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’m SO confused. I expected a decent soup with some kind of lemony flavour and I got the best lentil dish I have ever eaten. I don’t comment in the internet all that much, but geeez you deserve to know just how amazing this soup is haha
Keep up the good work!
This was exactly how I felt!
Recipe says 1 1/2 cups lentils… is this pre or post rinse??? Just got in a heated debate with my dad ?? he claims that it was 1 1/2 when he went to rinse but there’s an unbelievable amount and I measured only 1 1/2 cups to add and there’s a lot left over….
Absolutely Delicious! I’ve been trying to make a soup like this forever and have never come close. I first had it at a place called Aladdin’s Palace in Silverdale, WA, of all places. I have craved it for years since I moved away and have never come this close to duplicating it. This solved my craving. I’m pretty sure Aladdins had quite a lot more garlic in it and I may add more next time. It’s perfectly delicious just as written. This is a Winner!
This was great! I made it in Instant Pot. Very easy. I did make a few changes… I added 2 stalks of celery. I subbed veggie broth for chicken broth & paprika for cayenne.
Oh, I almost forgot; I cooked barley rice separately & added it in after.
This was fantastic. So quick to make and absolutely delicious and nutritious. Added some chopped Kale at the end. Husband said it was the best soup he’s ever had (and he’s a big soup guy so I guess that says a lot haha) This is definitely going in the recipe vault to make again and again.
Light, nutritiously satisfying, delicious and quick to make. Thank you.
Super easy and so delicious!
Unbelievably delicious and so healthy too! Now part of my regular rotation.
Super delicious! The lemon added a bright note. Any veggies cook be hidden in this, like pumpkin puree. I didn’t have saffron and used brown lentils. Turned out great with some fresh tortillas to dip
I subbed chilli powder for curry powder as I don’t like curry and it was awesome! Adding to the fall rotation.