Red Lentil Vegetable Soup is a hearty, healthy cold weather soup. Enjoy for lunch or dinner.
It is cold and pouring out today, which makes me want to curl up on the couch with a warm blanket and a hot bowl of soup. A nice bowl of Red Lentil Soup chock full of vegetables would be perfect, I thought, this time with some smokiness, using Spanish smoked paprika and fire-roasted tomatoes.
Red lentils and French green lentils are probably my favorite lentils when it comes to making soups. Whereas French green lentils retain their shape when cooked, red lentils soften up and add a nice creamy texture to soups. This lentil soup certainly warmed me up.
Red Lentil Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 leek tender white and pale green parts only, thoroughly washed and finely chopped
- 2 carrots finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 zucchini finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 cup diced tomatoes I used fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1 cup lentils rinsed and picked through for stones
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 1 bunch kale chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and leek and cook until softened. Add carrots, celery, garlic, zucchini, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and turmeric. Cook for 3-4 minutes to develop flavor, being sure to stir to prevent sticking at the bottom of the pot. Add tomatoes, lentils, cilantro and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until lentils are soft, 25-30 minutes. Add chopped kale and cook just until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
If you like this Red Lentil Vegetable Soup, you may also like:
Lentil Vegetable Farro Chard Soup
Thai Coconut Curry Lentil Soup
I need to try this one! Look so scrumptious!
I too need to try this. I have not had lentils and I have a couple of people telling me just how delicious they are. This looks like the perfect soup for this chilly weather! Be sure to check out my blog to enter my giveaway as well.
http://imapretendchef.blogspot.com/2010/11/we-have-our-first-pretend-chef-giveaway.html
Hi Angie, hope you have a chance to try this recipe, great for a cold damp day.
Hi Pretend Chef, lentils add a nice hearty texture to soups and are really good for you too. Fun giveaway on your site!
am i the only who realized the amount of oil is left out of the ingredient list?
Thanks Gerald, appreciate your watchful eye – I’ve made the correction to the recipe.