Potato Lentil Soup

🍲 Why We Love This Recipe

Quick and easy: Just 4 simple steps and about one hour total from start to finish (mostly hands off). Doesn't get much easier for a healthy, hearty dinner!

Packed with vegetables: Potatoes, celery, carrot, onion, and a whole lot of kale.

Vegan: This potato lentil soup is fully vegan and gluten free, so it's perfect for just about any dietary needs.

Meal prep friendly: This soup tastes even better the next day. Prep a big batch or two over the weekend and enjoy all week for a quick lunch or dinner.

🥔 Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this potato lentil soup:

📋 Ingredient Notes

Lentils: Brown or green lentils are the best choice for this potato lentil soup. They're my favorite choice for a brothy soup like this one as they don't turn to mush! As you can see in the photos, they retain their shape perfectly and add a bit of texture to the soup. Don't use yellow or red lentils, which will completely fall apart when cooked in broth. (They're much better for a puréed soup or stew!)

Kale: We personally prefer lacinato kale in this soup, but curly kale is also completely fine!

Potatoes: Baby potatoes are my favorite choice. Since they're already small, you only have to halve them, so it cuts down a bit on prep time. They also cook perfectly and don't break down too much. You can also use any variety of yellow potato, but we wouldn't recommend russets.

Shallot: You can sub with an equal amount of yellow onion.

Vegetable broth: Want to make your own? Try this recipe made from leftover vegetable scraps.

Parsley: Curly or flat leaf both work here.

Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed is always best!

Butter: We used vegan butter, but of course if you're not vegan, regular butter is fine. You can also sub with olive oil if preferred.

Salt: We always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt unless otherwise noted.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

(1) Add butter to a large pot over medium heat. Once melted, add shallots/onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes.

(2) Add in carrots, celery, potatoes, oregano, cumin, salt, coriander, paprika and pepper and stir well. Continue cooking for 5 minutes.

on the left: sautéed onion and garlic in pot. on the right: adding in celery, carrot, potatoes and spices to pot.

(3) Stir in lentils, then add in broth and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes, until lentils are cooked and potatoes are fork tender.

(4) Add in kale, parsley and lemon juice and cook for an additional 5 minutes before serving.

on the left: pouring broth into potato lentil soup. On the right: finished soup in pot.

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

Storage: let soup cool to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for 5 days. Reheat in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Freezer storage: Let the soup cool completely before transferring to an airtight, freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 6 months. To reheat, defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then heat over medium in a saucepan.

Serve with:

Italian chopped salad

Add a protein: if you're vegan, try adding the poultry-seasoned tofu from this recipe. If you're not vegan, this would work well with leftover shredded rotisserie chicken or Italian sausage.

Can you make this soup in a slow cooker?

Yes, absolutely! Start by sautéing the onion and garlic, then add everything but the kale, parsley and lemon juice and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Add in the greens and lemon juice just before serving.

Overhead view of a bowl with potato lentil soup with a spoon in the bowl.

📖 Recipe

Chefyl

March 18, 2023 at 11:44 pm

I had to do some slight riffing on the recipe (sweet potato instead of carrot, lamb broth instead of vegetable, black lentils instead of red or brown, broccoli instead of kale), and it was very forgiving of my departures. Ready right on time and delicious! .