100 Must-Try Vegan Meals: Easy Lentil Soup Recipe

Ingredients

Main

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 cups carrots, diced
• 1 celery stalk, sliced (optional)
• 0.5 teaspoon salt, more to taste
• 0.5 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
• 0.5 teaspoon chili powder or red paprika (not smoked)
• 1 cup red lentils
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 fresh lemon juice (generous squeeze)

Instructions

Cooking

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, and stir for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Lower heat to medium, add carrots, celery, salt, and pepper, and sauté for 7 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and spices and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour in the lentils, broth and water. Increase to medium-high heat, bring to a boil, cover, and lower heat to a gentle simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are cooked through.
4. Using an immersion blender, partly purée the soup, leaving a little texture. (Or blend half of the soup in the blender.) If you prefer a thinner soup, add more broth or liquid to desired consistency, seasoning as necessary.
5. Squeeze with ½ the lemon and a pinch of cayenne. Taste, adjusting salt, lemon juice and cayenne to taste.
6. Divide among bowls, drizzle with good olive oil, fresh herbs, Aleppo chili flakes or a sprinkling of sumac.

Notes

• If you use water instead of broth, you'll need another ¾-1 teaspoon of salt.
• The soup will start to taste more flavorful as it cools down a bit. If it tastes bland, find the balance between salt and lemon, adding more to taste.
• Cayenne is nice too.