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.
This was a great Lentil soup recipe. It introduced me to lemon and garlic, and I really liked it. Thank you for sharing.
Why are my lentils hard and the soup did not come out yellow but a bit brownish. I might have used the wrong type of beans.
You probably used brown lentils instead of red ones, they have a different flavor, more earthy and they take longer to cook.
I love soup…. And this one is oh-my-goodness good! This is my second time making it this week. Love. Love. Love
Love the mix of spices and great suggestions of amping it up. Comes together so quickly and freezes well, so I can double it up for a quick and easy lunch or dinner.
Delicious and easy. Added a bit of coconut milk and it was heavenly.
This has become my FAVORITE lentil soup! I do add a can of pumpkin purée which helps it thicken and adds even more healthy nutrients. I also increase the carrots to 4 and add chopped celery. Yum, it’s so good!
Adding pumpkin sounds amazing! At what point in the recipe do you add it? I’m planning on cooking in my slow cooker this week. Thanks!
Great lentil soup! It tastes more complicated than it is. Next time I will do it like in the video with slices of lemon and extra pepper on top. This is a keeper!
Delicious Delicious Delicious!!! Bought an immersion blender so I could make this… recipe did not disappoint. Will be making this often..thanks ???
Restaurant quality. I usually make lentil soup that has spinach in it. I never made anything with red lentils. This one is awesome. Loved it.
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! Making this soup for the second time in four days because we couldn’t get enough. Thank you for sharing.???
Mine came out brown, which makes sense when the recipe called for red lentils instead of yellow as in the pictures. Needed more lemon juice in my opinion and it was a bit bland before I added more. Overall, I found it to be quite delicious and I will play around with the spices a bit next time.
Thank you! Thank you! I’ve made lentil soup before, but this one was much lighter and tastier. The saffron was a great addition. Next time, I’m going to try your suggestion and add fresh mint!
This soup is a huge favorite in our family!
My husband and I loved this so much! And so easy to make!
Such a delicious soup! The lemon zest and juice adds a beautiful brightness. Yum!!!
I love this soup, it’s delicious, one of my favorites! I’m wondering if I could add tomatoes? I have extra bounty from the garden this summer. Thanks!
yep. if you Google Once Upon a Chef Smoky Chickpea, Red Lentil & Vegetable Soup, you can find one with tomatoes in it.
So good. I’ve made this many times and it has turned into a family favorite. Everyone loves it.
This is one of my favorite soups to take to work! Simple and delicious. I do not blend mine.
Just made this soup and it’s absolutely delicious!
I make this all the time. My family loves it. Thank you!
Do you think this would work with diced chicken added? Can’t wait to try this!
Sure thing! Enjoy! :)
Made this fall comfort soup recipe yesterday.
Love the lemon zest/juice addition to enhance the flavour.
I made as recommended including punches of cayenne and saffron. Delicious.
Thanks
Amazing recipe for a cold day! So yummy!
This is always my go-to soup! Can’t get any better and everyone loves it.
I’ve made this recipe several times, and these simple ingredients made the most amazing soup! I even bought saffron just for this recipe! I do increase the amount of the spices quite a bit, especially curry powder. Don’t skimp on the lemon, it adds such a wonderful depth of flavor!
I have tried a number of lentil soup recipes and this one is my favorite. I substituted one of the teaspoons of ground cumin for a teaspoon of freshly ground coriander and added the juice of an extra half lemon and it was perfect.
Great soup will make it my favorite
This is one of my favourite soups. When I have friends over in the cooler months, they request this for dinner often. I’ll make this for the rest of my life! Thank you!
This soup was absolutely delicious. I omitted the corn but toasted and seasoned some pine nuts and sprinkled on top.
Excellent
I LOVE to make soup in the winter, and this is the most surprising and delicious soup that I can ever remember making. The flavor has so much depth and brightness. I will be making this one over and over. YUM.
This recipe turned out great! Perfect for a cold Canadian night when you want something nourishing and hearty. It tastes even better after sitting in the fridge for a couple of days. We enjoy spice so a full tsp of cayenne went into our soup. Perfect level of heat for us!
This recipe is AMAZING! It’s become a staple for me! Thank you so much for sharing!
Great tasting soup after adjusting the spices. I like a lot of spice. Doubled the garlic, cumin, curry powder. Added more cayenne until it had a good zip. And also added some paprika. I used homemade chicken broth too. This will be added to our regular rotation and I look forward to playing around with other ingredients next time (chickpeas, spinach, maybe pumpkin as someone else suggested). Lots of possibilities here!
This is definitely one of my favourite soups!!! I’ve made it about 4 times this winter and it never disappoints. The lemon zest and juice puts it over the top! To the cumin and curry I add a touch of smoked paprika but I don’t alter the recipe as I love the balance of flavours. Thank you!
Just wanted to let you know that my husband and I love this soup sooooo much. Your new photos are beautiful too, by the way!
Absolutely loved this soup. For me on WW it was zero points. I enjoyed it so much. The only thing I changed were the spices. I used a few things I had in my cabinet.. I had Garam Marsala. Tasted great and so easy.
Thank you!
Do I have to rinse lentils in water before putting in the pot or as is??
Love this soup, I make it all the time and love that it uses pantry staples I already have on hand. Also, bonus, my very picky two year old gobbles it up.
Love your blog and this recipe!! Yum! Planning a trip to Missouri as I used to live at the Lake of the Ozarks. Thank you!! Amazing!!😘
Oh am meant to say, I am planning to stop at the Aladdin Cafe.
Very good! I was able to make it Whole Food Plant Based by eliminating the oil and using vegetable broth. Needed to cook longer to soften the lentils, but I was impatient. I also only pureed half the soup to keep it more chunky and added a big handful of fresh spinach at the very end. Pretty and delicious.
Just made this for lunch and it was easy and delicious! My family really enjoyed it. Thank you!!
I really enjoyed this recipe. I added mint and reduced the seasonings since they are very powerful. I used 1/2 tsp of curry and cumin and added 1/2 tsp of turmeric.
Thank you for this amazing recipe!
This soup is delicious! My mom and I have both fallen in love with it.
It’s hearty and filling, a perfect cold weather soup.
Thanks so much for sharing!
SO easy, SO delicious, everything I want in a hearty soup. I’m usually intimidated by cooking, especially a soup, but this was so easy. I couldn’t find my saffron and used chicken stock instead of veggie stock but wow, I will definitely be adding this to my recipe box. I’ve been eating it for breakfast!
I am sorry to report that I found this soup disappointing, flavor-wise. The only flavor I got was cumin; there was no lemon flavor at all, even though I used a good-aized lemon and all the zest. I was really hoping this would be the keeper lentil soup recipe I’ve been looking for. Note that I did add a little poached chicken at the end to up the protein levels to what we need.
Terrific, made in the pressure cooker and it couldn’t be easier. Love the seasonings and the corn adds some subtle sweetness. A favorite
OMG DELICIOUS! i had to add extra lemon and curry powder and then it was perfect for me!! i also added spinach and shredded chicken after i blended the soup! AKA this is the perfect soup to help clear out the fridge !!!
Delicious. Healthy.
Yes!! We are native Kansas Citians and every time I attempt a new lentil soup recipe I’m mentally comparing it to Aladdin Cafe. Which actually has gone downhill in recent years so it’s more of a comparison with nostalgia. This nails it.
Fantástica crema…