Bring vegetable oil to temperature in a soup pot on medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion, garlic, and celery and stir to combine. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
Stir in the parsnip, cover and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Add the spices, salt and pepper, then the lentils. Stir together and cook uncovered for 2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to temperature.
Right before the soup comes to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the stovetop to your work surface. Add the lemon juice, dill and spinach. Cover and let sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. Stir, season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve.
Lentil Soup with Lemon
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Vidalia onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper
2 cups red lentils, rinsed
8 cups pure vegetable broth
2 cups baby spinach, rinsed
juice from 2 lemons
¼ cup chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Bring vegetable oil to temperature in a soup pot on medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion, garlic, and celery and stir to combine. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
Stir in the parsnip, cover and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Add the spices, salt and pepper, then the lentils. Stir together and cook uncovered for 2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to temperature.
Right before the soup comes to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the stovetop to your work surface. Add the lemon juice, dill and spinach. Cover and let sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. Stir, season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve.
Lentil Soup with Lemon
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Celery, onion and parsnip as the base for this spiced lentil soup finished with a squeeze of lemon…
Our LENTIL SOUP WITH LEMON is like a healthy, wholesome, vegetarian dream come true!
This post is in answer to your requests for more healthy, vegetarian meal ideas. It’s loaded with wholesome ingredients and has a very fine finish, thanks to vitamin-rich greens, lemon and dill. It also has one more claim to fame: it’s a 100% vegan soup recipe. So when it comes to healthy and vegetarian, this LENTIL SOUP WITH LEMON certainly delivers!
Before I go through the reasons why you need to make this pronto, I figure it’s best to also share a few more of our other most popular soup options. Make sure to save the following recipes for future reference; they’re so delicious, you’ll be making them again and again! Try this tangy CARROT ORANGE SOUP or our CURRIED SQUASH WITH COCONUT – both are simple to make. You can try our EASY HOMEMADE TOMATO SOUP, too!
Ready to make LENTIL SOUP WITH LEMON? You’re going to love it!
GOOD STUFF
The flavour for this soup comes from some readily available ingredients. That was our goal, to keep it all very simple. I maintained that approach with the spices we used too – nothing complicated.
One thing you may want to do in advance is to make this PURE VEGETABLE BROTH recipe. I always have backups of this essential ingredient sitting in the freezer. A quick thaw the night before, and you’ll be good to go. It’s a wonderful base for this recipe.
BRIGHT WHITES
The start of the recipe has us sautéing a sweet Vidalia onion, garlic and parsnip. Don’t be fooled by these bland looking vegetables – they’re used to brighten the flavour profile of the soup. My measurements yield a rich-tasting soup, but feel free to add more of these ingredients to taste.
LENTIL LOVE
They may be tiny, but lentils are mighty! Red lentils, members of the legume family, are a powerhouse of nutrition. High in fibre to lower cholesterol, they also contain B-vitamins and protein, preventing blood sugar levels from rising after a meal. Lentils fill us up, not out! Between us, I’m a big fan. Head HERE to find out more about lentils.
Two additional things of note: always give your lentils a good rinse before adding them to the pot, and don’t be bummed out when they lose their colour while cooking. Unlike our RED LENTIL SIDE DISH, their bright colour fades away in this application. The good news is their taste and health benefits don’t. Wait until you try them in this soup.
HIGH NOTES
While working on this recipe, I had a moment of inspiration where I wanted to finish the soup on a high note. I added the final three ingredients – spinach, lemon and dill – almost as an afterthought, but they did wonders for the pleasing flavour of it all.
I also love how the spinach wilts in the pot before we stir it in with the lemon juice and fresh dill.
Before you head off to make this LENTIL SOUP WITH LEMON, two final things we love. First, this soup is easy to enjoy – I kept serving it from mugs. Not sure if it was the portability or portion size, but it just seemed so right! I also ended up freezing a couple of portions so that I could enjoy it on a cold blustery day. It tastes equally fab after freezing too!
Make your next adventure in healthy soup-making count. Try this LENTIL SOUP WITH LEMON!
Bring vegetable oil to temperature in a soup pot on medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion, garlic, and celery and stir to combine. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
Stir in the parsnip, cover and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Add the spices, salt and pepper, then the lentils. Stir together and cook uncovered for 2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to temperature.
Right before the soup comes to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the stovetop to your work surface. Add the lemon juice, dill and spinach. Cover and let sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. Stir, season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve.
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