Middle Eastern Lentil Soup
Middle Eastern Lentil Soup is the perfect soup for winter. It is made with dried red lentils, carrots, lemon, quinoa and some amazing spices. Best of all it is so easy to make and you can also make it if you have a Thermomix.
Red Lentil & Quinoa Soup (or Arabic Lentil Soup or Lebanese Lentil Soup as it is also known) is a soup I grew up eating. My mum made her version with rice, but I have since adapted it to include quinoa.
It is one of my favourite soups and I love to freeze portions to have at a later date.
This red lentil soup is an amazing healthy soup just like this Mediterranean lentil soup and this Mexican vegetable soup.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE
Gluten free – This recipe is of course gluten free.
Dairy free & vegan option – you can make this red lentil soup dairy free or vegan by substituting the butter with olive oil.
Freezer friendly – you can freeze this soup for 2-3 months.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS
Butter – I use either grass fed or organic butter in this recipe. If you wanted this recipe to be dairy free or vegan, then substitute the butter with olive oil.
Red Lentils – make sure you rinse the lentils really well as they may contain dirt, stones or debris.
Quinoa – you can also make this soup with rice. The version that I grew up with contained rice, but I changed it to quinoa. Make sure you rinse the quinoa or rice.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan on low heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 10 minutes or until the onion has softened.
Step 2. Add the remaining ingredients (except the lemon and quinoa) and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the red lentils are falling apart.
Step 3. Blend the soup with a hand stick blender. You can use a potato mashers if you don’t have a hand stick blender or you can just leave chunky and not blend. It will still taste amazing.
Step 4. Add the quinoa to the soup and stir through. Add the lemon (I recommend adding the lemon slowly and tasting as you go as some people prefer it to have less lemon than others).
Step 5. Serve and enjoy
HOW TO COOK QUINOA
First, you need to rinse the quinoa and then add the (½ cup) quinoa to a small sauce pan with ¾ cup water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.
How to make in your thermomix
INGREDIENTS
- 900g/2lb water
- Pinch of sea salt
- 100g/3.53oz organic quinoa, rinsed
- 1 large onion, halved
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons organic unsalted butter (olive oil would also work)
- 1 large carrot, roughly chopped
- 300g/10.58oz split red lentils
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1250g/2.75lb water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable stock paste
- Juice of 2 – 3 lemons
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cook quinoa – add water and salt to the mixing bowl. Next, add the rinsed quinoa and place in the rice basket and put on the lid. Cook for 20 minutes/Varoma/speed 4. Empty basket into thermoserver.
- Chop onion & garlic – first place onion and garlic into the mixing bowl and chop 3 seconds/speed 7.
- Saute – scrape down the sides with the spatula, then add the butter and saute for 4 minutes/100C/speed 1
- Chop carrots – add the carrot and chop for 3 seconds/speed 7
- Add lentil & spices – add the lentils, tumeric, cumin and sea salt and cook for 1 minutes/100C/speed 1
- Add water & stock – add the water, stock paste and cook 30 minutes/100c/speed 1
- Add quinoa & lemon – when cooked, add the cooked quinoa and lemon juice and stir 10 seconds/3 (reverse mode)
RECIPE FAQS
Simply substitute the butter with olive oil
Yes you can! You can use the exact same measurements.
I like to add lots of lemon when I eat this soup, but some people prefer it to contain less lemon. I highly recommend that you start with the juice from one lemon and add more if you need to. Or you could add the lemon to each individual bowl.
Yes you can! This soup will keep in the freezer for 2-3 months. I like to freeze into the desired portion sizes and then when needed, take out of the freezer and thaw out before heating to eat.
Looking for other winter dinner recipes? Try these:
Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Marsala
30 healthy whole food slow cooker recipes
Lastly, I would love to hear from you if you make this soup. You can either leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! If you do make this recipe, please tag me on Instagram! It really makes my day when I see your creations of my recipes.
Red Lentil & Quinoa Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 TBL organic unsalted butter you can also use olive oil
- 2 cups split red lentils rinsed well
- 1 large carrot chopped
- 1 litre organic/natural vegetable stock
- 3 cups water
- 1 TBL turmeric
- 1 TBL ground cumin
- 2-3 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup organic quinoa cooked as per packet directions
- 2 – 3 lemons juiced
Instructions
- Sauté garlic and onion – Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan on low heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 10 minutes or until the onion has softened.
- Simmer soup – Add the remaining ingredients (except the lemon and quinoa) and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the red lentils are falling apart.
- Blend soup – Blend the soup with a hand stick blender.
- Add quinoa and lemon – Add the quinoa to the soup and stir through. Add the lemon (I recommended adding the lemon slowly and tasting as you go as some people prefer it to have more lemon than others).
Video
Notes
- You can make this soup dairy free and/or vegan by substituting the butter with olive oil.
- You can also use rice instead of quinoa, which will change the nutrition info.
- If you are unsure as to how much lemon to add, start with the juice of one lemon and then add more if needed. Some people (like me) enjoy the soup with lots of lemon juice. Some prefer less. It is really an individual choice.
- If you have a Thermomix – then check out the Themomix method in the post above.
Are you adding chopped cilantro on top?
I added some parsley. But it is purely for decorative purposes for the photos. You don’t need to add it, unless you want to.
Yum ♥️ this soup is amazing!
Thank you so much for all you delicious recipes Vanessa ♥️
It is my fave soup 🙂 So glad you like it xx
Hi, do you have a video showing how to make this soup? Just asking because I learn more from, and enjoy, watching someone make a dish…
No I don’t other than the slideshow one I made that is in the recipe card. Hoping to make videos soon
Hi,
I’m in the process of making this beautiful soup. I’m adding the ingredients into my fitness pal and the caleries on there are much higher per serve. Can I please confirm as I’m sure it’s an error on my end.
167 caleries per serve, 6 serves, 1cup per serve?
It’s smelling so good, we can’t wait to try it!
Thank you
Kerri xx
Hi Kerri, Yes this is the calories per serve as provided by Nutritionox based on the ingredients entered on the recipe card.