Healthy Lentil Soup Recipes

But don't treasure the humble lentil just for its nutritional value. This simple and inexpensive pulse adds a pleasing, mealy texture to blended soups, and you can throw a handful in to any soup as a thickener. Just simmer until the lentils have swollen and softened.

Lentils are a great staple of Middle Eastern cooking and marry well with herbs and spices. Keep a pack in your storecupboard and you can make one of these delectable lentil soup recipes any time the weather turns a bit chilly. They're perfect winter warmers.

The first two lentil soups are reproduced with permission from a book I have enjoyed reviewing and cooking from, Gill Holcombe's How To Feed Your Whole Family A Healthy Balanced Diet...

LENTIL AND VEGETABLE SOUP RECIPE

This soup is nice and thick, and you can thin it to taste with stock or milk. If you want a no-fat soup, simply add all the vegetables and lentils to the stock, and simmer until tender. Gill Holcombe says, "Use red or yellow lentils if you want to avoid soaking them in advance, otherwise brown and green lentils or chick peas will do the job."

Ingredients
200g (1 cup) red lentils
2 small potatoes
1/2 small swede
2-3 carrots
1 smallish parsnip
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
225ml (1 cup) milk
oil
seasoning
parsley (optional)
1 level tbsp curry powder (optional)

Method

1. Peel and chop the vegetables
2. Warm the oil in a very large saucepan and gently soften the garlic and onion. Add the curry powder if using.
3. Add the lentils and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the vegetables and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes or so.
5. Add the stock, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
6. Blend, season to taste and serve garnished with parsley if you wish.

TOMATO AND RED LENTIL SOUP RECIPE

This second of Gill Holcombe's lentil soup recipes can be thinned down and used as a sauce for pasta. Gill says, "You can always use fresh ingredients instead of canned. For fresh tomatoes, place them in a pan of very hot waer for 1 minute, fish them out with a slotted spoon and the skin will peel away easily, then they're ready to use."

Ingredients
2-3 cans chopped or plum tomatoes, or 1 kg fresh tomatoes
200g (1 cup) red lentils
4 rashers streaky bacon
2 onions
1.25 litres (5 cups) chicken stock
1 tsp brown sugar
fresh or dried basil
seasoning
oil

Method

1. Peel and roughly chop the onion, snip the bacon into pieces and rinse the lentils in a colander.
2. Cook the onion and bacon in a little oil in a large saucepan, until golden.
3. Add the lentils, tomatoes, stock, basil and seasoning and stir well.
4. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 30 minutes.
5. Blend the soup; adjust the seasoning and, if necessary, thin it down with a little more stock, milk or tomato juice.

SPICY LENTIL SOUP

The last of my three favourite lentil soup recipes has a spicy warmth and is very quick and easy to make.

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
l litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
300g 1.5 cups red lentils
1 can chopped tomatoes
fresh coriander (cilantro) and plain low-fat yogurt to serve (optional)

Method

1. Put the onion, garlic and lentils in a pan. Sprinkle over the ground spices and stir to mix.
2. Pour over the hot stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, until the lentils have softened.
4. Blend the soup. If you wish, garnish with a swirl of yogurt and a scattering of fresh chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves on each bowl to serve.

If you liked these lentil soup recipes, you might also enjoy Carrot and Lentil Soup. Click here to go back to the top of Lentil Soup Recipes.