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    Home » Recipes » All recipes

    Lentil and vegetable soup

    Published: Jan 29, 2021 · Modified: May 4, 2023 by Maria · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    How to easily make delicious and healthy vegan lentil soup. Hearty lentils are simmered in a perfectly seasoned tomato based broth with carrots, potatoes and celery. Makes the best one pot easy weeknight meal. Includes instant pot and stove top directions.

    Vegan lentil vegetable soup in a bowl.
    Jump to:
    • ❤️ Why you'll love this lentil soup
    • 🧂 Ingredients
    • 👩‍🍳 Expert tips
    • 🔪 Directions
    • 🥄 Variations
    • ♨️ Serving suggestions
    • ❓ FAQ's
    • 🍝 Recipes to try next
    • 📖 Recipe

    Nothing beats a comforting bowl of soup when the weather starts to turn to crap.

    Can you tell I’m not a fan of the cold? One thing that makes the darker months more bearable is filling up your house with the smell of a simmering soup.

    I absolutely love lentils and one of my favorite things to do with them is make a lentil and vegetable soup. Lentils are full of protein, vitamins and minerals. They’re a super easy way to get protein as a vegan.

    ❤️ Why you'll love this lentil soup

    • Healthy and full of fiber, protein and nutrients since it's packed with vegetables and lentils
    • Makes an easy one pot weeknight dinner.
    • Meal prep a big batch to have for lunch all week.
    • Freezes well, so save any leftovers for a rainy day.
    • Naturally gluten free, vegan and vegetarian

    Fun fact, lentils are one of the oldest health foods and have been around since 8000 BC. They originated in the Middle East. Makes me love these little majestic legumes even more!

    Vegan lentil soup in a bowl.

    🧂 Ingredients

    • Lentils - Brown or green lentils work best in this recipe. No need to pre soak them. If you use red lentils, the flavor and texture will change, since red lentils are a bit sweeter and don't take as much time to cook.
    • Celery - make sure to chop them up to the same size as the carrots and potatoes, so you can easily get each different vegetable on your spoon at once.
    • Potatoes - I like to peel them, because I don't like the texture of the peel, but feel free to keep them unpeeled.
    • Onions and garlic
    • Italian seasoning - instead of using a bunch of different seasonings, I like to get the Italian seasoning blend to make it easier.
    • Vegetable broth or bouillon cubes
    • Canned tomatoes - fire roasted tomatoes taste amazing in this recipe.
    • Kale
    • Carrots - peel then chop them up about the same size as the potatoes, and celery.
    • Lemon - top with a squeeze of lemon to bring everything together. The acid from the lemon balances out all of the flavors

    👩‍🍳 Expert tips

    Chop up all of the vegetables about the same size. I like to be able to have multiple vegetables plus the lentils in one bite. If you chop anything too large, you might get a big mouthful of just carrot or potato

    This recipe can be made in an instant pot or on the stove. Directions for both are in the recipe card below.

    🔪 Directions

    Make sure to scroll to the recipe card for full step-by-step instructions.

    1. Add oil to a large pot on medium heat, then sauté the onions.
    2. Add the chopped potato, carrots and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes.
    3. Add the chopped garlic and seasonings and sauté.
    4. Add the can of tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes to get the tinny flavor out of the tomatoes
    5. Add the lentils, stirring everything together, then add vegetable broth and bay leaves. Stir well. Cover with a lid and bring soup to a boil. Once it's boiling, turn heat to medium low and keep it on a low simmer, with the lid on1 bay leaf,1 cup brown lentils,6 cups vegetable broth
    6. Simmer for 30-35 minutes, or until lentils are soft. Add a splash of water if needed.
    7. With an immersion blender, blend the soup for 10 seconds to make it a little more creamy. If you don't have an immersion blender, take a cup of the soup out, add it to a blender, then add the blended soup back to the instant pot.
    8. Add the chopped kale and let it sit in the soup for a minute or so or until it's wilted and slightly cooked. Stir in the juice of half a lemon and salt to taste
    Lentil and veggie soup in a bowl.

    🥄 Variations

    This soup would taste amazing with some curry powder, instead of Italian seasoning. Add a little smoked paprika as well.

    Feel free to add in any vegetables that you may have on hand. Pretty much all vegetables go well in this soup.

    ♨️ Serving suggestions

    Serve this delicious soup with a salad, like this couscous salad, or a delicious air fryer baked potato. This also goes well with a sandwich, like this tempeh BLT sandwich, or this chickpea salad sandwich.

    Top this with some homemade or store bought vegan ricotta cheese, or parmesan cheese.

    ❓ FAQ's

    Can I freeze this soup?

    Yes! This freezes beautifully. I love making a gigantic batch of this soup and freezing it for the days I don’t feel like cooking

    Do you have to soak lentils before making soup?

    Lentils don't need to be soaked before cooking, since they cook faster than other dried beans. You do need to sort through and rinse them before cooking, to wash away any debris and pick out any tiny pebbles or sticks that may be in the bag.

    🍝 Recipes to try next

    • Bowl of vegan white bean soup
      Vegan White Bean Soup with Kale
    • Overhead view of a cup of vegan instant pot chili
      Best Vegan Instant Pot Chili
    • Close up of vegetarian chicken noodle soup in a large mug.
      Easy vegan chicken noodle soup
    • Close up of vegan beef stew in a white bowl
      Hearty Vegan Beef Stew

    If you loved this recipe, leave a 5 ⭐️ rating on the recipe card and comment below!

    📖 Recipe

    Lentil and vegetable soup in a bowl.

    Lentil and vegetable soup

    Comforting, easy and delicious vegan lentil soup. Stove top and instant pot directions
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Main Course, Soup
    Cuisine: Mediterranean
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 269kcal
    Author: Maria
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Ingredients

    US Customary or Metric
    • ¼ cup olive oil
    • 1 small onion (diced)
    • 1 celery rib (chopped)
    • 1 medium potato (peeled and diced)
    • 2 small carrots (diced)
    • 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
    • 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
    • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 cup brown lentils
    • 6 cups vegetable broth
    • ½ lemon (juiced)
    • 1 cup chopped kale
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • 4 cloves of garlic (minced)

    Instructions

    Stovetop instructions

    • Add oil to a large pot on medium heat. Once the oil is warm add the chopped onions and saute for 10 minutes, making sure not to burn the onions
      ¼ cup olive oil, 1 small onion
    • When onions are soft, add the chopped potato, carrots and celery. Saute for 5 minutes
      1 celery rib, 1 medium potato, 2 small carrots
    • Add the chopped garlic, Italian seasoning, thyme, smoked paprika and cumin and saute for one minute
      2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, 4 cloves of garlic
    • Add the can of tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes to get the tinny flavor out of the tomatoes
      28 oz can of diced tomatoes
    • Add the lentils, stirring everything together, then add vegetable broth and bay leaves. Stir well. Cover with a lid and bring soup to a boil. Once it's boiling, turn heat to medium low and keep it on a low simmer, with the lid on
      1 bay leaf, 1 cup brown lentils, 6 cups vegetable broth
    • Simmer for 30-35 minutes, or until lentils are soft. Add a splash of water if needed.
    • With an immersion blender, blend the soup for 10 seconds to make it a little more creamy. If you don't have an immersion blender, take a cup of the soup out, add it to a blender, then add the blended soup back to the instant pot.
    • Add the chopped kale and let it sit in the soup for a minute or so or until it's wilted and slightly cooked. Stir in the juice of half a lemon and salt to taste
      1 cup chopped kale, ½ lemon

    Instant pot instructions

    • Add oil to instant pot on medium heat. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes. When onions are soft, add the chopped potato, carrots and celery. Saute for 5 minutes.
      ¼ cup olive oil, 1 small onion, 1 celery rib, 2 small carrots, 1 medium potato
    • Add the chopped garlic, Italian seasoning, thyme, smoked paprika and cumin and saute for one minute
      2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon cumin, 4 cloves of garlic, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
    • Add the can of tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes to get the tinny flavor out of the tomatoes. Add the lentils, stirring everything together, then add vegetable broth and bay leaves. Stir well.
      28 oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 cup brown lentils, 6 cups vegetable broth, 1 bay leaf
    • Cancel he sauté mode and add the lid and set to seal. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes then let it natural release for 15 minutes, then quick release.
    • With an immersion blender, blend the soup for 10 seconds to make it a little more creamy. If you don't have an immersion blender, take a cup of the soup out, add it to a blender, then add the blended soup back to the instant pot.
    • Add the chopped kale and let it sit in the soup for a minute or so or until it's wilted and slightly cooked. Stir in the juice of half a lemon and salt to taste
      1 cup chopped kale, ½ lemon

    Notes

    Store this soup in the fridge in an airtight container for up to five days. 
    This soup also freezes well in a freezer friendly container for up to three months. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 448mg | Potassium: 829mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3675IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 5mg
    Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @DamnTastyVegan or tag #DamnTastyVegan!

    The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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    About Maria

    Maria is the creator of the blog and YouTube channel Damn Tasty Vegan. She has been a vegetarian since 2005 and vegan since 2015. She loves showing new vegans how easy and delicious living a vegan lifestyle can be. She is passionate about animal welfare and strives to help change the way animals are viewed and treated, by helping people transition to a vegan lifestyle.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ben Schlatter

      August 07, 2024 at 9:45 pm

      5 stars
      Love this! Easy to make, and super tasty!

      Reply
    2. Ben Schlatter

      February 28, 2021 at 8:04 pm

      5 stars
      Easy, tasty, and filling!

      Reply
    5 from 4 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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