Simple Lentil Potato Soup

Simplicity at its best. This Simple Lentil Potato Soup is a humble vegetarian recipe made with mostly pantry ingredients. Lentil Potato soup has depth, is rich in flavor, and a big ‘ol bowl on a cold wintery day couldn’t be more satisfying!

LENTIL POTATO SOUP

We’ve been trying to incorporate more and more vegetarian meals into our weekly meal plan. Far from being meat free, it’s just a small effort to eat less meat and more plant based meals. Surprisingly my kids have been fully on board. They’re both adventurous eaters and will try just about anything so it makes my job as family chef pretty easy. I was surprised at how much we all loved this lentil potato soup. It’s just so…..simple. But, wow, it’s packed with flavor. The recipe truly is simplicity at it’s best!

SIMPLICITY REQUIRES USING THE BEST INGREDIENTS

I’m always preaching that using quality ingredients yields the best finished dishes and this especially rings true when you’re making a recipe as simple as this one. Buying produce that is fresh and blemish free is crucial. Buy a quality vegetable broth. Rapunzel is my absolute favorite as it’s not too salty and it’s got great flavor. I can sometimes find it at Whole Foods but otherwise order it online. Don’t use old lentils. It might seem obvious but I see it way too often! Get the good stuff, peeps!

THE BEST LENTILS FOR SOUP

Green or brown lentils work the best. They both hold their shape really well and their cook time matches up perfectly with the potatoes. Brown lentils are the easiest to find though I prefer the green lentils as they have a nice peppery bite to them. Red or black will work in a pinch though they cook much faster so you’ll need to adjust the cooking time so they don’t over cook or have undercooked potatoes!

MAKING SOUP IN ADVANCE

I’m pretty sure there was never a soup that was better tasting the day it was made. Am I right?

Let me shout it from the rooftops: SOUP ALWAYS TASTES BETTER THE DAY (OR TWO) AFTER IT’S MADE!!!!

So, yes. Make this soup in advance. It will be a beautiful thing.

FREEZING LENTIL SOUP

Freeze this bad boy and enjoy it months later! Freezing soup in whole batches doesn’t work for me. Instead, I like to portion it out into glass jars, let it come to room temperature, and then store in my chest freezer. Take the soup out the night before you want to eat it (if planning ahead) otherwise stick the frozen jar of soup into a bowl of warm water to speed up the process. You can certainly microwave the soup but I prefer to reheat gently on the stove top. Sometimes I’ll add some shaved Parmesan but really the soup is delicious on it’s own.

We are in full blown winter over here and this is the perfect “cold day dinner” or quick lunch. I almost always eat this with a chunk of good bread slathered in salted butter and bonus if I’m nuzzled up on the couch, fire roaring, and glass of wine in hand. Thanks for reading and happy cooking! xo, Kelley

OTHER VEGETARIAN SOUPS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

Instant Pot Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup
Winter Root Vegetable Soup
Creamy Tomato Soup with Cheese Tortellini
Lentil Minestrone

recipe by Mountain Mama Cooks/ photos by Deborah DeKoff

Simple Lentil Potato Soup

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• Author: Kelley

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Description

A simple vegetarian soup recipe made with lentils and potatoes. It’s hearty, chunky, and total comfort food!

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 small white onion, peeled and diced- @ 1/2 cup
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced- @ 1/2 cup
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 1/4 cups dried green lentils 
• 12 oz baby potatoes, washed and cut into bite sized pieces
• 40 oz vegetable broth
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper

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Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add diced onion and carrots and cook 3-4 minutes until onions are translucent and starting to caramelize. Add minced garlic, dried thyme plus a healthy pinch of kosher salt. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring, to prevent garlic from burning.

2. Add tomato paste and lentils. Give mixture a quick stir to evenly coat the lentils and vegetables.  Add potatoes and vegetable broth. Bring soup to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-35 minutes until the lentils are cooked and the potatoes are tender.

3. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup warm. I love to serve this with a good crusty bread and a glass of wine. It’s heaven. 🙂

Notes

I think green lentils work the best in this recipe. Black lentils second, and red last. I just happened to have a little of each the day I made this to photograph and it was still lovely. The smaller lentils cook much quicker than the potatoes so you’ll need to compensate buy adding the lentils in a few minutes after the potatoes have started to cook.