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 recipe is golden and a host for any kinds of veggies or addition of Italian sausage to suit any or many meals! Thanks Sylvia!
Thanks so much Julie!
This is incredible! I am so so happy with this. – I made mine with black lentils, celery, carrots and sweet potatoes.
I’ll be dreaming of this tonight, it was so delicious!
Made this soup today and i used red lentils that I had in the cupboard. I made in a cast iron pot. For my veggies I used carrots, zucchini, celery and peppers. The spices really make the soup. My husband had the soup chunky and I pureed mine. Very good and will make again. I think sweet potato would be really good it this soup
I used French green lentils, carrots, celery, kale, spinach and it was so yummy!!
Delicious, very flavorful. Very fast, great for lunch or to supplement dinner!
Just made this for the first time. Very flavorful! Perfect for winter meal. I did not add any water. For veggies I used carrots, celery, chopped red bell pepper and 2/3 bag of frozen riced cauliflower. My husband added sautéed shrimp to his bowl for an Indian flavored gumbo dish!
This recipe is my go-to for any weekday where I’m short on time but need something delicious and nutritious. I love to throw in chopped sweet potato, and I keep frozen chopped celery and canned chopped tomatoes on hand just so I can make this! The soup also freezes wonderfully. I make a big batch and freeze half in portions so I can have a quick lunch when I don’t have leftovers in the fridge.
I made this yesterday for lunch. It was snowing outside and this soup was a perfect winter warmer. I loved the spicing.
So good! This is about the tenth vegan meal I’ve made from Sylvia’s recipes and not one recipe has disappointed me. This one is one of our favorites though, I highly recommend making it. My fiancé describes this lentil soup as a “heavenly tasting Samosa in soup form.” ( I used potato carrots, celery, and potatoes as my veggies).
I have made this recipe twice now and it is deliciousssssss!
The spicing, fresh tomatoes are such a nice touch to this soup.
Seasonings in this recipe were just right. Very good flavor. I did use chicken bone broth instead of water and actually would add more moisture next time. Overall, I like it and will make it again!
Fingers crossed! Have it on the stove top right now, smells wonderful. I have never cooked with this spice pallet before so here’s to hoping it tastes as good as it smells. Going to be a wonderful New Years Eve dinner …and its such a rainy day out …good soup day
Me again! I wish I could rate this recipe a 10 stars! Awesome, awesome, awesome! Love it! Thank you so much for publishing, my new lentil go to recipe. Happy 2021 to all!
Happy Ney Year!
I made this today and it was so delicious. It was nice and spicy, and it warms the cockles of the heart! I have the Mini Instant Pot, 3 liters, so I reduced everything to 2/3rds. but I pressure cooked it for the same 12 minutes. Instead of the (optional) allspice I used Hawaij, a Yemeni ground spice mixture. This soup is outstanding and I highly recommend it to everybody.
Amazing lentil soup recipe! I use homemade garam masala for the curry and grind all my spices fresh.
The spices are on point for this soup. My children are too fussy to try it but my spouse and I love this soup.
So flavorful and satisfying! This was the first soup I made in my new Instant Pot, and I know I will be making it again and again – thank you for sharing this recipe!
This is my family’s favorite soup! It is so easy to make in the Instant Pot and it is healthy and deeply satisfying. Thank you, Sylvia, for another great recipe.
Absolutely delicious! I love lentils and this recipe is one I’ll go back to for sure. I’ve trialled a number of your lentils recipes and I’ve been impressed by all of them. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
This recipe is amazing and I love how healthy it is! Adding to the regular menu.
I am not a cook, but buy organic produce for simple meals. I must/will definitely try and add excellent nutritious meals to my limited repertoire.
Thank you.
So, I’ve never used an Instant Pot in my life. How would you set the Instant Pot while cooking this? This recipe has me contemplating buying an Instant Pot this weekend, but I’m afraid I won’t set it correctly…
Once you do it once, you will get the idea! I was the same when I first got mine- no experience with it, but it is actually very easy.
How do you think this would be with a punch of saffron?
I’m not sure? Give it a try!
Can I use lentils I have on hand that are already cooked? How would that change the recipe? I’m looking forward to making this!
Hi Kathy, truthfully I have not used pre-cooked lentils. You would not need to pressure cook. And you wouldn’t need much of the liquid. I would just do it on the stovetop, and add liquid as needed.
Very flavorful- even my lukewarm-on-lentils husband liked it.
Haha! Funny. Love it!
Totally delicious! I didn’t have the usual carrots and celery so made this with green peppers and cabbage. It was amazing! The flavor was rich and the dish very filling! Best lentils ever! Thank you!
Thanks so much Barb, glad you liked it!