Lentil Soup

Who says healthy food can’t be comforting? It can be when it’s a big bowl of this hearty lentil soup, even when it’s filled with the kind of veggies your mom always told you to eat.

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I have a decent arsenal of recipes I can trace back to my mom, which may not be a shocker given how she’s the one who basically kept me alive through food while I was growing up. Some proof of that is her classic Italian meatballs and baked vinegar chicken thighs and potatoes.

For a long time, she made the most simple lentil soup imaginable, so simple that she used water instead of stock or broth as the base. That may not be surprising either since many Italians (and other nationalities) have historically cooked with the basics, and there’s nothing more basic than water.

Of course, my inner cook had to tinker with this soup by substituting the water with vegetable or chicken broth and adding onion, tomato paste, and bay leaf. I didn’t include anything else because this became one of those meals I often made when I was running low on food—and it still is.

Over time, I began to frequently make this soup with red lentils. They’re delicate and almost fall apart when they cook, but they’re a nice alternative to the brown ones. When I prepared this recipe for the blog, I used brown lentils because I thought they would photograph better, but they’re equally delicious and have a permanent place in my rotation.

I also gussied up this soup by including celery and carrots. And voilà: a simple yet satisfying lentil soup recipe.

Why You’ll Love This Lentil Soup

• It relies on pantry items: Even if you don’t have celery or carrots, you can still make this soup because you’re likely to have the essentials on hand.
• This soup cooks quickly: It takes only about 30 minutes to cook, making it an easy weeknight dinner.
• You can easily double the recipe: Soups are one of the best meals to double, and you can freeze the extras for nights you don’t feel like cooking.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: You can’t make many soups without this as the base.
• Celery: Celery is essential to this simple soup.
• Carrots: Like celery, carrots add a touch of sweetness and bulk up the soup.
• Yellow Onion: Along with celery and carrots, onions is the last ingredient for the classic “soffrito.”
• Fresh Garlic: You can sub with garlic powder if you don’t have fresh garlic (start with 1/4 teaspoon).
• Tomato Paste: This helps thicken the soup and deepen its flavor.
• Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth/Stock: Chicken broth is also fine unless you want to keep it vegetarian.
• Brown Lentils: Brown lentils are hearty and will hold up in this soup. Green lentils also work.
• Bay Leaf: Bay leaves add an indispensable subtle flavor to soup.
• Red Pepper Flakes: For a bit of heat.
• Pasta: Use a small pasta like ditalini or farfalline.
• Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley: You could also add fresh rosemary for some warmth.
• Parmesan Cheese: Any type you like is fine because it’s used only as a garnish here.

See the recipe card below for more information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make This Lentil Soup

1. Cook the veggies: Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the chopped celery, carrots, and onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for at least 2 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the liquid: Pour in the broth, water, lentils, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook the lentils for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.
3. Add the pasta: Stir in the pasta and cook it for about 5 minutes or until desired doneness.
4. Finish: Ladle the soup into bowls and top it with fresh herbs and Parmesan.

Pro Tips

Inspect the lentils first: Sometimes, small debris can make its way into lentils, so rinse or pick through them to ensure nothing undesirable ends up in your soup.

Prep the vegetables ahead of time: Chop/mince your vegetables and store them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use them.

Make this soup the day before: It tastes even better leftover after the flavors have a chance to mingle.

Suggestions for Variations and Substitutions

• You can use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth. Chicken broth will give this soup more body, but vegetable broth is also good, especially if you want to keep this recipe vegetarian.
• Swap the brown lentils with any lentils you want. I sometimes make this soup with red lentils. Just note that red lentils are more delicate and cook in less time.
• If you have a Parmesan rind lying around, add it to the soup while it’s simmering for a more luscious, silky flavor.
• Add some leafy greens, like fresh spinach, near the end of the soup’s cooking time.
• Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top of the soup after serving.
• Toss in some crumbled sausage—sweet or hot Italian sausage are good choices—for the meat lovers in your life. Brown it first in the olive oil (you don’t have to cook it all the way through yet), and transfer it to a plate before adding the veggies to the pot. Transfer the sausage back into the pot when you add the pasta to finish cooking it.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

Refrigerator

Store the soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Freezer

Freeze the soup in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

Reheat

Defrost in the fridge first. Reheat it in a pot on the stovetop or in the microwave in a microwave-safe container.

More Soup Recipes

• Pasta e fagioli with sweet sausage
• Cauliflower and chickpea stew
• Italian zucchini soup

If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, please take a moment to leave a five-star review below. You could also tag me on Instagram (@forcarbssake) with a picture of your finished dish!

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