I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts awhile back, The Trim Healthy Mama Podcast, and the hosts, Serene and Pearl, were discussing what a superfood the lentil was. I must confess… I’d never had lentils, but I was intrigued to hear that it was a healthy legume that packed in a lot of protein.
And then this week, during one of our homeschool Bible lessons, the kids and I were learning about how Jacob bought his brother Esau’s birthright with a bowl of soup. My teacher’s manual recommended that we eat lentil soup for dinner, so that the kids could eat something similar to the soup in the story and then perhaps really remember the lesson.
So after hearing from two different sources that we should try lentils, we gave them a whirl! And I must report that we LOVED this soup. It was so simple to make and so comforting and warming on a cool fall day. It felt great to know that I was feeding the kids something so nourishing and healthy. And I also loved that this was so economical. I used half an 89 cent bag of lentils for this recipe. Nice!
We added sour cream, cheddar, and salsa to our bowls of soup, which almost made it seem like a big bowl of creamy refried beans. Delish! I’ve added some other add-in ideas in the recipe below.
What’s your favorite quick soup this fall?
Quick and Easy Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 chopped onion or T onion powder
- 1 minced clove garlic or 1 T garlic powder
- 4 C water
- 1 C lentils
- 1/2 t cumin
- 2 T lemon juice
- 1 t salt
- 1/4 t pepper
- Optional ingredients:
- 1 can diced tomatoes cubed ham, or crumbled bacon.
- Optional toppings:
- Sour cream
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Hot sauce
- Salsa
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.
- Add and saute the onion and garlic.
- Add the water, lentils, and cumin. Bring to a boil over high high. Then turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Cover and cook for 35-40 minutes until lentils are tender.
- Add lemon juice, salt, pepper and serve warm. (Add optional ingredients as well if you desire a heartier soup.)
Other quick and easy soup ideas:
Fake-It (Don’t Make It) Potato Soup
(Copycat) Chick-fil-A Tortilla Soup
