This is the best, most delicious lentil soup recipe I’ve ever made. It’s easy to make and tastes amazing, thanks to the lemon, turmeric, and vegetables. This easy lentil soup is my go-to recipe whenever I need some healthy comfort food.
I make this lentil soup recipe all year round. It’s so good! I love the combination of spices and lemon in this simple soup. It’s so comforting and honestly makes me feel so good!
I don’t blend my soup like other lentil soup recipes, and I love the brothy texture of whole lentils and veggies. If you prefer blended soups, feel free to blend this one. It will be super creamy. For more about lentils, see my guide to cooking lentils. Or, for another hearty soup, try our easy split pea soup!
Key Ingredients
- Lentils: I use brown or French lentils (a type of green lentil) for this soup. They cook up soft and tender, and they’re packed with fiber, B vitamins, iron, and protein, while being low in fat. We love lentils so much, we wrote an entire article about how to cook lentils.
- Garlic, onion, and carrots: These aromatics add delicious flavor, texture, and color to our soup.
- Ground cumin, coriander, and turmeric: These spices bring warmth, earthiness, and a vibrant golden hue. If you don’t have them on hand, some readers have substituted curry powder, which creates a different but delicious flavor profile.
- Broth: For a vegetarian/vegan soup, use vegetable broth. Otherwise, chicken broth works beautifully.
- Greens: A handful of kale or spinach adds more nutrients, flavor, and color to the soup.
- Lemon: Fresh lemon juice lifts all the flavors in the soup. I also like adding a few lemon slices to each bowl when serving.
- Fresh herbs: While optional, fresh dill or parsley adds flavor to the soup.
How to Make Lentil Soup
Like many of the soup recipes on Inspired Taste, this lentil soup recipe is incredibly simple. In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook onions and carrots until they soften and smell sweet. Next, toss in garlic, cumin, coriander, and turmeric and cook them briefly for about 30 seconds. This short cooking time allows the flavors to bloom and intensify.
Before adding them to the pot, always rinse the lentils under running water. Then, give them a quick check to remove any stray beans, rocks, or grains that may have snuck in during packaging.
Once the lentils are rinsed, add them to the pot along with the broth. Then, bring everything to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the lentils are soft. This usually takes about 30 to 40 minutes.
Taste the soup a few minutes before serving and adjust the seasoning as needed. Then, stir in some greens and let them wilt slightly.
Finally, serve the soup with a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a handful of herbs. Add a few lemon slices to each bowl for a little lemony flavor. This is totally optional, but it’s pretty and adds even more lemony flavor.
Storing Lentil Soup
Lentil soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. (I actually think it gets better over time.) You might find that the lentils absorb some of the extra liquid as it sits in the fridge. To bring it back to a soup-like consistency, simply add a splash of water or broth before reheating.
You can also freeze the soup. It should keep for several months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat before serving.
What to Serve with Lentil Soup
Lentil soup is already a hearty and flavorful meal, but you can add a side to round out the meal. I love serving this soup next to a slice of crusty bread, flatbread, or homemade focaccia. Garlic bread would be delicious, too.
Serve this soup next to a light salad with your favorite dressing. I love this carrot ginger dressing or this green goddess dressing. This lemony arugula salad would be really good, too.
Lemon Turmeric Lentil Soup
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This is our favorite lentil soup recipe. I make it whenever we need some healthy comfort food. It’s savory, satisfying, and utterly delicious. I like fresh lemon in this soup and serve it with slices of lemon. You don’t eat the lemon slices. They are there for more flavor and show lemon has been added to the soup.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
2 cups (340g) brown or green lentils, picked and rinsed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onion (1 medium onion)
1 ½ cups chopped carrot (2 large carrots)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (3 cloves)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
8 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 heaping cups shredded kale or spinach
1 to 2 lemons
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs like parsley or dill, optional
Fine sea salt, to taste
Directions
1Heat the oil in a large pot (like a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add the onions, carrot, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and starting to smell sweet, about 5 to 7 minutes.
2Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander, black pepper, and turmeric, and cook for 30 seconds.
3Stir in the lentils and broth. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Taste, then adjust with salt (we add between 1/2 and 1 teaspoon depending on how well-seasoned the broth is).
4Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the lentils are tender, 35 to 40 minutes.
5Uncover the pot, stir in the kale or spinach, and cook, uncovered, another 5 minutes.
6Take the soup off the heat and stir in the juice of half a lemon and the fresh herbs. Taste the soup and season with additional salt and/or lemon juice. (I like quite a bit of lemon.)
7Serve, or if you prefer the soup blended, use an immersion blender to blend until you achieve your desired consistency. For even more lemon flavor, serve with a few lemon slices.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- For some extra flavor, cook bulk sausage or ham with the onions and carrots.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. Sodium will vary depending on the broth used.
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I loved this soup, I only had red lentils but they did the job and I also added some parsnips as I had them. Adding something like kale right near the end is an excellent idea – I used that cabbage with the crinkly leaves – I think it’s called savoy cabbage. We served it with some homemade bread rolls. Also if anybody in the family really has to have meat all the time, it is simple enough to add some sort of meat but truly, it is not missed.
My family loooves this soup! Sometimes I add potatoes, but it is perfection just the way it is!!
We LOVE this soup! It’s such an unusual combination of flavors – and remarkably “flavor-ful”. Thank you! (Next time I’ll need to double the recipe because it goes down so easily:)
Soo delicious and easy to make! I have made using my Instant Pot as well.
Renee – will you please share how you adapted this to your Instant Pot? Thanks!
So yummy! 😋 definitely a repeat in our house
If I want to use pre cooked lentils how should I adjust the amount of broth and seasonings? Thank you
Hi Melissa, I’d still let the veggies simmer in the broth for 20 minutes or so (or until tender). Then you can add your cooked lentils and let them simmer another 5 to 10 minutes so they release some of their flavor.
By far the tastiest, healthy soup! I have made this for family and friends and have shared the recipe with them. Would not change a thing except I agree with the recipe, more lemon the better!
This was delish! I had some rainbow chard I wanted to use up so I threw that in with a bunch of dino kale. Used lots of lemon, as I too, like it lemony. I did use my immersion blender and blended it about 2/3’s of the way and yum, yum, yum. Tastes even better the next day! A keeper.