It’s soooo cold here! (read: below 75 degrees) So, I’ve been really into soups lately, if you can’t tell. Earlier this week I got an email from Lindsay with a red lentil soup recipe that she had found on Bodyrock.tv (link may be NSFW) and it looked scrumptious! Seeing that I had a big bag of red lentils in my cupboard, I had to make some. Well, I have to say that this Vegan Red Lentil Stew turned out phenomenal.
Serve this Vegan Red Lentil Stew with some hearty bread (or pita like in the pictures) to make sure that you have complete proteins. Legumes + grains = all of the amino acids that you need.
Aso, make sure you get red lentils and not brown or green for this recipe. Red lentils break down very quickly when cooked which is what makes this Vegan Red Lentil Stew so wonderfully thick and hearty! Even though I probably over paid for these red lentils, can you believe how inexpensive this is? I mean, WOW.
Vegan Red Lentil Stew
Vegan Red Lentil Stew
Servings 6Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.24)
- 1 medium yellow onion ($0.28)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 3 oz tomato paste ($0.26)
- 1 cup dry red lentils ($1.20)
- 1/2 lb carrots ($0.55)
- 1 medium potato ($0.49)
- 6 cups vegetable broth** ($0.78)
- 1 Tbsp cumin ($0.15)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Cook both in a large pot with olive oil over medium heat until soft and transparent (about 5 minutes). Add the tomato paste and continue to stir and cook for about 3-4 minutes more. The tomato paste will caramelize during this time, which will make it sweeter and cause it to look slightly darker.
- While the ingredients in the first step are cooking, peel and dice the potato and carrots. Rinse the lentils. Once the tomato paste has caramelized, add the carrots, potato, and lentils to the pot.
- Also add 6 cups of vegetable broth, cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper. Give everything a good stir to make sure it’s mixed well. Place a lid on top, turn the heat up to high, and bring the soup to a boil. As soon as it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to its lowest level and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes.
- After it has simmered for 30 minutes give the pot a stir and add the salt, starting with 1/2 teaspoon. Add more if desired. I used about 3/4 teaspoon total. Serve hot!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
As always – dice the onion, mince the garlic. Cook both with olive oil over medium heat until soft.
Once the onions are soft, add the tomato paste. It will start out very bright red like this. (Don’t toss the rest of the tomato paste in the can, it can be frozen and used later).
Continue to stir and cook the tomato paste with the onions for 3-4 minutes. It will get a little dry and turn a deeper shade of red. That’s what you want. Make sure to stir often (although continuously is not necessary).
While all of that is going on, peel and dice the potato and carrots. I used a half pound of carrots, which is about 3-4 medium carrots or half of that bag.
Also, as with any dry bean product, make sure to give the lentils a good rinse. They’re so small that they’d slip through the slits in my colander, so I used a wire mesh sieve.
Add the potatoes, carrots, and lentils to the pot.
Add six cups of vegetable broth, cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper. Stir everything well to make sure the tomato paste is dissolved in. Put a lid on top, turn the heat up to high, and let it come to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let it simmer there for 30 minutes (with the lid on).
After it has simmered for 30 minutes, the lentils will have soaked up a lot of the liquid and gotten all nice and soft. Stir everything together. Add the salt, starting with just 1/2 teaspoon, give it a taste, and then add more if desired.
Serve hot!
Quite hearty and delicious! Vegan Red Lentil Stew for the win.
I just made this and I love it! I made just a few small changes. I did 2 potatoes instead of one because I love lots of potatoes in my stew. I cooked this in my instant pot and I added a can of cut string beans at the end. It is delicious!
Can you substitute anything for the smoked paprika? If so, what?
You could do regular paprika in combination with some liquid smoke to get that smokiness, or if you don’t mind spicy flavors you could to a chipotle powder, which is smoked jalapeños.
How much is 1 serving? 1 cup, 1.5 cups, or 2 cups? Thank you.
Roughly 1.5 cups per serving
I would 100% recommend this recipe! So delicious & healthy, plus easy to make! Definitely my current favorite way to have red lentils.
Thank you Zoie! Happy to hear it’s a favorite!
I have been searching your recipes and me and my fosterson love most all of them!
Happy to hear it!
Just made this recipe. I followed the directions almost exactly. I did not add cayenne pepper. I added half of a sliced avocado on top too. It was so good! Really like dipping a slice of french bread in it too.
Did i just make this 4 times in the last 2 weeks? I didn’t think I was going to love this but just wanted to try red lentils for the first time. It is now my favorite. I even bought a new thermos so i can take this soup along with me. I wasn’t even a big soup person but after making those other recipes you have, I don’t feel right when I don’t have some on reserve in the fridge. It was my goal to increase my fiber intake and you have made me love lentils. Thank you!!!
Thanks for helping me eat healthier. May God bless you .
This is the first BudgetBytes recipe I have tried and It turned out AMAZING!!!! Cant wait to have this stew again and try out more of Beths fantastic creations!!!!!
Just made this and it is so good! I only used 4 and a half cups of liquid though so that it would be thicker. Finally, I added about 2 cups of spinach that I needed to use or lose. Will make again!
This was delicious!
Finally, a low effort stew I can whip up for dinner, and no soaking the lentils! Love it. On the menu for tonight.
I am a bit under the weather today and decided I wanted some soup for lunch. While I am not a vegan, I eat vegan during the day (they call what I do a VB6 – Vegan Before 6 pm). Since I had all the ingredients on hand to make this recipe, I decided to give this a go. For all recipes, I make it as written the first time, so this review is of the recipe as written.
I used organic “Better than Bouillon” vegetable base for the soup, 3 carrots, and started with only 1/4 teaspoon of salt then tasted. I’m not sure if I got a saltier jar this round or if my taster is off because of my cold, but that was all the salt this recipe needed. Glad your directions say to salt after it cooks a while because everyone’s taste for salt is a bit different (and some broths/bouillons are saltier than others).
I am having a bowl of it now, and this will definitely be going on the rotation to take to lunch or as a quick and healthy dinner at home. This soup reminds me of the crushed lentil soup I love so much at a local Lebanese place, which usually contains lemon. I might try the leftovers with a little squeeze of lemon before eating, but as written this recipe is very good!
Vegan or not, this soup doesn’t disappoint!! Thank you for another great and healthy recipe!
The secret ingredient is adding a ton of lemon or lime and omitting red for green lentils. I love this soup because you can change it up however you’d like and my family is a big fan.
This has become a staple since I found this on your site for years! Everyone I have made it for falls in love with it as well. SO CHEAP and SO EASY! I like a lot of your recipes, but this is a keeper!