Red Lentil Soup

4.95 from 53 votes

A creamy, warmly-spiced red lentil soup that’s anything but ordinary. Richly-flavored and naturally thickened with sweet potatoes, this cozy bowl is the whole package: hearty, wholesome, and flavorful.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Soup

Cuisine: Moroccan-inspired

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings:

Author: Nisha Vora

Ingredients

1 cup (200g) red lentils
3 tablespoons (42g) extra virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing
1 large yellow onion, diced (~ 2 cups / 300g once diced)
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon (10g) freshly grated/minced ginger
½ serrano or jalapeño pepper, finely chopped (optional, see Note 1)
2 tablespoons (30g) tomato paste
1 tablespoon ras el hanout (see Note 2)
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 medium (~ 20 oz / 570g total) sweet potatoes, peeled and finely diced into ¼” cubes, see Note 3 for instructions)
4 cups (960 mL) low-sodium vegetable broth (see Note 4)
1 cup (240 mL) water
1 bay leaf
Freshly cracked black pepper
Several squeezes of fresh lemon juice

For serving

1 handful (~12g) cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
1 small handful (~5g) fresh mint leaves, chopped or torn with hands
~ ½ cup (120g) creamy coconut yogurt (see Note 5)
Flatbread to serve 4 (optional)

Instructions

Add the red lentils to a bowl, cover with water, and soak for 20 minutes.
Multitasking: In the meantime, prep the onion and sweet potatoes (I prep the garlic, ginger, and green chili while the onions cook).
After 20 minutes, drain the lentils and rinse with fresh water.
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until nicely golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. If the onions brown too quickly, add a splash of water and/or lower the heat a touch.
Multitasking: If you feel comfortable multitasking, you can use this time to prep the garlic, ginger, and green chili.
Add the garlic ginger, green chili if using, and tomato paste. Stir almost constantly for 2 minutes, stirring the tomato paste into the aromatics. Add the ras el hanout, coriander, and cumin. Stir constantly for 30 seconds. If it starts to dry out, add a splash of water to deglaze the pan.
Add the finely diced sweet potatoes, lentils, vegetable broth, water, bay leaf, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, and several cracks of pepper.
NOTE: If using sea salt or Morton’s kosher salt, use 1 ¼ teaspoons. If using table salt, use 1 teaspoon.
Stir to combine and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, until the lentils are soft and sweet potatoes are tender and have softened, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and scoop out the bay leaf.
NOTE: If the sweet potatoes still have some bite, simmer for another 5 minutes or until they're tender.
Add an immersion blender to the pot and start on low speed. Blend roughly half of the soup until it’s thicker and creamy but some texture still remains. Don’t blend it all!
If you don't have an immersion blender, carefully transfer roughly half of the soup to a stand blender. Remove the center cap and replace it with a dish towel to allow venting, and blend until pureed. Stir the puree back into the soup.
Add several squeezes of lemon juice and the cilantro to the soup. Taste, adding salt or pepper as needed. Serve in bowls and garnish with a dollop or two of yogurt, a drizzle or two of extra virgin olive oil, and the chopped mint. If desired, serve with flatbread on the side.

Notes

General note: To make this soup as efficiently as possible, use the multitasking steps listed in the instructions.

Note 1: This adds a subtle heat. If you want spicy, use the whole pepper.

Note 2: If ras el hanout is not available, you can have a few options:

1. Use garam masala for an Indian-spiced version
2. Use the following spices: ½ tsp each ground coriander, cumin, and ginger; ¼ tsp each ground turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne pepper
3. Try making this ras el hanout recipe from a Moroccan food writer.

Note 3: No need to be precise about the sweet potato shape; just make sure that they are small-diced so that they fully soften in the time allotted. If you want precise instructions on how to finely dice a sweet potato, here they are:

1. Using a sharp knife, cut the peeled sweet potato in half crosswise.
2. Cut side down, slice from top to bottom into 4 to 5 planks (depending how thick the sweet potato is); the planks should be about ¼” (~7 mm) in thickness.
3. Stack two planks on top of another, then cut them lengthwise (about ¼”) into strips.
4. Then cut the strips crosswise (¼”) into small cubes.

Note 4: If using regular vegetable broth instead of low-sodium, you’ll need to use considerably less salt. Start with just ¼ teaspoon and add more to taste at the end.

Note 5: My go-to yogurts are Culina or Cocojune, which are vegan coconut-based yogurts that are creamy, tart, and have no sweet undertone.

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