This vegan Lentil Soup is one of the easiest and healthiest dishes you’ll ever make! Made only with a few simple but tasty ingredients, it’s truly a vegan dinner classic – not just for vegans.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll LOVE this recipe
Healthy: Nutritious lentils, carrots and parsnips make this soup a real healing dish!
Easy & quick: Recipes barely get quicker and easier, than this one! Chop veggies, throw them in a pot, let them cook and voilá! Dinner.
Meal-prep friendly: This soup lasts for days in the fridge and months in the freezer!
Budget-friendly: Lentil soup is one of the most affordable meals out there, while providing a lot of nutritious bang for your buck.
Ingredients
- Dry green lentils
- Carrots
- Parsnips
- Yellow potatoes
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Smoked paprika powder
- Bay leaves
- Lemon juice
How to Make
STEP 1:
Rinse and soak the dry lentils for about 2 hours (or 1 hour if you’re in a hurry). Prepare all the other ingredients in the meanwhile.
STEP 2:
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots and parsnips and cook, while stirring for about 3 minutes.
STEP 3:
Add the minced garlic and smoked paprika powder and cook for about 30 more seconds (while stirring continuously).
STEP 4:
Add the (soaked and drained) lentils, water, bay leaves, salt and ground black pepper to the pot and stir everything together.
STEP 5:
Cover with a lid, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer for about 40 minutes (until the veggies and lentils are tender).
STEP 6:
At the end of cooking, add the fresh lemon juice and discard the bay leaves.
Serve with fresh, crusty bread for the authentic, cozy lentil soup experience.
Substitutions
Note: The nutritional info of this recipe is calculated with the original ingredients.
Yellow Potatoes: Any kind of potatoes will be fine.
Green Lentils: You can use brown lentils in this recipe, but red lentils will result in quiet a different flavor.
Parnips and Carrots: If you don’t have any of these on hand, just use one of them.
FAQ
No, you don’t have to soak lentils overnight. Personally, I soak them for about 2 hours before cooking, but even 1 hour or 30 minutes will be enough.
No, you should use dry lentils in this recipe. The flavor and nutrients of the lentils will cook right into the soup, making it super delicious!
More tasty vegan soup recipes:
More tasty vegan lentil recipes:
More tasty vegan soups and stews:
Pinto Bean Soup
Moroccan Chickpea Stew
More vegan lentil recipes:
Lentil “Tuna” Spread
Mediterranean Lentil Salad
Related vegan recipe roundups:
soup, lentil, dinner, meal prep, macro-friendly
Best Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dry green lentils
- 8 cups water
- 1 medium carrot (sliced)
- 1 medium parsnip (sliced)
- 2 medium yellow potatoes (chopped)
- 1 medium yellow onion (finely chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika powder
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 ½ tbsp salt
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Rinse and soak the dry lentils for about 2 hours (or 1 hour if you’re in a hurry). Prepare all the other ingredients in the meanwhile.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots and parsnips and cook, while stirring for about 3 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and smoked paprika powder and cook for about 30 more seconds (while stirring continuously).
- Add the (soaked and drained) lentils, water, bay leaves, salt and ground black pepper to the pot and stir everything together.
- Cover with a lid, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer for about 40 minutes (until the veggies and lentils are tender).
- At the end of cooking, add the fresh lemon juice and discard the bay leaves.
Made this meal this evening, and could not stop eating until it was all gone, yum?
I’m so glad to hear that, Steph! 🙂
Here’s a pro tip: it tastes even better the next day.
You never said when to add the lentils. With the veggies I presume?
You can add the lentils with the veggies.
10/10 everyone that tried it said it was one of the best soups they’ve ever had thank you for posting this wonderful recipe
Wow! What a compliment! I’m so glad to hear that! 🙂
I made this tonight and it was delicious. Do you really use 1 1/2 tbsp of salt though? Did you mean tsp maybe? Seemed like way too much, so I used 1 1/2 tsp instead, which was perfect.
I’m glad to hear you liked it, Jason! I prefer meals a bit saltier. 😉
I made this soup today. It’s a good recipie. Thanks for sharing.
What is considered a serving? 1 cup? 2 cups?
I consider 1 serving= 1 big bowl of soup. 🙂
this turned out so hearty and flavorful, thank you!