🥣 Cozy Red Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups red lentils
- 2 carrots
- 1 onion
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 lemon
- Cumin & paprika (pantry staple)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (pantry staple)
- Salt & pepper (pantry staple)
Instructions
- Sauté onion and carrot; bloom spices.
- Add lentils, tomatoes, and broth; simmer 25 min until soft.
- Blend half for body; brighten with lemon juice.
Tips
- Red lentils need no soaking and break down completely in about 25 minutes. Don't substitute green or brown expecting the same — they hold their shape and make a different soup.
- Blend only half. Fully blended it's baby food; not blended at all it's watery. Half gives body while keeping texture.
- The lemon at the end isn't garnish. Lentils are earthy and flat without acid — it's the difference between dull and bright.
Substitutions
- Red lentils
- Yellow split peas behave similarly but take longer. Green or brown lentils make a chunkier soup and need 35–40 minutes.
- Cumin and paprika
- Coriander and turmeric for something closer to a dal, or smoked paprika and a bay leaf for a Mediterranean version.
- Vegetable broth
- Chicken broth if it needn't be vegetarian. Water works better here than in most soups, since the lentils create their own body.
- Lemon
- Red wine vinegar, or a spoonful of yoghurt stirred in at the table.
Storage & reheating
Keeps 5 days refrigerated and freezes 3 months. It thickens dramatically as it cools — expect to add a cup of water or broth when reheating. The flavour improves overnight.
Common questions
Do I need to soak red lentils?
No. They're small and split, so they cook from dry in 25 minutes. Rinsing is worthwhile to remove dust and surface starch.
Why is my soup gluey?
Over-blended, or too many lentils for the liquid. Add more broth and blend less — red lentils release a lot of starch.
Is this a dal?
It's adjacent. Dal typically finishes with a tempered spice oil (tarka) and a different spice profile. Same family, different technique.