FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Simply delicious oil-free vegan recipes

Lentil Soup with Coriander and Cumin

By 97 Comments

This hearty, fragrant, richly spiced lentil soup can be cooked in the pressure cooker in about a half hour or on the stove in an hour.

Lentil Soup with Coriander and Cumin from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Is there a word for when the wind sends the autumn leaves swirling in the driveway, orange blurring with gold, like calico cats chasing their tails? Well, there should be. Though it was unusually warm, yesterday looked like the classic fall day, leaves both bright and brown raining down, revealing the gray bones of the trees. I was out harvesting jalapeno peppers, the last of our summer vegetables, when something about their bright greenness amid all the reds and golds of fall made me stop, pull out my phone, and take a photo:

Jalapenos

The colors also reminded me of one of my favorite lentil soups, which you may remember as Rainy Day Lentil Soup. I’ve created almost a dozen lentil soup variations, but this is the soup I think of when I hear the words “lentil soup,” and it’s the only brown lentil soup I make that’s seasoned with coriander and cumin–just faintly, not enough spice to rival Middle Eastern Red Lentil Soup or Ethiopian Inspired Red Lentil Soup, just a subtle hint that’s warming and inviting on a blustery fall day.

Lentil Soup with Coriander and Cumin

I realized as I was making the soup that I’ve actually changed the recipe slightly over the years. I always increase the amounts of onion, potatoes, and carrots and add a little extra seasoning to the pot near the end. The results are a chunkier soup, almost a stew. I didn’t want to just change the original recipe because so many of you have told me you love it, so I’m presenting my updated version here.

The quickest and easiest way I’ve found to make it is to use an electric pressure cooker, such as the Instant Pot or Fagor Multicooker, both of which I love. But if you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can make this hearty soup in a Dutch oven or large soup pot. It will probably be even easier in a slow cooker, though I haven’t tried that. Let me know in the comments if you have and what settings you used.

Lentil Soup with Cardamom and Cumin
5 from 9 votes
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Lentil Soup with Coriander and Cumin

Cook this rich and fragrant soup in the pressure cooker and have it on the table in about a half hour. But if pressure cooking is not your style, simply cook it in a covered pot over low heat, adding extra water as necessary, until the lentils are tender and then proceed with step #3.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Oil-Free, Vegan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 228 kcal
Author Susan Voisin

Ingredients

  • 2 cups brown or green lentils uncooked
  • 8 cups water or vegetable broth
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 2 large carrots thickly sliced
  • 1 rib celery chopped
  • 2 large gold or red potatoes cut into large cubes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 vegetable bouillon cubes use if water is used instead of broth
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • Additional seasonings: 1/4 teaspoon coriander, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 2 cloves minced garlic
  • salt to taste
  • 4 ounces fresh spinach chopped if large leaves
  • 2 teaspoons Red wine vinegar or lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Pick over the lentils and rinse well.
  2. Start the water or broth heating in the pressure cooker while you chop the vegetables. Add all ingredients except the additional seasonings, salt, spinach, and vinegar into the cooker and bring to a boil. Seal the cooker and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes before using a quick-release method to release the pressure. (If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can simply cook this on the stove until the lentils are tender, about an hour.)
  3. Check to make sure the lentils and potatoes are tender; if not, cook, covered but not at pressure, until done, adding water if it seems too thick. Remove the bay leaves, and add the additional seasonings, salt, and spinach. Check the seasonings, adding more cumin and coriander as needed. Cook for just a few minutes to wilt the spinach. Stir in the vinegar or lemon juice and serve.
Nutrition Facts
Lentil Soup with Coriander and Cumin
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 228
% Daily Value*
Sodium 212mg 9%
Total Carbohydrates 41g 14%
Dietary Fiber 17g 68%
Sugars 3g
Protein 14.4g 29%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Warm up your fall or winter nights with this subtly spiced, low-fat, vegan lentil soup.

Do I Have a Recipe for Lentil Soup?!

Homestyle Lentil Soup
Ridiculously Easy Lentil Soup
Curried Red Lentil Soup with Dandelion Greens
Ridiculously Easy Lentil and Vegetable Stew
Red Lentil Soup with Vadouvan
Italian Lentil and Vegetable Soup
French Lentil and Portabella Stew

Choose one to enjoy!

Susan

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Comments

  3. Usually I wouldn’t look twice at green/brown lentil soup. I tend to stick with the smaller red lentils that dissolve and that don’t give soup that muddy brown look BUT this soup looks fantastic. I think it’s the combination of larger chunks of vegetables that give it more of a bright vibrant look and make it look hearty and more stew like. This would be fantastic with some chunky Italian ciabatta torn into bits and eaten with it. Thank you for a miracle recipe…one that might see me eat my first brown/green lentil in 2 decades! 🙂

    Reply

    • As a long-time semi-vegetarian, I had never thought that brown/green lentils looked “muddy/dirty”. They were just regular to me, and I love them. Good thing to think about when serving non-veggie relatives. Thanks.

      Reply

  5. This looks so delicious, I can’t wait to try it. I’d love to make the bread pictured above to go with it. Will you share the recipe? If it is already here, what is it called?
    I just had your confetti cornbread this past week. Yum…

    Reply

  7. Looks like another great recipe! Yum and with the cold weather, you’re right, this is the soup we need. Can I suggest that you suggest to Shirley who asked about a meatloaf, to try Dreena’s No-fu Love Loaf that you posted a while back. It is very good and slices nicely. Freezes well too!

    Reply

  8. Susan, thanks for the reply!
    I have onions, celery and carrots which I love to put in a brown rice pilaf, so I’ll serve that with your recipe. I’m making it tomorrow, cant wait!

    Reply

  9. This will be tonight’s supper!! I love lentils and this sounds great. I have some baby portabellos I need to use up which I’ll add to it. Off to the kitchen!

    Reply

  10. I made this with the addition of rasam powder..I happen to love spicy food and this gives a whole new dimension to it. I actually have been adding it to everything I make. I picked up this powder in Sri Lanka but you can easily get it in the States..

    Reply

      • Susan,

        Rasam is a south indian (Indian sub continent) tamarind broth based soup.There are many versions of this of which tomato rasam and pepper rasam are most popular. Culturally rasam is served with white rice(You will have to thorrowly mash the rice and pour rasam over it). Rasam is also partaken all by itself in a glass when someone is sick since it is supposed to be easily digested food and pepper has medicinal values for sore throat and cold.

        http://www.sailusfood.com/2009/11/03/rasam-spiced-tamarind-soup/

        PS:

        You can readymade rasam powder at any of the indian grocery stores for under $2. Priya brnad and MTR brand are popular

        Here is my fav rasam receipe:

        Reply

  11. I made this tonight and boy, oh boy, was it good!! This is perhaps my favorite lentil soup, tied with the red lentil and collard soup recipe I got from allrecipes.com. I prepared it in my Instant Pot. Thanks for this very flavorful recipe.

    Reply

  13. Yum! I think I will try this in the crock pot. It is cool and crisp here and time for soup! This weekend I made roasted brussels sprouts off one of your recipes. I added a ton of garlic because I had it and it needed to be used. Delicious!
    Then I baked your Pumpkin Bread and made it without oil into muffins. I was a baking machine. Thanks for the yumminess!

    Reply

  16. Hi Susan,

    What beautiful writing. I loved the beginning, and felt as if I was right in your driveway and yard with you, savoring the bright colors and textures. Thank you.

    And what a great lentil soup treatment! I love the combination of cumin and coriander. Now I’m torn. I was toying with the idea of having the red beans and rice all ready when Mike and Kelly arrive next week. But this soup is ALSO a great Thanksgiving Eve meal. The photo makes me want to sit down and dip into the bowl right now. I absolutely love all kinds of lentils. Some incarnation of this is sure to show up at my table.

    xoxox

    moonwatcher (Maria)

    Reply

  17. This was very, very good! I had it for lunch today. I cooked it in my crockpot over night on low. I did not have brown lentils so I substituted moong dal. It was divine!! I also added 1/8 teaspoon of black salt (Kala Namak). If you have not tried Kala Namak in Indian dishes, you should. It adds that extra something!

    I did not have any potatoes so I left those out. Also I used collards instead of spinach. I was soo sad when my thermos was empty. Guess I will have to have more tomorrow 🙂
    BTW – the timing of this post and most of your posts was perfect!

    Reply

  18. Looks yummy. Do you think black (beluga) lentils would work? Also, I don’t eat white potatoes. Could I use a winter squash instead, like butternut?

    Reply

  19. What a great recipe redux, Susan! I’ve been wishing lately you’d do something marvelous like this and post some of your older recipes! There are so many wonderful things to cook on your website i never get as far back as i intend because i inevitably have all the ingredients for one of your recipes and rush off to make it before digging too deep.
    Oh, and btw I make a lentil soup that is almost exactly like this one and yields the same volume in my standard crock pot. 4 hours on high, or 8 hours on low. For a more tender “stewy” texture like this recipe (drool) you might want to soak the lentils a bit first.

    Reply

    • I want to try this soup in my crock pot. How long would you soak the lentils. I’ve only recently started a vegan diet and am slowly learning more about legumes in general.

      Reply

      • I usually soak mine over night in the fridge, then rinse them and just dump it all in the crock pot. If you soak it you don’t need to cook as long and the longer you cook the more they break down. I like mine more firm but they’re delicious any way they’re cooked. This is a really great starting point for lentils and is totally fool proof; you’ll love it whether it turns out soupy or stew-y. If you like lentils you’re going to love Susan’s blog. She is the master of the lentil! You will learn to love the legume!

        Reply

  20. I can’t believe how good and filling this soup is! Had it tonight for dinner as it is very cold in my house (with no heat) despite the 70 degree day. I will make this again and again. My whole family liked it even my picky 11 yr old who said, “I didn’t ‘not’ like it.” haha, that means he liked it. I didn’t have any vegetable stock or bouillion so just used water and it worked well. I added a little Summer Savory seasoning and a touch of ground cardamom. I didn’t have any coriander so I added more cumin. Mmm…mmm….

    Reply

  21. I made this lentil soup tonight and everyone enjoyed it to the last drop of their bowls. I didn’t need bread at all. I did add sweet potatoes along with the potatoes I had left. It made to soup sweet without any need to add salt and sugar to play with. I love lentils, and I kn

    Reply

  25. Susan, what a great soup and great use for the pressure cooker! I made this last night in practically no time and the taste and texture were terrific. I’d never been a fan of lentil soups because they alway seem to be lentils just floating in flavored liquid and maybe, depending on the recipe, pieces of vegetables. This soup beautifully melded everything into a thick, stew-like bowl of goodness with perfectly tender lentils and vegetables (and it looked pretty too). And the fact that I so quickly put it together after coming home from work is awesome. Thank you for inspiring me to eat healthy, great tasting food!

    Reply

  26. I just finished eating my dinner of lentil soup! It was really good. I’m poor/cheap so i just used ingredients in my fridge. I used potatoes, carrots, lettuce, onion and pressed garlic for veggies. And cumin, curry powder, salt + pepper, garam masala for spices. Not completely the same but similar enough and it was soooo good. I spent 8 weeks in Indian last summer and ate homemade lentil stew most days. This was pretty similar. Thank you! It transported me back to my ashram AND was cheap, simple and delicious. ((My boyfriend threw in some Seroendeng to his pot. It gave his stew a very different taste but it was still good. I may have to experiment with Seroendang soup in the future))

    Reply

  27. Thank you so very much Susan! . When I decided to become a vegan, I thought, my gosh, what would I eat? I can’t imagine food would taste well without chicken or meat or seafood. Now I have so many recipes to try. Thanks to you! You are a wonderful person!

    Reply

  29. I just made this for me and my family. It was so good and super delicious! Warm and wholesome.. The perfect rainy-day winter meal!
    I love this blog so much and I use a lot of these recipes as they are easy for me to make and super healthy too.
    I am 15 and vegetarian. This blog has really inspired and helped me a lot! I make big pots of the stews and soups on the weekends and freeze them in portions so that they are ready for me during the busy week days as the rest of my family are not as vegetarian as I am! I honestly don’t think I’d be able to do it so easily without the help of this blog!
    Thank you so much Susan!
    -Ciara

    Reply

    • Thank you so much for your comment, Ciara! I’m so happy that my blog has been helpful to you. I think you’re so wise to make batches of soups and stews on the weekend–it’s that kind of planning that really makes a vegan diet easier to fit into a busy schedule. Good luck to you and happy holidays!

      Reply

  30. Hi! I am a new FFVK follower, and sooo grateful for all of the recipes! I made this soup today, and it was delicious. I omitted the carrots and potatoes as I didn’t have any on hand. I added 1/2 can of tomato paste, 1 diced tomato, and 1 teaspoon turmeric. Also, I substituted fresh kale for the spinach. Very tasty! Thank you 🙂

    Reply

  31. Yet another winner from you, Susan! I have been using the same lentil soup recipe (from an old PETA cookbook – “The Compassionate Cook”) for many, many years. I saw the picture of this on your site and had to try it. Fortunately, the only thing I didn’t have on hand was a few potatoes, so I picked those up. I cooked it on the stovetop and it was fantastic. We dipped some roasted garlic ciabatta in the stuff and are full. Thanks!

    Reply

  32. It was cold and rainy yesterday and this was perfect for dinner. Thank you Susan for another delicious recipe! I’m definitely keeping this one in my rotation.

    Reply

    • YUM! I just made this on the stove. I added a small zucc when the kale went in and some hot sauce at the end and it is SO delicious… Trying not to eat the whole pot..

      Reply

  36. This is bubbling on the stove now and it smells fantastic!

    I think this is one of the few recipes I did not alter, only because I have everything on hand 🙂

    Thanks Susan!

    Reply

  37. Okay, my husband and I just devoured dinner! Daughter did not really try it but she is 22 months old and not big on trying new stuff.

    This is amazingly delicious for such a simple recipe. I do not have a pressure cooked so just did it on the stovetop and my lentils and potatoes were well cooked at 35 minutes.

    Thanks again for such a great recipe!

    Reply

  38. Yummmmm, just made this in my pressure cooker, my 3 year old twins asked for seconds and THIRDS!!! Deeeelish 🙂 I always know to come to your site first to seek out a recipe, yours are always the best and have the best pics too!

    Reply

  39. This was delicious! We loved the spice combo. My 13 year old daughter nearly polished off the pot! Thank you for including pressure cooker directions. This really was quick and easy; I promised I’d pull together dinner sooner than if we went out, and it worked. Ahhhh….

    Reply

  40. Hi Susan

    I’m loving the site and your recipes!

    I’ve just bought a vitamix at a food show. I’ve been considering it for ages and have finally taken the plunge.

    The main reason was so that I could use it to make healthy soups from scratch.

    Unfortunately, most of the soups that I’ve made have been bitter – due, I imagine, to the fact that I’m not cooking the veg in the traditional stove-top fashion.

    Before I return the vitamix, have you any advice that will ease my concerns?

    Many thanks

    Jo

    Reply

  41. I made this soup last night and it was DELICIOUS. My husband and I were practically licking the bowls. This has been officially added to my recipe binder. Love love loved it.

    Reply

  42. This is perfect – not only do we love lentil soup and the spices cumin and coriander, but we just got a new slow cooker after several years without one and I’m gathering up some good recipes to make in it. I’m definitely going to use it to make this as soon as I’ve gotten all the ingredients! Thank you, thank you!

    Reply

  45. Having our coldest weekend this season in Orlando, FL. Couldn’t pass up making this for dinner. I have plenty left to eat this week. Thank you so much for another great meal.

    Reply

    • Be careful printing out this recipe..I didn’t notice the Print Recipe button until after I hit the print button, 20 pages of comments later it finally stopped! ARRRGGHH! I am so mad at myself for this enormous waste of paper, it has now become “GOOS” paper ( good on one side), very popular in the classroom 🙂

      Reply

      • Oh and I forgot to mention the most important thing, I am making this in my slow cooker! We are having such a chilly start to Spring feels more like Fall out there today, poor little flowers don’t stand a chance. My kitchen is smelling divine, I think it’s going to be another winner as all your recipes are Susan! 🙂

        Reply

  47. I made this soup this afternoon, with the help of my two girls, and I have to say….This soup is absolutely amazing! We made it on the stove top, and the only things I changed was adding one more bouillon cube, and an extra 1/2 tsp of cumin. This recipe makes a hearty, savoury, delicious soup, that my girls could not get enough of. I added a couple handfuls of baby spinach leaves just before turning off the heat, and although my girls don’t really like spinach, they gobbled it up! They ate two bowls of it right away, and will be eating more as soon as they are hungry again. They were actually disappointed that they were too full to have more…lol.
    Thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe. I will be making this one often. My poor Husband, who is on a juice fast at the moment, had to smell it when he came home from work….talk about torture. He’ll be getting his own fresh batch as soon as he’s off of his fast. Thanks again!

    Reply

  48. Delicious! I doubled the amount of vegetables and the spices/seasonings. This is my favorite lentil soup recipe!!! Thank you!!

    Reply

  49. This is a solid (as in reliable), easy to make soup with ingredients normally in the refrigerator. Tasted good. I let cook on the stovetop and it took way less than an hour, however, I am one to forget the lentils and let them boil too long in the beginning!

    Reply

  50. Recently been introducing my boyfriend and his family to vegan food. It’s recipes like this that show people vegan food can be hearty also 🙂 They enjoyed this very much!

    Reply

  51. This is simply to let you know that I tried this recipe and found it easy and delicious. It’s a keeper.

    Reply

  53. This is delicious! I served with a lemon slice. I used Seitanbacher Vegetable Broth and Seasoning instead of vegetable bouillon cubes.

    Reply

  55. Love this recipe. I even made it for my mother who isn’t fond of soup, and she liked it enough that she wants me to make it again!

    Reply

  57. I made this without a pressure cooker, so I just brought everything (minus lentils) to a boil, then added them, turned to low and cooked for an hour. The soup turned out great! I used frozen spinach and extra lemon juice, which made it even tastier! I can’t wait to make this soup again when it gets colder.

    Reply

  58. QUESTION:
    I’m getting serious now about purchasing either the Fagor Multicooker OR the Instant Pot. Which do you prefer? I seem to remember that you have them both, and perhaps gave us a negative comment about the Instant Pot? Thanks for your reply!! xxooxxMarian (& Bill too!)

    Reply

  59. Love it…I love the spices and a friend who is from India taught me a lot about the medicinal properties of spices…my 12 year old Boston Terrier had nasal problems that were resistant to antibiotics…so I used turmeric…if it made him well…me too…so my friend taught me to make “Indian Food”…it is wonderful and made at home…very economical…thanks for your post!

    Reply

  60. Thanks for this delicious recipe! I was having a lot of trouble finding the quintessential lentil soup recipe until I stumbled on yours. My boyfriend and I are both trying to eat less meat. He’s an incredibly picky eater and really liked it a lot. Turned out great in the Instant Pot. I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of the blog.

    Reply

  61. I just went vegan recently and always on the hunt of nice low fat/fat-free recipes and I am delighted that I have found this blog which gives me so many ideas.

    My first attempt was this Lentil soups, as Lentils was even in my meat time one of my favorites and what can I say – This soup turns out so great. Couldn’t stop eating.

    Thanks for this fantastic recipe!

    Reply

  62. Hi. Your lentil soup with coriander and cumin recipe popped up on my Facebook newsfeed today. Decided to make it only to discover I was down to one potato, and it was a sweet potato, not the gold or red the recipe calls for. I ultimately went for it with bit of improvisation – one cubed sweet potato and some cubed turnip as well. Turned out scrumptious!

    Reply

  63. This is great! I did almost everything you told me to do. 😉 I left out the carrots because I’d made a big pot of veggie stew yesterday with plenty of them but I had some turnips I chopped and tossed in, and a couple tiny sweet potatoes I also cut small so they’d just disintegrate into a “seasoning” I also left out the celery. But other than that I followed your instructions and used lemon juice at the end. This is delicious Susan! Thank you! 🙂

    Reply

  64. I made this in the pressure cooker exactly as written and it was fabulous. The combination of the coriander and bay leaves really give a depth of flavor. This will be a definite repeater.

    Reply

  65. when you say “green lentils” do you mean the French Puy lentils? I love those (especially mixed with minced pistachios and pecans in the tomato sauce for lasagna).

    As for the “regular” lentils, I have pretty much a love/hate relationship with them. I eat them, but only if they’re cooked to absolute smushiness; but if I make a big pot of soup, I get tired of ’em quick and the rest either goes to waste or grows fur. I’ve taken to only making (brown) lentil soup when I go to a veg*n potluck, and even then there’s LOTS of veggies and double, or even triple the amount of cumin most people use :). I really need to start making half batches of things I less-than-absolutely-love, so I have a variety of leftovers and nothing goes bad!

    Reply

  66. Susan, soups with beans, carrots and potatoes, Love Them!! I appreciate all you do and the shares. Thank you, Susan =) Love that spinach is in there, too =)

    Reply

  67. You recomment adding spices at the end…..why.
    how would adding spices in beginning affect taste. please reply to my email, i cannot ck this site
    Thank You

    Reply

    • I will include my answer here for others who have the same question. Cooking, especially pressure cooking, weakens the flavors of the spices, so adding more at the end makes it more flavorful.

      Reply

  68. Had forgotten how delicious and warming this soup is! Made it infrequently in Arizona, but now live where it’s cold and snowy – completely hit the spot. I used the Instant Pot and did add additional spices at end, as you noted in previous comment. Thanks.

    Reply

  69. This is my family’s favorite lentil soup recipe. It is one of the few recipes where I actually measure ingredients because it comes out so good. Only change is 9 minutes at pressure rather than 10.

    Reply

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