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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Very yummy and satisfying on these cold winter days! I took the advice someone else added and tossed in a pinch of crushed red pepper as well. I also doubled the recipe so I could freeze some for a future quick meal. Perfecto! Thanks Jenn!
Making this for the millionth time on a cold snowy day.
Another option, add cooked haddock filets broken up and stir: delicious Fast “fish chowder“ dinner.Whole Foods has packages Of 6 individual filets, frozen. They thaw fast, cook fast.
Easy to forget that this recipe is vegetarian because it is so tasty. This is a great hot, delicious nutrient-rich meal on a cold winter day or if you are doing a soup cleanse with a broth-based soup.
Delicious! Easy! Versatile! An immediate staple in my life!
For a soup to make me happy, it just has to have flavour and substance, and I find many soups fall short of that. A lot of them are just weak and broth-y, and clearly just used to clean out the crisper.
This soup is NOT that at all!!!!
The spices are perfect and although you can bop this soup together quickly, if you have the time to layer the flavours and the spices, I say give it a go.
I do increase the vegetables to increase my intake, but that’s my personal choice, and certainly nothing the recipe needs. So I sauté more carrots and cauliflower and celery etc with the smoked paprika, garlic and cumin.
I also prefer a chunkier, heartier feeling soup so I usually don’t purée the entire pot, but just stick my liquid blender thing (not sure what it’s called but i love it!) in and smash it all around a wee bit.
When I’ve had more time I’ve roasted shrimp with garlic & smoked paprika & butter and then added prior to serving, and also with chicken. Yummy.
As a side note, I’ve taken this lunch to work and had so many comments about the gorgeous aroma that I’ve emailed the recipe to everyone, with huge thanks from everyone.
Try this for sure!!!!
Thanks again!
We made this recipe last week and it was fabulous. It is actually a versatile soup in that you could easily add chicken if you were looking for the meat component. We added an extra cup of broth as we like our soups a little more brothy. But the flavor profile was spot on. We have added this to our winter soup rotation.
This is a delicious and easy recipe. I have made it numerous times for company or just my family. It is always a hit. My husband asked me the last time I made it to add it to our weekly menu.
Very good. If you want it more kick, I add a little cayenne pepper
So simple and delicious!
Threw this recipe together on a chilly winter afternoon. It was great with a crusty bread and side salad. took the leftovers for lunch and it was delicious the next day. great flavors. thank you for your great recipes.
I made this, minus the green beans. Good flavor and enjoyed making the recipe. My father lived on lentil soup and was 105 when he died. It’s the secret to longevity, or at least we think so in our family.