Easy Vegan Red Lentil Soup
I love meals that warm you from the inside out, and this vegan red lentil soup certainly does that. Perfect for those cold, wet, rainy days when you just want to curl up on the couch and enjoy a warm, homey bowl of soup.
Meals that are good for you and your wallet. This one-pot lentil soup can feed lots of mouths or make the perfect freezer-friendly meal to enjoy whenever you like.
This creamy red lentil soup takes next to no time to make, and since there are only the two of us in our household, it means leftovers for the next day! Who doesn’t love leftovers? It’s the perfect weeknight meal.
You can experiment with the spices and herbs you use to suit your pallet, but I think the ones I’ve selected work really well together to help keep you warm over winter. Try adding some curry powder if you’d like a more complex and Indian-inspired soup.
Free Recipe eBook
Join our newsletter and get our eBook featuring exclusive breakfast recipes to kickstart your mornings.
Is red lentil soup good for you?
Sure is! Here are some great benefits:
- Good source of protein
- Red lentils have high levels of vitamin-B, in particular B-3 and B-12
- It’s rich in iron
- Full of fibre
- Helps to stabilise blood sugar levels
- Very low in fat – however we do add some healthy fats to this recipe
- Rich in complex carbohydrates
- The use of warming spices that have their own health properties like ginger, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric and chilli
- It’s a great anti-inflammatory with the amount of turmeric used
With all those benefits, what’s there not to love about this tomato and red lentil soup?
Tips on how to make this vegan red lentil soup
- If you want the soup extra creamy, you can blend up to half the soup and add it back in to the pot.
- I’ve tried this recipe with red bell peppers, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and spinach and they all make a great addition. I wanted to keep the base simple as a great base for you to add anything else you’d like. Adding more vegetables can make it a more substantial meal.
- It’s easy to freeze. Just portion it out into single serve containers and freeze for up to three months. Thaw out in the fridge overnight before heating up.
- Make sure you toast the spices first as directed in step one in the instructions to make sure you get the maximum flavour out of them. Using freshly ground spices will always result in a more complex, rich flavour.
- Soaking the lentils beforehand helps to cook them faster and make them more digestible. It’s not necessary, but I highly recommend it. Make sure to rinse and drain the water before adding it to the pot.
- This soup tastes better with age so store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
This vegan red lentil soup with coconut milk is:
- The perfect starter or main meal in the cooler months
- Very nutritious and flavourful
- Takes only 45 minutes to make
- Serves six to eight people
- An economical meal
- The perfect weeknight meal
- Tastes better with age
- Perfect recipe for your weekly meal rotation
Where can you buy split red lentils?
There are a few different places where you can find split red lentils. Here’s a list for you:
- Supermarket – might be in the legume or Indian section
- Indian grocer
- Bulk food store
- Online stores like Amazon
- Local organic grocer
If you have leftover split red lentils, no problem! It’s no secret I love using split red lentils in my recipes. Here’s a recipe for my red lentil curry and stew!
Some other great recipes you’ll enjoy:
- Cauliflower Potato Curry with Coconut Milk
- Curried Crouton Chickpea Pumpkin Soup
- Immune Boosting Bean Soup
- Easy Vegan Chickpea Soup
- One-Pot French Lentil, Mushroom and Sage Stew
- Hearty Mung Bean Stew With Kale
- Vegan Laksa
If you try this recipe, let me know! We’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest.
Print
Easy Vegan Red Lentil Soup
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6
Description
This split red lentil soup is quick and easy to make. It’s the perfect budget-friendly meal for a cold day to warm you up from the inside out!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons coconut or olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons ginger, finely grated
- 1 red chilli, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 can / 400ml / 13.52 ounces coconut milk
- 2 cups / 400g split red lentils (soaked for 2hrs)
- 4 cups / 1 litre vegetable stock (store-bought or homemade)
- 1 can / 400g / 14.10 ounces chickpeas (rinsed and washed)
- ½ cup fresh coriander, chopped (plus extra for garnish)
- 1–2 teaspoons salt, to taste
Instructions
- Place a large heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium heat and add the oil, onion, garlic, ginger, and chilli. Sauté for around 5 minutes until the onion softens.
- Add in the cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander powder and stir well and cook for another minute.
- Add in the tomatoes and tomato paste sauté for another 5 minutes.
- Once the tomatoes have softened and all the flavours have infused, add in the coconut milk and lentils (once you’ve drained and washed them) and stir for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the stock and stir well; simmer for 15 minutes. You will notice that the lentils start turning yellow.
- Add in the chickpeas and cook for a further 10 minutes.
- Once the lentils are cooked, take off the heat and stir in the coriander.
- Add salt to taste and garnish with coriander just before serving.
Notes
Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Just add a little bit of water as it will be a thicker consistency once cooled. It will also freeze well and keep for up to 3 months.
- Diet: Vegan
I added spinach and next time will add more. A flavorful, satisfying meal! Everyone loved it.
Thank you for sharing, and for the review! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Wonderful soup, really warmed me up. I added a teaspoon ground cumin and omitted the cilantro since I didn’t have any. Tasted just right. Proper amount of spices.
Thanks for sharing, Saskia. I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it!
I really enjoyed this soup. Just the right amount of spices and rich in protein too. I made this when I was tired and in need of a boost. It hit the spot. I didn’t have fresh chillis so used a dried Kashmiri chilli, and no fresh coriander but it was tasty enough without. Will definitely be making again. I thought 1 tablespoon of turmeric would be too much but not at all, and also seemed alot of red lentils but worked out just fine. I also doubled the tomato paste as I needed to use some up. All in all, an easy and tasty recipe, thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it, Tina! Thanks for the lovely review x
This was delicious! My new favorite lentil soup. Even our kids (who are fussy eaters) loved it.
Oh yay! I’m so happy to hear you all loved it, Jenny! Thank you for the review x
I made this soup last night and I am in love! It tastes just like a soup from back in my hometown that I have never been able to recreate. Thank you so much!
That makes me so happy! Glad you loved it and thank you for the review 🙂
I had no coriander so I used curry powder. I loved the idea of this soup, but I feel the flavors needed to be pumped up a bit.
I’m going to try it again when I buy coriander. Love the recipe though, thanks!
I’m sorry it wasn’t to your taste, Maureen. I hope you enjoy it more with the coriander 🙂 Feel free to add other herbs and spices if you like a bit more punch in your cooking.
excellent simple warming up meaThank you Maša
Awww, thank you Lučka! xx
Soups like this are definitely on the agenda for the cool Autumn weather here in Australia.. so thanks for this red lentil soup recipe!
You are welcome Thalia! It has been super cold the last couple of weeks. Feels like Winter has hit early this year.