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 my new favorite soup!!! The recipe is FIRE!!! When I saw cumin and curry as an ingredient, I was like..hmmm, that sounds interesting and far from bland so I gave it a try. I didn’t have Kale on hand, but I had a half of a cabbage head so I used that instead…SO GOOD!!! I was going to half the batch, but I’m so glad I didn’t!!! I had it for dinner and now I’m having it for lunch!!
Can I use canned lentils for this soup?
Hi Gina, yes but that will reduce the cooking time.
I’ve made a double batch of this twice and it so amazing. The combination of spices is so perfect. It’s a great thing to eat when you have a cold because the spices really help unclog a stuffy nose. I like to freeze the leftovers for those days when I don’t feel like cooking. Thank you!
Too much cumin! I used less than 2 tsp and it was still overwhelming. Ruined it for me.
What if I’m out of curry powder
Hi Kimberly, you could substitute an equal amount of a blend of turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and chili ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, and/or black pepper. These are the common ingredients in curry spice blends.
I didn’t have curry powder either so I used cumin, coriander and tumeric (1 tsp each) and coupled the thyme to 1 tsp. Also added a bay leaf. It’s delicious!
Truly the best! Thanks Kate.
This was the perfect lentil soup. Going in rotation. Changed nothing.
This recipe is perfect. It’s a delicious addition to my rotation of soups. Thank you for sharing it.
100% great and so easy. Prep all and set up first then begin. Two things: for heartiest I used two tablespoons tomato paste instead of canned . I actu- ally had a can of tomato paste frozen by tablespoons on foil in ny freezer. I just popped two in the lentils soup. i also added two links of Italian sausage out of casing and cut up small. Made it super tasty!
Hi!
Unfortunately I don’t have a blender. Is it okay to just make the soup without it? I know it’ll change it a bit but hopefully not too much! Thanks!
Hi PR, yes it will just be chunkier with more broth without blending. It will have a different texture but still taste great!
This is absolutely amazing! I somehow always butcher anything with lentils, but this came out perfect and flavorful. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Hey Kate! This soup has been on my weekly rotation for quite some time now. It’s perfect as-is. Your website is always my first stop when searching for a new dinner/lunch idea. I just want you to know how much I appreciate you and your delicious recipes. Give Cookie a belly rub for me!
Hi Lianne, thanks so much for your kind words!
Wonderful soup on a cold Indiana day! Previousy, I’ve used your recipes and knew this would be a winner too!
This is the most delicious soup EVER! Thank you for sharing your amazing creation!
I have had this recipe pinned for a while. I made it today and it is delicious! I didn’t have diced tomatoes so I used crushed instead. I added spinach in place of the kale. I only added 1 cup of water as I like a thicker soup and I didn’t blend it. I will make this again!!
Hi Kate!
Can’t wait to make this, thank you so much!
Can’t you please tell me what kind of curry powder to buy?
Thank you!!
Hi Myra, I have been using Penzy’s curry blend lately, and also like Morton and Bassett.
Thank you sooo much Katie!!
There are so many curries and I don’t like one or two, but the best dish I’ve ever had was at a Thai restaurant years ago and I sadly don’t have a clue what it was but it was orangish-reddish, lol!
Just quickly…I’m sooo happy I stumbled onto you!! Although a CO native, my entire family is all over OK! And…I’ve also been a Chief’s fan for about 48 years!
I ❤️ Cookie and love your names here together! My three fur babies are my life. I’m sorry for the huge loss of your sweet baby. Their only design flaw is they can’t live as long as us.
Thank you again for your quick reply! Cannot wait to make this soup and for the time I can sit and explore your content!
Have a beautiful day!!
Thank you for this delicious and simple soup! It’s becoming a regular in my meal prep rotation and freezes beautifully. I’ve almost memorized it! It’s very flexible, too. I’ve tried it with black lentils, with spinach, and added small pasta noodles. Also great with a little nutritional yeast mixed in. I’ll be making this for a long time, I’m sure!
Liked this a lot! I deducted one star because the lentils actually need longer than 25-30 minutes to get tender. I like how fast it can be put together and healthy, too.
I am wondering if this “best lentil soup” recipe could be made with red lentils. I was looking for a recipe to use extra large lentils that I have, and this one caught my eye because it was very red in the picture.
Hi David, red lentils will cook more quickly and produce a softer texture. I prefer the green lentils, but many have shared they have enjoyed this made with red lentils.
This was delicious, & very well spiced. Really enjoyed it! And very simple to make
I don’t care for recipes where there is one cup of the main ingredient that is sold by the pound.
I’ve made this soup twice, and loved it both times. I didn’t have kale, so I used fresh spinach this time. Otherwise, I followed the recipe closely. My 100-year-old mom loved it, too, and she’s finicky about soups! This will be my go-to lentil soup recipe. Thank you!
This is my very favorite lentil soup! I’ve already made it three times in the last month! I blend the whole thing so it’s super creamy and delicious. My daughter even asks for it when she comes home for a visit.
Thanks for providing this nutritious recipe. I’m a diabetic and my health thanks you! It’s a great way to keep the pounds off and not raise my numbers.
I’m wondering if I can shake it up and use red or yellow lentils for a twist.
Hi Rebecca, I’m so glad your family enjoys the recipe! You can use other colors of lentils but they will have a softer texture and need less time to cook.
This recipe is golden!! I made it with just staples in the house after returning from vacation. Had no onions but did have a shallot, and it worked perfectly. Everyone in the whole house ate this … even my formally anti vegetable son. Thank you for sharing this amazing and healthy recipe!
This was a delicious soup. My husband loved it and asked me to make it again. He does not eat a lot of vegetables so this is a good recipe to get lots of vegetables in. I will definitely make it again.
I’ve made this at least 8 times this winter, with both collards (my preference) and kale- it’s amazing! The only thing I’ve changed is probably just heavy-handing the spice as I like the flavors. Thank you for this recipe!
How many quarts of soup this recipe yields?
Hi Flora, about 2.5 quarts.
I made it last night. It is very delicious. Kate thank you so much for this recipe.
I’ve made this soup numerous times and had to finally comment on how great this recipe is. I add cubed potatoes to it and don’t blend any of it because it’s an extra step I don’t care to do. I smash my potatoes in the broth as I eat it…so delicious. The lemon is a great touch, really makes it pop. And now off to prepare tonight’s batch!
The lemon juice and kale additions are new to my lentil recipe and I can’t wait to try it!
The spices were perfect! Just enough cumin and curry powder and works great with a substitute of garlic powder if you’re out of the fresh cloves of garlic. Was out of kale so we added a bag of frozen green beans and cooked ten more minutes. Used two tablespoons of lemon juice which brightens the flavor. My sons added more pepper flakes at the table and the four of us finished off every ounce! Great for Fridays during Lent.
This is hands down one of the best lentil soup recipes I have come across. The combination of cumin and lemon gives it such a bright and warming flavor. Lentil soup is one of those meals that is nutritious satisfying and incredibly budget friendly. Perfect for meal prepping on Sundays.