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.
I made this soup on the account that it was raining in KC on Thanksgiving week. I tested the puréed portion on my 2 year old, and he ended up eating two cups with some crusty bread. He kept saying yummy! His idea of beans until now was licking hummus off pita bread. Now I have a new bean soup to add to his rotation.
Thank you!
KC has been dreary lately! I’m so glad you both enjoyed this soup. Thank you for taking the time to let me know!
This recipe looks amazing and I am so excited to make it! We don’t love cooked tomatoes, do you think I can replace the can of tomatoes with tomato paste? How much would you recommend? Thanks!
Hi Sara! You’ll lose some bulk if you omit the tomatoes, so you might need to add another cup of water or broth. I’d just eyeball it as the soup cooks. Tomato paste is a good idea—I’d say 2 tablespoons should do it. I’d add it with the garlic.
This soup is amazing! I am truly in love with it! I have never been a fan of lentil soups, but then I found this one. I have made it a regular part of our dinner rotation, about every 2 weeks or so I make it. My husband loves it as well. And the true test to know its great? Even my 16 month old son will eat a whole baby bowl of it, and he usually doesn’t eat anything but baby food. This soup with a side of cornbread is in my top five favorite meals of all time! Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Thank you, Brittni! That’s so awesome to hear that you all enjoy the soup so much. Yay for your baby eating lentils!
I have tried many different lentil soup recipes and this is by far the best one! Thank you so much for sharing! Love the spices and even my husband liked the greens added!
Hooray, thank you!
I made this soup for dinner and it was a big hit. The lemon juice at the end took it to the next level. I will definitely be making this often. Thanks for the great recipe.
Thank you, Dew! Happy to hear it.
Absolutely the best lentil soup I’ve ever had!! I will never make it any other way after tonight. I see more lentil soup in my future.
Hooray! Enjoy, Deborah.
Seriously RAVE reviews from the whole family and passing this recipe along to friends! I added a pound of exotic mushroom because they were on sale at the store! Great addition! Shiitake, bella, oyster, etc.
Thanks!
Hooray! Thank you, Laura!
Just made your lentil soup LOVED it ! Didn’t have curry so added extra black pepper and didn’t purée and definitely used kale DELICIOUS
Thank you, Linda! Happy to hear it!
I LOVE THIS RECIPE!! It is truly delicious. This is the second time I have made it but this time I used red lentils instead of brown (some of them I had sprouted already) and I added 1 fresh (chopped) cayenne pepper than I grew that needed to be used. The vegetable broth was homemade that I made made earlier in the week. The tomatoes make it almost sweet, it is amazing! THANK YOU!
Thank you, Marianne! Your version sounds stellar!
Wow!! I made it tonight and it was fabulous!! I posted it on IG and hash tagged you :)
Oh my gosh! So so so so soooooooo good! Couple things I did different: I tripled this recipe, I didn’t drain the can of tomatoes, I used canned carrots as it was all I had! I used fresh thyme. I used Swiss chard because that’s what was in my garden.
I will keep this recipe and make it often! Thank you so much! Delicious!
Oh, and I used organic ingredients. :)
The best lentil soup ever. So much flavor and easy to make! Yum.
Thank you, Heather!
Finally a lentil soup recipe with flavor. If you have a vegetarian navy bean soup please pass it on. Thank you.
Thanks, Bob!
I made this tonight because I am looking for great tasting recipes to freeze for my son and DIL for when they have their first child (due in a couple of days) I know that lentils freeze quite well when cooked. I also made a double batch for several lunches for me and my husband. I have to say this was easy and delicious. Thank you!
Thank you! Congratulations on your new grandbaby!
I am one of several cooks at a local community “Food and Friends” dinner – it’s open to everyone. We serve between 120 and 170 dinners every Monday night. And we always like to offer at least one vegetarian hot dish. Last week this was it. I’m not a vegetarian, but OMG I loved this soup (and so did our all our community friends). Thank you so much – for me too, it’s the best lentil soup I’ve had.
I have been making lentil soup for 40+ years, and now it turns out that I’ve been missing the 2 key ingredients: lots of good olive oil and lemon juice.
Thanks, Kate, this is truly agreat recipe.
I’ve already started to modify it, according to what I happen to have in the fridge. Last night I added tiny cauliflower florets.
It is the olive oil/lemon juice concept that makes it so special.
My wife absolutely loves it.
Thank you, Stig. You’re right, those two ingredients are pretty magical in this soup! Glad you both enjoy this one so much. Your cauliflower version sounds great.
This is a superb lentil vegetable soup! I tweaked the recipe only in the minutest way, using all broth instead of broth & water, and adding some celery along with the other sauteed vegetables. For greens, I had just the right amount of baby spinach in the fridge – a good stand-in for the kale. Have had this for lunch for the past three days and will definitely make it again. I also used my 5-1/2 quart Le Creuset dutch oven and my Vitamix. I loved the touch of curry – undetected by my husband who claims to hate that spice. Thanks Kate – this is a keeper. (also a dog-lover…2 miniature schnauzers)
Thank you, Roni! Always lovely to hear from a fellow dog lover. :) I’m so glad you loved this soup.
Delicious! Perfect for yet another day/night of cold rain! The hint of lemon is really a pleasant surprise in the soup. Thanks!
Thank you, Cindy!
Bravo! Simple. Delicious. Beautiful pot of affordable goodness! I have made it twice so far.
Thank you, Linda!
I made this soup for dinner tonight, and it was amazing! The spices were perfectly balanced. I used chicken broth, because it’s all I had, and added red potatoes to give it a little heft, and it was awesome. Thank you!
Would this soup freeze well? I love to make huge batches of soup to freeze and take for lunch!
Yes, it certainly does freeze well! Enjoy!
Just made this delicious soup! Added 1 TBS sugar and a smidge of Better than Bouillion vegetable Bouillion base. Also added a potatoe…outrageously delicious. A definite keeper!
Thank you, Ann Marie! Your version sounds great!
I made this soup last night after seeing it on your list of top 2015 recipes. It is delicious! It will definitely be a repeated recipe in my home. Thank you!
Thank you, Darby! Happy to hear it. :)
Fabulous!! This soup was so easy to create and delicious for our New Year’s Eve at home. We added a diced sweet potato and more lemon (juice from 1.5 lemons), and it was delicious! Thank you. I can’t wait to try more of your dishes.
Thank you, Lauren! I hope you enjoy my other recipes just as much. :)
Wow. I mean…wow. The may be the best soup I have ever had! So glad I found you Kate!
Thanks, Blair! Your name is my middle name. :)
This is delicious! Simple to make and wonderful flavor! Always looking for great vegetarian recipes. Thanks Kate!
Glad you enjoyed the soup, Carol! You are in the right place for vegetarian recipes. :)
Starting the New Year off with healthy recipes. We loved this! Only change I made was to use fire roasted tomatoes and loved the extra heat. Thanks so much for this delicious recipe.
Thank you, Beth! Love fire-roasted tomatoes.
While I was making this my four year old grandson says “Something smells delicious” and he was right. I loved every spoonful! I’ll be sure to look up more of your recipes as I’m new to vegetarianism. Thanks so much Kate and Cookie.
That’s so nice to hear! Thank you, Sharon. Glad you found my blog. You are in the right place!
Made this to the T. for New Year’s Day. Was great! Everyone asked me for the recipe. Thanks!
Hooray! Thanks, Stephen!
This is a delicious vegan recipe Kate. A perfect way to end a cool, rainy day here in the subtropics in Byron Bay Australia. Thanks for sharing. Love your site and Cookie too!
Thank you! Glad it turned out well on the other side of the world. Cookie says hi! :)
I made this soup for my son’s vegan girlfriend and ate most of it myself! Hard to find a lentil soup recipe with this much flavor. No kale at the market, so I used baby spinach-delish…
Happy to hear it, Tracy!
Just made this soup for the first time and as well as being full of goodness it tastes amazing! Some lentil soups are quite bland but this was great. I added a couple of teaspoons of Tabasco to give it that extra kick.
Thank you, Abbie! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Two thumbs’ up for more spice!
Dear Kate,
You truly are a Goddess!! I have been making lentil soup for years and it has always come out “good” and on occasion “great!” After trying this recipe by you, oh my goodness! It is DELICIOUS!! I have already had two bowls and need to hold myself back so I can have some for the next few days.
Thank you for your cooking wisdom! I can’t wait to share it with my friends.
Be well,
Nicole A. :)
Thank you so much, Nicole! Delighted to hear that you found a new favorite. :)
This was wonderful! I substituted spinach for the kale but other than that I followed to the letter and it turned out great! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Sam! Happy to hear it!
This was absolutely perfect. The only thing I did was doubled the amount of greens just because I really like them. Deliciously wholesome fresh flavors. The lemon juice really brightened everything up too. Thank you!
Thank you, Lauren! Happy to hear it!
I just made this and it’s DELICIOUS! Instead of kale I had spinach on hand that was wilting, so I used it. As well I didn’t have a fresh lemon so I used RealLemon… which made it quite tart… was able to cut it down with 1 cup more water, and some black pepper. It’s soo good :)
Thanks, Tony! Glad you enjoyed it!
I just made this soup for dinner tonight and not only was it easy, but it was totally delicious! I loved the complexity of flavors with the spices you added. I served mine with a garnish of parsley and a crusty sourdough bread. So yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Your soup sounds wonderful! Thank you, Serenity, for letting me know. Happy New Year!
Dear Kate, Huge Kudos for your painstaking research that has yielded up the Lentil Soup of Life and Death. The variations that your devotees have tried were quite clever and demonstrate the soup’s yoga-like flexibility. Will I be thrown into VegPurgatory for throwing in some lamb chunks? Have a delicious year.
Daniel
If I died and went to heaven, I’d take this soup with me!!! I’m on week one of being vegan and this soup just hit the spot. I added a half cup of cooked bella mushrooms as well as a half cup of brown rice because I needed to get rid of both from my fridge. I’m wondering if you have tried freezing this recipe? I’d love to freeze it if possible since I’m the only one eating it!
Wow! I just made this and it’s amazing! I’ve never liked lentil soups because they were always so blah. But this… this is fantastic! I only had a can of spicy tomatoes handy so I ditched the pepper flakes, but it had just the right amount of kick, and definitely the flavor from the cumin and curry. Love, love, love this!
Just made it and it’s super delicious like many of your recipes. Will make it again very soon! Thanks for the recipe!
I have made lentil soup before, and it’s pretty good, but I must admit that this is the best lentil soup that I have ever made. It was easy as I had all of the ingredients..even had left over collard greens already cooked that I just threw into the soup. Delicious!
This recipe has become a favorite of mine. Adding lemon to a soup is new to me, but I really like it.
Absolutely delicious! I altered slightly by adding three red potatoes cubed toward the end, cut the water to 1 cup so I didn’t have to drain the tomatoes, doubled the collard greens and didn’t puree any of soup. Used Trader Joe’s small green lentils which hold their shape better than the brown ones. Definitely a keeper recipe!
Mine came out really oily and gross. :-(
Next time I’m just going to saute the stuff in a couple pats of butter in the pressure cooker, then dump the rest of the stuff in and pressure cook it.
This soup was THEE BOMB.com!!!!! Holy Smokes! I love this soup, I only used 2 cups of broth and 2 cups of water and it turned out just fine, also rosemary leaves instead of ‘s what I had in my pantry and man this is delicious! had 3 bowls yesterday, I’m making more this week! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Kate,
Is the reason why you put some of the soup in the blender so that it is less chunky?
Thanks
Klaudyna
Yes, so the soup is a little less chunky but also more creamy, without cream.
I love, love, love this recipe! It is the best soup I have ever had! Highly recommended. I also tried your banana bread too, yum! Can’t wait to try more. Thank you for helping me make healthy food super tasty :) Roxy
After eating your soup, I just told my husband that I will be making it all my life until I die or someone will need to cook it for me if I can’t. It’s simply the most amazing soup I was ever given the chance to enjoy. The flavour made me so happy. I strongly recommend this soup to anyone. Thank you so much Kate for sharing all of this goodness. Good vibs to you!