Description
This simple delicious Red Lentil Soup recipe will soon become your new favorite! Easy to make, with simple, wholesome ingredients, in very little time! Vegan and Gluten-free. Adapted from the NY Times (Melissa Clark, Red Lentil Soup).
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced (red onion is nice here)
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 cups carrots, diced (2 large carrots, or sub diced yam)
- 1 celery stalk, sliced optional
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste ( see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 medium tomato, diced (or sub 1 red bell pepper or 1 tablespoon tomato paste)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon sumac, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or red paprika (not smoked)
- 1 cup red lentils
- 4 cups vegetable broth, chicken stock or water ( see notes)
- 1 cup water
- Generous pinch cayenne pepper or aleppo chile flakes
- Large squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Garnishes – a drizzle of olive oil, fresh herbs: parsley, cilantro or mint, microgreens, chopped tomatoes, Aleppo Chili flakes, Urfa Biber, or a sprinkle of sumac.
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, add the onion and garlic, and stir for 3-4 minutes, until fragrant, then lower heat to medium, add carrots, celery, salt, and pepper, and saute for 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and spices and saute for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in the lentils, broth and water. Increase to medium-high heat, bring to a boil, cover, and lower heat to a gentle simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are cooked through.
- Using an immersion blender, partly puree the soup- leaving a little texture. (Or blend half of the soup in the blender.) *If you prefer a thinner soup, add more broth or liquid to desired consistency, seasoning as necessary.
- Squeeze with ½ the lemon and a pinch of cayenne. Taste, adjusting salt, lemon juice and cayenne to taste. *If you use water instead of broth, you’ll need another ¾-1 teaspoon of salt. The soup will start to taste more flavorful as it cools down a bit. If it tastes bland, find the balance between salt and lemon, adding more to taste. Cayenne is nice too.
- Divide among bowls, drizzle with good olive oil, fresh herbs, Aleppo chili flakes or a sprinkling of sumac.
Notes
Water: If using water and not broth, you’ll need to add more salt, perhaps a teaspoon, and maybe some granulated garlic or onion powder and a bay leaf. 🙂
Spices: Feel free to play around with spices! Try Garam Masala, Ras el Hanout, or turmeric and ginger, or even taco seasoning! As long as you get the salt/ acid ratio right, it should taste yummy.
Storage: Soup will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator or freeze for up to 3 months. When reheating the soup, feel free to add more broth or water to loosen it if it feels too thick.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 200
- Sugar: 5.1 g
- Sodium: 608 mg
- Fat: 6.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 30.3 g
- Fiber: 5.4 g
- Protein: 8.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg