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This simple red lentil soup recipe is bursting with flavor! It’s hearty and cozy, flavored with aromatic vegetables and lemon.
If there’s one food that always satisfies, it’s a great lentil soup. Lentils are one of nature’s wonders: they’re full of protein, shelf stable for years, inexpensive, and make for some of the most satisfying filling meals.
Here’s one of our favorite ways to use them: this simple red lentil soup! Alex and I have over a decade of experience writing lentil recipes (it’s kind of our jam!) and this one is at the top of our favorites list. It’s cozy and hearty, featuring aromatic vegetables, lemon and a hint of smoked paprika.
Finding the right type of lentils
Lentils are small dried legumes, part of a plant family that includes beans, peas, and peanuts. Red lentils, named for their bright orange-pink color, have a texture that breaks down faster than other types, making them perfect for quick soups or dal.
Most red lentils you’ll find at the store are split red lentils, which is what you should use here. (Some packages may simply say “red lentils,” but if you’re in an American grocery store it’s likely split red lentils.) Avoid whole red lentils: they cook differently and hold their shape when cooking.
Ingredients in red lentil soup
This red lentil soup is hearty and easy, an ideal easy weeknight meal! It’s a vegan dinner recipe that’s filling and full of plant-based protein. All you need to do is sauté the aromatic vegetables, then add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the lentils are tender. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Vegetables: carrots, onion, celery, garlic
- Olive oil
- Vegetable broth
- Water
- Split red lentils
- Smoked paprika
- Lemon zest
- Salt and pepper
How to tell when the soup done
One important thing about red lentil soup is to make sure not to overcook it! If you cook red lentils too long, they lose their shape and turn into a mush. Sometimes that’s what you want, like in masoor dal (Indian red lentils). But in this soup, you’ll want the lentils to be just tender but still hold their shape.
Keep an eye on this soup and simmer 7 to 10 minutes until the lentils are just soft, but before they break apart. Some brands of split red lentils are smaller than others, meaning they cook slightly differently. We’ve actually noticed one brand we often buy cooks much faster than others!
Garnish ideas for red lentil soup
This red lentil soup recipe is delicious on its own, but it’s even tastier with a few garnishes. Here’s what we like to add before serving:
- Greek yogurt or sour cream: This adds just the right creaminess and a bright tang: we suggest serving it this way if at all possible.
- Cashew cream: For dairy-free, use vegan yogurt or cashew cream.
- Coconut milk: Want a creamy red lentil soup? Stir in ½ cup full fat coconut milk before serving.
- Cilantro: Fresh cilantro or parsley add an herbaceous freshness.
Making it a meal with side dishes
Even though lentils are very filling, a cup of red lentil soup usually needs a side dish to make it a filling meal. Here are some of the items we like to pair it with:
- Cornbread or corn muffins: Try cornbread muffins, skillet cornbread or vegan corn bread.
- Bread: Any crusty artisan loaf will do, from purchased to homemade artisan bread.
- Garlic bread: Go for homemade garlic bread or garlic toast.
- Popovers: These tasty popovers are quick and simple.
- Salad: Try this arugula salad, spring mix salad or apple goat cheese salad.
Dietary notes
This red lentil soup recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Frequently asked questions
Red lentils are ideal for their creamy texture. You can try substituting brown lentils, but you may need to cook them longer and they will have a slightly different flavor.
The soup lasts up to 1 week refrigerated (you can also freeze for up to 3 months). Leftovers can become very thick, so you can add a little water or broth when reheating.
Simple Red Lentil Soup
This simple red lentil soup recipe is bursting with flavor! It’s hearty and cozy, flavored with aromatic vegetables and lemon.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Soup
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 3 large carrots
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 3 celery ribs
- 6 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 quarts vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 pound split red lentils*
- 1 ½ tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Greek yogurt or sour cream (or cashew cream for vegan), for serving
-
Cilantro, for serving
Instructions
- Peel the carrots. Finely dice the carrot, onion, and celery. Mince the garlic.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery, and sauté until the carrots are tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the broth, water, red lentils, smoked paprika, lemon zest, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.
- Bring to a low simmer, then cover halfway and gently simmer until the lentils are just soft but before they start to break apart, about 7 to 10 minutes. Watch closely and taste to assess doneness. The finished soup should be brothy with the lentils just soft; cooking past this point yields a very thick stew which is just as delicious but less soup-like. (If you’d like, you can add handfuls of greens in the last few minutes, like chopped spinach or kale).
- Taste and add additional salt to taste, and a few grinds black pepper. The soup lasts up to 1 week refrigerated (you can also freeze for up to 3 months). Leftovers can become very thick, so you can add a little water or broth when reheating.
Notes
*Most of what you’ll find in stores are split red lentils, even if it doesn’t specify split on the package. Avoid buying whole red lentils.
Want it creamy? Stir in ½ cup coconut milk.
More lentil recipes
Lentils are some of the most nutritious foods on the planet! Here are some other lentil recipes to incorporate into your dinnertime routine:
- Go for brown lentils in our favorite simple lentil soup, or opt for Italian flavors in Italian lentil soup.
- Add curry paste for curry lentil soup or fan-favorite coconut lentil curry.
- Add lentils to lentil salad or French lentil salad.
We enjoyed this recipe. I did make changes “to taste” as we like bold flavors. I used a lot of extra garlic, only 1 TBSP of smoked paprika (which was plenty to us), lemon juice to taste instead of lemon zest, and I added a little bit of agave syrup at the end to balance everything out. I made a cashew crema (it has lemon juice, a bit of agave & salt in it) to drizzle on top of the soup and then I topped each bowl off with a fried egg. I served garlic rubbed sourdough toasts on the side. Quite good!
I made this recipe tonight and it was amazing! All I did was cut recipe in half since I’m only feeding two. For the vegetable broth I used “Better Than Bouillon Vegetable” which I think added a great balance to the smoked paprika! Will definitely make again and I will be trying more of you recipes soon!
Made this yesterday with some carrots I had roasted. It turned out so delicious! Thank you for sharing this delightful recipe. It’s a keeper.
Leaving this comment to provide a bit of balance. The only flavour is smoked paprika. As someone who cooked a lot of hunagarian goulash and had a delicious brown lentil soup I prepared In a bulk batch the month before as I do like lentil soup. This one is bland but overpowering at the same time. I would recommend using less garlic, and less smoked paprika and adding in other ingredients
Does this recipe handle freezing well? Haven’t tried the recipe yet.
Lentil soup should freeze well! The texture of the lentils may fall apart more after frozen but the flavor should be just as good.
Made according to directions except used chicken broth instead, and couldn’t find just red lentils so used a trio instead. Soup was delicious! Will be making this again!
This was delicious. Absolutely perfect for today’s very rainy and cold weather. I was clearing out my cabinets and found red lentils, found this recipe and made it tonight. It’s simple, flavorful and filling. I didn’t have any lemons, but added red wine vinegar for a little acidity and bay leaves. Next time I’ll add some greens! Thanks!
How can I share this sight, don’t see the share here.
Red Lentil Soup……Delicious.
Thank you for the great recipe!
I added the juice of the zested lemon and some cumin I had and it was very flavourful, and even better, so nutritious too!
Pound of red lentils?? The amount of cups would be more helpful!
I measured a one pound package and mine was a little over 2.75 cups
You can web search the conversion ratios. I do it all the time when I need to cut recipes in half.
I have tried many red lentil soup recipes. However, this is by far the best for nutrition and amazing taste using basic household ingredients. The lemon zest is the clincher. I’ve made this recipe three times in the last 4 weeks and prepared it for parents and aunts. Really in my top 10 of go-to soup recipes 👏🏻
We love to hear this! Thanks for making.
Loved it! I think recipes like this will really taste like the broth you use, so make it a good one!
I’ll be eating leftovers this week. Definitely looking forward to it!
Made this for dinner this week, SO GOOD! The only thing I changed is that I added less lentils than called for because I wanted a soupier soup. Will definitely make this again!
Here’s a silly question from not-a-great-cook: if I pull the pot off the heat after simmering for just the right amount of time, won’t the lentils still break down and turn to mush as I wait for the soup to cool off before storing in the fridge? I’m making this ahead of a girls’ lunch and trying not to ruin it for the re-heating process in a few hours.
Thanks for asking! You should be ok here! The lentils may soak up a bit more of the broth, but they shouldn’t get too mushy. If you want you could pull it a minute before the lentils are perfectly tender to compensate. But our soup was fine after cooling on the stove and storing leftovers!
I made the recipe as written, except I used 1/2 tsp smoked paprika and the rest sweet paprika, as I am not a fan of smoked paprika. The soup was rather bland, so I believe the “bursting with flavor” must come mostly from the smoked paprika. It was also very thick, even before the lentils were fully cooked, so I would cut back on the amount of lentils. Adding more liquid was not an option as my dutch oven was already full to an inch from the top.
I’ve come to love lentil soup from having hated it for years, so enjoy trying new tweaks to my own lentil recipes, had no idea for instance about red lentils or split red lentils, so thank you