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.
My husband & I just made this soup EXACTLY as written (used the the extra red pepper flakes and about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of lemon juice) and it is SUPERB! Easy to make, makes a ton ( more than 4 servings!) and makes your home smell heavenly while it’s cooking! I have really enjoyed all the recipes I have made from you website❤️ Thank you so much for making healthy food SO delicious!
I don’t own a blender. Can you skip the blender step without messing up the recipe too much?
Sure, you can skip it. The texture won’t be quite the same, but it will be delicious!
This recipe is the absolute best.
So delicious! Hearty and “creamy” (due to using the blender.) I’ve made it several times and everyone loves it.
This lentil soup is amazing! I used red lentils, and cut the sodium down significantly by using salt free, homemade vegetable broth and increasing the herbs. I did add some Himalayan pink salt but very little. I had leftover cooked rice blend, so I served the soup over the rice. For greens, I added chopped carrot tops and spinach because that’s what I had on hand. Simply delicious! Your website is my primary go-to for the best recipes! Thank YOU!
This is my favorite lentil soup, hands down. I would make it for myself alone, but luckily the rest of my family loves it, too, including our picky 3-year-old! I always feel so pleased when she gobbles it down (and gets a ton of veggies and plant-based protein) and says “It’s so good!” Thanks so much!
We’ve just gone, vegan….well, for the most part. Anyway, I made this for the first time tonight and it was a hit! I added Orzo pasta to my daughter’s dish because she’s not a huge fan of beans, and yep, she scraped the bowl clean. SO much flavor in so little time. Thank you!
First time trying lentil soup.My trainer had a recipe that didn’t seem to flavorful so I tried this. ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.I wonder how many calories are in the whole pot? Will be telling everyone about this
Hi Cheryl! I’m glad you love this soup so much. The nutritional information is below the recipe. It’s by serving so take that time the number of servings. I hope that helps!
Thank you very much! Am very excited to try it now.
This is one of my favorite go to recipes! My daughter loves it, she’s 13! I add a little more kale. It can be played with, I have also added chicken breast! Thank you for sharing it!
Delicious, though it would be a little too salty for my taste as written. I used no-salt tomatoes and still only used 1/2 tsp of salt, which was plenty. I will probably use a little less next time. Thanks for the recipe!
Great soup. Nice spice mix. Subbed chicken broth and also added celery. Red pepper flakes a plus. Might add potato or double the lentil next time. Blending is a pro tip.
This vegan (yay!) soup is as good as it is easy to make! I loved it and will make it often.
This is my go-to soup!!!! It is delicious!! I’m quite liberal with the roasted red pepper flakes as I like it to have a little zest. Everyone I’ve served this soup to has loved it and asked for the recipe. Yum!!
Hi
I really want to try this but never used brown or green or brown lentils before.
Is there a name to these lentils to help me find it when I’m shopping?
Also will the kale add a bitter taste to the soup? I’m just wondering if I should pick spinach or kale.
Hi Shama! They might be called French or just green lentils. It depends on the store and variety. I hope this help! Kale is a good substitute in this one.
I started eating lentils because I found out I had moderately high cholesterol. I tried several lentil recipes, but this is hands down the best one. Now I can be healthy and happy! :D
Best lentil soup ever. I substituted one cup of water with coconut milk, used organic red kale, and added two splashes of Cholula sweet habanero sauce. It is really the best-ever lentil soup. Add crusty sourdough bread to the list of ingredients. :)
Absolutely delicious. This has become a staple in our dinners and usually make it about once a week. Literally the best lentil soup I’ve ever tasted. The husband also approves! :)
Excellent recipe, prep time is a little more like 15- 20 min. (maybe I’m slow??)
I used just 1 teaspoon of cumin and chopped swiss chard as the green
It is very satisfying and hearty….serve with corn meal muffins and a salad for a delicious dinner
We really loved this soup!
Loved the soup and super easy! I added a handful of cashews to the blender puree, and added a few tbsp. Of tomato paste at the end
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After all this time I still make this soup every week. Thank you a million! It’s perfect
Awesome soup! The lemon at the end makes it extra special. I didn’t blend and it thickened up nicely. I also added some orange peppers I had on hand and celery. Will keep this one in rotation for sure!
Made this tonight. Very tasty! Also added black beans. I could see a lot of good variations for this too.
This is by far the best lentil soup I have ever made!! Thank you, Kate!
I often find the spices called for in recipes are a bit light for me and I have to add sometimes double what is called for; not with this one. The only edits that I’ve made are sometimes including brown rice.
And after months of taking so many recipes from this site for free, I finally bought the cookbook Love Real Food – The only cookbook I have that doesn’t just sit on my shelf!
I made this I love it…however I made 2 changes I didn’t put curry in because I didn’t have it so I put in a 1/4 jalapeño seeded and cleaned. It was delicious, my mom favorite soup is lentil and she really liked this version …..⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Terry
I made this I love it…however I made 2 changes I didn’t put curry in because I didn’t have it so I put in a 1/4 jalapeño seeded and cleaned. It was delicious, my mom favorite soup is lentil and she really liked this version …..⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Terry
LOVED IT! Will make it again and again. The Curry Powder makes the soup, I think! It’s that little “what’s in this” flavor!
I am a long time member of ATK! Great recipe Kate! I really enjoyed this soup! Excellent flavors!
I made this a month or two ago in the peak of Utah winter and it was so cozy and satisfying. Obviously, if you do not like lentils you will probably not love this but if you do, it is totally worth making. It was just as delicious reheated and because of the lentils was very filling. Thank you Kate for another awesome recipe!
This was seriously the best lentil soup I have ever made. Perfectly flavored. I added 2 ribs of celery and 1 sweet potato for some added veggies! Thank you so much for sharing. This is now my go to recipe!!!
Made this today! It’s amazing with the right touch of spice!
What type of lentil is the best to use for making this soup?
Hi Wendy, standard brownish-green lentils work great in this soup. I imagine French green or black beluga lentils might also be nice, but might require a few extra minutes on the stove. I would not use red lentils, since they cook very quickly and fall apart.
I have made this twice now and my family is requesting a third time. I vary the greens. The first time I had spinach and kale on hand. This time I had kale and collard greens on hand. I add more red-pepper flakes and learned not to be afraid of the lemon! thank you so much – this is a family favorite. I didn’t have any blenders in our aribnb this time and it’s still delicious.
I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it, Angela!
Made this today and I’ve got to say it was delicious! Full of flavour, quick and easy to make and very healthy. Love that it is naturally gluten free too. I wasn’t sure about adding the lemon but it lifted the soup beautifully. I used cayenne pepper instead of red pepper flakes as I couldn’t source them even in our local Indian shops. Will definitely make this again.
Love this recipe and your website.
It tastes delicious and was very easy to prepare.
Thank you
You’re welcome!
Made the best lentil soup last night. Delish. Had no kale, but I threw in some vegetarian crumbles which gave it a nice texture. This is the third recipe from your site that I’ve made.
Haven’t been disappointed yet!
Hi Kate (and Cookie), this lentil soup is my new go-to-make-for-others delicious soup! It is flavorful, creamy, hearty and a touch sweet, somehow. I am learning, recipe by recipe, how easily your creations come to life and what an impact they make at the table! Your site is becoming my go to “what’s for dinner?” site. And I am so grateful. I enjoy your voice, your succinct style and your pantry staples philosophy. Carry on! And thank you!
Thank you so much, Lauren! Your comment totally brightened my day. :)
I love to hear that! Thanks for sharing, Lauren.
Kate, thank you! this is THE best soup recipe! I’ve made it every week since discovering it. Tripling most ingredients and freezing. I use mung beans, puy and red split lentils. I have it for lunch most days and my family eat it at weekends, which is amazing as it is the first time they’ve eaten lentils, willingly :D
When serving I add a dollop of natural yoghurt (or a healthy creme fraiche), sunflower and pumpkin seeds and the chilli flakes as my children are young.
This fast and easy using pantry items already keep on hand. More importantly The Best Soup Recipe Ever. You can do so much to this to make it unique each time. I keep in mason jars for lunch boxes. Keep’em coming.
This seriously is the BEST lentil soup.
I realize I don’t have veggie broth – can you use chicken or beef instead?
You can, but of course will impact flavor some and I recommend vegetable broth. :)
Awesome!! Have had and tried numerous lentil soup recipes but this one is THE BEST EVER.. in my humble opinion. Added some small Yukon potatoes and Celery.
Thanks for sharing!!
I love love the lentil soup. I’ve made it 4 or 5 times and have even had some of my meat loving family tell me it was awesome! I do serve it with feta as a garnish and just warm. Room temperature seems to bring out the real flavour in so many foods. Thank you sooo much for sharing. We too have 4 dogs, 2 cats and 2 horses.
This is my second time making this soup and my new favorite lentil soup! Thank you!
So delicious! I don’t usually leave a comment but this is perfect lentil soup. I’ve made it twice and this time I used crushed tomatoes (what I had on hand) and tossed in a handful of quinoa the last 15 minutes of cooking. No need to blend with the quinoa to thicken. Just fantastic!
This is THE BEST LENTIL SOUP! We love it at our house and make it often!
Also, wondering if I could use frozen kale? Or would that mess with the texture?
You could try it! I’m glad you love this soup, Rebecca.
I added celery and great northern beans – like the lentil soup in your cookbook – and was so happy to eat this every day for lunch. Time for a second batch!
Awesome recipe! Didn’t change a thing and it was delicious!
Made this was delicious. So pleased.
Made this last night and it was delicious!