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.
This is the best soup I’ve ever made. I used chicken stock and a bit more lentils, but it’s absolutely delicious and I had it for lunch, dinner, them lunch again. Can’t get enough.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I love lentil soup and this one is definitely the best! Have made it several times and everyone enjoys it. Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes while hunkered down!
Thank you so much for a great lentil recipe. The lemon juice addition raised the bar!
This really WAS the best lentil soup I’ve made! I love using my immersion blender to blend half the soup so it’s nice and thick but still has plenty of veggies.
I did add some chopped celery and 2 small sweet potatoes.
Limited ingredients, so used bit of red potato and celery instead of carrots, crushed tomatoes w/puree. Didn’t blend, left it loose. Bread for extra juice at the end. Comforting and delish!
This looks delicious, and a great way to get in some veggies. We have so many lentils right now to use up!
I have made this soup for 8 servings three times now and it is fantastic each and every time. My only tweak is that I also add several cups of celery (if I have it available) and substitute some of the water for the liquid from the drained tomatoes. I think one of the secrets that distinguishes your recipes from the rest, is the touch of curry. Love it. And the kale adds a nice touch that would turn spinach to mush.
Excellent….keep those recipes coming…
Stay Safe
Stay Healthy
Kate from Canada
Thank you, Kate!
Kate: I make your lentil soup recipe regularly. We love it! We are obeying the stay at home orders and I do not have brown or green lentils. In my pantry I have Bob’s Red Mill Red Lentils. Would you recommend substituting brown or green lentils for red lentils? Thank you, Maryanne
Hi! I know others have made this with red lentils. Red lentils take a lot less time to cook and require less liquid. I would reference my perfect lentil recipe here: https://asset-flow.pro/perfect-lentils-recipe/%3C/a%3E to help you get started. Likely reduce most, if not all the added water. Be careful as they can be come mushy quickly!
Every single one of your recipes is great. This soup is so easy to make with whatever you have in the fridge, which is really assume during a time like this. This soup was also so so yummy – the flavor was awesome and it made us feel so happy and warm. We also made a vegan grilled cheese on the side for dipping and it tied it all together! Can’t wait to make this again and again!
Kate
First attempt at lentil soup using vintage Guardian aluminum pot. Normally a slow cooker for convenience my forte.
Enjoyed prep and cooking this recipe though leery of the cumin and curry (Not a fan of those spices).
Aroma delightful and color pleasing but the taste knocked my socks off!!! (This is a good thing)
This is a keeper and is now on my favorite list for sure. Haven’t shared with siblings yet but I know my sister will appreciate the zesty flavor!!
Thank you for sharing the “best lentil soup ever”
Tom
The recipe is great and will be a regular for me. But I dislike sites that make me scroll down for miles to get to the recipe itself. Or, make it conveniently printable. Thanks
I have made this over 10 times now. Thank you. I love it and so does my family
Love all your recipes, this lentil soup is so tasty! I can’t stop sharing your blog with my friends and family! Thank you for making the transition to a vegan diet easier! :) greetings from Mexico!
Cooked recipe twice (male practicing cooking :) . Came out perfect both times. Thank you
I have about six cans of organic lentils in my pantry (as opposed to dried lentils). Can I use canned lentils in place of the dried ones in the recipe? If so, how many ounces should I use?
Thank you.
Hey Lee! Yes, canned lentils will work here. I’d probably use 2 cans, rinsed and drained before adding to the pot.
This is now one of our favourite recipes – we make it all the time. So quick & easy & delicious & healthy. Thanks.
I made this based on the enthusiasm of the comments. It was as great as everyone said. I did use additional lentils. I used homemade veg stock, crushed tomatoes (1/2 of the recommended amount because they were crushed) and I would recommend a few more greens. The seasonings were perfect. My wife added salt, but I liked it the way it was.
This recipe was so exciting and “seemed” so healthy, THEN noticed the sodium was a whopping 1375 per serving ! That’s one cup, who eats one cup of soup if it’s good, and when it is the main entree ! When doctors are saying 1500 a day (not 2000 as some used to think), this recipe, sadly, isn’t even close to a “keeper”.
I’m sorry you don’t love this recipe. Here is more on my nutritional information:https://asset-flow.pro/nutrition-disclaimer/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Not that I didn’t love it at all ! Quite the contrary, but when a serving has more sodium than the best known brand and most UNHEALTHY canned soup… well, it’s just so far out of line (57%). So sad, great otherwise, and doesn’t look like there is any way to cut the salt since it’s almost all healthy veggies.
Hey Ann Marie, hope I can offer some more insight here. With homemade soups like this one, you have full control over the sodium content. Sodium content varies widely from brand to brand. For accurate sodium content, I’d recommend running the exact ingredients through a trusted nutrition calculator. Low-sodium tomatoes and broth would always be a better bet if you are watching your sodium intake.
The nutrition facts you see here were calculated on using regular broth and canned tomatoes, not low-sodium options. Using low-sodium options for both drops the sodium content to 725 mg. If you replace the broth with water (generally a safe bet in my soup recipes), it goes down to 585 mg. For an even lower sodium soup, use less salt. Hope this helps!
This lentil soup recipe was excellent. I liked it better than other recipes I have tried. I did add one cup of celery and used a full cup of carrots but those were the only changes I made. Thank you for this recipe. It’s a keeper.
I’ve made this recipe about 10 times and love it each and every time. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi there!
I have made this twice since my self isolation started, 5 weeks ago!
One time, prior to that. It is delicious!
Thank you for giving me flavor, while shut in, 99% on my own.
Good health to you!
I’m glad you like this recipe and it’s brought some light to you right now! I appreciate your review, Catherine.
Thank you we licked our bowl it is delicious I’m resting from a big best lentils Soup and share my feed back
Two days ago I wanted to make something new different when I saw the lentils soup I was over the moon how easy and for filling so yesterday 14/04/2020 went shopping I got what I needed today 15/4/2020 we had it for dinner I cooked for 2x so we have lots for tomorrow and to share can’t wait to share it with my other parents thank you will be trying other recipes Amanuel from Melbourne Australia 20/20
Can i use canned lentils?
Hi Rosina! You can. I’d use two cans, rinsed and drained. You may want to reduce the water to 1 cup or none, since the dried lentils absorb some of the water, and will not need to simmer the soup as long since the lentils will already be tender. Hope that helps.
Absolutely amazing lentil soup! I used red split lentils as this is what I had at home. So good! Even the kids loved it!
Amazing recipe, thank you!
Omg, this soup is incredible! I just shared it with my mom and mil! The lemon really makes it pop!
Made this many times now and always a favorite here, but especially love your recipe now while we’re homebound. I don’t change a thing as the spice mix is perfect. Although I have made it in the Instapot now too. Thanks!
Great to hear, Syndi! I appreciate your review.
Before I go ahead and completely devour my second bowl I need to comment. THIS lentil soup is DELICIOUS. It’s full of warmth, comfort, flavor, and it just makes you feel like you’re at home. I do not know how I am going to manage not to eat the whole pot. Also, I love how simple and intuitive the recipe is.
If anyone is on the fence about making this recipe, JUST DO IT! You will not regret it.
Thank you so much, looking forward to trying more of your recipes!!
That’s fantastic to hear, Jovani! Thank you for your review!
I used leftover ham for a very NOT vegetarian version. I boiled the ham bone for stock and sautéed the vegetables separately, then poured them in. I added chopped ribs of celery, Aleppo pepper, twice the lentils, and some red potatoes, but left out the tomatoes because they were not to be found in the pantry. There was fresh oregano, so in it went. Mom and Dad worried it was too spicy, but with lots of diced smoked ham, handfuls of baby spinach, and generous lemon squeeze, the balance was perfect. No added salt because the ham situation provided plenty. No question the original vegan version would be great. BTW the ham went in after the blender step…YMMV but I’m not into pureed meat.
Excited to make this, and I have ALMOST everything I need on hand! Question- I don’t have plain diced tomatoes; better to use A can of tomato purée or A can of crushed tomatoes that has basil and olive oil already in it?! Thank you!
Hi Katya! I’d opt for the crushed tomatoes. Hope you love the soup!
This was absolutely delicious! I didn’t have diced tomatoes but did have a 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes on hand. My husband doesn’t care for chunks of tomato so I went ahead and pureed the whole can before I added it to the soup. We had the leftovers for dinner tonight and it was even better. The flavors are rich and the texture is just right. This one is a keeper!
Are your lentils dried or canned?
Hi Karen! They are dried.
I used French green lentils and had some regular green lentils and the lentils seem a little chewy. I cooked it another 20 min. Still chewy
BTW great tasting lentil soup other than a bit chewy. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Irene! I’m sorry to hear that. The lentils should have softened up with time. My guess would be that the lentils were on the older side—is that possible? Legumes dry out with time, and when they’re super dried out, they never soften! Hope your next batch turns out perfectly.
I’ve made various lentil soup recipes over the years but this one is definitely a keeper. Easy, filling and tasty!
Question for you all. Has anyone made it in a slow cooker / crockpot? The Taste is divine and the Aroma is amazing. I would just love to have it cook unattended.
Hi Mj! I believe others have and have commented on their experience in the comments. I would suggest searching to see what is most helpful to you. You can use a quick find option. :)
I made this and it was soooo good! Definitely the best lentil soup recipe I’ve made Thanks so much!
I made the soup this afternoon. I had no greens (shame for a vegan!), and made a couple of other minor changes. I decreased the cumin to 2/3 amt in recipe, and blended 3/4 of the soup. My roommate, who could be a chef, he’s that good, loved it! My 17 yr old very picky stepdaughter said “Not bad, not to my taste but…”. Good enough for me.
Doubled and shared with family members all loved it, nice meal. Thank you.
2 words: Easy & Delish!
2 more words…Thank You! :-)
I love it! Thanks, Dave.
You certainly gave this soup the right name! I just made this and it is definitely the BEST lentil soup!! I am not a fan of cumin, but I trusted your recipe, added the cumin… and LOVED it!! Your recipes are so easy and full of flavor!! This soup is the very best I’ve ever had!! Thanks for sharing!!
The best lentil soup that I have ever eaten. Was so easy to make. I doubled it and added cut up potatoes. Got many compliments from the family(my 8 yr old granddaughter got 3 bowls) and a friend to whom I gave a jar of stew. Used the last of it mashed with milk and cheese on toast. NONE of it got wasted. Thank you for a great recipe. I downloaded it and will be making it my go-to quick meal. Loved it!
This is SO good! I made it tonight for lunches for the rest of the week and It’s hands-down the best lentil soup I’ve ever made. How is it that EVERY recipe of yours that I try is so perfect?! All of our family favorites come from you, thank you, thank you!!
This is amazing soup. I added 50 percent more lentils added tumeric and a little more salt and, “yummy” is all I can say. I will make this again.
Karen
This is the only soup I love to make over and over (I know I need to try some more). It’s also one of a handful of recipes I share with friends who say they want to try eating more vegetarian meals. Thank you for sharing this :)
EVERYONE MUST TRY THIS RECIPE!!!!!! The title of the soup does not lie, this is hands down the best lentil soup I have ever made and my family cannot get enough of it! Try adding a dollop of plain greek yogurt on top and it is to die for.
This is one of the most delicious soup I tried! The best..is vegan! Tha I you so much for sharing ❤
Today I prepared this soup. Excellent!
For the spice, I added the Moroccan spice bought from Lidl, French Maggi KubDuo, and small amount of Japanese S&B curry.
To be matched with this soup, with pizza dough prepared by myself, I made flat bread with cast-iron crepe pan.
Excellent vege dinner was!!!
We liked this recipe very much. It says it serves 4 but those must be very big servings. My husband and I ate it for dinner and have a lot left over. Do you think you would say 6-8?
Hi Pam! Yes, the serving sizes are large for this one. Everyone’s concept of a single serving is different. :) If you have extra soup, it freezes well in individual portions for later.
Truly, the best lentil soup! I would never think of adding curry powder and cumin and it blends in so well with tomatoes and lentils. Thank you for sharing your recipe!