Remember that one time I preached about not letting kale rule your life and then posted a recipe with kale two days later? The irony is killing me.
Lentil soup fixes everything. It’s totes a cure all. Smashed veggie tacos at 3am? Eat lentil soup. Devoured obscene amounts of chocolate when it was or wasn’t that time of the month? Eat lentil soup. Broke your toe? Eat lentil soup.
Lentils are just lovely.
This soup is total detox in a bowl. Like it’s impossible to get sick if you’re eating it. Chock full of veggies, fiberful lentils and chunks of taters, this truly is one hearty bowl of heaven. I took it for lunch today in my new fave thermos that’s meant for small children not full-grown hummusapiens. I heated it up at 730am till it was piping hot and then popped it in my pink thermos. It wasn’t as hot by noon, but it was still plenty warm and enjoyable. Thermos = my new BFFL.
This recipe is super easy to make and pretty darn customizable as well. Feel free to swap in sweet potatoes and leave the potatoes out all together. Use spinach instead of kale if you so fancy. I used half a bag of frozen kale from Trader Joe’s that I thawed in the micro and it worked just fine. The only thing you really can’t change is the type of lentil. Red lentils cook much faster and will turn this soup into mush, so make sure to use brown lentils unless you want to eat goop soup. You can grab a whole bag of lentils for less than a couple bucks.
I’m just not digging green smoothies at the moment. I mean I just haven’t been in the mood. I want to eat all my veggies in a bowl of warm and fuzzies that’s obnoxiously slurpable.
Done and done.
Hearty Lentil, Kale & Potato Soup
Hearty Lentil, Kale & Potato Soup
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 1 cup dry lentils (not red), rinsed and picked over
- 4 cups vegetables broth + 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp coriander
- 1 large potato, dixed (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 bunch kale, ribs removed and chopped finely (or half a bag of thawed from frozen kale)
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrots and sauté until softened, about ten minutes.
- Add lentils, broth, water, salt, garlic, cumin and coriander. Stir together and bring to a boil. Once soup has reached a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for 20 minutes.
- Add chopped potatoes and simmer, covered for 15 more minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
- Add kale and simmer, covered for 5 more minutes, or until kale is wilted.
- Remove from heat and stir in red wine vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Made a double batch of this today, it is delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
You’re so welcome–good call on making double 🙂
I recently stumbled upon your blog when I was searching for a lentil soup recipe. I immediately stopped looking after I found this and made it the next day, it was soo good! I wanted to thank you for sharing your recipes and being such a food enthusiast! I’m glad our paths have crossed and I hope you have a wonderful day:)
★★★★★
Awww thanks so much for the sweet comment, Marissa! So glad you enjoyed the soup!
Would you substitute using chicken broth?
Yes, you can use chicken broth or water instead of vegetable broth.
Wonderful soup for a cool night here in the mountains. Picnic on Sat-special guest will by your “Greek Orzo Pasta Salad”. Thank you!
Awwww so glad to hear that! Thanks, Jamie!
I was looking for a good soup recipe and this was exactly what I was looking!! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! It’s delicious, healthy, and filling 🙂 what more could a girl want?
★★★★★
This was delicious! The vinegar at the end totally makes it.
★★★★★
Awesome! The vinegar definitely brightens it up. Lemon juice works, too!
Agreed, I actually forgot the vinegar until I was done and tried some, then after adding I found it really brought all of the flavors together well.
have you tried this in a crockpot?
Hi Suge–I haven’t tried this in a crockpot, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
Can I use black lentils?
I think that would be fine!
I’m going to cook this right now and top it with some sliced avocado and lemon juice. I’ll report back. 🙂
★★★★★
Mmmmm avocado on top is perfection!
Loved it! I used Trader Joe’s steamed lentils and put in for last 5-10 minutes of cooking time. Also put grated Parmesan on top when serving.
★★★★★
Those are so amazing to have in a pinch. Love the Parmesan addition!
this is deeeeeelish! thank you x
★★★★★
Great recipe, thank you! I’ve got some left over kale so can’t wait to give it a go! Do you think you could freeze any leftovers?
You’re very welcome, Sarah! I definitely think you could freeze the leftovers. Enjoy!
Oh my word….just made this and I think it’s the nicest thing I’ve had for a while! It will certainly brighten up my day at work when I have it for lunch!
Fabulous! That’s so great to hear 🙂 Enjoy!
why not red lentils? I just bought some last night and made a lentil spinach masala dish, and was thinking about using them for this recipe tonight!
Red lentils cook much faster than green or brown lentils, so they will turn to mush. Hope you enjoy it!
Sounds delicious! What kind of vegetable broth do you use? I can’t seem to find one that is low in sodium. Could I use water instead of vegetable broth?
I used Trader Joe’s regular vegetable broth. I don’t like using low-sodium since I always end up adding more sale to flavor it anyway :/ You could use water, but it may not be as flavorful! I’d suggest adding more spices to amp up the flavor if you use water.
Best soup ever! Best soup ever! BEST SOUP EVER!!! 🙂
Awwww yay! Thanks for commenting back 🙂
I’ve been craving lentils and this looks like the cure! Yum 🙂
It’s the best cure around, promise. I’m gonna cry when it’s gone…which will be like tomorrow. Eeeeek!