Creamy Red Lentil Soup

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This creamy red lentil soup with warm spices is the perfect side dish that can also double as the star of any meal. Because it’s the most nutritionally balanced soup ever! 

Packed with veggies, lentils, garlic, onions, herbs and spices, this easy red lentil tomato soup could not be more nutritious…or delicious. 

Not only that, this Indian red lentil soup is super simple to make, needs just 3 dishes and requires minimal time standing over the stove! 

And unlike most recipes, this creamy red lentil soup is made with coconut milk instead of heavy cream. Making it vegan and a little bit healthier! 

Ok ok, I’ll stop hyping up this simple red lentil soup! 

Let’s get into what you’ll need, how to make it, tips and tricks and more. Or if you don’t care at all haha, jump to the recipe here. 

Creamy Red Lentil Soup Ingredients 

I know that anything over 5 ingredients starts to look intimidating, but bear with me. 🙂

• Red lentils 
• Tomatoes — I like to go for roma tomatoes for best flavor
• White onions 
• Coconut milk — from a can
• Lemon juice 
• Tomato paste
• Fresh garlic
• Fresh ginger 
• Garam masala — this is a traditional Indian spice blend made from a mix of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper, coriander and cumin. And sometimes there is also ginger, bay leaf and nutmeg included. Anywho, most grocery stores carry this! 
• Cumin — I recommend using cumin seeds for a more intense flavor, but ground cumin also works
• Cayenne pepper 
• Turmeric 
• Black pepper — to activate the turmeric 
• Salt 

How to Make this Red Lentil Soup

When I say that this quick and easy red lentil soup requires minimal effort, I mean it! Just roast, boil, blend and you’re done! 

But to go more in depth, here’s exactly how to make this soup. Keep in mind that the full recipe with measurements are in the recipe card below. 

1. The night before making this soup, pour the lentils into a bowl of cold water and let them soak overnight. 
2. Start by preheating the oven to 450°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. 
3. Score the top of the tomatoes across vertically and then across horizontally. This will ensure the tomatoes don’t burst while they’re cooking. Add these onto the baking tray. 
4. Next, chop the onion into large chunks and add onto the baking tray along with the garlic cloves. Drizzle over the olive oil and bake the veggies in the oven for 45 minutes. The tomatoes should look shriveled, and the onion should have started to burn around the edges — don’t worry it’ll make the soup taste extra yummy!
5. While the veggies cook, add the soaked lentils into a pot of boiling water. Let the lentils boil away on medium heat for 15-20 minutes until they’re falling apart tender. Then drain the water, rinse and set aside. 
6. Once the veggies are done, let them cool down for 10 minutes. Once cool, peel off the skin of the tomatoes — it’s easier to peel off the skin when the tomatoes are cooler. 
7. Then, add all of the veggies into a blender, along with the water, lentils, coconut milk, tomato paste, lemon juice, ginger and all of the spices. Blend on low, slowly ramping up the speed to high. Continue to blend on high for 3 minutes until the soup is super creamy and thick. Taste and adjust for salt. 
8. Pour the soup into a pot and heat until it’s boiling and piping hot.
9. I love serving this soup with a drizzle of coconut milk and chopped cilantro on top with a slice of Ezekiel or sourdough bread. Another more indulgent way to enjoy this soup is to pour it over rice — tastes phenomenal and it’s so cozy and comforting! 

Tips and Tricks 

I don’t have a ton of tips and tricks for this soup, mainly because this recipe is super forgiving! That said, here are my top tips for making this creamy red lentil soup perfectly.

• Let the veggies cool: This is super important! If you try to peel the tomato skin off while the tomatoes are still piping hot it’ll be super difficult. The longer they cool, the easier it’ll be to take off the skin. Also, make sure to score the tomatoes, as it’ll make it easier to peel the skin off as well! 
• Peel the skin off the tomatoes: On the subject of tomato skins, make sure you actually take it off. The skin tends to make the soup slightly bitter AND it’s hard for your body to digest. 
• Add more salt than you think: I’ve found over the years that anything with tomatoes always needs more salt than you think. So feel free to be liberal with that salt as it’ll help bring out the flavors of the soup and make them shine.
• Let the lentils soak overnight: Not only does this speed up the cooking process, but it also makes the nutrients in the lentils more bioavailable and less gassy (sorry haha). 
• Don’t want to roast tomatoes: No problem, simply use a 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes instead. That way you just need to roast the onion and garlic before blending everything up.

How to Store this Creamy Red Lentil Soup

There are two ways you can store this soup, either in the fridge or the freezer. 

• Fridge: I recommend just keeping the soup in the same pot that you cooked it in. That way it’s super easy to reheat when you want it. Just make sure to cover it tightly with a lid. It’ll keep for up to 4 days like this in the fridge. 
• Freezer: Alternatively, you can store this easy vegan red lentil soup in the freezer as a quick and easy dinner when you don’t have time to cook. Let the soup cool down completely before ladling a portion into a large ziploc bag. Seal the bag and place it in the freezer — it’ll keep like this for 3 weeks. When you’re ready to reheat the soup, let the bag of soup thaw on the counter until it’s runny again. Then add the soup into a pot and heat until it’s piping hot!

Even More Creamy Vegan Soup Recipes

• Creamy Fall Harvest Soup 
• Roasted Tomato Soup

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