Mediterranean Lentil Soup
This flavourful, Mediterranean Lentil Soup recipe is vegan, gluten-free, low fat and a simple recipe with basic fresh ingredients. Don’t let the simplicity fool you! It is an absolutely delicious vegetable lemon soup! Serve this soup with a slice of bread and you’ve got dinner on the table!
For more easy soup recipes, try my butternut squash soup, brocolli cheddar soup and slow cooker potato soup
Greek Lentil & Spinach Soup With Lemon
This is officially my new favourite soup recipe!! it’s filled with delicious, healthy ingredients. lentils, butternut squash, onions, spinach, potatoes and more!
My husband “There’s a recipe here for Lentil Soup, and there’s a nurse who loved it so much he ate it every day for lunch for 17 years”! I felt like the universe was telling me to make this soup!
I discovered that the original recipe came from Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread by Crescent Dragonwagon. Workman Publishing, 1992 and the post on Twitter is from The Washington Post.
The first time I made this recipe, we all loved it. The layers of flavour and how filling and satisfying and healthy this soup is makes this recipe a keeper that I wanted to share.
Ingredients
- Lentils – dried lentils
- Celery – chopped
- Garlic Cloves – minced
- Spinach – I try to use fresh spinach when I can, but find it really handy to have frozen spinach in the freezer. You can use either in this recipe.
- Lemons & Lemon Juice – For this recipe, you’ll definitely want to use fresh lemons and not the bottled lemon juice.
- Butternut Squash & Potatoes – If you are using newer potatoes with a thin skin, then leave the skin on for the added nutrition and flavour. If the skins are thicker, you will definitely want to peel them.
- Turmeric – I added 1 tsp. of ground turmeric to this recipe with great results.
- Onions – You can use red, yellow or sweet onions in this recipe. I tested all three and prefer the red onions but they all work.
- Vegetable Stock
- Herbs & Spices
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did! P.S. The lemon wedge with each serving is a must!
How To Make Mediterranean Lentil Soup
Step One – In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, combine lentils, vegetable broth (or water), jalapeรฑo pepper, coriander seeds, cumin, turmeric, oregano and bay leaves.
Step Two – Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, partly covered for 30 minutes. Test the lentils as they should be soft after 30 minutes.
Step Three – Add in the cubed butternut squash.
Step Four – Add in the potatoes
Step Five – Next, add in the fresh or frozen spinach.
Step Six – Cook over low heat another 15-20 minutes. Potato and squash should be soft but not mushy!
Step Seven – Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat olive oil. Cook onion, celery and garlic over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until softened , then add it to the soup.
Step Eight – Add 1/2 cup of water to the skillet to deglaze and add this liquid to the soup. (swirl it around to get all of that good essence and flavour) – YUM!
Step Nine – Add in salt & pepper and taste – add more if desired.
Step Ten – Add in 1/3 cup of lemon juice and stir slowly until combined.
Serve with lemon wedges for each serving. Enjoy!
I tasted the soup before and after the lemon was added and the lemon adds a whole other layer of flavour.
Storage And Reheating Instructions
Store using an airtight container in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.
Reheat on the stovetop over a low heat or in the microwave using 30 second intervals until warmed through.
Mediterranean Lentil Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 servings.
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This flavourful, Mediterranean Lentil Soup recipe is vegan, gluten-free, low fat and a simple recipe with basic ingredients. Don’t let the simplicity fool you! It is an absolutely delicious vegetable lemon soup! Serve this soup with a slice of bread and you’ve got dinner on the table!
Ingredients
1 pound brown or large green lentils, rinsed and picked over
10 cups vegetable broth or water
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
2 tsp. whole coriander seeds
Instructions
- Rinse lentils and remove any skins or discoloured lentils.ย
- In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, combine lentils, vegetable broth (or water), jalapeรฑo pepper, coriander seeds, cumin, turmeric, oregano and bay leaves.ย
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, partly covered for 30 minutes. Test the lentils as they should be soft after 30 minutes.
- Add the butternut squash, potatoes and spinach and cook over low heat another 15-20 minutes. (Cooking too high will result in the vegetables to be mushy).ย
- Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat olive oil. Cook onion, celery and garlic over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until softened.ย
- Add the onion mixture to the soup and stir it into the soup.
- Add 1/2 cup of water to the skillet to deglaze and add this liquid to the soup. (swirl it around to get all of that good essence and flavour)
- Add in salt and pepper and test for flavour.ย
- Add in 1/3 cup lemon juice and stir well to combine. (Don’t skip this step! It literally takes this soup from great to amazing)!
- Serve with lemon wedges. A fresh squeeze of lemon to taste in each serving is absolutely delightful.
Notes
Storage and reheating instructions:
Store using an airtight container in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.
Reheat on the stovetop over a low heat or in the microwave using 30 second intervals until warmed through.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Greek
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 and 1/2 cups
- Calories: 108
- Sugar: 6.1 g
- Sodium: 694.4 mg
- Fat: 2.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.1 g
- Fiber: 3.9 g
- Protein: 2.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
The recipe was adapted from Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread by Crescent Dragonwagon. Workman Publishing, 1992.
Very flavorful and I’m not usually a big fan of lentils! Delicious and full of rich nutrients, will definitely be making this again and again! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!!
That’s fantastic!! Thank you SO much for taking the time to post a comment and trying the recipe! ๐ Sandra
This is truly a five star lentil soup recipe. It’s so good and full of flavour we often have it for dinner then again the next day for lunch. Thank for this gem of a recipe we often crave it!!