This soup is loaded with nutritious flavour and is easy as can be. We like it with a fresh slice of crusty sourdough and a little grated parmesan, but it's also fantastic plain jane.
Lemon Red Lentil Soup
3 Tbsp (45ml) olive oil
2 cups (480ml) diced onions
1 1/2 cups (360ml) finely diced carrots
1 cup (240ml) diced celery
1 cup (240ml) finely diced potato
1 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
1 cup (240ml) Flourist Split Red Lentils
5 cups (1.2L) water or stock
1/2 cup (80ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 cups (960ml) packed chopped fresh greens (kale, chard, spinach, mustard, or sorrel) (these are optional if you prefer to keep it simple)
salt and pepper to taste
In a soup pot, sauté the onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, salt and bay leaves in the oil just until the potatoes begin to soften, about 15 minutes.
Rinse the lentils well. Add the lentils to the soup pot and continue to sauté for 5 minutes. Add the water or stock and reduce the heat to medium. Cover and simmer until the lentils and all the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
Just before serving, remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and optional greens. Stir until the greens have wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste (as desired) and serve.
Comments
This soup continues to be a fave every winter for me, five years and counting! Easy, comforting, delicious. I like to make a double batch and freeze half without the greens and add them when I thaw those portions. Thank you for the recipe!
This is a 5 star recipe. Even my extremely picky kids eat this (sans lemon) but I just serve theirs first and add the lemon juice to the pot after. Perfect for any night you don’t know what to cook!
I have never commented on a recipe site, but after inhaling this soup I felt compelled to urge everyone to try it! I used Better Than Bouillon chicken for the stock, which I think made it. I used half a leek and a small onion instead of the two onions. To boost the quantity, I added orzo, then frozen corn at the end, and used less than a tablespoon of lemon in each bowl. (None of this would drastically impact the flavour of the original, imho.) Budget-friendly, healthy, very adaptable and super easy!
This soup is a staple at our house. We make it as is with usually kale as the greens.
Thanks for the recipe!
This soup is a fav in our house. We make it as is! Sometimes I freeze it without greens and add them in when we eat it! So easy and nutritious- I love feeding it to my family.
Just finished making this for a post thanksgiving healthy meal. Bonus that it’s vegan for my husband. Wow super delish! I added some fresh garlic to simmering vegetables because I couldn’t resist and I used just under the half cup of lemon (juice of one lemon) and chopped kale for my green. Will definitely be making this again! So glad to have found your website, I stumbled onto this recipe on Instagram and am so glad! Thank you!
Yummy but preferred it before adding the lemon juice. Would omit it next time.
This was fantastic. I pretty much made as written except I added 4 chopped artichoke hearts because I had some that needed to get used up. They worked really well with the lemon flavour.
As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I was making this soup tonight. It was excellent! I added some chopped spinach for the greens. My children weren’t fans because of the lemon but I thought it was beautiful. Thank you for the new recipe! I’ll continue to make this regularly for the adults in my life. It’s that kind of soup.
I have made a double batch of this soup every two weeks or so for the past 3 months. It is absolutely wonderful!