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 just made this lentil soup today and I have written it straight into my recipe book as a keeper! It is delicious! Super simple, easy and quick to prepare and will be a regular feature during these colder months.
So happy to hear that Emma! Thanks so much for the great review!
Hi, how long did you simmer the lentils?
Very bland… I don’t trust these other ratings. 😂
If it was bland, then you needed more salt. Our vegetable stock is very salty, which is why we didn’t need to add extra salt (mentioned in the notes). If a recipe is EVER bland, the quickest fix for it is more salt.
This is great, if you want it a little bit more thick add some flour (if not gluten free).
Hi Alison! After cooking for my family for over 20 years, I’m at a point where I no longer enjoy cooking, so I’m always looking for easy, yet still tasty and healthy recipes. This soup is so simple (so few ingredients, took me 10 min prep time) and it’s super creamy without the addition of coconut milk. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us : )
Thanks so much for the wonderful review Christine!
Do you have to blend it for it to taste good? I might make this with friends who don’t have a blender.
If you don’t have a blender you can just use a potato masher to mash it a bit directly in the pot, which just helps it to thicken, it’s fine if there are still chunks.
Delicious! I added a bit more cumin and salt for that extra kick.
Your recipes are all so flavorful – they have been my go-to for months now. Thank you!
Thanks so much Nancy!
Super delicious, and to me tastes very similair to authentic lentil soups (I’m not from the middle east tho but have had my rounds of lentil soups). I added a tad bit more cumin tho as I love extra spiceee
So glad you enjoyed it Marie! 🙂
So simple and so tasty – and it’s even better the next day! I add a teaspoon of chili flakes and some garlic cloves for some extra zest.
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Pearl!
Easy and delicious I added some garlic powder and it needed no other seasonings
Using my mini Cuisinart chopper and my “magic wand” it could not have been easier
Awesome! So happy to hear that Carol, thanks for sharing.
This is literally the best lentil soup I’ve tried in my life . I live in Middle East and normally I eat lentil soup in restaurants. Nothing compared to this one !!! So creamy and tasty ???? keep up the good work
Awesome Dana! Thank you!
Such an easy recipe but again the taste is really good. THX
Awesome! Thanks Chris. 🙂
Absolutely delicious, I added fresh moringa leaf for increased nutrition content and a squeeze of lemon just before serving.
Ok, So recently I decided to do a plant based diet for 5 days, I am now on day 11 and I am so loving it. I was searching for vegan soups (I have braces) and this one came up. Truthfully, I didn’t even know about red lentils until I saw this recipe 🙂 I went shopping yesterday and got some and decided to try this soup this morning. I love how simple and easy the recipe is. Ok…Hands down, this is THE BEST creamy (no added cream) soup that I have ever tasted…Yum!!!! I am just dying to try some for lunch (its now 8am) but I am so looking forward to it. I also added 2 tiny potatoes to mine while cooking. Thanks for an amazing recipe 🙂
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing!
I made this for my home schooling cooking class, I loved it! Also I’ve started baking and your cookie and brownie recipes are a favourite 🙂
So happy to hear that! Thanks Tassie!
I make this all the time, I just add other spices like tumeric, onion powder, garlic powder, a dash of paprika, and some nutritional yeast all for added flavor. This is my favorite soup ever and it’s super cheap to make so it’s become a staple in my diet. Thank you 🙂
So happy to hear that Arianna, thanks so much for posting!
Love your recipes
Thanks so much Catherine!