Smoky Chickpea, Red Lentil & Vegetable Soup
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This warming, satisfying lentil and vegetable soup comes together in just 30 minutes.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
For a vegetarian recipe made almost entirely from pantry staples (and I mean true staples, not staples from some well-stocked dream kitchen), this vegetable soup is surprisingly delicious. It’s thickened by puréeing a portion of the soup and then stirring it back into the pot (a technique I also use in other veggie and bean soups like pasta e fagioli and mulligatawny). This method gives the soup a wonderfully rich and hearty texture without relying on heavy cream or flour. The soup takes just 30 minutes to come together, start to finish, yet tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen, and it’s good for you, too. For the cooked vegetables, feel free to use any quick-cooking, frozen, or leftover vegetables you have on hand. The recipe is extremely flexible and very hearty!
Table of Contents
“Super simple and delicicious. It’s a keeper.”
What You’ll Need To Make Chickpea, Lentil and Vegetable Soup
- Olive Oil: Used to sauté the onions, garlic, carrots, and spices, adding richness and helping to develop a deep flavor base for the soup.
- Onion and Garlic: Provide a savory foundation and depth, essential for building the soup’s overall flavor.
- Carrot: Adds a subtle sweetness and contributes to the hearty texture of the soup.
- Paprika and Cumin: Infuse the soup with smoky and earthy flavors, enhancing the overall warmth and complexity.
- Vegetable or Chicken Broth: Acts as the soup’s liquid base, balancing flavors and providing a rich, savory undertone. Opt for low-sodium broth here.
- Diced Tomatoes: Contribute acidity and a subtle sweetness, adding depth to the broth.
- Red Lentils: Thicken the soup and add protein, creating a hearty texture. It’s important to stick with red lentils here due to their quick cooking time. Use 1/3 cup as specified in the recipe, as using more can make the soup too thick.
- Dried Thyme: Adds an aromatic, earthy note that complements the soup’s savory elements.
- Bay Leaves: Infuse the soup with a mild herbal flavor, enhancing its overall complexity.
- Chickpeas: Add texture, protein, and a nutty flavor, making the soup more substantial.
- Cooked Vegetables: Provide additional texture and nutrients, rounding out the soup with a variety of flavors and colors. I like to use frozen peas and green beans but you can use any quick cooking, frozen, or leftover vegetables you have on hand. The recipe is very flexible!
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by cooking the onions in olive oil until soft. Add the carrots, garlic, smoked paprika and cumin and cook until fragrant, a few minutes.
Add the broth, tomatoes, lentils, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chickpeas and continue cooking 10 minutes more.
Remove a few cups of the soup and place in a blender or food processor.
Purée until smooth.
Pour the puréed soup back into the pot. Stir and taste; if you want the soup to be thicker, purée a bit more. Add the vegetables.
Bring the soup back to a simmer and serve.
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Smoky Chickpea, Red Lentil & Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 14.5-ounce (411-g) can diced tomatoes
- ⅓ cup red lentils
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 15.5-ounce (439-g) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup cooked vegetables, such as frozen peas or chopped green beans
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, smoked paprika and cumin; cook, stirring frequently so the garlic doesn't brown, about 2 minutes more.
- Add the broth, diced tomatoes, red lentils, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer; cook for ten minutes. Add the chickpeas, cover the pot and cook 10 minutes more. Fish out the bay leaves, then transfer 2 cups of the soup to a blender and purée until smooth (be sure to remove the center knob on the blender and cover with a dishtowel to avoid splatters). Add the puréed soup back to the pot and stir. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary; if you want the soup to be thicker, purée a bit more soup. Add the cooked vegetables and simmer until the soup is hot and the vegetables are warmed through. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.
Notes
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Comments
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Hello, Jenn — love your site and I look forward to making this soup! You recommend pairing it with naan and I was wondering if you could suggest a salad or two from your collection that would complement this soup. 🙂
Hi Ann, happy to hear you like the site! This soup would pair nicely with a simple salad like this one with arugula and apples. For something a bit different, you could also try this spinach salad with oranges and caramelized onions. Hope that helps!
Fabulous, thank you! My daughter took the last of the soup with her for school lunch. :-). Thank you for helping make our dinners (and our lunches) healthful and delicious!
super yummy. i don’t think cumin or thyme are necessary here though since smoked paprika is so flavorful on its own. smoked paprika is all you need. also, i would recommend serving it on the next day – soups like this always taste better the next day!
Love the soup! Very rich and creamy.
Next time I will probably go for fresh tomatoes instead. But so far everyone loved it, definitely cooking it again. Thank you!
Really good—wish I had doubled it as others recommended! Thanks Jenn!
This sounds so delicious but I am curious where you and others buy red lentils, after spending a day looking at a variety of grocers and supermarkets in our large metropolitan city, from Walmart to Whole Foods, plus others. Online I have found red lentils (Amazon) for $10 for a pound, which sounds high to me. Are they at specialty markets, like Turkish? It sounds like other lentils don’t work as well in this recipe. Suggestions?
I’m sorry that you’ve had such a hard time finding the red lentils, Judy! I’m surprised as they’re relatively common. I’ve gotten them at my local grocery store as well as Whole Foods. Did you, by chance, try the bulk section at Whole Foods? Perhaps if you share what city you live in, some other local readers can chime in with suggestions.
I persisted, and found them, but they were called Masoor Dal. My soup is cooking and smells wonderful! Thank you.
Regular grocery stores have them with the dried beans. Whole Foods has them in the bulk bins for sure and good ‘ol Trader Joe’s has em!! Called Red Lentils in the places I mentioned or Masoor Dal in Indian grocers.
Safeway doesn’t carry them, but my local Fred Meyer does. I was frustrated too, because I’ve been meaning to try out this recipe! Good luck 🙂
As usual Jenn does not disappoint. Made a double batch this time so it is available for the cold winter months still to come. Sits in my freezer next to you Italian wedding soup and the pasta y Fagiole. Been cooking for 40 years and have never gone back to the same site as much as I visit Once upon a chef! So grateful for this resource.
😊
Could I please check whether I can substitute fresh tomatoes instead of diced from a can?
Definitely!
Absolutely delicious! Had this along with a salad and some bread, and it was super flavorful and filling. I didn’t add chickpeas or beans, and it was still really filling and tasty. Would be so easy to add all sorts of stuff! Also make sure to wash the dal before you add it to remove excess starch (and pick out any stones or bad lentils)!
I’ve made this a few times and have gotten rave reviews…for my personal taste, I reduce the amount of onions & garlic by half…I like to serve this with a green salad tossed with your buttermilk ranch dressing along with french bread. This soup does freeze well…If you’ve never tried the dressing, you’ll love it…I recommend you double the recipe…will go fast!!
I made this recipe for my veggie-loathing brother and he enjoyed it very much. We did not have chickpeas or green beans so I substituted raw, cut up cauliflower instead. It turned out terrific and was filling with a light salad and bread. Even better the next day for work lunch.