Weeknight Lentil Soup

This hearty soup will warm your soul on cold nights. It’s chock full of veggies, and is super easy to make.

If you’re reading this blog, you may be looking for healthy but easy-to-make recipes. The kind that are made from whole foods and that nourish your body and soul and make you feel good. This is one of those recipes.

My best friend’s birthday is in December, and last year (2020) we had two choices: celebrate virtually, or celebrate outdoors. It was COLD, but we really wanted to make it work. So with the help of my partner, Rob, we made a fire outside (edit: HE made the fire outside), and I stayed in the kitchen to prepare a dinner that everyone could eat in a safe and socially-distanced way outdoors. My goal? Whip up a soup that we can drink out of mugs.

But what kind of soup? At the time, the answer was clear: a soup of whatever I had batch cooked that week and was left over in the fridge, plus a few extras from the pantry. Well, the soup was a hit (even with the kids!) and since then I’ve done a couple more test runs so I could deliver you the recipe. In sum: this recipe is made with love, and I hope you will make the soup with love, too!

You Can Make this soup the way you like it

I largely used the veggies that I had on hand to create this soup. None of them should be difficult to find, and they’re mostly crowd pleasers. But if you have a different veggie or two that you want to use, by all means swap them in. For example, instead of winter squash (I used honeynut squash), you could sub sweet potato. Instead of carrot, you could use some parsnip.

How this Lentil soup can make your life easier

This recipe makes a big batch (96 ounces, or about 8 servings), meaning it’s great for batching on the weekend so you’ll have plenty of weeknight meals. I have not tried freezing this soup, but I see no reason why you wouldn’t be able to.

Most of the work here is in the prepping of the veggies. The chopping does not have to be exact, so this is a good recipe to use for teaching your kids (or partner) how to cook. Just give them a job, like dicing the pepper.

If you don’t have lentils on hand, save yourself some work and throw in a can or two of your favorite beans. The first time I made this soup, I actually used three types of beans and lentils (white beans, red kidney beans, and brown lentils). But if you want to use lentils, they cook up pretty easily and you can even cook them in a rice cooker, if you have one.

Three secrets to a tasty soup

As with all things cooking, there are some tricks to making things taste good. And of course, that applies to soup. Here are a few tips:

Secret #1 - Make your own stock

This might sound like a burden at first, but trust me, you will be grateful if you make your own stock. Store bought veggie or chicken broth is expensive, loaded with sodium, and not very tasty. It’s not worth your money.

And the thing is, making stock doesn’t need to be complicated! You just want to have a flavorful liquid for your soup. The more flavorful, the better the soup.

To make this weeknight lentil soup, I made the stock while I was getting the rest of ingredients prepared. I placed 8 cups of water into my stock pot, added a few bay leaves, a small handful of parsley, and 2 smashed cloves of garlic. I brought the stock to a boil and then lowered to a simmer for about 25 minutes (or until I was ready to make the soup), with the cover off. I used a slotted spoon to remove the veggie items, then placed the liquid in a separate pot so I could use my big pot for the soup.

If you like to make bone broth, that could also be used for the base of a soup.

secret #2 - Build flavor gradually

In this recipe you’ll see that I don’t have you add all the ingredients at once, and I also don’t have you add all the salt at once either. We do it in stages, in order to build flavor. At each stage, we add a little bit of salt, which helps bring out the natural flavor of the vegetables. You end up using less salt in your meals this way.

secret #3 - Miso paste and nutritional yeast

You cannot leave out these two ingredients, they are the key to taking this soup to the next level, and creating a creamy, umami-bomb broth that you will love. If you’re curious about nutritional yeast, check out this post. Miso paste is another plant-based ingredient you’ll want to make friends with. Here’s an experiment for you: taste the soup broth BEFORE you add the miso paste. Then taste it after. You will see a big difference.

Ingredients

1 1/2 t olive oil

1 medium onion, cut into small dice

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, cut into small dice (about 1 cup)

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 t sea salt (divided)

1 large carrot, sliced into 1/4 inch discs

1 1/2 cups winter squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 cup red bell pepper, diced

1/2 t dried oregano

1/2 t dried thyme

1/2 t dried rosemary

2 packed cups of kale, de-stemmed and torn into bite sized pieces (about 2 large leaves of curly kale

1 can diced tomatoes (ideally no-salt)

6 cups of vegetable stock

2 cups cooked brown lentils

1/4 cup white miso paste

2-3 T water

2 T nutritional yeast

1/2 lemon, juiced

sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Prep all your ingredients. If you’re making your own stock, start that first and while it’s simmering, prep your ingredients.

Heat a large stockpot over medium heat. Once hot, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil followed by the onions (if you are following a no-oil diet, omit the oil and use broth to dry sauté). Sauté until the onions just start to turn translucent, about 3-5 minutes.

Next add the minced garlic and sauté for about a minute. Don’t let the garlic burn; stir frequently and decrease the heat a tad if needed.

Add the celery and mushrooms and sauté for another 2-3 minutes, till the mushrooms are clearly releasing their moisture and beginning to cook down. Add a nice pinch of the salt and stir through.

Add the carrots, stir everything together, and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add the squash, the bell pepper, another big pinch of salt, and the spices. Stir to evenly combine. Let cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently so nothing is sticking to the bottom. Right now we are moving along the cooking process but also allowing all these flavors to meld together.

Add the kale, diced tomatoes, and another pinch of salt. Stir to combine and let cook about 3 minutes, or until the kale is visibly just starting to wilt (cook down).

Now add the stock, followed by the lentils. Add the remainder of the salt and stir. Bring the soup to a boil, then partially cover and lower the heat. Simmer on low for 10-15 minutes or until the squash and carrots are tender.

While the soup is cooking, in a small bowl, mix the miso paste with 2-3 tablespoons of water. Use the back of a spoon or a small spatula to mix the paste into the water until the paste is fully dissolved and you have a thick but liquid (viscous) mixture.

When the soup is done cooking, turn off the heat. Now, add the mixed miso paste, the nutritional yeast and the lemon juice and stir to combine.

Taste for seasoning add a little salt and/or pepper if you choose.

You’re done! Enjoy.

Did you make this recipe? Leave comment!