Lentil Vegetable Soup

This lentil vegetable soup is so good you won’t miss the meat. In this recipe, lentils are cooked with tomatoes, a combination of spices and vegetables.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword lentil recipes, vegetarian soup

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Servings

Calories 311kcal

Author Elizabeth

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion finely diced
1 Celery Rib diced
3-4 Garlic Cloves minced
1 teaspoon Paprika
¼ teaspoon Coriander
¼ teaspoon Dried Oregano
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
14.5 ounce can Diced Tomatoes
12 ounces Dried Lentils sorted, rinsed and drained
8 cups Vegetable Broth use your favorite brand
10 ounces Frozen Mixed Vegetables cooked to half the package suggested cooking time
Salt to taste if needed

Instructions

Prep Work

Pick through the lentils looking for any foreign objects such as small stones. Once the lentils are sorted, give them a good rinse with cold water.
Dice the onions and celery and mince the garlic. Then add the paprika, coriander, oregano and black pepper to a small bowl.

Start the flavor base for the lentil soup

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and celery to the pot. Cook gently for 3 minutes until the onions start to soften and become translucent, stir them frequently.
Add the garlic, paprika, coriander, oregano and black pepper to the pot. Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add the tomatoes to the pot and stir well.

Make the lentil soup

Add the lentils and the vegetable broth to the pot and raise the heat to high. Bring the soup to a boil.
When the broth is boiling, lower the heat to medium and cover the pot. Cook the lentils for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Prepare the vegetables - When the 20 minutes are almost up, cook the vegetables for half of the time on the package directions. We just want to defrost them. They will finish cooking in the lentil soup.

If you like your lentils al dente, with a little bite in the middle:

Check the lentils after the first 20 minutes of cooking. If they are almost ready, add the mixed vegetables to the pot and cook them for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If you like your lentils more on the tender side:

Lower the heat to medium-low and cook the lentils for another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then taste the lentils again. If they are almost ready, add the mixed vegetables to the pot and cook them for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Taste the lentil vegetable soup and add salt if needed. As a reference, we didn’t add any extra salt to our soup.

Notes

Wait until the end to add salt to this soup because the canned tomatoes and vegetable broth both contain a good amount of salt already.

The cooking time for the lentils is a guide more than a set rule. Cooking times for lentils (and any dried beans in general) will depend on their freshness. Sometimes the lentils will become tender right away, but sometimes it will take a bit more time to get them there. Keep an eye on them, test a couple and adjust the cooking time as needed.

Nutrition