Warm and Cozy Lentil Soup

What makes warm and cozy red lentil soup so great? It is fast, easy, and so flavourful. The other huge bonus is that it freezes very well. It is so easy to make a big batch and then freeze single or family-sized meals.

This recipe has so much wiggle room, change it based on you own tastes and what you have available.

Choose Your Stock

In this recipe, I used water and low sodium vegetable stock. But, you can easily use chicken stock instead, or, you can use just water in a pinch. If you use a stock that is high in sodium, omit the salt from the recipe.

Spices

Split red lentils take on whatever flavour you want to throw at them. Cumin and Garam Masala are wonderfully warm spices. Use a little more or less, to suit your tastes. The turmeric adds the lovely yellow hue to the soup.

Do you like spicy soup? Add 1/8 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper for a nice kick.

Other Additions

I love adding tomatoes, onions, and spinach to this recipe. They add another layer of flavour and texture to the soup. Other options I have done:

Instead of adding the onions to the soup raw, saute them ahead of time and then add them to the soup
I always have frozen spinach on hand, but fresh works just as well
Instead of spinach, use chopped broccoli
If you do not have fresh tomatoes, use a small amount of canned diced tomatoes
Adding an acid at the end makes all the difference with this soup. Lemon or lime juice is my preferred acid. Although fresh squeezed juice is best, use bottled juice if you have no fresh.

I also like adding a dollop of yogurt or sour cream to my finished soup. Another great option is to add a splash of coconut milk. Its up to you. Make this soup your own.

Soup Texture

Some love chunkier soup, while others like smooth soup. I prefer my soup in between the two.
For this soup, I will take half of the finished soup and blend it until smooth. Then I will add it back to the rest of the soup. This gives me a smooth overall texture with some larger bits.

It is up to you.

This image shows the same soup unblended, half blended and after blending the entire batch.

Warm and Cozy Lentil Soup

Lentil Soup Recipe Demo Video

This video demonstration shows how to make this split red lentil soup.The video is not very long, but shows the recipe step by step.

Lentil Soup

GET MORE INFORMATION

Want to make your own Garam Masala?

Warm and Cozy Lentil Soup

Print Recipe

Servings	Prep Time	Cook Time
3-4	5 minutes	20 minutes

Recipe Notes

You can easily switch out the spinach for chopped broccoli.
If opting for fresh spinach, use 125 ml (1/2 Cup)
If you don’t have any ginger root on hand, feel free to substitute ginger powder. Use 1/4 Teaspoon
To add a spicy kick, add 1/8 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
I like to add a dollop of sour cream or yogurt when serving. This is completely optional.
To ensure that this is a gluten free soup, double check your stock to make sure it is gluten free

INGREDIENTS

95 grams (1/2 Cup) Drained and Rinsed Red Lentils
375 millilitres (1 1/2 Cups) Water
250 millilitres (1 Cup) Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon Garam Masala
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Turmeric
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Butter
40 grams (1/4 Cup) Finely Diced Onions
1 Teaspoon Grated Ginger Root
65 grams (1/3 Cup) Diced Tomatoes
60 millilitres (1/4 Cup) Chopped Frozen Spinach
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

DIRECTIONS

Gather ingredients

Rinse and drain the lentils

Transfer rinsed lentils to a pot, add water, broth, cumin and garam masala.

Add turmeric, salt and butter. Stir and turn on heat to medium high.

Bring soup to a boil.

Add diced onion, grated ginger and tomatoes. Stir to combine.

Let the soup boil for 5 minutes, then cover the pot and lower the heat to low so the soup can simmer and thicken. Stir occasionally.

After ten minutes, taste to see if lentils are cooked through. If not cooked through, allow to cook for 5 more minutes at a time. If the soup is too thick, add 125 ml (1/2 cup) of water.