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Red Lentil Vegetable Soup

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5 from 3 reviews

This red lentil vegetable soup is delicious and frugal. Perfect for picky eaters who won’t notice lentils in this soup! It’s now my favorite go-to soup since you can use almost any vegetables you have on hand. Pairs wonderfully with homemade crostini or rosemary olive oil bread.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 5 1/4 – 6 cups homemade chicken stock
  • 1 1/4 cup red lentils
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 large onion, minced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 large bell pepper, diced
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
  • 2 ribs celery, diced
  • 1 cup chopped tomatoes (or one 15 oz can diced tomatoes with juices)
  • 4 oz mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 cup chopped green beans
  • 1/2 bunch fresh spinach
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 Tbsp dried parsley
  • 1 Tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp dried basil
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 2 cups rice, prepared according to package directions (optional)
  • 1/4 cup cilantro (optional)

Instructions

  1. Combine 5 cups stock, lentils, garlic, onion, salt and pepper in a large pot and bring to a boil.
  2. Meanwhile, start chopping the other vegetables and add to the pot as they’re ready.
  3. When the pot reaches a boil, reduce to a simmer.
  4. Finish chopping all the vegetables and add them to the pot. Add the tomato paste and dried herbs and cover the pot, stirring every 10-20 minutes or so until the lentils have broken down, 60-90 minutes.
  5. Serve with hot rice, pasta noodles or as-is, with optional cilantro as garnish.

Notes

  • Soup is amazing fresh out of the pot, but somehow becomes super amazing the next day.
  • Sort and rinse lentils before cooking.
  • Slow Cooker Version: Dump all ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the lentils are cooked through and very soft.
  • Freezer Meal Version: Dump all ingredients raw into a gallon-sized freezer-safe bag. Lay flat and press the air out. Freeze horizontally, then stack vertically to save freezer space. To prepare, dump contents into a large pot OR a slow cooker and cook according to directions.
  • This is a thick soup, but there should be about 1/2″ liquid covering the vegetables at all times, so add additional stock as needed.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/red-lentil-vegetable-soup/