Hooray for easy soups! This Curried Red Lentil and Pumpkin Soup is the type of recipe that saves the day—very few ingredients, fast, and really delicious. Oh yeah, and did I mention how incredibly inexpensive it is?? Seriously, just pennies per bowl. It’s also freezer-friendly, super healthy, just happens to be vegan-friendly, and you can have fun customizing the toppings. It basically checks all my boxes! Bookmark this recipe for later because I promise it will become part of your regular rotation.
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Have Fun with the Toppings
I just LOVE any meal where I can add toppings and this soup is the perfect blank slate. Not that it’s not awesome on its own, it’s just that the flavors in this lentil and pumpkin soup are versatile and can handle being paired with all sorts of add-ins. So here are some ideas: go creamy with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream (as I do in my classic pumpkin soup recipe), spice it up with a few red pepper flakes or sriracha, toss in some crunchy pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or croutons, or sprinkle on a few sprigs of fresh cilantro. Or hey, DO THEM ALL. I won’t judge.
Can I Substitute the Pumpkin?
If you don’t have canned pumpkin, you can use about a cup and a half of mashed sweet potato or butternut squash in its place. Just make sure they’re really soft and well-mashed so there is no stringiness in the final soup. Oh, and speaking of that, you can take an immersion blender to the finished soup for a super silky finish if you’d like. Me? I prefer to have a little texture from the lentils.
Can I Use Brown or Green Lentils for Pumpkin Soup?
While you can use a different type of lentil, it will definitely change the outcome of the soup. Red or yellow lentils are best for this soup because of their mild flavor and the fact that they break down quickly when cooked, giving the soup a nice thick consistency (like split pea soup). A brown or green lentil will give the soup a much earthier flavor and have a chunkier texture.
What Kind of Curry Powder Do You Use?
I’m not very picky about curry powder and haven’t come across one yet that I don’t like. I do prefer to use mild curry powder for this soup, that way I can adjust the heat by adding my own cayenne pepper if I want. One brand that I’ve enjoyed is Sharwood’s mild curry powder. Or you can try making your own curry powder using this recipe for Easy Homemade Curry Powder from Spiceitupp.com.
Red Lentil and Pumpkin Soup
Servings 6 1.33 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.31)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.10)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp curry powder ($0.30)
- 1 15oz. can pumpkin purée ($1.05)
- 1 cup dry red lentils ($0.67)
- 6 cups vegetable broth ($0.78)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
Instructions
- Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to a large pot with the olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft (about 5 minutes).
- Add the curry powder and continue to sauté for about a minute more.
- Next, add the pumpkin purée, lentils, and vegetable broth. Stir to combine.
- Place a lid on the pot and bring the soup up to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer the soup, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
- Finally, taste the soup and add salt to taste (about ½ tsp). Serve hot with bread for dipping!
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Equipment
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Love savory pumpkin recipes? You should also try our Spicy Coconut and Pumpkin Soup, Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta, or Easy Pumpkin Soup.
How to Make Curried Red Lentil and Pumpkin Soup – Step by Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion, mince two cloves of garlic, and grate about 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger (I use a small-holed cheese grater). Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large pot and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.
Add one tablespoon curry powder to the sautéed vegetables and continue to sauté for one minute more.
Next add 1 cup uncooked red lentils, 1 15oz. can of pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling), and 6 cups vegetable broth. Stir to combine the ingredients.
Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the soup up to a boil. When it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes the lentils should be broken down and tender, resulting in a thickened soup.
Give the soup a taste and then add salt. Salt is what is really going to make the flavors pot, so don’t skip it! The amount of salt you’ll need will ultimately depend on the salt content of the broth you used, but I added about a ½ teaspoon of salt.
Just made this for the first time, and it’s delicious. Exceptionally mild on the finished curry flavor, so I might try adding another tablespoon next time I make it.
Definitely does need at least a bit of salt. I was making it with homemade stock so I could share it with a friend who has to restrict sodium, and I tasted it both plain, and with a couple good grinds of sea salt, and that indeed makes quite the difference in tasting the spices. If I used salt-free commercial stock, or my homemade again, I’d probably add at least a teaspoon with the curry powder.
Can I substitute green lentils? I don’t have red lentils on hand and would like to make it this weekend.
Technically you can. We like using red here because they break down into the soup and help thicken it. Green lentils are more likely to keep their shape and stay whole, but if you’re okay with that difference and the slight flavor difference, then go for it!
Healthy, cheap and easy. I make at least once a week.
While I was making this soup today , I have been craving it all week, I was a bit dismayed when I barely had 1/2 cup of red lentils but I went ahead.
I wanted it to be the same texture so at the end I took a chance and added 1/3 cup of whole wheat couscous.
It was a success. The red lentils would be my first choice but a couscous sub keeps the original flavor and texture.
I forgot to say it was Israeli couscous.
I am having it again today and will freeze the rest for another crave day.
The couscous did not get mushy in fact resemble red lentils.
Great recipe
My husband and I had this for lunch—simply delicious. I added a dollop of Greek yogurt, harissa, and a few cashews on top. I also added some leftover spaghetti squash. It’s just so good. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Yum! Curry is new to me – this is really good!
Hey, thanks so much for this recipe! I used it as a template for my meal prep today – I can’t have fresh onion or fresh garlic, and I prefer thick stews to soups. My adjustments were to use a cup of lentils, a cup of quinoa, a 15oz can of pumpkin, 8 cups water, 12 ounce bag of frozen chopped spinach, and a can of coconut milk. I freehanded the spices to make up for the additional water and ingredients, however I upped the curry powder and added additional spices that I personally love – cardamom, coriander, garam masala, as well as a little cumin, cayenne, and chili flakes. It’s absolutely delicious! With my changes, i probably won’t be able to replicate it 100%, but that’s pretty much how I cook as it is, lol
(To all of you that might say I can’t review honestly it since I didn’t make it exactly as written: I can’t EAT it as written. But it looked so good that it inspired me to make something amazingly delicious that I CAN eat. That’s what food should do!!)
Thanks Beth & Monti!
Easy and delicious. I cut the recipe in half as I had half a can of pumpkin, worked out fine. Served over basmati rice.
A really easy weeknight meal soup to make.
This is perfect fall soup! We’ve made it several times & love it! We add a little lime for brightness.
I need help though – sometimes, ok, twice, my soups taste a little metallic. I’m using a Dutch Oven & wood or silicone spoons. The 1st time I decided it was the tomatoes but there’s no tomatoes in this soup. Can I fix it to remove the taste & why is this happening?
The only thing I can think of is that you’re cooking in aluminum or unseasoned cast iron. When acidic ingredients are cooked in “reactive” pans, like aluminum or unseasoned cast iron, trace amounts of the metal’s molecules loosen and leach into the food, giving it slightly metallic flavors. XOXO -Monti
Love this recipe! The first time I made it I increased the spices, and added coconut milk and lemon juice at the end, which I felt were great add-ons. The next time I make it I’m also going to try adding carrots, because I wanted some more variety of texture the first time.
I absolutely adore this recipe. It’s so delicious and even my 2 year old will eat it if she’s got homemade bread to dip in it. :)
I do want to make this for a potluck. Would I be able to saute the onion, garlic, and ginger – then curry powder – and add all of that plus the remaining ingredients into the slow cooker and cook it for like 4-5 hours until we’re ready to eat lunch?
Hi Sarah! I don’t recommend cooking red lentils for 4 to 5 hours, even in a slow cooker. But you have the right idea. Try making all of it, and don’t bring it to a boil. Instead, leave it in your fridge until an hour or so before you want to plate it. Then add it to your slow cooker. XOXO -Monti
So simple and so very delicious.
I’ve been browsing vegan Whole Foods/Plant-based no oil added cookbooks and have been disappointed in the last three recipes I tried.
Needing a win, I decided to try this recipe and just omit the oil. I added grated turmeric root with the ginger root and 6 handfuls of baby kale at the very end, because it was in the fridge and needed to be used asap.
It was a huge hit! Delicious, filling, quick, inexpensive, and most importantly, something I’ll be making over and over again.