This Lemon Lentil Soup makes for a hearty, nutritious and flavour packed soup perfect for the whole family. It can be prepared in less than 30 minutes and also makes a great freezer meal! {Vegan & gluten-free}
I’ve always been a lover of soup, but now that we have a little one on solids who requires softer textured foods, soup has seriously become my new best friend.
It is SO easy.
And healthy.
And delicious.
And both my guys gobble it up in seconds.
That is the makings of a good meal.
I mentioned in my Chicken Noodle Soup post that once the cooler weather arrives, I’ll often cook up a large batch of soup at the beginning of the week, and the whole family will eat it throughout the week as a quick and easy lunch or dinner.
We’ve been doing the same thing with this Lemon Lentil Soup and it makes life SO much easier than wracking my brain trying to come up with some extravagant dinner night after night.
Believe me.
Although it might look like I’m always cooking up a storm, I’m not. With the chaos of chasing after a little one and trying to get done everything that needs to get done in a day, I struggle with getting healthy meals on the table too!
So I totally understand where you’re coming from.
This lemon lentil soup, however, comes to the rescue every couple of weeks.
There is minimal preparation required other than chopping up some onion, carrots and celery and throwing it into a pot. Add some red split lentils, spices, broth, and lemon juice to the mix, and you’ve got one tasty and healthy dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.
It makes for a balanced meal because it not only contains the protein, fibre and iron-packed lentils, it also has quite a few veggies hidden in there as well.
Just a few tips for this Lemon Lentil Soup:
- I highly recommend topping this soup with some chopped cilantro and serving it along with a salad like this Roasted Beet, Butternut Squash & Kale Salad or this Spiralized Greek Cucumber Salad. Although the soup is quite filling on its own, I always like to pair it with a nice hearty salad to make it more of a complete meal.
- I also suggest using a no-salt added broth for the soup and adjusting the seasoning at the end. If I’m serving this to my baby, I’ll leave out the salt altogether to limit his sodium intake, and my husband and I will season our own portions accordingly.
- You can either leave it slightly chunky or puree it until completely smooth. I usually puree it using my immersion blender until mostly smooth with maybe a few chunks here and there. I like a nice thick creamy soup. You may need to adjust the broth after pureeing it until you achieve your desired consistency.
- You can also double or triple this recipe and freeze the soup in containers for future use. Another huge time-saving strategy for getting healthy meals on the table FAST.
So next time you’re looking for a quick and easy soup that’s both healthy and hearty, add this Lemon Lentil Soup to the list!
More soup recipes
- Easy Instant Pot Curried Butternut Squash Soup
- Roasted Sweet Potato Soup with Maple Glazed Walnuts
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
- Low-Carb Creamy Cauliflower Soup
- Curried Pumpkin Chicken Soup
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a rating and review!
Lemon Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 medium carrots diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 celery stalks diced (about 3/4 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 cups dry green or brown lentils rinsed
- 6 cups no salt-added vegetable broth
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (or more, to taste)
- Salt and pepper to taste
To garnish:
- fresh cilantro finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook over medium heat for approximately five minutes or until vegetables are fragrant and have softened.
- Add cumin, lentils and broth to the saucepan, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer until lentils are tender and soup is beginning to thicken, about 20-30 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth, or leave some chunks, if desired. Alternatively, you can transfer some of the soup into a blender to puree it. I like to keep mine a little bit chunky. Add extra broth to thin it out if necessary. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir. Taste and adjust flavours according to your preferences. Serve sprinkled with fresh cilantro.
Notes
- I suggest using a no-salt added or reduced sodium broth for the soup and adjusting the seasoning at the end. If I'm serving this to our baby or toddler, I'll leave out the salt altogether to limit their sodium intake, and my husband and I will season our own portions accordingly.
- You can leave the soup slightly chunky or puree it until completely smooth. I usually puree it using my immersion blender leaving it slightly chunky for some added texture. You may need to adjust the amount of broth after pureeing it until you achieve your desired consistency.
- If you don't own an immersion blender, you can also use a regular blender to puree a portion of the soup. If you opt for this method, be sure to puree the soup in batches and never fill the blender more than half way full to prevent the soup from exploding out of the blender, which can not only create a huge mess but may also result in a burn.
- You can also double or triple this recipe and freeze the soup in freezer-safe containers for future use. Another huge time-saving strategy for getting healthy meals on the table FAST.
Nutrition
This post may contain affiliate links which means that I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only promote products that I love and feel will benefit my readers :)
Leave a Reply