True abundance is the freedom that comes from wanting less. Yung Pueblo Inward
Happy Weekend! Here’s a fast and healthy recipe my Egyptian father used to make that is nourishing to body and soul and will help make busy lives a little more manageable. Make Life Simple Instant Pot Lentil Soup. Packed full of veggies, this delicious, vegan soup is seasoned with Middle Eastern spices and is satisfying and filling, yet low in calories. Humble yet abundant. Make a big batch and have it on hand for lunches or dinners during the busy workweek. Serve it like my dad would, with a drizzle of olive oil, a little squeeze of lemon, fresh Italian parsley, chili flakes, diced tomatoes and a side of toasted pita bread to mop up all the tasty juices.
The best part . . . the soup can either be made on the stove top or in an Instant Pot- using the pressure cooker setting- in just 12 minutes! Yup. It’s true.
Many of you have been asking for Instant Pot recipes, so many in fact, I went out and bought one just to see what all the hubbub was about. If unfamiliar, an Instant Pot is basically a pressure cooker and slow cooker in one, with a saute function. The pressure cooker function comes in especially handy if wanting to cook dried beans or grains very quickly, or make stews out of tougher cuts of meat in under an hour. For people with families who are short on time, I see how this could be a great tool in the kitchen. For me personally, I’ll admit, I guess I’m a little old-school and much prefer to cook meals like this one in a dutch oven on the stove – nice and slow. But I don’t have 4 kids and a 9-5 job. So I get it.
The recipe calls for 4 cups of chopped veggies – any combination of carrots, celery, parsnips, bell pepper, potato, or even cabbage – in this nutrient dense soup.
After 12 minutes in the Instant Pot, the lentils are perfectly cooked, as well as the veggies.
Here I’ve used tiny Caviar Black Lentils, but any lentil will work fine. Smaller lentils cook much faster so keep that in mind. If going with a conventional large brown lentils, increase time to 20 minutes.
Make sure to add the finishing touches – olive oil, lemon, parsley and fresh tomatoes . . . so good!
The leftovers are even more delicious as the flavors have time to meld.
Make Life Simple Instant Pot Lentil Soup – a fast healthy recipe to make our busy lives a little easier.
For more Instant Pot recipes try Instant Pot Moroccan Split Pea Soup
or Cassoulet Vert!
If you try this recipe, be sure to let us know by leaving a comment, rating, and tagging a picture #feastingathome on Instagram.
Cheers, friends!
PrintMake Life Simple Instant Pot Lentil soup
This Middle Eastern-inspired, Make Life Simple Instant Pot Lentil Soup is vegan and gluten free and can be made on the stove top or in an Instant Pot in with 12 minutes of cook time! Flavorful and healthy!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 12
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 5
- Category: vegan main
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: middle eastern
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced (or sub 2 fat shallots)
- 6 -8 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups diced veggies – any mix of carrots, celery, parsnip, bell pepper, potato, cabbage (I normally use 1 -2 carrots, 1 parsnip, 1-2 celery)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, more to taste.
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons coriander
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice (optional)
- 1 bay leaf or 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence or Italian herbs
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced with their juices (one can diced)
- 4 flavorful cups chicken or veggie stock (or use 3 bouillon cubes w/ water)
- 2 cups water
- 1 ¼ cup small Black Caviar lentils or French Green Lentils (You can always use bigger, brown lentils, but increase pressure cooking time to 20 minutes.) You can also substitute split lentils for ¼ cup of the lentils for a creamier texture. 🙂
Finish with olive oil, lemon juice, chopped Italian parsley (or cilantro), diced tomatoes and optional chili flakes (Aleppo chili is nice here) and toasted pita.
Instructions
Saute onion and garlic in the Instant Pot in 2 tablespoons oil until fragrant and tender, about 2-3 minutes. (Or cook in a dutch oven on the stove, over medium-high heat)
Add the veggies, spices and salt. Saute 4-5 more minutes. Add the tomato paste and brown it a bit. Add the tomatoes and their juices, stock and water, scraping up any browned bits. Add the lentils, stir and cover, setting the Instant pot to Pressure Cook on Normal for 12 minutes. (Alternately if cooking on the stove top, bring to a simmer and cover, simmering on low for 20-25 minutes)
Let the pressure release either manually or naturally.
Divide among bowls and drizzle with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, chili flakes, fresh parsley and fresh diced tomato (optional)
Notes
Remember little Black Caviar lentils (or French Green Lentils) cook much faster than regular brown lentils. Red lentils have been split and will work here too, and will cook fast, but will give a different consistency. Sometimes I’ll substitute a ¼ cup of split red lentils for the Black Caviar lentils for a creamier texture. The larger the lentil, the longer you will need to cook.
made this the other day. Husband & child are not fans of curry, but both ate this soup & declared it delicious! I enjoyed it because I love curry. I did use potatoes, carrots, turnips, one can of tomatoes & brown lentils, as that’s what I had. Yum. Thanks for the great recipe!
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Glad your family enjoyed it!
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Oh my gosh just tasted my lentil soup amazing!!
Yay!!!!! so glad you like it!
What is “normal pressure”? My Instant Pot has “low” and “high” settings.
High! Sorry.
Nice flavour and super idea to use up some celery sticks. I used a regular pot on the stove, no pressure cooker this time.
Thanks! I took all your toppings to heart delish!
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Delicious! My 6 year old daughter loves it and asked that I pack it for lunch! Thank you!
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Absolutely define.
Freezes beautifully!
Absolutely devine.
Freezes beautifully!
This recipe quickly became a family favorite. Before I tried this recipe, I found the black lentils…once. I can’t find them anywhere now. Pray tell, where is your source? I am also from Washington state and am grateful to you for sharing the dried chickpea source.
I get them in the Bulk section of the grocery store. Where in Washington are you?
I’m also in Washington State (Seattle), and when it comes to best price, I end up getting my bean varieties from http://www.vitacost.com direct from the farmers such as at http://www.sunorganicfarm.com — hope this helps!
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Hi Shannon,
I’m also from Washington state, and I found them at Whole Foods (365 brand). We love this soup!
I have made this recipe twice already! I made it exactly as written the first time (with 1 c Puy lentils and 1/4 c red lentils) and it came out amazing! I made it again within a week but added cooked Italian Sausage. Thanks for the great recipe! I really love the tip about using red lentils to make the soup creamier!
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Does “let the pressure release” mean wait for it to release naturally, or actively let out the pressure with a quick release?
Either way, manual or naturally.
This is a GREAT recipe. Made it for my family and my husband and toddler loved it! My husband isn’t a huge fan of curry flavored things but heartily approved of this dish! You have the best soup recipes.
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We eat a lot of lentil soups and I am always looking for something new. This was delicious! I added grated carrot and cubed yams, 1 1/2 cups black beluga lentils and 1/2 cup red lentils but kept liquid amounts as the recipe called for to make it thicker. Topped with roasted cherry tomatoes and cilantro (I didn’t think it needed any oil).
Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe! It’s so cozy and warming in the chilly weather. This is a super easy and healthy recipe.
I did not use tomato paste because I’m sensitive to the acidity. Diced tomatoes were enough to give full flavors. Instead of using 1 and 1/4 cup of lentils, I used 1 cup of lentils and 1/4 cup of barley, and had 12 minutes in high pressure cooking . With barley the soup has good ‘barley’ texture. As the recipe calls, adding chilli flakes, fresh parsley, olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon give the full flavor to the soup. I’m definitely going to make this again.
I haven’t tried, but if you have garam masala, I think you can use it instead of allspice and coriander.
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Glad you enjoyed and thanks for adding your adaptations! Good to know barley cooks in 12 minutes- perfect, thanks!!!!
This was divine, full of flavour and colour. I put some harissa on it at the end along with the parsley and lemon and it was just gorgeous! Thank,you Sylvia for yet another delicious, healthy dish with some intriguing flavours.
Lovely, the harissa sounds perfect!
What a great recipe! the only thing I adapt is that I omit the oil. Thank you so much for this great soup.
This came out really well the first time. Delicious! flavours integrate really well, and the instructions are clear. I served it with a dollop of greek style yogurt in the middle, and that went really well too. If you eat dairy, the greek style yogurt gives it a really nice tang and creaminess. This is the first of your recipes that I’ve tried. look forward to trying more.
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Awesome Julia! Im so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the yogurt tip. 🙂
we loved it. so good! I’ll make this again.
At the end, I put a dollop of greek-style yogurt and it was a great addition – a little bit of tang and creaminess in the dish.
★★★★★