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.
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:
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.
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.
Do I Have a Recipe for Lentil Soup?!
Yes, many!
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!
Lentil Soup with Coriander and Cumin
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
- Pick over the lentils and rinse well.
- 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.)
- 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.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
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Gloria Huerta
I love lentils. By the way, that´s one of the Mexican ways of eating lentils.
shirley gordon
how about a veggie meatloaf that does NOT fall apart and can really be sliced
Susan Voisin
Have you tried Dreena’s No-fu Loaf? Slices perfectly. https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/04/dreenas-no-fu-love-loaf.html
narf7
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! 🙂
Laura
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.
urbanvegan
Gorgeous, healthy autumnal soup. Susan, your photos are always so inviting.
Cheryl
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…
Susan Voisin
Unfortunately, I bought the bread so I don’t have a recipe for it. I tend not to bake bread because I’ll wind up eating too much of it.
Vicky
This looks sooo warming! I love lentils!
acd6pack
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!
Susan Voisin
Thanks! I was thinking the same thing about Dreena’s loaf.
Cheryl
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!
Barb C
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!
lani
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..
Susan Voisin
I will have to look around for rasam powder. That’s a spice I haven’t tried yet!
sowji
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:
lani
I didn’t know the rest of the info about rasam..I will definitely try the soup! Thank you!
Lisa
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.
Susan Voisin
I’m so glad you liked it, Lisa!
Allysia
Totally pinning this recipe, Susan – green lentil soup is the best ever! And cumin and coriander just smell so beautiful. Heaven!
Dawn
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!
The Nomad
I can’t wait to try this! I’ve been craving a lentil stew but was hesitant to jump into it. Thanks for the recipe.
Erica
This looks amazing! Perfect thing for a cold day.
moonwatcher
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)
Rochelle
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!
Joan
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?
Susan Voisin
Sure, I think both of those substitutions will be fine. Hope you enjoy it!
sepeters
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.
hrgdane
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.
sepeters
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!
Susan Voisin
Aw, thanks, sepeters! It’s true that I am crazy about lentils. 🙂
Krista E
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….
moonwatcher
Wow, Krista, summer savory and cardamom with the cumin–what an inspired variation on the seasonings!
moonwatcher
Krista E
Thanks! These tweaks lend to ‘secret ingredient’ status 🙂 Summer Savory is so awesome!
Diana
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
Diana
And I know this recipe is a definitely a keeper.
Karen
I think I will try this next week in the crockpot!
Michelle@HappyHeart
This looks delicious! Love a good hearty soup this time of year…and one that comes together easily is definitely the day to go!
ArtistViv
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!
The Nomad
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))
puraG
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!
elizabeth
What brand of vegetable bouillon cubes do you like? I haven’t found one I love, so I usually just use water and salt.
Krista E
I like Rapunzel brand which I find in Whole Foods.
Krista E
Those are good to have no hand, but it’s easy to make a batch of vegetable broth and freeze or can it.
elizabeth
I should definitely make some broth in the pressure cooker.
Susan Voisin
I like the Not Chicken cubes by Edwards & Sons.
moonwatcher
Hi,
I made the soup tonight with a combination of Susan’s spicing and Krista’s. I used it all and it was great. I used a white sweet potato and a German butter ball potato from my garden stash, and a few tomatoes pieces, too. Instead of celery, I used some lovage I had in the freezer. I make the chickeny buillon cubes from the Vegan Slow Cooker. I used up the last ones I had made with lovage during the summer. Thanks for all the inspiration you two!! We certainly have the village it takes to make delicious meals.
xo
moonwatcher
moonwatcher
elizabeth
Thank you. I haven’t tried that brand yet.
ciaradinneen
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
Susan Voisin
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!
journeyofbliss
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 🙂
bonnie
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!
Sharon
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.
Louise
Your blog is an inspiration! I love lentil soup and this one looks absolutely delicious. Healthy and wholesome.
Kathleen @ Kat's Health Corner
Oh my gosh. I absolutely LOVE lentils!!!! I am SO making this asap!!! 😀 (Just added it to my list of recipes for college.)
MIA
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..
Ariana
This looks and sounds so delicious, i cant wait to try it!
Robyn
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!
Robyn
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!
Susan Voisin
I’m so glad you liked it, Robyn!
Suzi
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!
MariaL
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….
Jo Christian
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