Lemony Lentil Soup
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Loading... - Nicola Collins
- 13 Apr 2022
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Who’s ready for a light and refreshing bowl of lemony lentil soup? ♡
A record number of you all have been making (and loving!) this lentil soup lately. So for any of you who have yet to give it a try, I thought I would bump this recipe back to the top of the blog for everyone to enjoy.
Quite simply, this is my all-time favorite lentil soup recipe. It was inspired by our favorite Middle Eastern café back in our old neighborhood in Kansas City, whose famous lentil soup I ordered one million times over the years and missed something fierce after we moved away. So a few years ago, I set to work trying to recreate it. And while nothing will compare in our memory to the original, I have to say that I’m really pleased with how my version turned out!
This cozy red lentil soup is simmered with simple mix of veggies, spices and lots of lemon juice to brighten things up. But the restaurant version of the soup also featured two signature ingredients — corn and a pinch of saffron — which add the perfect hint of sweetness that make this soup perfectly-balanced and just lovely. ♡ Barclay and I turn to this soup often because it’s easy to make and full of feel-good ingredients. But most of all, we just love it because it’s crazy-good and will forever remind us of home.
Let’s make some lemony lentil soup together!
LEMONY LENTIL SOUP INGREDIENTS:
To make this lemony lentil soup recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
· Veggies: A simple mix of white onion, carrots and garlic.
· Veggie stock: Or you could are welcome to use chicken stock if you prefer.
· Red lentils: Which I love for this soup because they break down quickly and purée easily.
· Corn: Just your basic frozen or canned whole-kernel corn.
· Spices: A cozy mix of ground cumin, curry powder, cayenne and saffron (which is optional, but really delicious if you happen to have some on hand).
· Fresh lemon: Whose zest and juice we will add to the soup. I also recommend serving the soup with extra lemon wedges, if people would like to make their bowls even more lemony.
· Salt and black pepper: For seasoning, as always.
HOW TO MAKE LENTIL SOUP:
I have included detailed instructions in the full recipe below for how to make this lentil soup in either an Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or on the stovetop. But here is a quick overview:
1. Sauté the veggies. I recommend taking an extra few minutes to sauté the onion, carrots and garlic before adding them to the rest of the soup to bring out their best flavors. (This step may require an extra sauté pan, if using a Crock-Pot, or using the sauté feature in the Instant Pot.) But if you are in a hurry, you can just add these ingredients in with Step 2 below.
2. Simmer. Stir in the vegetable stock, lentils, corn, cumin, curry powder, cayenne and saffron (if using) until combined. Cover and cook (or pressure cook or slow cook) until the lentils are tender.
3. Blend (optional). Using either a hand blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency.
4. Season. Stir in the lemon zest and juice. Then season the soup with a few generous pinches of salt and pepper as needed. Read More…
