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.
PrintBest Lentil Soup
- Author: Cookie and Kate
- 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.
Amy Young
Very tasty!!!
Lynn
Delicious soup! My husband and I each had two servings and there’s still lots left.
Sandra
I make this lentil soup at least once a month. I love it.
Kate
Great to hear, Sandra!
Katherine
Absolutely my favorite lentil soup recipe. I make it at least once per month and my whole family loves it.
Allison P.
Kate, this soup is absolutely divine! I can’t stop eating… (:
Allison P.
Kate, this soup is absolutely divine! I can’t stop eating… (:
Subbed spinach for kale and added 79 more lentils.
<3 ALlison
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Allison!
David
I tried the best Lentil Soup recipe and have to agree. This is the best soup ever!
I now make it every week love the rich flavors. Thank you!
Terrance
Good tasting soup
Paul
I love this soup! In fact, I love it so much I am bringing it to a gathering on Sunday. To make a larger than usual batch is it ok just to double all the ingredients?
Kate
Yes, you can double this just make sure you have a large enough pot.
Geri
This is my favorite lentil soup and I make it often. I add cilantro along with the kale. Delicious!
Kate
Great to hear, Geri!
KM
Love this recipe. Our changes after making it several times are to cut the amount of tomatoes in half and double the greens. And add a squeeze of lemon!
Trish
Can you sub in canned pumpkin for the tomatoes? Thanks!
Kate
I don’t think that will get you the results you want, sorry!
Emily T
I made this 2 years ago and funnily enough I remembered this recipe after a picture of my meal popped up in snapchat memories from 2 yrs ago today. So glad I was able to find this same recipe so I could recreate it! It’s fantastic!!! The flavors truly sing!
Donna Swartz
This was far and away the best lentil soup I’ve made!! I added fresh cilantro and sprouted my lentils and threw in a green pepper and zucchini for good measure because why not?? also used homemade bone broth which made it super nutritious! But the spices and the lemon finish were the pies d’aresistance
Megan
This has literally been a staple for me over the past few years. I make this every couple of weeks, split into jars, and then freeze. I take it with me to work, on trips, etc. literally the best soup I’ve ever had. I even had a friend ask me to make her a lot for Christmas! I have made a few changes over the years. I cut out the onions and add a bell pepper and celery instead (I just really hate onions). I also cut the cumin in half and add a teaspoon of chili powder and double the greens (I always use kale bc it maintains its shape and firmness even after freezing and reheating). Thanks so much for this recipe!
Nicole
This lentil soup is so good and I make it often. Sometimes I make veggie stock from scratch but if I don’t have time or use boxed stock if I don’t feel like making it from scratch. I’ve made it with and without kale or used frozen or fresh spinach if that is what I had on hand. Sometimes I top it with sliced ripe avocado.
Linda Collazos
This is the best lentil soup ever! I follow the recipe exactly except for adding a bit more collard greens. I highly recommend it.
Chisomo
Do you have to soak the lentils overnight before cooking?
Kate
No need to soak. I hope you enjoy this soup, Chisomo!
Lucia
SO GOOD! My partner and I both had seconds, the chilli flakes made all the difference! I over-blended and I was sad there were no loose lentils but it was PERFECT!
Tiffany
I love this soup I added fresh Jalapenos and shrimp and it added an extra kick, my kids even loved it.
Kate
That’s great to hear, Tiffany!
Rita Gerstner-Fuentes
It truly is the best lentil soup! I’m making it for the second time by special request from my family. Thanks from Albuquerque NM.
Kate
You’re welcome, Rita!
Lauren
Hi! I only have red and black lentils- which do you think would hold up to this recipe? Thanks!
Kate
Black would work better than red. However, I know others have used red. It just requires less liquid and cooking time.
Ma4ie
One of the BEST soups I ever made…I’ll be making g it again, many times…thank u
Vicki
This soup is aptly named, it is the BEST! Thank you
Kate
You’re welcome, Vicki!
Geneva
I LOVE this soup and have made it many times, but I want to make it for a friend who can’t have tomato or lemon! I can leave the lemon juice off at the end, but is there a good substitute for the diced tomatoes?
Kate
I don’t have a good subsitute for the tomatoes. I would suggest just to omit them.
Chelsea Green
This is, without a doubt, my favorite soup recipe. I’ve been making it at least twice a year for at least 6 years. Sometimes I sub out the greens for spinach, depending on what I have on hand. Definitely recommend!!!
Audrey
One of my go to STAPLE recipes! I make it all of the time and for friends its such a hit! I LOVE the flavors in this.
Kate
That’s great to hear, Audrey!
Shannon
Really yummy! I’ve made it lots of times! I found if you use some red lentils, which have a nuttier flavor, it’s taste a bit like tortilla soup!
Autumn
Do you know how one would make this in an Instant Pot?
Felice
Yes, best lentil soup – cooked exactly as directed and now cook it on repeat:)
LaToria
Can I use chicken broth if I don’t have vegetable broth?
Kate
Sure, others have tried it and didn’t mind the results.
Shannon Morris
My family loves it so much- I’ve had to start tripling the recipe!!! ❤️
Kate
Great to hear, Shannon!
alexander
Can I use red lentils? I’ve got a lot of them and am looking for a good recipe to use them up.
thanks
Kate
Others have and didn’t mind the results. You will need less liquid and cooking time.
Laura
This was delicious! I followed the recipe exactly except that I used some leftover calabasa squash in place of the carrots. I’m a bit skeptical about the nutritional information, because this is one of the healthiest things I’ve ever seen!!
Elizabeth
This soup looks delicious but where is all the fat and sodium coming from in the recipe? I am looking for low fat/ low sodium recipes and I thought vegetable lentil soup would be perfect but it has 15.5g fat and 1324mg of sodium per serving. Daily recommended intake for sodium is 2000-2300mg. If it is the canned tomato and stock – then I can use low sodium. Please let me know – this looks great but we can’t have all that fat and sodium. Thanks!
Kate
Hi Elizabeth, more on my Nutrition Disclaimer. These are estimates. You can use low to no sodium ingredients and adjust the added salt too.
Mike Rogan
Kate – so delish! Easy to follow, great recipe. Thank you.
Kate
You’re welcome, Mike!
Rosa
I have cooked this for the first time years ago and it has been a regular meal in our house. Everybody loves it. Thank you! I usually add spinach instead of kale and a can of chickpeas, too. Feta or vegan feta, bit of naan or pitta bread…Great!
Kate
You’re welcome, Rosa!
Katie
Best lentil soup of all time
Kate
Thank you for your review, Katie!