The green flavor you adore is combined with delicious garlicky richness in this garlic spinach.
| Prep Time: | 5 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 chile pepper, chopped
- 1 cup red lentils
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
- 1 cup water
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ cup sour cream, for topping (Optional)
- 2 sprigs fresh basil leaves for garnish (Optional)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Lightly brown the onions in the oil. Add the tomatoes, chili pepper, lentils, cumin and basil to the pan along with the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.
- When the lentils have softened, use a stick blender to puree the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. For a special touch, put sour cream in a squirt bottle, and squeeze a spiral onto the top of each bowl of soup, and garnish with a sprig of fresh basil.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 239 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 32 g |
| Cholesterol | 6 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 11 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 269 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 7 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Yummy recipe BUT if you follow the recipe exactly you get something the consistency of mashed potatoes. I added 1 cup of chicken broth, cooked it a little longer and then it was perfect. The flavor was still spicy enough too.
We love this so much we make it frequently. It is the easiest and quickest soup I have ever made. So satisfying too. I have packets of the mixed spices ready to go for a quick dinner.
I read quite a few of the reviews, and I did make a couple of adjustments. First, I decided to have a “meatless Monday” so I used vegetarian broth. I also used a jalapeño instead of a chile pepper, and oregano instead of basil. When the lentils were soft, the soup looked thick, so I added some more broth to it until it was what I considered the right consistency. I think this can be a thick soup almost like stew or as thin as you like it. The end result? We both loved it. Healthy, easy and good for you!
#AllrecipesAllstarsCanada #Soups, Stews and Chili Challenge I love soups more than stews. As written this soup would have been more of a stew than a soup. I added another can of tomatoes and more water to make it “soupier”. I upped the spice level a bit too. Added a touch of cayenne and chilli flakes for my tastes.
I tripped the amount of water, and simmered the soup for 30 minutes.
I’ve made this twice now. We LOVE this although it is too thick to call soup. I did not modify it and made it just like it reads.
I subbed coconut oil for olive oil, and crushed red peppers instead of diced chili pepper since these were what I had on hand. I added oregano, thyme, parsley, minced garlic and 1 can of rinsed garbanzo beans. I also added salt and a little turmeric (for anti-inflammatory properties) at the end. I omitted cumin and forgot to add the bay leaf, but this soup still turned out very delicious, so easy to make, and I’ll definitely cook this again! Thanks for sharing!! I think this will also be good with carrots added too so I’ll try that next time.
I cheated with this recipe, didn’t have the pepper handy, so combined the pepper heat and the tomatoes by adding a can of Rotel, this one with lime and cilantro included, And used plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Great basic recipe, easy to adapt to a quick and dirty dinner, or follow as is. Like others I increased the water a bit. I like it before and after blending…
Very tasty with a few moderations! I added minced garlic, and instead of using a chile pepper I added 1 tsp white pepper, and 1/2 tsp dried red chile pepper flakes. Also 2 additional cups of water were added at the end. I also used chicken bouillon instead of stock. Will make again!
I thought this was fine. I did have to add a lot of liquid though. 1 cup was definitely not enough for the lentils. I didn’t have diced tomatoes with chiles, so I added 1 cup of mild salsa. I also added a batch of turkey meatballs at the end. Great low calorie meal.
I think this recipe would have been lovely just as written… but as any good home cook does, I tailored it to fit my family’s taste. I kept the basic recipe almost the same (doubled) and then added 2 carrots (that I sauteed with the onions), 2 large handfuls of fresh kale (that I also sauteed before adding the liquid), cumin seeds instead of ground cumin (that I roasted in the bottom of the pan that I sauteed in), and some mexican oregano. I also did not have red lentils, so I used the brown lentils we had on hand. I added enough water to keep it a soup but not give it a watered down taste. And I salt and peppered to taste. It was a hit with the whole family!
This is one of my favorite recipes for lentil soup. Whenever I make it, I use two cups of water and simmer the soup for 30 minutes.
Great recipe. Added some garlic as well. Easy to make and tastes great.
Easy to make but I found it quite bland. I tried adding veg stock cubes and more cumin but still pretty average.
Fast and Easy basic recipe for Tomato Lentil Soup.
I have made this recipe several times and NEVER had a problem with it getting thick–until today. Two things occurred which are different from usual and I don’t know which one was the culprit but I suspect it was a combination of the two. First, I forgot to rinse the lentils and second I didn’t cook them until they were mush. They were done when I blended them but they weren’t mushy. Next time I will pay better attention. It has taken a lot of extra spices, beef broth, red wine, and some cream to fix my mistake.
This is my first lentil soup and I did use other reviews to do as follows – used 4 cups no salt added chicken broth, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 cup shredded carrot and 1 cup cooked spinach. I also used a can of diced tomatoes with chiles and lime juice. Quite yummy!
Very tasty! I did a lot of substituting with what was on hand–a can of Rotel tomatoes instead of plain tomatoes and a chile pepper–and I used oregano instead of basil and added a 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle powder, which included salt and pepper. Only problem was that pot was too big and soup was too shallow for the immersion blender. Next time I will double the recipe, and/or add more water!
Excellent recipe! Wouldn’t change a thing. The measurements were spot on. I grew up having traditional lentil soup but was in the mood for Tomato soup and found this recipe. Glad I did! My husband loved it too!
It was very good BUT even though I added another cup of water it was NOT soup. What did I do wrong? However I will try it again.
This recipe turned out delicious. I used 1/2 a serrano pepper. I wasn’t paying attention to the directions and accidentally cooked the lentils beforehand. I ended up putting 2 cups of cooked lentils AND 1 cup of water in the pot. I also used 1Tbsp of fresh basil instead of dried. It blended beautifully and was the perfect tomato soup consistency. Nice flavor with a little kick to it.