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Lentil Soup Recipe

Lentil Soup Recipe

Make this Lentil Soup Recipe for a cozy, hearty weeknight meal; simmer, finish with lemon, and serve with crusty bread.

Ingredients

Instructions

Step 1: Prep the aromatics and lentils

Finely dice the yellow onion, carrots, and celery into even, small 1/4-inch dice so they cook uniformly; mince the garlic finely and set it aside. Rinse the brown or green lentils under cold running water, picking out any small stones or debris, then drain thoroughly. Keep the tomato paste in a small ramekin and measure out the cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, dried thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper into tiny bowls for easy addition.

Step 2: Sweat the vegetables until soft

Heat the olive oil briefly until it shimmers (no browning), then add the diced onion, carrots and celery and cook gently until the vegetables are softened and the onion is translucent — glossy, tender cubes and softened carrot rounds, not browned. The mixture should look hydrated with a thin sheen of oil and softened, slightly collapsing vegetable edges, the aroma starting to smell sweet and savory.


Step 3: Bloom the garlic, tomato paste and spices

Stir in the minced garlic for only 30–45 seconds until fragrant, then add the tomato paste and the measured spices. Cook just long enough for the tomato paste to darken slightly and the spices to bloom: the paste will clinging to the vegetables, deepening from bright red to warm russet, while fine spice flecks coat the mixture and release an immediately aromatic, earthy perfume.


Step 4: Add the lentils and coat

Stir the rinsed lentils into the spiced vegetable paste, ensuring every grain is well coated — a scattering of dull olive-green lentils turning glossy from the oil and paste, nestling into the aromatic bed. The pot should read as a single composed mass: vegetables and lentils integrated, the lentils still distinct and dry-looking but visibly tacked with seasoning.

Step 5: Add tomatoes, broth, water and seasonings, bring to a gentle boil

Pour in the diced tomatoes with their juices, the low-sodium broth, and the measured water, nestle in the bay leaf, and add the salt and pepper. Stir to combine and bring the mixture just to a gentle boil so the surface shows small, even bubbles and the lentils are suspended in a broth that reads thin and rust-colored with floating tomato pieces. Reduce to a low simmer immediately once it reaches that delicate bubbling.


Step 6: Simmer until lentils are tender and adjust consistency

Maintain a low, gentle simmer partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender and creamy inside but still hold their shape — a thickened, cohesive soup where individual lentil texture remains perceptible. If the pot looks too stiff before the lentils are done, add hot water in small increments to reach a slightly thick but pourable consistency, tasting and adjusting salt as the flavors concentrate.


Step 7: Partially purée for a creamy texture and re-warm

For a silkier mouthfeel, pulse an immersion blender into roughly one-third of the pot (or purée about 2 cups separately and return it) so the surface shows a pleasing contrast between creamy, velvety purée and whole, intact lentils and vegetable bits. Warm gently for a few minutes so the textures meld and the soup steams softly but does not vigorously boil.

Step 8: Brighten, finish and serve

Off the heat stir in 1–2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice and the chopped flat-leaf parsley, taste and correct seasoning. Let the soup rest briefly to marry flavors, then ladle into warmed bowls and finish each with an optional dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, a scattering of chopped parsley and a pinch of red pepper flakes; serve with lemon wedges and crusty bread on the side.


Notes