In the Middle East, I developed a love affair with lentil soup. This lentil soup has a great depth of flavor and a thick texture. This recipe will transport you back to starry desert nights and is straightforward but pleasantly intense. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley, yogurt, and grated Parmesan cheese on top.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ onion, finely diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon chile powder
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cups water
- 1 ¼ cups green lentils
- 1 small yellow squash, diced (Optional)
- 1 cube vegetable bouillon
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 cup chopped kale, or to taste
Instructions
- Turn on a multi-functional pressure cooker (such as Instant Pot®) and select Saute function. Warm olive oil for 3 minutes. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook until onion is soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, white pepper, fennel, and chile powder. Cook for 2 more minutes. Stir in tomato paste.
- Pour in broth and water. Stir in lentils and squash. Crumble bouillon cube over the top and mix well, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any browned bits. Cancel Saute Mode.
- Close and lock the lid. Select high pressure according to manufacturer’s instructions; set timer for 8 minutes. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for pressure to build.
- Release pressure using the natural-release method according to manufacturer’s instructions for 10 minutes. Open valve to vent remaining steam, about 5 minutes. Unlock and remove the lid.
- Mix in lemon juice and toss kale leaves just on top of the soup. Replace lid and allow kale to steam for about 5 minutes. Remove lid and adjust seasonings, if desired, before serving.
- You can also use 1 large chicken bouillon cube instead of vegetable bouillon.
- Use red lentils instead of green, if preferred.
- Substitute lime juice for lemon juice if preferred.
Reviews
My husband even liked it! Said it might win him over for lentil soup.
Learning my new InstaPot and made this recipe. Came out deliciously flavorful and pretty simple. Will definitely be making this one again!
It came out delicious. I love using the veggie mix.
A little too salty for me so next time I’ll cut the salt in half. Also needed to pressure cook longer for the lentils. I did 10 minutes to start and after that round did another 5 minutes. Other than those two notes, this was good and we will make it again!
Absolutely delicious! I literally just made it and finished my first bowl. Really tasty. This recipe is a keeper.
This was delicious, but next time I will reduce the time to 6 min, because it was a little too mushy… still delicious though!
This was delicious. Next time, I’ll add less water. The flavor is rich and just spicy enough. There wasn’t any summer squash in my little town, so I used a sweet potato. Totally yummy.
This is a keeper! But I did change it up a bit. Added about a pound of Italian sausage, doubled all the spices, didn’t have a squash so used a large sweet potato. Also used several kinds of lentils. It was delish! Left overs even better.
My husband made this with my coaching. (I was grounded due to a surgery). Changed up a bit because used what we had. Instead of squash, we added a diced green pepper and sautéed with onions etc. Only had 2 cups of chicken broth so added 5 cups water and 5 beef bouillon cubes and 1 chicken. Added 2T red wine Didn’t have yogurt or equivalent but was yummy with just kale and lemon juice. Oh and we didn’t have tomato paste but had a packet of Tex-mex paste from a paste meal kit. Not sure which one but maybe Tex-Mex paste is a thing?
Best lentil soup! Sometimes I add a little bacon at the beginning. Gives it that extra flavor!
Best lentil soup I’ve ever made using chicken broth, next time I make it I will try using a broth made from smoking a pork sholder.
This recipe is delicious. The whole family loved it and it makes a big batch you can save in the fridge or freezer for later. It tastes even better after a couple of days. Super yummy!
This is a delicious soup! I successfully used spinach —didn’t have any kale. I also used hot chili powder and it had a kick that was also delicious. I would suggest not doubling the recipe unless you have the largest instant pot. I was up to the max line in my pot when I doubled and then couldn’t add all the squash it called for in the recipe —still very good!
I didn’t have any vegetable stock on hand so I used chicken stock, and I almost doubled the amount of the spices, some nice heat came thru with the increase in chile powder.
This soup turned out delicious! I will definitely make it again. I will probably use less red pepper next time. It’s a matter of taste!
I hesitate making soups (other than chicken noodle) because I’m not a huge fan. This one I would definitely make again and I was definitely a fan of the taste. I omitted the coriander, kale and squash because I didn’t have any. This is an excellent, easy recipe.
Easy to make. It was delicious!
I used the ingredients and flavors as a base for my very delicious soup. I added diced tomatoes and a jalapeño pepper to jazz it up.
This soup caught my eye as we are in northern Ohio and a hot soup is still appealing in early April. Due to the world Virus, supplies vary at the grocery store. I bought 3 one-pound cans of lentils and drained them because there were no dried lentils. I used my soup pot on the stove top instead of the Instant Pot. All else exactly the same. Delicious!
Delicious! Only change I made was to cook on my stovetop and use zucchini instead of yellow squash. Husband and kid approved!