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.
I wasn’t sure I’d like this, as most curries are way too hot for me. I used the Mild Sharwood’s blend that you pictured here, and it was perfect. Thanks for posting the brand you used, it helped.
I didn’t have any pumpkin so I made this with frozen cooked butternut squash. Can confirm, squash is amazing as a substitution for this recipe!
Serve it over a baked russet potato – I’m not kidding. Try it, life will never be the same.
Hoping to make this and save for Fridays during Lent… do you think it will freeze well? Thanks for all your great recipes!
Yep, this one should be great to freeze. :)
Just scored some red lentils so the first thing I did when I got home was make this soup. Very good and it does lend itself well to a variety of garnishes. I just tried a little sample and used sour cream, toasted pepitas, and a little drizzle of Huy Fong chili garlic sauce (Tuong Ot Toi Viet-Nam).
Curry powder used was Penzey’s “Maharajah” which is mild. I also pureed the soup with an immersion blender. A pinch of sea salt brought it all together.
Good job, Beth!
This was incredible!!! Easily made 6 servings for my husband and I and we LOVED IT. I love the short ingredient list! I shop at Aldis and they don’t carry lentils normally, but it just so happened they had them as a special buy this week-how perfect is that?? This recipe is a keeper!
This was delicious. I forgot the ginger until about halfway through, so I added a bit then & added a fresh diced jalapeno at the beginning to up the spice factor since I knew my curry powder was mild. It was DELICIOUS. I served with a big piece of baguette & a side salad. Next time I may try adding some sausage or chorizo to bulk it up.
Definitely something I will repeat & DID NOT taste like pumpkin at all!
This recipe was so delicious! Beth thank you so much for this blog – I have made literally dozens of recipes and they have all been wonderful!
I reached for sweet potato puree thinking it was pumpkin puree, and I didn’t realize my mistake until I got to the cash register. After waiting in line for five minutes just before closing, I decided to roll with it. It turned out delicious! I used a hot curry powder and topped with Sriracha for a little extra kick.
This was delicious and ridiculously easy- definitely going into the regular rotation! I topped it with sriracha, goat cheese, and pepitas that I had on hand, which made it feel super fancy ;) Plus some naan on the side of course!
Looks good – have not seen pumpkin puree here – what should I use?
Mashed sweet potato would probably also be good.
Stumbled across this while deciding what to get at the store, and decided to make it on a whim. Promptly ate two bowls. Easy and absolutely delicious, like everything else I’ve tried from here!
I’m just tucking into a bowl of this right now! I loved how quick and easy it came together, perfect for busy or lazy days. I added a dollop of sambal – spicy and delicious! I’ll definitely have to try it with coconut milk at some point!
I just made this, with a few modifications (just our family preferences). It’s great! I added the curry powder in with the onions and garlic so it could it could bloom in the oil – it makes it more flavorful, and I added some cumin. I also swapped one cup of the broth for coconut milk. I’ll definitely make this again.
Looks great, I love curried lentil soup. Great topping ideas!
Enjoying this recipe as I type! Thank you!
This is such a simple, but flavor packed, soup. Do you think it would work in a crock pot?
Yep, I think this one would transition seamlessly to the slow cooker. You can probably just put everything in there and turn it on. I’m not sure how long it would take, maybe a couple hours on high?