Red lentil soup
An easy lentil soup made with red lentils, in the Turkish style: one pot, pantry ingredients, 40 minutes. The lentils dissolve into the broth, so it turns creamy without any cream.
- 275
- kcal
- 13g
- protein
- 8g
- fat
- 38g
- carbs
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Serves
- 6
Photograph by Kunal Lakhotia on Pexels
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sweet paprika, divided
- 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) red lentils, rinsed
- 7 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or water
- 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- Juice of 1 lemon, plus wedges to serve
- Chopped fresh mint or parsley, to serve
Method
-
1
Soften the vegetables
Warm 2 tbsp of the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and carrot for 8 minutes, until soft, then add the garlic for 1 minute.
-
2
Toast the paste and spices
Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, 1/2 tsp of the paprika and the Aleppo pepper and cook 1 minute, until the paste darkens.
-
3
Simmer the lentils
Add the lentils, broth and salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer partly covered for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils have fallen apart.
-
4
Blend
Blend until smooth, or leave it slightly rough if you prefer. Add water if it is too thick.
-
5
Add the lemon
Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, taste, and season with salt.
-
6
Make the paprika oil and serve
Warm the last 1 tbsp oil over low heat, take it off the heat and stir in the rest of the paprika, then drizzle it over each bowl. Serve with mint and lemon wedges.
Why red lentils make the easiest lentil soup
Red lentils are split and hulled, so they cook in about 20 minutes and need no soaking. As they cook they fall apart completely, and that breakdown is what makes the soup creamy. Brown and green lentils keep their shape. They make a good soup too, but a different one, with a chunkier texture and a longer cooking time. If you want to use them, add 15 to 20 minutes of simmering and skip the blending.
This version follows the Turkish mercimek çorbası, the soup served at almost every Turkish restaurant: lentils, onion, carrot, a little tomato paste and cumin, a squeeze of lemon, and a spoonful of paprika oil on top.
Rinse the lentils, and check them
Rinse the lentils in a strainer until the water runs mostly clear. That removes dust and some of what foams up while they cook. Look through them as you rinse. Bagged lentils occasionally include a small stone.
The lemon is not optional
Lentil soup without acid tastes flat and muddy, however well you salt it. Add the lemon off the heat, taste, and add more if the soup still seems dull. It should taste bright but not sour. Serve extra wedges at the table, because people's taste for lemon varies.
Thick or thin
Red lentils keep absorbing liquid as they sit, so the soup that was right in the pot will be stiff an hour later. Thin it with water or broth when you reheat it, and taste for salt again afterward. If you want a thinner soup from the start, add another cup of broth before blending.
Variations
- With rice or bulgur: some Turkish cooks add 2 tablespoons of rice or fine bulgur with the lentils for extra body, with an extra 1/2 cup of water.
- Spicier: double the Aleppo pepper, or add a pinch of cayenne to the paprika oil.
- With greens: stir two handfuls of baby spinach into the hot soup after blending. It wilts in a minute.
- Coconut and ginger: swap the cumin and paprika for curry powder and fresh ginger, and finish with half a can of coconut milk. That turns it into something closer to a dal.
Keeping it
Four days in the fridge and three months in the freezer. Make the paprika oil fresh each time you serve it. It takes 30 seconds.
What it is worth nutritionally
About 275 kcal and 13 g of protein a bowl, almost all of the protein from the lentils, with about 6 g of fiber. Lentils are also a good plant source of iron and folate. The iron in plants is absorbed less well than the iron in meat, but vitamin C eaten at the same meal improves absorption. A squeeze of lemon supplies only a little; a side of tomatoes, peppers or citrus does more. The soup is vegan as written if you use vegetable broth or water.
