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.
Made “the best lentil soup”!
It really is The Best Lentil Soup
Thanks
Angela
Outstanding! I used canned lentils.
This was awesome! After seeing all the comments about this, I knew I had to try this! Its very comforting and has nice flavours for the start of fall. I don’t really like kale, so I added spinach instead. Next time I make this I’m going to eat it with some homemade bread as well. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you for your delicious recipes and the Nutrition Facts as well! It is so helpful when you are watching those calories.
It was delicious! I couldn’t stop eating and had to have second serving. I added cup up red potatoes and didnt have tomatoes so I used 2 cups of tomatoe sauce and red lentils.
Fabulous recipe! I added a can of drained chick peas and a peeled and diced sweet potato for some added bulk. I also substituted baby spinach for the kale. Great flavors and the whole family loved it!
This soup is one of my favorites. It is delicious and quite simple to make and I usually have all the ingredients in my pantry.The soup is perfect as is but I add another half cup of lentils because I like my soup a bit thicker and sometimes I use Fire roasted tomatoes for a little extras spice. I use Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base diluted in water for the broth. It makes such a tasty soup base.
I made this soup today and it really is amazing. I did however add a few swirls of balsamic vinegar which I felt balanced it perfectly!
amazing soup recipe for fall! I added celery, used chicken broth, and added coriander since I didn’t have any thyme – 10/10 recipe! Great tip too to blend a portion of the soup to make it more creamy :)
Best Lentil Soup indeed! Was delicious with garlic toast for sopping up every last bit, and even non-vegetarian family members loved it. The spices were bold and spot-on. Not that this recipe needs it, but I added red bell pepper and pureed, roasted butternut squash (had some I needed to use up). Still good. Bonus that it freezes well. Will be a fantastic DIY lunch for my kiddos doing online school. Loved, loved, loved this.
I just adored this soup it really hit the spot on an cold autumn afternoon.
It’s filling,very tasty and comforting.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe I added Turmeric just because I add it to most my dishes.
I’m looking forward to trying out some more of your recipes Kate,
Gill
Thank you for sharing, Gill! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
I’ve made this 3 times and I love it. Making again today. So tasty and healthful. And filling. I feel like a gourmet chef making this. :)
Hi there I absolutely love your Best Lentil Soup. It is easy to make and delicious. I often use spinach as my greens. I have made it several times and always make sure I have the ingredients in the pantry.
The lemon is essential I think – adds a real zing
Michelle
New Zealand
This really is the best lentil soup! My husband and I absolutely loved it. So flavorful and the lemon juice really does make it sing. You even got me to make my own vegetable broth for this, which was super easy.
Whoah baby, this recipe is delish! It’s so flavorful and fragrant. I didn’t include the red pepper flakes as the freshly ground pepper along with other seasoning was perfect for me. Thank you for sharing this pot of goodness. It’s perfect for the fall season. A keeper for sure!
Hey, thank you so much for this recipe! It was exactly as described
This is the best soup I’ve ever made, and have made it many times. I triple the recipe, it freezes very well. One major difference in how I make it is to use about two-thirds of the vegetable broth and water as I find that that otherwise it’s too thin. I also puree all of it, I guess I like food that’s like baby food. I also don’t use any lemon or kale.
Thank you for sharing how you make this work for you, Bruce! I appreciate your comment and review.
Your lentil soup is just fabulous, thank you Kate!
You’re welcome! I’m delighted you loved it. Thanks for taking the time to review!
I keep making this over and over again! The best home-made lentils soup I’ve ever tried! Shared with friends and family internationally, and they all love it! Thank you!
Tried this tonight and it was SO delicious! I forgot to drain the tomato’s but I added a little extra lentils, cumin, and curry. Came out perfect, even the kids ate it :) I’ll never buy from a can again.
Wow and wow. I had three servings of this and it was a-mazing. You are my new favorite blogger! This was seriously the best lentil soup and my husband loved loved loved it!! Great job!
Awesome soup !!
I have added chopped celery. Other option: Add bacon cubes that you pan fry before
Thank you, Silvia!
I just love this soup! It’s the second time I’m making it! My family loves it as well:) Both times I used frozen spinach instead of kale. Thank you so much for such a tasty recipe:D
That’s a great way to use what you have! Thank you for sharing, Jill.
I made this soup tonight, and it was the best lentil soup I’ve ever had.
So good!! I waited 2 hours and went back for another bowl. Just perfect.
Absolutely delicious!! Thank you for a fabulous recipe. So good!
Can the best lentil soup recipe be made in an instant pot?
I haven’t tried it, Jane. But, I believe others have. I would check the comments and see if anyone offers specifics.
Very delicious and I will definitely make this one again. Yummy.
Great recipe! I’ve been using this recipe for the last couple years, my favorite by far.
Loved it – thank you! Was looking for a vegan Harira recipe and came here as your recipes are great! Added chickpeas and fresh spinach… it was amazing – thanks again!!
OMG!! I made exactly as is, except left out onions due to intolerance of that….just doubled carrots instead. AMAZING soup!! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I have been looking for a good lentil soup and this is it!
I have been making, and enjoying, lentil soup for years! This recipe is now the only one I will make. The spices really make it special. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Lori! I’m glad you enjoy it.
Does this freeze well? Will canned lentils work?
Hi B! This soup does tend to freeze well. Others have used canned in this and didn’t mind the result. You will want to cut down on the amount of liquid though.
Yummmm! I made this recipe exactly as written and it was delicious. My two boys (and husband) voluntarily told me how delicious it was. Thanks for a great reicpe!
Great to hear, Sondra! I appreciate your review.
Yummmm! I made this recipe exactly as written and it was delicious. My two boys (and husband) voluntarily told me how delicious it was. Thanks for a great recipe!
You’re welcome, Sondra! Thank you for your review.
In 50 years, I’ve never liked lentils. In anything. Made this soup at a client’s request and holy MOLY, it’s fantastic. I went back for seconds! Thank you!!
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Susan.
what sort of curry do you use?
Hi Nicole! I usually use Frontier Coop brand spices, their curry powder is great. I hope that helps!
This was SO GOOD! I recently learned my iron is low and lentils are high in iron so lentil soup it is! Few personal choices – used crushed instead of diced tomatoes (am I the only weirdo who doesn’t like pieces of tomatoes in cooked dishes??); chicken stock instead of veggie; baby spinach instead of kale; and I used my immersion blender to blend most of it. Served with freshly made homemade gluten free bread and it was amazing! Will definitely make again. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing how you made this, Aimee! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
I was stuck with a lentils bag that I bought during 2020. We never made anything with lentils in our house before, but we had to something with it. Soup came out great. My wife ate 2 bowls and brought a bowl to her friend. I am a meat eater and even I was floored at my creation. Brilliant idea to mix 2 cups in a blender. I wasn’t sure about the kale, but added it at the end and what a difference it made to texture. This soup will be my signature soup. I cook occasionally, but this is the first time I felt like a chef. Will try more of your recipes. Thank you for improving our lives.
I just made this to use up a random selection of veg (butternut squash, carrots, red pepper and kale) and it is soooo delicious!! Will definitely make again. Thanks cookie+kate
Great recipe… Simple to make and simply wonderful results. I have to confess that I added a non-vegetarian ingredient – ham bone stock instead of vegetable stock. But with or without the ham, this is the best lentil soup recipe I’ve tried. Thanks.
Kate,
I have left a review on your lentil soup about a year ago but it deserves a second review. It is a permanent soup recipe for me! It is the best lentil soup out there! The flavors are so wonderful! There is nothing I have to change about it. I make it exactly how you have it listed. I always double the recipe and freeze individual lunch portions. Thank you for putting out such amazing recipes that are simple to make and taste awesome!
Your recipes never fail to deliver. Even the meat waters loved this soup. One meat eater said he hates lentils….he ate two! Only regret….not tripling the recipe! Thank you for always having reliable delish dishes!
Thank you, Kathy!
A long time ago I had lentil soup and it was awful so I was turned off to it. Fast forward and becoming plant based I had to give this 5 star lentil soup recipe a try. Loved it. Used arugula as the green because I had to use it up. It worked.
Made this for lunch and it was spot on! Love the seasonings. Thanks for the idea! Am happy to have some leftovers. I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned bc I had some I needed to use up and more broth and no water since I needed to use that too. Also added chopped avocado to my bowl and it was really yummy!
So, this came up when I was searching for a soup with my pantry staples.
Honestly, my soup was really thin and not at all chunky like the pictures. But the flavor profile is AMAZING!!
I pureed the whole soup and added a can of coconut milk to try to thicken it up, and then ended up forgetting about the kale And lemon juice. Ha! But we loved it anyway.
Next time, I’ll double the lentils, for sure, and I might try it with the kale!
I’m glad you loved it, Karen! Thank you for sharing.
Super soup. Followed the directions and definitely recommend!
This looks super, fo the lentils need to be cooked first before adding to the soup?
No need to cook first, see the instructions. I hope you enjoy it, Sean!
Oh my! This was literally the best soup I’ve ever had. I made it with chicken stock instead of veggie broth and added chicken at the end and boy oh boy. I couldn’t stop eating it. It was seriously that good! If you are unsure if you should try this recipe, there is no question! It’s amazing!
So delicious!!!
Do you have a companion salad you would recommend to be served with the Lentil Soup? I love this recipe, and it is my go-to recipe, but I wondered what type of salad to pair it up with. There are so many wonderful recipes on your website.
Thanks!
Hi Ellen! Favorite Green Salad with Apples, Cranberries and Pepitas could work. Or a simple lettuce salad with one of my How to Make Vinaigrette (Plus 3 Essential Variations!) recipes would do nicely. Thank you for your review!