Lentil and Vegetable Soup (Printable Version)

A protein-packed bowl featuring lentils, seasonal vegetables, and warming spices for a comforting meal.

# What You'll Need:

→ Lentils

01 - 1 cup dried brown or green lentils, rinsed

→ Vegetables

02 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
03 - 1 medium onion, diced
04 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
05 - 2 carrots, peeled and diced
06 - 2 celery stalks, diced
07 - 1 medium zucchini, diced
08 - 1 red bell pepper, diced
09 - 1 cup diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
10 - 4 cups vegetable broth
11 - 2 cups water
12 - 2 cups fresh spinach or kale, chopped

→ Seasonings

13 - 1 teaspoon ground cumin
14 - 1 teaspoon dried thyme
15 - 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
16 - 1 bay leaf
17 - 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
18 - 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

→ Optional Garnishes

19 - Chopped fresh parsley
20 - Lemon wedges

# Directions:

01 - Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until softened.
02 - Add carrots, celery, zucchini, and red bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
03 - Stir in cumin, thyme, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper; cook 1 minute until fragrant.
04 - Add rinsed lentils, diced tomatoes, vegetable broth, water, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.
05 - Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, or until lentils and vegetables are tender.
06 - Stir in spinach or kale; cook 2 to 3 minutes until wilted. Remove bay leaf.
07 - Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve hot, garnished with parsley and a squeeze of lemon if desired.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It's the kind of soup that tastes like it took hours but comes together in under an hour, which means dinner stress actually goes away.
  • Lentils are quietly doing all the protein work, so you feel genuinely full and satisfied without needing anything fancy.
  • You can swap vegetables around based on what's in your fridge or what the season offers, so it never gets boring.
02 -
  • Rinsing your lentils before cooking prevents them from becoming starchy and weird, which is a small step that actually changes the entire texture of the finished soup.
  • The moment you add the greens is intentional—adding them at the very end preserves their color and delicate bite, whereas cooking them with everything else turns them into an unappetizing gray.
03 -
  • If you forget to rinse your lentils, you'll end up with soup that has a slightly chalky texture, so this one small step is genuinely worth the 30 seconds it takes.
  • Tasting as you go and adjusting seasoning in the last minute is the difference between a soup that tastes like it was thrown together and one that tastes deliberately crafted.
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