OMG… This Chunky Lentil and Vegetable Soup is my new all-time favorite soup! I’ve already eaten two bowls since I made it today at lunch and I don’t think I’ll even need to freeze any because it will be gone fast. This super flavorful and hearty soup is a vegetarian take on the old classic, Lentil & Sausage Stew, from way back in 2010. I replaced the sausage with black beans, added some tomatoes for brightness, and nixed the spinach. The black beans help make everything thick and creamy and the blend of herbs and spices just can’t be beat. It’s soooo good. So many colors, flavors, and textures in one bowl, and super cheap, too!
The best part? I already had most of the ingredients on hand, so when I went to pick up the remaining items my total bill was about $3. It pays to shop in your pantry before you shop in the store!
What Kind of Lentils to Use
I used a quick cooking brown lentil for this recipe. These lentils are also sometimes called green lentils, depending on the brand, but they are not the same as French green lentils, which take much longer to cook. The lentils used in this recipe only need to be simmered for about 20 minutes to become tender and do not require pre-soaking.
I do not suggest using red or yellow lentils for this recipe because they do not hold their shape and will become mushy once boiled, resulting in a soup more similar in texture to split pea soup.
What Else Can I Add?
I love the flexibility of soup. If you want to add a little extra green to your soup, feel free to add some chopped fresh spinach or frozen spinach, and just stir it in until wilted and heated through. I love to top my lentil and vegetable soup with a dollop of sour cream or a pinch of cheese! If you like things spicy, feel free to add a diced jalapeño or a couple dashes of hot sauce.
How to Store the Leftovers
This recipe makes a HUGE batch, but thankfully the leftovers taste great! I like to divide my soup into single serving portions right after cooking to facilitate faster cooling, and to make the leftovers really easy to grab-n-go (and reheat). This soup also freezes great, so once it’s completely chilled in the refrigerator you can transfer it to the freezer for long-term storage (about three months).
Chunky Lentil and Vegetable Soup
Servings 8 1.25 cups eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.50)
- ½ lb. carrots (3-4 carrots) ($0.55)
- 3 ribs celery ($0.80)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.89)
- 1 cup brown lentils ($0.31)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- Freshly ground black pepper ($0.05)
- 1 15oz. can petite diced tomatoes ($0.85)
- 4 cups vegetable broth* ($0.52)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and dice the onion. Sauté both in a large pot with olive oil over medium heat until the onions are tender. Meanwhile, slice the celery and peel and slice the carrots. Add the celery and carrots to the pot and continue to sauté for about 5 minutes more.
- Drain the can of black beans and add it to the pot along with the diced tomatoes (with juices), dry lentils, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and some freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a pepper mill). Finally, add the vegetable broth, and stir to combine.
- Increase the heat to medium high and allow the pot to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low, place a lid on top, and let it simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, test the lentils to make sure they are tender. If not, continue to simmer until they are tender.**
- Taste the soup and add salt as needed (I added 1/2 tsp). Serve hot.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
A little dollop of sour cream is SO GOOD on this Chunky Lentil and Vegetable Soup.
How to Make Vegetable and Lentil Soup – Step by Step Photos
Mince two cloves of garlic and dice one onion. Sauté both in a large pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat until the onions have softened.
While the garlic and onion are cooking, clean and slice 1/2 lb. (3-4 medium) carrots and 3 ribs celery. Add them to the pot and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes.
Most of my soups start with 1/2 lb. of carrots and 3-4 ribs of celery, so instead of just letting the other half of each go limp in the fridge, I go ahead and slice them up then freeze them for the next soup.
Once the carrots and celery have cooked a few minutes, add 1 cup dry brown lentils, one 15 oz. can black beans (drained), one 15oz. can diced tomatoes (with juices), 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and some freshly ground black pepper (about 10-15 cranks of a pepper mill). Stir to combine.
And 4 cups of vegetable broth. Stir well. Increase the heat to medium-high and let it come up to a boil. When it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low, place a lid on top, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, test the lentils to make sure they are tender. If you have green or French lentils, they may need to simmer for 45 minutes or so to fully soften. Also taste the soup and add salt if desired (I added 1/2 tsp of salt). Now it’s ready to serve!
Just made this tonight for my family and they absolutely loved it! So delicious! Thanks for sharing! :)
I love the black beans along with the lentils, and the red pepper gives it a nice warmth I hadn’t thought to try.
This is absolutely incredible and simple to make. I have never cooked with lentils before so this recipe was a great introduction. One thing that I thought would be a good addition would be zucchini. Maybe in place of the celery. Would I need to add more broth if I added a zucchini in? Either way, this will be something a cook pretty often. It yields A LOT of soup so you’ll have food for days. Thanks for the recipe, Beth
Nope, you shouldn’t need any extra broth if adding zucchini. Zucchini has quite a bit of moisture on its own. :)
This looks wonderful on it’s own, but I think some smoked sausage would really add to it too.
I do have a soup very similar to this, but with sausage. It’s to die for! Check it out: Lentil & Sausage Stew.
Hi Beth! Thanks for the great recipe. I’m about to make it for the second time (turned out great the first time–what a wonderful winter soup!) but all I’ve got on hand is canned lentils. Any advice on how to sub those? I was thinking I’d about double the amount of lentils used, and throw them in a bit closer to the end of the cooking?
Yes, I’d definitely add them later so that they don’t turn to mush from over cooking. :) Also, you may need less liquid, since they’re already cooked.
Thanks! I’ll give it a go tonight :)
BTW just wanted to let you know that I halved the broth, to 2 cups. I ended up throwing 2 (400 g) cans of lentils into the soup with 15 minutes to go and it turned out a bit more like a stew–which I’m very happy with–but I think it would also have been fine (and more soup-y) with just 1 can. Delicious either way! Making your focaccia rolls tonight to go with the leftovers.
This was delicious, and it really had some kick! And now that I’m counting calories, this fit into my health plan quite nicely. Thanks so much for the tasty recipe! We’ll definitely be making it again.
This was SO easy and turned out delicious! Easily my new favorite go-to soup.
This was an awesome eat! It turned out so much better than I expected! So yummy and healthy to boot! Thanks so much!
Just made it. Great! I kinda winged the spices because they are spices. I do think next time I’ll add more ground pepper or sriracha sauce for a kick, but its pretty amazing by itself and it was so painless to make. Thank you!
Making this for what must be the tenth time! Super easy, fast, healthy, cheap and delicious! I make it exactly as is, I just add extra celery and onion. Have tried it with black, brown and green lentils…all good. Just use what you have on hand or can find at the local grocer. And I also double the recipe as it just gets better the next few days. Thank you Beth!
Thank you for this recipe. I made up a batch last night for my family (just my husband, our teenage twins and myself). This morning my husband warned me, he was stealing the leftovers for his lunch. As he was someone who never looked forward to vegetarian dishes or vegetables in general, this is a huge compliment.
I made this for supper tonight and it was delicious! Really flavourful, pretty, aromatic, all around wonderful! I had a bit of a sore throat the last day or two, and this was so soothing on the throat.
Thanks for another great recipe! (I made your Italian Wonderpot recipe last night, which was also superb!)
Loved this healthy soup recipe! It is vegetarian and vegan friendly. My fiance and I just ate the entire thing in less than 30 minutes. I’ll definitely make this again and share it with my clients! I used 3 cloves of garlic, and dried beans instead of canned. It still tasted great. Thanks!
I made this today but let it dry up towards end so it wasn’t watery. Turned out great. I used kidney beans instead of black beans.
Hi Beth do you think red kidney beans would work well in place of the black beans?
Also sorry 4 the unrelated question but does coconut milk freeze well?
By the way this blog has given me lots of hope and excitement. I’m just not someone who is a natural at cooking and everything here is presented in such a simple no nonsense fashion. So thanks a lot!
Glad to see (in the following comment) that the kidney beans worked well! :) I’ve never tried to freeze coconut milk, though, so I’m not sure about that.