This Lemony Lentil Soup recipe is full of bright and zesty flavors, it’s naturally gluten-free and vegan, and it’s easy to make in the Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or on the stovetop.
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 Recipe | 1-Minute Video
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Blend (optional). Using either a hand blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Season. Stir in the lemon zest and juice. Then season the soup with a few generous pinches of salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with an extra lemon slice, and enjoy!
Possible Variations:
Feel free to experiment and customize this soup however you might like! For example, you could…
- Serve the soup chunky. Just skip the puréeing step and enjoy the soup as-is!
- Make it spicier. Add extra cayenne if you would like to give the soup a bit more heat.
- Add fresh herbs. Fresh mint and/or cilantro would also be delicious served with this soup.
- Add yogurt. Feel free to also serve the soup garnished with plain yogurt for a creamy twist.
- Add greens. You could also stir some fresh baby spinach or chopped kale into the soup just before serving if you’d like to add some greens.
More Lentil Soup Recipes:
Looking for more easy lentil soup recipes to try? Here are a few of my faves:
- Turkish Lentil Soup
- Italian Lentil Soup
- Tomato Lentil Curry
- Vegetarian Lentil Chili
- Mexican-Inspired Chicken Lentil Soup
Lemony Lentil Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 6 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
- 1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed and picked over
- 2/3 cup whole-kernel corn
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- (optional) pinch each of saffron and cayenne
- zest and juice of 1 small lemon
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions:
- Sauté the veggies. Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 1 more minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
- Simmer. Stir in the vegetable stock, lentils, corn, cumin, curry powder (plus saffron and cayenne, if using) until combined. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Then cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are completely tender.
- Blend (optional). Using either a hand blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency. (If using a traditional blender, please see notes below.)
- Season. Stir in the lemon zest and juice until combined. Taste and season the soup with a generous pinch or two of fine sea salt and black pepper, as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with an extra fresh lemon slice if desired.
Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Instructions:
- Sauté the veggies (optional). Press the "Sauté" button on your Instant Pot. Add oil and let it heat until shimmering. Add onion and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 1 more minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Press "Cancel".
- Cook. Stir in the vegetable stock, lentils, corn, cumin, curry powder (plus saffron and cayenne, if using) until combined. Cover the pot and set vent to “Sealing”. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes, followed by a quick release.
- Blend. Using either a hand blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency. (If using a traditional blender, please see notes below.)
- Season. Stir in the lemon zest and juice until combined. Taste and season the soup with a generous pinch or two of fine sea salt and black pepper, as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with an extra fresh lemon slice if desired.
Crock-Pot (Slow Cooker) Instructions:
- Slow cook. Add onion, carrots, garlic, vegetable stock, lentils, corn, cumin, curry powder (plus saffron and cayenne, if using) to the bowl of a large slow cooker, and stir to combine. (No olive oil needed.) Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for 5-6 hours, until the lentils are completely tender.
- Blend. Using either a hand blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency. (If using a traditional blender, please see notes below.)
- Season. Stir in the lemon zest and juice until combined. Taste and season the soup with a generous pinch or two of fine sea salt and black pepper, as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with an extra fresh lemon slice if desired.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
I served this with a bit of plain greek yogurt drizzled on with some cilantro. It was delicious!!!! Definitely going to become part of the regular rotation at our house!
This soup was delicious. Thank you so much! I’ve also been to Aladdin’s in KC (my husband is from there and we go back that way often). I even sent this to a cousin that was the first person to send me to Aladdin’s.
Anyway, awesome soup recipe! I Madeira without saffron because I didn’t have any on hand, but I imagine it would take it to another level!
This isn’t bad. It’s not what I expected. I taste more of the curry than the lemon. I think a better name would be curried lentil soup. I’m surprised by all the rave reviews.
This recipe was really delicious! I used split peas because i was out of lentils one time and it was just as yummy!
Love this soup! Super easy, light and tasty. Who would have thought that humble ingredients could make such a great soup
This recipe is delicious. I made it without the saffron and I didn’t miss it. This will definitely go into my regular rotation! Love it!
Really enjoyed this recipe, thanks! I substituted 1 cup coconut milk for 1 cup of the stock, added at the end with the lemon juice, but otherwise as written. Lovely, especially with fresh corn.
perfect recipe! I used all the ingredients and the flavor is fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
I just made this recipe. It is super easy and very delicious.
How have I not left a comment before?? Definitely a meal prep staple for me – so super easy and filling.
This soup is absolutely fantastic. So full of flavor and easy to make. I had no idea saffron was the most expensive spice in the world… I tried it anyways, but may not use it next time.
Had anyone tried it without saffron? Is there a noticeable difference in taste?
I tried it without saffron and it was still very yummy!
You can use Tumeric in lieu of Saffron!