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.
I typically find vegetarian recipes are too light on the spices (I like spicy!) and this one hit the nail on the head. It had a perfect balance of heat, and so simple to make. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you!
I would like to print out the nutrition part of the recipe, but seem unable to do so.
I have asked for the nutrition information to show.
Any advice?
Thanks,
I made it tonight, and for a change followed the recipe exactly. My husband, daughter and I loves it! Then I cut up some chicken sausages from trsder Joe, fried them and threw them in our second helpings. Delicious! Thank you for this recipe!
I absolutely love this soup! I live alone so it’s a pretty big quantity so I eat it every day, in fact I just finished the pot and I’m making it again. I haven’t gotten tired of it yet!
Excellent
What is the difference between brown and green lentils?
Taste, texture ,etc?
Hi Sue, brown lentils are the most common and have an earthy flavor. They cook more quickly. “Regular” green lentils are similar and can be used interchangeably in recipes, as they both break down softly. These are the most common in American grocery stores, and you can use either in this recipe. French or du Puy green lentils are more peppery, and these also hold their shape better so are ideal for salads.
This soup is delicious. But, get this – I substituted the canned tomatoes for coconut milk and it was also delicious. I opted to cook it in a slow-cooker and added a little chopped sweet potato. I love this recipe because it seems very customizable.
Made this soup tonight and it was delicious!
Yup! This lentil soup is delicious!!!
I used red lentils, used more garlic and hot pepper. Made a triple batch so I could freeze some for later, and share some with a neighbor. Yum!
This is my go to soup. I make it about once a month. It is delicious. I for some reason always cook the lentils separate and I add nutritional yeast. Seriously the best soup.
Honestly one of the best soup recipes I have ever had, requested repeatedly by all the family.
Also your Banana Bread, what can I say, amazing, again one of the best ever. Loved by everyone. :):)
Thank you
The lentil soup is my favorite. Instead of the broth I use water with carrots.
I absolutely love this soup. It’s become my signature dish and I recommend it every time I get the chance.
This is hands-down the best lentil soup recipe I have ever tried! I have cooked it many times during potluck events and my friends keep raving about it. Thank you so much for preparing these amazing recipes for us to enjoy. I keep coming back to your website for other recipes as well.
Great recipe. The only substitutions I made were using homemade chicken stock instead of vegetable, and I don’t like thyme so used sweet smoked paprika and some parsley. Really yummy.
I made this with diced tomatoes with habanero that gives it a nice flavor with a bit more kick.
Dislike kale intensely – assume silver beet or spinach would work just as well?
Yes, you can substitute greens based on your preference.
Kate, I absolutely love this recipe!!I also substituted the collar greens or kale with sorrel from my garden.
Thank you Aneta
I never ever ever ever comment on recipes but this isn’t just the best lentil soup I’ve ever had. It’s the best soup I’ve ever had, period. It literally makes my mouth happy with every spoonful. If I could only eat one dish for the rest of my life, this soup would be a serious contender.
Hi. I’m definitely not a cook and not very good at knowing what can be substituted so thought I’d ask here. Could I substitute bok choy for the kale/collard greens and still have it taste right? Thanks.
Hi Shawn, yes that should be fine.
Comes together quickly, nutritious and delicious.
We substituted chard for the greens, which worked out great. We love spicy dishes, so, we dramatically increased the curry powder and the hot pepper flakes.
I’ve been making this soup for 7 years and realized I’d never given it a review! It’s DELICIOUS and packed with veggies and micronutrients! Weirdly enough I love making it in batch at the beginning of the week and eating it for breakfast. It’s my reset soup whenever I feel like I’m off on my veggie intake, and also generally when I just need a good and healthful meal prep option. I LOVE soup and this is my go to every year, I usually can’t wait for soup season and just eat it all year round.
As a person who dislikes lentils, this really is the best lentil soup recipe.
I love this recipe; it is my favorite for lentils. I use fresh tomatoes and any greens on hand as it helps clear the veggies from the fridge.
Delicious and full of flavour. I’ve been making this soup for some years and it never disappoints. Easy to make and so warming on a cold Winter’s night.
Tasty! My first try at lentil soup. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it and it made a lot! Whew. It’s wonderful, though. Is it too “tomatoey” if youd don’t drain the tomatoes? Seemed strange to drain them and then add water. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi Laura, this step allows the flavors from the spices to concentrate, then the water and broth bring it back to the desired consistency.
So good! I love the curry and greens in this.
When I first stumbled upon this recipe and it’s all the number of reviews and the high rating I thought I might have found the best recipe ever.
Funny thing… I did. This soup is awesome. My wife loves it my kids lovr it my dog loves it everyone loves it. Thank you for sharing!
I made this lentil soup but I food processed all of the soup. It came out very well and was very tasty. I also replaced lemon with white wine vinegar for the acidity because I had no lemons. I also didn’t have any red pepper flakes or thyme. Regardless the soup tasted very nice. I hope it was okay to food process the whole soup as a preference.
Hi Murtaza, Yes, if you prefer a smooth texture, processing it is fine!
So grateful for this recipe. Thank you.
I’ve made it about a dozen times and have it for breakfast almost every day. Lately I’ve been tweaking it based on what’s in my pantry at any given time. Sometimes adding whatever veggies that might need to be cooked, switch the curry out for garam masala, add a ton more kale than called for, a dash of liquid smoke… Every time it is delicious. But you just cannot improve on the original.
Hi Simone,
Thank you for your kind words! I’m so glad you find this recipe useful.
An extremely thorough and easy-to-follow recipe that helped me craft a truly flavorsome and memorable dish. 10/10
This soup is so delicious, even my 4 and 6 year old children love it. Thanks for an easy to make vegetarian meal!
Hi Sarah, how wonderful to hear this recipe is kid-approved!
Is it ok to substitute spinach or turnip greens for the kale? Thank you!
Hi Sarah, yes, any greens you have on hand should work.