Description
This Lemony Lentil Soup recipe is full of the best bright and zesty flavors, it’s naturally gluten-free and vegan, and it’s easy to make in the Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or on the stovetop.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 6 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
- 1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed and picked over
- 2/3 cup whole-kernel corn
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- (optional) pinch each of saffron and cayenne
- zest and juice of 1 small lemon
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions:
- Sauté the veggies. Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 1 more minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
- Simmer. Stir in the vegetable stock, lentils, corn, cumin, curry powder (plus saffron and cayenne, if using) until combined. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Then cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are completely tender.
- Blend (optional). Using either a hand blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency. (If using a traditional blender, please see notes below.)
- Season. Stir in the lemon zest and juice until combined. Taste and season the soup with a generous pinch or two of fine sea salt and black pepper, as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with an extra fresh lemon slice if desired.
Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Instructions:
- Sauté the veggies (optional). Press the “Sauté” button on your Instant Pot. Add oil and let it heat until shimmering. Add onion and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 1 more minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Press “Cancel”.
- Cook. Stir in the vegetable stock, lentils, corn, cumin, curry powder (plus saffron and cayenne, if using) until combined. Cover the pot and set vent to “Sealing”. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes, followed by a quick release.
- Blend. Using either a hand blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency. (If using a traditional blender, please see notes below.)
- Season. Stir in the lemon zest and juice until combined. Taste and season the soup with a generous pinch or two of fine sea salt and black pepper, as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with an extra fresh lemon slice if desired.
Crock-Pot (Slow Cooker) Instructions:
- Slow cook. Add onion, carrots, garlic, vegetable stock, lentils, corn, cumin, curry powder (plus saffron and cayenne, if using) to the bowl of a large slow cooker, and stir to combine. (No olive oil needed.) Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for 5-6 hours, until the lentils are completely tender.
- Blend. Using either a hand blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency. (If using a traditional blender, please see notes below.)
- Season. Stir in the lemon zest and juice until combined. Taste and season the soup with a generous pinch or two of fine sea salt and black pepper, as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with an extra fresh lemon slice if desired.
Notes
Traditional blender instructions: If using a traditional blender to purée the soup, please exercise caution (as always) as hot liquids expand when blended. I would recommend blending the soup in two batches, so as not to overflow your blender. I always slightly tent open the cap on the blender lid (or gently place a kitchen towel over the cap opening) so that excess hot air can escape while the hot soup is being blended. Once the soup is ready to go, return it to the stockpot and continue on with the recipe.
Sautéing the veggies: I really recommend sautéing the onions, carrots, garlic if you can before cooking them in the Instant Pot or slow cooker, in order to give them the best flavor. But if you’re in a rush, no worries, you can skip the sauté and just add them in together with all of the other ingredients. :)
Storage instructions: Any leftovers can be refrigerated in a food storage container for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Source: Recipe inspired by my favorite lentil soup from Aladdin Cafe in Kansas City.
Very very good! The corn is great contrast to spices!! Definitely our new favorite lentil soup.
Amazing soup ! Quick to make & tasty.
This soup was heaven! ? Our family loves lentil soups in all forms, but this is, by far, the new favorite! Thank you so much for this simple, beautiful, delicious recipe!!! ?
So good! Made it tonight with homemade bread. Was delicious!!!
Have you made this before with green or
Brown lentils?
I used regular brown lentils, and it tasted awesome!
Can I use regular lentils with this recipe instead of the red lentils?
thank you.
I’m going to make this tonight with boring brown lentils (that’s what I have on hand), so I’ll let y’all know how it turns out. Glad I found this recipe it looks delicious!
Absolutely delicious soup! Followed the recipe exactly – something I hardly ever do – and it turned out amazingly well. Can’t wait to make it again!
Simply Delicious …and Healthy!
This lentil soup was a big hit. Loved the lemony flavour and being able to use up red lentils. The immersion blender allowed me to maintain a nice texture. I think my heavy duty blender would have puréed too much and the texture would have been lost. Thanks for a new addition to the rotation.
An absolute fave! I’ve made it many times – so delish!
I made this in April and only had a can of creamed corn, instead of regular. I just increased the lemon slightly to compensate for the extra sweetness. It was so dang delicious! Today I’m having the rest that I froze, cant wait.
Read the recipe and made it stat. So luscious and comforting!
So nice to see this recipe pop up again. I have been making it for quite awhile now. Yum.
Soup is my favorite lunch so I had to try this right away. It was easy and delicious. Even my husband liked it and he isn’t a lentil lover. We’ll be having it again soon!
Very yummy and satisfying soup. I did not purée it as I like my soup chunky. Felt it needed extra salt and spiciness….added sriracha sauce for kick. Also added fresh dill at end, was good but coriander is probably a better choice. Made a full meal out of it by pouring it on a bowl of baby spinach and cooked rice.
how much spinach did you add?
Used to eat this during my college years at a Persian restaurant & loved it. Made the recipe tonight & it brought back all the memories. It’s sooo good. Hit the spot!
Absolutely delicious!! I always make half a recipe first in case the family doesn’t like it but I wish I had made the whole recipe for this one. I could eat the whole pot myself!
absolutely delicious. definitely one to come back to. my favorite part? the simplicity of it all.
OMG! This looks like a very healthy and yummy soup.
Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely delicious!!
It is a keeper.
Soooo good! I used 2 parts veggie stock & 1 part chicken stock just because and a few handfuls of roughly chopped spinach. Loved it!
Delicious soup, I felt like I was having lunch in a deli. I made three changes; I used moose bone broth because that is what I had on hand and I added 2 stalks of celery to the vegetable as I imagine vegetable broth would have had some celery. After sautéing the vegetables, I cooked it in my Instant Pot for 12 minutes.
I came out really good I add fennel to it. ?
I used water instead of veggie stock to cut down on sodium, skipped the saffron since we didn’t have any on hand, and used brown lentils. I also used my InstaPot for the recommended 8 minutes of cook time and didn’t blend to save time. The recipe was so easy and quick! I barely had time to wash the dishes from cooking before the Instapot had done its thing. I incorporated a bunch of kale at the end and liberally doused with extra lemon juice because I love the lemon flavor. It was also so delicious, nutritious, and hardy! My husband and I agreed this should be part of our regular rotation. Thanks for the lovely recipe!
The weather here has been so fickle, cold and hot each day so this soup was perfect! Hot soup on a cold evening but lemon for that taste of summer. Smelled delicious while cooking and even better when eating! Family couldn’t stop saying how good it was.
I went a little overboard on the cumin thinking that we wouldn’t taste it and we do. It’s a bit heavy. My husband and I enjoy the soup but will definitely follow the recipe exactly next time.
Tastes great with garlic naan!
Ok. I’m not a blog “comment poster”. But if I didn’t comment on this recipe I would be lying on the whole world. This recipe is TO DIE FOR. The curry and lemon are so perfectly balanced in the soup, we ate it for hours on end yesterday. Thank you for being a wonderful human being and sharing this with us.
Just made this with “regular” (brown) lentils. It was delicious!!! Okay, it’s not as pretty as the photos of your red lentil soup, but it sure is tasty. I used my immersion blender on @1/4 of the soup and kept the remainder chunky. I used your instant pot method. I did add more corn at the end and the addition of fresh mint was a brilliant suggestion….do it!
Fantastic.
3 words 》》》》I LOVE YOU!!!!!
Thank you sooooo much for sharing this wonderful awesome recipe. I don’t think I will ever want any other lentil soup but this one. So healthy… The lemony deliciousness so addictive… Definitely a soup I will make over & over again….
Made this weekend. Used regular brown lentils and did not blend. Tastes were beyond my expectations! Also made the No-Knead bread from this site so have with the soup. WOW!!!
This soup is fantastic! I’ve been on a bit of a lentil soup kick lately and this is the best one I’ve made yet! Bonus for me, it was a fun taste of home for a KC girl who’s been transplanted to Florida! :) Thank you for sharing!
Loved this recipe–lentils are one of our staples because they’re so cheap, but sometimes we get a little tired of our usual recipes. This brightened up our lentil usage and will definitely be made again!
Looks and tastes nice!
I have been batch cooking and freezing this soup. It is my absolute favorite! I live in the KC area and went to the Aladdin Cafe to try their lentil soup. Your version is much more delicious!
I just made this soup this morning, and OMG this soup is delicious! This was my first time making any sort of lentil soup and while I’m not sure what I was expecting it to taste like, the flavors totally blew me away. I’m so happy I found this recipe and I will definitely be making more batches!
Love this! Whole family enjoys it… even the picky eaters :)
This soup is amazing.Made it with vegetable stock and brown lentils(just what was on hand)so flavorful, the lemon at the end brings the flavor over the thg oo delicious! Thank you for another great recipe!
A little too unusual for my 9 year old, but I loved it. Super healthy and the lemon zest and lemon juice really made it. Thank you!
This is ridiculously stupid good! Followed the recipe exactly but added some diced celery. Phenomenal! Made it for my lunch this week and can’t wait until tomorrow!
This soup is absolutely delicious. So easy to make and so fresh, light and healthy. I made it in the slow cooker. It’s my favorite soup right now!
One of the first recipes with lentil I actually like!
This soup is exquisite! I followed the recipe exactly, except I didn’t have saffron. It’s so good! This is definitely going into the menu rotation. The curry, cumin and lemon make magic together. I just sampled a little bit and I think I’m going to have to have an early dinner because I’m still drooling. Thanks for this!
Wow! Love this. So bright and lemony.
My new favorite lentil soup! This will be my go to recipe from now on. The lemon really lightens it up. Thanks.
This was by far the best lentil soup recipe!
Oh my goodness this recipe is THE BEST lentils recipe I have ever tasted!! I’m greek and have made my mom’s recipe for 30 years…to lukewarm reviews. This recipe make my mom’s seem like prison food!! This is DELICIOUS!! I’m making it now for the third time in a month. LOVE it and just subscribed to your site! Thank you for posting!! XO
Wonderful recipe! Very easy to follow. I have made it many times and it’s always a crowd pleaser. Even my two year old likes it :)
Absolutely delicious! I added more cumin, curry (about 1.5 times as much), and cayenne than it called for but I like a lot of spice (didn’t have saffron). The lemon zest and juice at the end is the perfect touch. Trying to stop myself from grabbing another bowl as I type, thanks Ali!
I make this all the time! I do leave out the corn (I just don’t like corn in most things), but otherwise, I follow the recipe, just with brown lentils, since they’re all I can get around here. It’s such a fantastic recipe…thanks!
I made this four times in the last two months, at the request of my 12 year old. It is her new favorite dish.