This Easy-to-Make Veggie Lentil Soup Will Rock Your World

I don’t eat meat anymore. Which means, I no longer eat my mom’s amazing chicken noodle soup or beef stew. But, I was raised in a home where soup was a staple food — a Scottish comfort food my mom would make to warm the bones during cold Cleveland winters.

But, as I got older and chose to remove meat from my diet, I longed for a soup that would provide the same kind of coziness without sacrificing nourishment — I love you broccoli cheddar, but your dairy-ness brings me down.

As the only vegetarian in my family, it was on me to find a homemade substitute. I got creative. I whipped up this vegetable lentil soup with basic soup-making ingredients — onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, and lentils. And it turned out pretty darn good. I’ve since perfected the recipe.

Give it a try. It’s very easy to make, and it will delight both the meat-eaters and vegetarians in your life.

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Veggie Lentil Soup

I whipped up this vegetable lentil soup with basic soup-making ingredients — onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, and lentils. It’s very easy to make, and it will delight both the meat-eaters and vegetarians in your life.

Category Side Dish, Soup, Vegetarian

Compliance Level Kickstart, Lifestyle

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 8

Author Niki Gruttadauria

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups onion chopped
• 7 cloves garlic minced
• 2 cups carrots chopped
• 2 cups celery chopped
• 1 large potato chopped (2 3/4 cups)
• 1 large sweet potato chopped (2 3/4 cups)
• 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup raw red lentils or any color lentils you prefer

Instructions

1. Heat butter and extra virgin olive oil in saucepan on medium heat.
2. Add garlic, onion, carrots, celery, potato, and sweet potato to saucepan. Saute vegetables on medium heat until cooked through.
3. Add tomato paste to vegetables mixture. Blend. Let mixture cook for two to five minutes on medium heat, stirring every minute to avoid burning.
4. Add vegetable stock and lentils. Stir.
5. Bring mixture to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to low, allowing mixture to simmer for 30 minutes. Stirring every 5 minutes. This will allow the soup time to thicken.
7. Enjoy!

Niki Gruttadauria

Niki is a mountain bike rider, guitar dabbler, sarcasm expert, passionate vegetarian, and imperfect vegan. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Niki is creative, passionate, and strongly adheres to the work hard, play hard philosophy.

Her Midwest work ethic and love of sport and fitness have driven her professional career. Producing athlete performance and health and fitness content at STACK.com and Livestrong.com to managing action sports properties for NBC Sports.

Niki’s love of nature and adventurous spirit drive her. If it’s exciting, new, scary, and rewarding, she’ll give it a try.