How Do You Make Lentil Soup

How To Choose Your Lentils

I like to use the small dark green lentils because theyre sturdy and cook quickly. Regular green lentils are also fantastic here

All lentil varieties work great in this recipe and are very nutritious, so try different types and find what you like best.

Red lentils cook down extra soft, while green and black lentils will hold more bite. Brown lentils also cook quickly but lose their shape more than green lentils, resulting in a more mushy soup.

Expert Tips And Tricks For The Perfect Lentil Soup Every Time

• Always choose broth. Lentil soup will feel like its missing something if you just use water. If you want to keep this vegetarian or vegan, swap the chicken stock for veggie broth.
• Add meat if you like. This is a great chance to use up leftover ham or sausage!
• Dont worry about soaking the lentils. Lentils do not require any soaking. But do remember to rinse and drain them well to remove any bits of dirt.

How To Store Lentil Soup

Lentil Soup will easily keep for 5 days in the fridge, making it ideal for cooking on the weekend and serving throughout the week. And it also freezes 100% perfectly for 3 months even longer!

Every time I make this, I always wonder why I dont make it more often. Its healthy, filling, super economical, freezes perfectly, versatile and its seriously good.

Serving this with some sort of warm crusty bread for dunking is not optional. Its an essential part of the Lentil Soup experience.

But it is optional whether you slather said bread with butter, or grill it with cheese! Here are a few options including making your own ultra easy homemade bread with NO YEAST:

• Warm bread, to serve

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How To Make Lentil Soup From Scratch

• Sauté your onion, garlic, carrots and celery over over low heat for almost 10 minutes. Take your time here the lower the heat, the longer you take, the more these will transform to create an incredible flavour base for the soup!

• Add everything else other than the lemon

• Simmer 35 minutes until lentils are soft and

• Finish with a dusting of zest and spritz of lemon.

A hint of lemon earthiness from the zest and touch of freshness from the juice just jazzes up the soup and takes it to that next level!

Youll find that the lentils mostly breakdown and naturally thicken the soup. But what I like to do to get a really luscious creamy texture is to give the soup a quick whizz with a blender stick to puree SOME but not all the lentils.

That way you get the benefit of both worlds creamy soup with soft bits of lentils. YES!

Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions

• This soup can be made up to three days ahead. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
• Before freezing, allow the soup to cool , and then portion the soup into freezer bags or freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Is lentil soup good for you?

Lentil Soup is packed with nutritious ingredients. Its an excellent source of vitamins and minerals such as Iron and Potassium. The lentils add both protein and fiber, making it both filling and satisfying.

Do lentils need to be soaked?

Lentils do not require soaking to cook, but soaking cuts the cooking time in half.

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Tips To Make The Best Italian Lentil Soup:

• Soaking: Since lentils cook up so quickly, its not necessary to soak them. There is no need to soak these pulses as they cook in less than one hour.
• Rinse: Its best to rinse fresh lentils. Always rinse and sort your lentils to ensure there are no impurities.
• Vegetables: Chop up the vegetables for the soffrito the same size to make sure they cook up the same way .
• Tomatoes: I used a can of Italian cherry tomatoes. They are really naturally sweet and I love to cook with them. You could use your favorite brand of tomatoes, San Marzano is always best . If you are using plum tomatoes, you will have to crush them and remove the tough white inside .
• Herbs: Add fresh parsley and fresh rosemary. Even fresh thyme or marjoram is really nice in this lentil soup.

How Do You Make Lentil Soup From Scratch

To make homemade lentil soup, pull out your large stock pot and heat it over medium, then add olive oil. When its heated, add the garlic and onion, then the celery and carrots. Cook it all until softened, then add the rest of the ingredients except the lemon juice, zest, and salt. Let the whole thing simmer fully, then cover with a lid and let it simmer for 35 to 40 minutes. The lentils should be cooked through, then you remove the bay leaves and add the lemon juice, zest, and salt. Finish with a garnish of parsley when serving.

Enjoy the lentil things in life.Megan

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Start With The Flavor Base

To a large pot add two tablespoons of oliveoil, coarsely chop one onion, one stalk of celery, and one carrot, and add them to the pot. Gently fry on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.

To make lentil soup oil-free, add the coarsely chopped onion, celery, and carrot to the pot. Stir on medium to low heat almost constantly for 3 to 5 minutes until the vegetables release their natural oils and start browning. Now add chopped leek and stir. This is optional but we love the flavor of leek in soups, so we almost always recommend it.

Next, add the aromatic herbs. We use a couple of sprigs of thyme and rosemary, some sage leaves, and one or two bayleaves. To make it easier to remove the herbs for the soup, tie them together with kitchen twine. This is called bouquet garni and you can attach it to the side of the pot. This way the herbs are going to infuse our soup with their aroma, without getting lost in it.

Recipe Variations For This Lentil Soup

• Vegetarian. You can make this a vegetarian recipe with a couple of simple tweaks. Omit the bacon and instead sauté the vegetables in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Instead of the chicken stock, use vegetable broth .
• Add Sausage. Add a pound of Italian sausage without casings to the soup. Youll need to brown the meat in a skillet and drain off the fat before adding it to the soup pot.
• Use Ham. Simmer the soup with a meaty ham bone or ham hock for plenty of rich, smoky flavor. When done, chop the meat from the bone and stir it into the soup .
• Skip the Puree. I like to puree a small amount of the soup to give the dish a thicker, creamier texture. If you dont have an immersion blender, or if you just dont want to bother with this step, thats fine. The soup will still be delicious!

Note: Recipes submitted by our trusted contributors are created and tested in their kitchens.

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How To Make French Lentil Soup

Begin with the prep. I like to chop the bacon, onions, and celery very fine, so they arent too discernible in the finished soup. However, I keep the carrots a bit larger so they dont disappear.

To make the bacon easy to dice, wrap the slices you need in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes. They will be a bit stiffer when you remove them and much easier easier to cut.

Cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Dont be tempted to discard the bacon fat before you add the vegetables to the pot youll need to cook the vegetables and it also adds flavor.

Add the olive oil, onions, celery, carrots, and garlic.

Cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, lentils, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the lentils are tender but not mushy, 45 to 50 minutes .

Using an immersion blender, purée the soup a little bit at a time until the broth is slightly thickened. Go easy if you purée the soup too much, it will get too thick and youll lose the integrity of the lentils. If you dont have an immersion blender, simply transfer a few cups of the soup to a standard blender and purée, then return the blended soup to the pot.

Season to taste and adjust the consistency if necessary .

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.

Make Ahead And Storing

Lentil soup will keep well for up to four days in the fridge and in my opinion, gets better over time. You might find that the lentils absorb some of the extra liquid in the soup as it sits in the fridge. To bring it back to more of a soup-like consistency, simply add a splash of water or broth before reheating.

You can also freeze the soup. It should keep for several months. Simply defrost and reheat before serving.

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Lemony Lentil Soup Ingredients:

To make this lemony lentil soup recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

• Veggies: A simple mix of white onion, carrots and garlic.
• Veggie stock: Or you could are welcome to use chicken stock if you prefer.
• Red lentils: Which I love for this soup because they break down quickly and purée easily.
• Corn: Just your basic frozen or canned whole-kernel corn.
• Spices: A cozy mix of ground cumin, curry powder, cayenne and saffron .
• Fresh lemon: Whose zest and juice we will add to the soup. I also recommend serving the soup with extra lemon wedges, if people would like to make their bowls even more lemony.
• Salt and black pepper: For seasoning, as always.

To Soak Or Not To Soak Lentils

Do lentils need to be soaked? Unlike other pulses, its not necessary to soak lentils before cooking them. You may still choose to soak them for benefits to the cooking time or to make them easier to digest. Really, its up to you.

Lentils need a little more cooking time if you dont soak them, but its generally not a problem. If you havent had time to think ahead, still give them a good rinse in a fine-mesh colander and inspect them for any hard shells or rocks, as lentils are stored in big drums and can accumulate dust particles. But is totally ok if you dont have time to soak them.

On the flip side, lentils will cook faster if you soak them. Soaking lentils can also make them easier to digest. If you find that lentils make your tummy grumble or give you gas, then consider soaking them for 12-24 hours.

Always discard the soaking water and rinse the lentils before proceeding with cooking.

Are Lentils Gluten-Free? Lentils are naturally gluten-free. However, always make sure to read your labelssome lentils may be processed in a facility that processes items with gluten.

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What Goes In Beef & Lentil Soup

Heres what you need to make this:

• Beef Ground beef / beef mince. Same thing, different name, depending on where you are in the world! Use lean beef if you prefer, though the fattier it is, the better beef flavour you will get . Substitute with any other ground meat pork, chicken, turkey, even lamb. All you will need to do is adjust the spice quantities a bit the whiter the meat, the more spice you will need

• Lentils Dried lentils works really well here because you get a bit of extra flavour and thickening of the broth. But canned will work just fine too. Substitute: Chickpeas or beans!

You can use canned lentils if you want, but dried lentils taste better plus they thicken the soup broth a bit.

What Goes In Lentil Soup

Heres what goes in my lentil soup. Nothing fancy, just everyday ingredients.

So what makes this Lentil Soup so good?

• A touch of spices.

• Cooking the onion, carrot and celery slowly so they sweeten and make a beautiful flavour base.

• Lemon The secret ingredient. Yes really. Little tip I picked up from Ina Garten. Just a bit of zest and squeeze of fresh lemon makes all the difference which takes it from really good to great!

Do you cook lentils before adding to soup?

Nope! Dried lentils cook in 35 minutes in the soup, and theres no need to soak them either!

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Why I Love This Beef & Lentil Soup

This is a soup that ticks a lot of boxes for me:

Quick to make using any vegetables I have and no chopping meat

You can give it kapow! flavours by really dialling up the spices as much as you like. Its easy to figure: Just add and taste, add and taste! As written it is just nicely spiced to give it a bit of interest, but intentionally not in-your-face spicing

Its very economical and versatile. Change up the spices to whatever youre feeling like today!

Freezes 100% perfectly and keeps for days in the fridge and

Its a complete, healthy meal in one pot: Meat, starch and lots of vegetables. No need to make a separate side!

Hope you enjoy! Nagi x

How To Prep Lentils For Cooking

If you buy lentils from a store bin, its a good idea to spread them out on a tray and pick over them and discard any little stones or bits of dirt that could be present. If they seem dusty, rinse them in a colander. Packaged lentils are less likely to contain impurities, but theres no downside to checking them before cooking.

You dont need to soak lentils before cooking. But depending on the variety, they can take anywhere from 20 to 50 minutes to soften when simmered in liquid. They absorb their cooking liquid, and many varieties double in size when cooked.

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Can I Make Lentil Soup With A Crock Pot

Though I havent tried before with this particular recipe, it should work well. For the best results, start by sauteing the various ingredients on the stovetop . Then transfer those to a crockpot/slow cooker with all the remaining ingredients . Cook on LOW for 8-9 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours. Before serving, stir in the remaining ingredients- voila!

You may need an additional cup or so of vegetable broth if the lentil soup looks a little too thick/dry.

How To Make Beef Lentil Soup

And heres how to make it:

The soup broth is thickened by the starch from the lentils and the crushed tomatoes that are simmered so they break down.

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The Very Best Lentil Soup

When it comes to Lentil Soups, they donât get much more satisfying than this one! Itâs a bare bones soup, meaning you wonât find any unnecessary frills or complicated steps here. Itâs a classic recipe thatâs the definition of tried and true!

With that being said, itâs also anything but bland. The medley of mouthwatering spices and mix of fresh veggies keep this thick Lentil Soup plenty flavorful. Oh, and that squeeze of fresh lemon juice right at the end is like the cherry on top!

Is Lentil Soup Good For You

If youre wondering if lentil soup is good for you, the answer is yes!Lentils are nutritious, rich in minerals, protein, low in fat, high in fibre . They are a terrific vegetarian with 25% of the calories in lentils attributable to protein.

Lentils are a carbohydrate, but its slow burning which means it keeps you fuller for longer. Studies also suggest that lentils are good for heart health.

The added benefit is that they are low in calories with 116 calories in 1 cup of cooked lentils .

What does lentil soup taste like?

It tastes savoury and has a flavour boost from a hint of spices. Theres an undertone of natural sweetness from the soffrito flavour base of onion, carrot and celery. My favourite part is the texture! Its thick and comforting, and just made for dunking in hot crusty bread!

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