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
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
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: (affiliate links) I love my Vitamix blender and Le Creuset 5.5-quart Dutch oven. For more of my favorite cooking tools, shop my kitchen essentials.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Jennifer Miklasz
This is the best lentil soup I’ve tried! Such great flavours and filling. I’ll have to add the lemon next time. Loved it.
★★★★★
Carol Petrovich
I just made the BEST LENTIL Soup. And it REALLY IS THE BEST! I did add a little more Red curry and cumin. I had spinach used that and used 8 cups of veggie broth. The tomato base gives it depth and don’t skip blending 2 cups of soup and putting it back in the pot. Loved it! Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Anne
I just made this and absolutely the best lentil soup, just the right spice. I used frozen spinach instead of Kale as I didn’t have any kale
★★★★★
Maria Fernanda
This is indeed the best lentils soup ever! I love it! I’ve been making it for a few months now and every time a cook it, I fall more in love with it! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
★★★★★
Raquel Standish
I made this soup last week as I was trying to use up some vegetables and lentils. It was so tasty that I decided not to freeze the leftovers, even though I went away for the weekend. I had the soup for dinner tonight and it was even more delicious. Will definitely be making this recipe again.
FYI – I made it in my slow cooker and it took about an hour. Lentils were perfectly cooked and the colour amazing after so blitzed some of the soup.
★★★★★
LJ
This was super yummy! Used fresh tomatoes and spinach from the garden and veg stock I canned last year. Also added a big spoonful of dried mushroom powder. Served over mashed potatoes. Definitely putting this in the dinner rotation :)
★★★★★
Bobby-Jo
This was absolutely delicious. We had it with fresh turkish bread from our local artisan bakery ;) thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Robin A.
Best lentil soup recipe I’ve ever made! I added chopped leeks to the onion and carrots sauté and then poured some red wine into the pot with the stock (I had Cabernet Sauvignon on hand) which brought it to another level! Very rich and the taste was out of this world. Also sprinkled some BelGioioso shredded Asiago/Fontina/Parmesan/Provolone in the bowl when serving. Beyond delicious!
★★★★★
Mike
My daughter and i made this recipe last night and i cant disagree with the name. It was delicious and very simple to make. I would post a picture but it is GONE!
★★★★★
Janna
Thank you, Kate, for this delicious soup. I’m in love with it. I’ve prepared it a couple of times (with fresh tomatoes) and even frozen it for later.
I’ve already shared the recip with several friends.
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful, Janna! Thank you for your review.
Emily
This is definitely going to be a go-to recipe for this Fall/Winter. The lemon juice gives it a nice tangy flavor in addition to the curry powder.
★★★★★
Robin Meredith Foster
This soup is amazing. I live in a very small apartment where it’s difficult to make things on a stove and so I purchased a crockpot. I made this in the crockpot. I skipped the two extra cups of water thinking that it would be too much liquid and I was right. The vegetables stay crunchy yet lightly cooked.. It’s mouth-watering with fresh kale added at the last minute. The lemon squeezed over-the-top really brightens up this recipe. You’re an amazing cook, thank you for this recipe, I’ll use it again!
I couldn’t control my snacking. It’s unbeatable.
Sheila
Just made it this evening. Followed the recipe just as written. I’m not vegetarian but found it very satisfying. I suspect it’s going to be even better tomorrow. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Hannah
What a fantastic recipe! I used it as a base and guide for how to cook lentils- as I am new to plant based living and was slightly terrified of this itty bitty bean.
I modified it a bit based on what I had in the cabinet (added seasonal zucchini, fresh tomato, Garbanzo beans, and red kidney beans). Didn’t have veg broth, kale and some of the spices, but it was still super flavorful with salt/pepper/cumin.
Thank you for this- I can’t wait to make it again! Definitely 5 stars
★★★★★
Natalie
Great soup recipe – thank you for sharing! I used a medium-size can of tomatoes (14.5 oz) and red lentils because that’s what I had. I added extra kale and topped it with homemade croutons (and of course lemon!). I loved it and I will be making it again soon!
★★★★★
Chandra
This is a really good soup! I added extra carrots, 1 rib of celery, 2 zucchini and around 3 cups of leftover steamed broccoli right at the end as well as subbing frozen spinach for the kale. (I like our soups super veggie filled, and can rarely leave well enough alone.) I also used my immersion blender for a short while instead of the blender as I was making sweet potato soup in the blender for my picky 5yo, and that worked out fine. Thanks for the recipe! This will be made again!
★★★★★