rather than adding just one cup (After removing the stems, I stack the leaves and roll them and cut long stripes of collard greens which then all go into the soup. I adjust the water/broth as necessary). Solid dish. Bravo!
This makes me so happy! Thank you, Joshua. I’m glad this soup brought you to the blog and that you keep coming back!
Thank you so much for your blog. I love it. Incidentally, this recipe is being made by a friend who was visiting from El Salvador in latin America. Your blog is officially international.
My favorite soup!
Great to hear, Whitney!
Absolutely delicious! Thanks a bunch. Only had red lentils and chicken broth but turned out wonderful. I will try to reduce salt by half tsp next time to be that much healthier..
You’re welcome, Louise!
Hello! Do you think I could make this soup successfully in a crock pot? Thanks!
I haven’t tried it, but I think it has worked well for others!
I don’t like lentils. I don’t like curry. Not so hot on kale, either. But when a friend visited for a week last spring, I had to come up with some vegetarian meals for her plant-based diet. Gulp! I tried this recipe and it was a hit with her, and I discovered I loved it. Have made it several times since. When I don’t have kale, I add some thawed, frozen spinach and it works just fine. Thanks for this recipe, and the time it took you to perfect it.
I’m so happy to hear you actually loved this! When cooked right, it can all be delicious.
Hi Kate, I absolutely loved your best lentil soup recipe. I’ll be checking out more of your recipes for sure!
I’m happy to hear that, Sharyn!
Have made this soup several times. Always the same delicious result! Highly recommended
Thank you for the recommendation, Christine!
Tasty, added butter and 1 tbsp of hot sauce made it a bit richer and zesty.
Thank you for sharing, Victoria!
Oh my goodness, this was good! It was most definitely the best lentil soup I’ve ever had and I have eating a LOT of lentil soup. So glad I found your blog. Thanks so much, Kate :)
You’re welcome! I’m glad you liked it, Lisa.
Definitely a delicious lentil soup. I added about twice the amount of greens (kale).
I love it!
This is the BEST! Made it for the 2nd time today and absolutely love it! I really enjoy looking for vegan recipes online and trying them out, but often they end up lacking… I don’t know… a certain heartiness… Not this one! It’s perfect! Thank you!
You’re welcome! Thank you for sharing what you though, Emma.
Delicious! I just added a whole peeled potato to blend at the end and add thickness. Also, I had some celery so I added at the beginning with the onions. I used spinach for my greens. Deliciosa!
Thank you for sharing, MJ!
Very very good. The whole fam loved it, even the picky little one. Bonus! its good for you.
Great to hear, Mike! Thanks for your review.
This has been my go-to recipe for lentil soup since I found it about a year ago. My teenager daughter asks me to make it! I use a hand held blender to skip the transfer mess. I also scale it down. The buttons to scale up are very cool. Tasty & Healthy…Thank you.
You’re welcome, Ellen!
I really enjoyed this soup. The only thing I did different was that I added all of the juice from the diced tomatoes and I used chicken stock. I will be making it again!
Great to hear, Diana!
Awesome and delicious…didnt have greens but flavor was so good. My new lentil soup. Thank you for recipe
Thank you, Jeannie!
Absolutely delicious! I used Swiss chard (to sub for collard greens) from my garden and it was great! I will definitely make a fresh, simple-to-make soup again.
Thank you for sharing, Melanie!
This is such a delicious meal! I made it for my family friends, and they absolutely loved it, thank you! I think it would be even better with some charred capsicum and corn
Thanks for your review, Rose!
Absolutely amazing. I tasted it and thought, ‘Wow – did I actually make that?’ and I am no cook. Easy and fabulous. Thank you
You’re welcome, Roz!
Best lentil soup! I like spice so add more of the spices plus 8 or so Thai red chillies, and more lemon and kale at the end. Fabulous! Hubby who is slowing converting to vegetarian loves it!
I’m happy you loved it, Cristy! Thank you for your review.
You say to purée it until smooth but your photo is not puréed?
Hi Tru! The 2 cups in the instructions is what I’m referring to. Does that help?
This soup was wonderful! I make it twice a month and the family loves it.
Thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Anne!
Dear Kate,
You’re wonderful. Since I’ve used your website and cookbook, I have enjoyed cooking much more. Your recipes are healthy and flavorful and the ingredients are often items that I have around the house.
And you have a fun loving attitude.
Thanks,
Jean
Thank you! I’m happy you are using both of them.
Yummy! Great flavour , this is the 2cnd time making this soup , the first one I followed the recipe exactly, the second time I added 1 teaspoon of turmeric and 1 teaspoon of dried mixed herbs. Both superb …
Thank you for sharing, Rebecca!
Holy hell. This is the best soup I’ve ever had. Thank you. Perfect flavor and healthy so I don’t feel bad for eating like 3 full bowls!
I’m happy you loved it!
Best lentil soup ever!
Thank you for sharing, Ella!
It is the best lentil soup me or my wife have ever had! The tomatoes add a nice touch. Thanks Cookie and Kate.
You’re welcome, Ralph!