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’ve made this quite a few times and my husband loves it and so do I! So easy to make and delicious 👍👌🏼
I have made this soup three times because it is perfect. I used roasted butternut squash each time and it is the perfect fall soup. DELICIOUS. And SO easy! I give it three heart eyes emojis. 10/10 would make again.
Excellent recipe!! I doubled the garlic and ginger, and sautéed the curry powder with the onions. I’ve always read it brings out the flavor more… who knows. served topped with red pepper flakes and Greek yogurt!! I know what I’ll be eating all fall and winter.
My calorie count for the ENTIRE dish is 700, or broken down into 6 servings about 120 calories per bowl. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
This recipe is a great start, but it is bland as it is and needs quite the lift. I would add some cayenne and cumin in addition to the curry powder and maybe even a touch of ground coriander. I served mine with some cilantro and yogurt on top. That said the recipe is VERY easy to make and you can whip up in no time at all!
I love this website! This soup was absolutely delicious. I did have a few tweaks because I do not cook with onions or garlic…very sad, I know, but I am allergic. To make up for the fact that almost all recipes include onion, I cook with other spices. I used paprika and added a bay leaf in this recipe and cooked with Veggie broth. It turned out amazing. I added rice for a little bulk and served it with a spring mix salad and vinaigrette dressing. YUM!
Have you tried Hing/Asafetida? It’s a great replacement for onion & garlic and has an amazing flavor.
I have made this soup 5 times now. My family really enjoyed it immensely! My 5 year old ask for it often. With its amazing flavors and quick cooking time this is a go to for me all fall and winter.
This was fantastic, I added lite coconut milk and a potato. Came out delicious.
I am sorry to say that this was very bland, and I was disappointed. I couldn’t figure out what was missing. So we chose not to eat it.
Maybe your curry powder was old and lost flavor. I’m eating this right now and there’s no way it could be called bland. Did you salt it appropriately?
You may be right. I am not sure how old the curry is. And I don’t add salt and used low salt broth, so that may be it. I still think I was just desiring a sweeter taste like a butternut squash soup, so it didn’t work for me.
What is the calorie bed carb count ?
How many calories per bowl ? What is the carb content ? My husband has to watch his carbs . What about salt and sweetness ?
You can import recipes to MyFitnessPal and it will break down the nutritional information for you.
I cooked it in the instant pot on high pressure for 10 min, natural release. I used brown lentils, so I just zipped my stick blender to smooth it out and out was tasty! I’ve also made it on the stovetop and in the crockpot!
Thank you ! Just got an instant pot and I will try this!
This turned out pretty tasty! I used a sweet curry powder, next time I want to try using one that is more spicy. I paired with asiago artisan bread.
I just want to say I tried this recipe today, I was a little aprehensive at first because I hate veggies (pumpkin included) and I had never tried lentils. I loved this recipe!! It’s easily going to become a regular, as it’s so easy to make and the ingredients are cheap. I live in Portugal and I don’t think we can buy canned pureed pumpkin here so I just bought 600 grams of pumpkin (used half as I only cooked half of the recipe) I boiled it then discarded the water and pureed the pumpkin myself.
This really turned out well. I’m lazy so I used frozen onions, jarred garlic, and all I had was powdered ginger. Still – I’m on my third bowl of it today it’s just so good (with white rice and peas, because this is just so much like a regular curry to me).
I think it was maybe a tad bit on the salty side, so next time I’m going to use half no salt added veggie broth and half Better Than Bouillon (I typically do this anyway). I think doing that and adding a little Sriracha on the top would make this perfect to my taste buds.
Also, if anyone else is trying to stick to oil free vegan, you can “water sauté” the onions and garlic in most of these recipes and they all turn out just as good to me. I’ve done it both ways and I honestly cannot tell the difference at all.
Thank you for pointing out the water-saute method. I knew about it from a friend who is vegan and oil-free, and I only tried it when I was broke and out of oil. It totally works!
I made this and froze it in two quart freezer bags. Took it out and put in crock pot and was amazed at how good it was!. Next day took out the other freezer bag and having it again! EXCELLENT SOUP and easy to make and freeze!