This Middle Eastern Instant Pot Lentil Soup is cozy and comforting! Infused with fragrant Middle Eastern spices, it can be made in your Instant Pot or on your stovetop. Vegan, fast & easy. Includes a Video.
True abundance is the freedom that comes from wanting less.
Yung Pueblo Inward
This Instant Pot Lentil Soup recipe is bursting with Middle Eastern flavors! This is my Egyptian father’s recipe, one that we ate on repeat growing up, not only for its nutrient density but for its affordability. Humble yet abundant! Packed full of healthy, nourishing veggies, this vegan soup is deliciously satisfying and filling, yet low in calories. Make a big batch and have it on hand for lunches or dinners during the busy work week.
Love lentils as much as we do? Check out 30 Amazing Lentil Recipes! For more popular instant pot soup recipes, try: Instant Pot Mulligatawny (Curried Indian Soup) and Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup w/ Spinach & Mushrooms.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this!
- Healthy and Nutritious: Lentil soup is packed with fiber, protein, and essential nutrients, making it a healthy choice. It is plant-based and low in calories, yet it keeps you feeling full and satisfied.
- Affordable: Made with simple and humble ingredients, lentil soup is an affordable option, utilizing pantry staples that you may already have on hand. It provides a budget-friendly way to enjoy a delicious and nourishing meal.
- Fast and Easy: Lentil soup is quick and easy to prepare, requiring minimal effort and time. With just a few basic cooking steps, you can have a flavorful and comforting bowl of soup ready in no time.
- Versatile: Lentil soup offers versatility in terms of ingredients and customization. You can add various vegetables and spices to suit your taste preferences. Whether you prefer a classic lentil soup or want to experiment with different flavors, the possibilities are endless.
- Great for Meal Prep: Lentil soup is perfect for meal prepping. You can make a large batch and store it in the fridge for several days. The flavors actually enhance over time, making it even more delicious as the soup sits.
- Comforting and Satisfying: There’s something inherently comforting about a warm bowl of lentil soup. It’s a soul-soothing dish that can provide a sense of comfort and nourishment, especially on chilly days or when you’re in need of a wholesome meal.
Lentil Soup Ingredients
- Lentils: There are various types of lentils that can be used in lentil soup, such as black caviar lentils, brown lentils, French green lentils, or red lentils. The cooking time may vary depending on the type of lentils you choose, with smaller lentils cooking faster.
- Vegetables: While the recipe recommends using carrots and celery, you can also get creative and add other veggies such as bell peppers, parsnips, fennel, or sweet potatoes, add a handful of spinach just before serving. You can customize the soup based on your taste preferences or what you have on hand.
- Tomatoes: You can use fresh tomatoes in your lentil soup recipe for vibrant flavor if they are in season otherwise canned diced tomatoes are a convenient option.
- Broth: The recipe suggests using vegetable broth or chicken broth for added flavor. You can choose the type of broth based on your dietary preferences.
- Spices: The lentil soup is seasoned with Middle Eastern spices like ground cumin, turmeric, and coriander. Feel free to adjust the spices based on your personal taste.
- Garnishes: To elevate the flavors of the lentil soup, you can garnish it with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro, diced tomatoes, chili flakes for some heat, or grated parmesan if you prefer (not vegan).
See the recipe card below for detailed ingredients and instructions.
How to Cook Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Set Instant Pot to the saute function. (See recipe card for stovetop)Add the olive oil, onion and garlic, and stir until fragrant, about 4 minutes.
Add four cups of chopped vegetables to the Instant Pot.
Any combination of carrots, celery, parsnips, bell pepper, potato, or even sweet potato will work here. Add the vegetable broth, water, lentils, tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, and salt and black pepper.
NOTE: Here, I’ve used tiny Black Caviar Lentils for the FASTEST COOKING TIME. If going with conventional large brown lentils, increase the time to 20 minutes- they should hold their shape.
Close the lid, seal and pressure cook on high pressure for 12 minutes. Manual release, releasing the remaining pressure valve.
Garnish the lentil soup -it TRULY elevates the soup! Add a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, fresh tomatoes and herbs, and dunk some warm pita bread in it.
Lentil Soup FAQS
Leftovers will keep 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container and are even more delicious as the flavors have time to meld. Freeze Lentil Soup in Mason Jars in the freezer for up to 3 months, leaving an inch of headroom for expansion. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Drizzle of olive oil
Squeeze of lemon juice
Fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Fresh diced tomatoes
Chili flakes (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese (optional, not vegan)
Sure! If you wish you can add extra protein such as sausage, ground beef or turkey and even top with bacon or tofu bacon.
For easier digestibility, it is recommended that you soak lentils for 2-4 hours with ACV or lemon juice to neutralize phytic acid. However, pressure cooking (like in an instant pot) unsoaked lentils reduces the phytic acid. (Phytic acid may impair the body’s absorption of minerals-but this is rarely a concern for those following a well-balanced diet.)
What to serve with Lentil Soup
More favorite lentil soup recipes!
- Red Lentil Soup
- Instant Pot Mulligatawny (Curried Indian Soup)
- Lentil Curry
- Mushroom Lentil Stew with Fennel and Sag
- Moroccan Chicken Lentil Soup with Saffron and Preserved Lemon
I hope you find as much comfort and nourishment from this lentil soup as I have through the years. Food does that… ✨
And before I close, I have to say, there was a time in when I was young, I swore I’d never eat lentil soup again because we had it so often! But 40 years later, it’s strange how much I crave it! It has become my favorite soup recipe, my comfort food, reminding me of home, and a way of bringing my father back to me when I miss him.
Love and Hugs,
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
Instant Pot Lentil Soup | 60-sec Video
Instant Pot Lentil Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 10 cups 1x
- Category: vegan, soup,
- Method: Instant Pot, stovetop, pressure cooker
- Cuisine: middle eastern
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Instant Pot Lentil Soup is cozy and comforting! Infused with fragrant Middle Eastern spices, it can be made in your Instant Pot or on your stovetop. Vegan, fast & easy. Includes a Video.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced (or sub 2 fat shallots)
- 4–8 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups carrots, diced
- 2 cups celery, diced
- 1 1/2– 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
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced with their juices (or 14 -ounce can of diced tomatoes with juices)
- 4 flavorful cups veggie stock (or chicken stock- use 3 bouillon cubes w/ water)
- 2 cups water
- 1 1/4 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 1/4 cup of the lentils for a creamier texture. 🙂
Garnishes: with a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice, chopped Italian parsley (or cilantro), diced tomatoes and optional chili flakes (Aleppo chili is nice here) and
Serve with warm toasty pita bread.
Instructions
- See notes for stovetop.
- Saute onion and garlic in the Instant Pot in 2 tablespoons oil until fragrant and tender, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the veggies. Sautéing 4-5 more minutes. Add the spices, salt and 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.
- Let the pressure release either manually or natural release.
- Taste, adjust salt, adding more to taste.
- Divide among bowls and drizzle with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, chili flakes, fresh parsley and fresh diced tomato (optional)
Notes
Stovetop Instructions: Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes, add chopped veggies, lower heat and saute for 5 minutes. Add the spices, salt and tomato paste, toasting them a bit. Add the broth,and water and scrape up any brown bits. Add the lentils, tomatoes bay leaves, bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer on medium-low or low heat until the lentils are cooked through. 20-30 minutes, depending on their size.
Lentils: Small Black Caviar lentils (or French Green Lentils) cook much faster than regular large 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.
For a creamier consistency, feel free to blend the soup or blend partially.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ½ cups without garnish
- Calories: 264
- Sugar: 6.4 g
- Sodium: 646.5 mg
- Fat: 8.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.1 g
- Fiber: 7.9 g
- Protein: 11.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This is a delicious lentil soup and I loved the spices and vegetables that changed it from my other lentil soup recipes. I made it on the stove and was still easy and fast.
Awww thanks Jill. Great to hear from you and glad you enjoyed!
Fabulous!!! Incredible flavors. We have some sensitivity to tomatoes so only included the tomato paste (used Mantova) for the more intense flavors and left out the diced tomaotes and just added more water. Still wonderful. This will become a regular for us.
Amazing lentil soup! We make it every week since I have found it last year. Thank you for the best lentil recipe!
You are so welcome! Im glad you are enjoying it!
I just made this soup in my instant pot and it is absolutely delicious. I used a mix of carrots, parsnip, celery, bell pepper and potato. I only used one cup of water (instead of two) for a thicker soup. So good!
sounds perfect, so glad you liked it!
Looks good, but please specify what size can of tomatoes (14oz or 28oz).
Sorry about that, I adjusted the recipe! 14.5 ounce can.
Great recipe! Didn’t even taste like I was cleaning extra vegetables out the refrigerator.
Thanks for the inspiration! I discovered some beluga lentils in the cupboard and just googled instant pot + lentils + the veg I had on hand and discovered this tasty soup. I happened to have a yellow pepper and half a zucchini in addition to carrots, celery and potatoes, plus put a bit of cinnamon and allspice in the pot since I didn’t have curry powder. Served it up with thick yoghurt as per a previous suggestion and topped with chopped coriander/cilantro. Really delicious and easy, plus I have leftovers for lunch today.
Love how you adapted this based on what you had on hand! Thanks for sharing!
Made this for the first time today and cannot believe how yummy it is!!this is going in my family recipe cookbook and will probably be a weekly staple for the coming winter months. So yummy and so hearty!
I don’t havr e an instant pot so cooked it on regular stove top, I also soaked the lentils in water for about an hr, used low salt veggie stock cubes, omitted the all spice powder and oil at the end. The lemon and chilli really enhanced the flavour. We love it! Thanks so much for this. Looking forward to exploring your website for more easy and yummy recipes x
Thanks for sharing your modifications Sarah, and good to know it works on the stove top too!
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.
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.
Awesome Julia! Im so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the yogurt tip. 🙂
What a great recipe! the only thing I adapt is that I omit the oil. Thank you so much for this great soup.
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!
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.
Glad you enjoyed and thanks for adding your adaptations! Good to know barley cooks in 12 minutes- perfect, thanks!!!!
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).
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.
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.
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!
I followed a great recipe using the black Lentils du Puy but did not rinse the lentils well enough and think it needs to be repeated with a new batch. I think it is very important to rinse these lentils very well before using in recipe. They needs to be rinsed with several changes of water before use.
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!
Hi Shannon,
I’m also from Washington state, and I found them at Whole Foods (365 brand). We love this soup!
Absolutely devine.
Freezes beautifully!
Absolutely define.
Freezes beautifully!
Delicious! My 6 year old daughter loves it and asked that I pack it for lunch! Thank you!
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!
What is “normal pressure”? My Instant Pot has “low” and “high” settings.
High! Sorry.
Oh my gosh just tasted my lentil soup amazing!!
Yay!!!!! so glad you like it!
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!
Glad your family enjoyed it!