The Best Vegan Lentil Soup Recipe
This delicious lentil soup recipe is so comforting and delicious, and I am not exaggerating when I say I make it at least once a week and enjoy it for nearly all my lunches! Plus, this recipe is made with simple, pantry and budget friendly ingredients that are wholesome and good for you!
Servings: 8
Calories: 253kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 4 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb dry green, brown, or red lentils rinsed
- 5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp favorite hot sauce (opt.)
Instructions
- Start by preparing all of the vegetables by thinly dicing the carrots, celery, and mincing the garlic. Meanwhile, heat up the olive oil in a large and deep saucepan over medium-high heat. Add in the carrots, celery, and garlic once the oil is hot, and sauté the veggies for 3-5 minutes or until they start to release their moisture and start to darken in color. Make sure to stir all of the vegetables so that nothing gets burnt.
- Next, add in the rinsed lentils and add in the vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, salt, cinnamon, cumin, and favorite hot sauce. Stir everything together until it is well combined and bring up the mixture to a slow boil. Once everything is simmering, turn down the heat to and leave the soup to simmer, partially covered ,for about 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to make sure that everything is cooking evenly. Also, add water or additional vegetable broth as needed if the lentil soup is looking dry.
- Turn the heat off and let the soup cool down for several minutes before removing the bay leaves and transferring about half of the mixture into a blender. You can also use an immersion blender to blend the soup together, making sure to leave some pieces of carrots, celery, and lentils to add some texture, but blend about half of the soup until thick and smooth and transfer it back into the saucepan. Add in an additional ¼ to ¾ cups water or vegetable broth if the soup is looking too thick. Next, turn the heat back up to medium-high and bring up the soup to a boil.
- Let the soup boil for about 30 seconds, then turn down the heat and let the soup cool for a minute before serving! Enjoy the lentil soup warm with some diced jalapeño, your favorite hot sauce, a dollop of vegan sour cream, or maybe some avocado!