This vegan lentil soup is a blended Middle Eastern style lentil soup, made with red lentils and blended for a super creamy and delicious soup!
This vegan lentil soup is simply amazing! It has a wonderfully rich flavor and is so creamy you’ll swear it must actually have cream in it, but nope, nothing like that. It’s really just sooo good.
This is the style of lentil soup that we came across again and again while living in the Middle East. I have since discovered that not all lentil soup is made this way and it’s very often made as a chunky, not blended, soup.
But this is really my favorite. It’s so creamy and satisfying and it’s also incredibly easy with just 6-ingredients.
It serves four as an appetizer, or two as a main course and it’s 14 grams of protein per bowl if you’re serving it as an appetizer, or 28 grams of protein per bowl if you’re serving it as a main course.
So it packs a protein punch in a most delicious and satisfying way.
And if you love lentils then definitely check out our vegan lentil curry, lentil bolognese, red lentil dal, lentil ragu and vegan dal makhani.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Soup:
Ingredient Notes
- Red lentils – it’s important to use dried red lentils or split red lentils in this soup. This is because red lentils cook relatively quickly and also get quite mushy when cooked so are ideal for blending.
- Carrots – should be sliced quite thinly so that they don’t take too long to cook.
- Vegetable stock – or broth. The vegetable stock we use is quite salty, so if you’re using a low sodium stock or broth then you’ll likely need to add extra salt to the recipe.
How To Make Vegan Lentil Soup
Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add chopped onion to a pot with some olive oil and dried cumin and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Add chopped carrot and toss up with the onions.
- Add the red lentils and toss them with the carrots and onions.
- Add vegetable stock and mix everything together.
- Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover the pot and simmer until the lentils are soft and cooked.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender then transfer the soup to your blender jug and blend it up in stages, returning to the pot once blended.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Your soup is ready to serve!
Serving Suggestions
Serve into bowls and top with fresh chopped parsley and a sprinkle of ground black pepper with some lemon wedges on the side and you have a really good high protein meal or a fabulous appetizer.
If you want to be a real cooking superstar, well, you could make your own whole wheat bread to serve with it or some delicious vegan focaccia (as pictured).
Recipe Tips
If your soup is bland, add more salt. The vegetable stock we use is pretty salty so we never need to add extra salt. But if you taste test and find it in any way bland then you simply need to add more salt. And of course add some pepper too, to taste.
Make it oil-free. If you would prefer it to be oil-free, then you can simply sauté the onions with a little water or vegetable stock instead of the oil. This soup is just as delicious oil-free.
Storing and Freezing
Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy over the next 3-4 days.
This soup is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months so you can definitely make up some to freeze and have later if you like.
More Vegan Soup Recipes
- Vegan Carrot Soup
- Vegan Potato Soup
- Vegan Tomato Soup
- Vegan Sweet Potato Soup
- Vegan Pumpkin Soup
- Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lentil Soup
Instructions
- Peel and chop the onion and add to a pot with the olive oil and cumin and sauté until slightly softened.
- Add the carrots and toss together. Then add the lentils and toss together with the other vegetables. Finally, add in the vegetable stock and mix everything together.
- Bring to the boil and then reduce heat, cover the pot and simmer until the lentils and carrots are soft and cooked.
- Take the pot off the heat and blend directly in the pot using an immersion blender. If you don't have an immersion blender, then allow to cool before transferring to your blender jug and blending up in stages until it's all smooth.
- Serve into bowls and top with fresh chopped parsley and ground black pepper, with lemon wedges on the side.
Video
Notes
- Red lentils. You can use dried red lentils or split red lentils. These cook fairly fast and are also ideally suited to blending.
- If your soup is bland, add more salt. The vegetable stock we use is pretty salty so we never need to add extra salt. But if you taste test and find it in any way bland then you simply need to add more salt. And of course add some pepper too, to taste.
- Make it oil-free. If you would prefer it to be oil-free, then you can simply sauté the onions with a little water or vegetable stock instead of the oil. This soup is just as delicious oil-free.
- Storing: Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy over the next 3-4 days.
- Freezing: This soup is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months so you can definitely make up some to freeze and have later if you like.
- This recipe was first published in January 2018.
I tried this! I did double the recipe and added a few cloves of garlic with the onions, plus a tsp of paprika and a dash of salt, pepper and chilli powder for that extra kick.
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I am so so happy thank you so much for this recipe, perfect for right now as all of these ingredients can be stored in the pantry for a long time.
Please try it, it’s so simple and easy!
Thanks so much Laine!
Hubby loved this but as he does not like cumin I left it out of the soup. It was delicious and he asked me to add it to my list of recipes to repeat.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Cathy!
Definitely the best soup I have ever made. Absolutely delicious, and so easy and quick. Thank you Alison! Even my non vegan husband loved it ????
Awesome! So happy to hear that. Thanks Catherine!
I really appreciate how quick and simple this hearty, healthy soup is! After blending I added a couple of handfuls of baby spinach and let it wilt. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!
Awesome! Thanks Kim! 🙂
New favourite soup so easy to make and so filling
Thanks for the great review Amanda! 🙂
Absolutely love this soup so quick and easy. My new favourite soup
Awesome! Thanks for the great review Amanda. 🙂
I’ve used this recipe a few times now. It’s easy to make and very tasty. Sometimes I also add a bit of coconut milk to make it even more filling.
So glad you like it! Thanks so much for the awesome review Kristiane! 🙂
I made this. I’m not the best of cooks but it was so simple and absolutely delicious. Thank you :o)
So glad to hear Linda, thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
I made red lentil and carrot soup. Very easy to make it. I added a teaspoon of Marmite and blended together. Oh my god it tasted so amazing! Xxx
I absolutely loved the taste, and it’s so quick and easy to make as well.
Awesome! So glad to hear that, thanks Dana! 🙂
Delicious soup! I’ve made it 5 or more times already. Definitely a family favorite in our house.
So glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing Kim. xo
Delicious!
I am going to try this. Can I use curry powder rather than the paste. I don’t have paste on hand and I want to make this tomorrow. I’m in need of many blended soups at this time.
Hi Vicki, there isn’t actually any curry paste or powder in this recipe, just a little cumin. If you need to use curry powder instead of that you can definitely do it! 🙂
Excellent recipe. Very tasty and easy to prepare. Thank you Alison for sharing.
Awesome! Thanks so much Isabelle! 🙂
it’s 5 star because it’s a good base to play with
i used 1/2 c lentil and 1/2 lima beans
i also made stock from boiled fish and black eyed peas and onions
added flavor was mild and didn’t take away from the “ lentil soup taste” added creaminess from lima beans
no salt needed
added a few lemon slices while simmering
and removed them prior to blending
Awesome, thanks for sharing Jamie! 🙂
I want to make this but have no carrots. Can I use potatoes?
That will likely be fine. 🙂