Quick Summary: A hearty lentil soup with bold smoky flavor from smoked paprika and smoked tomatoes. Red lentils cook quickly and break down into a creamy base. Add spinach for nutrition and optional protein (shrimp, chorizo, or pork) to make it a complete meal. Prep: 20 min | Cook: 45 min | Serves: 4
Jump to: RECIPE | Different Lentil Varieties | Adding Flavor Layers | How to Make It | FAQ
Lentil soup on its own can be bland, so I lean into assertive flavors. At HeathGlen Organic Farm, we smoke tomatoes at the end of the season and freeze them for winter cooking. Combined with smoked paprika, they give this soup a deep, warming flavor that plain lentils can’t deliver.
Red lentils cook in about 20 minutes and break down into a creamy texture. Add spinach at the end, and you have a nutritious bowl of comfort food that works for vegetarian, slow carb, or Pesco Mediterranean eating.
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What Kind of Lentils Work Best in Soup
Quick-cooking red lentils are my favorite dried lentil for soups, mostly because I prefer the visual appeal of red over brown. Red lentils also cook into a creamy soup quite rapidly, going from dried-in-the-pantry to tender in 15 to 20 minutes.
The French green lentils (called the du Puy variety) are said to hold their shape better and have a slightly more peppery flavor, but honestly I have not noticed that subtlety.
Just know that it is not essential for lentils to keep their shape intact. It is really a preference. Longer cooked, lentils add to the soup’s body after they have broken up, and they taste just as good.
How to Add Flavor to Lentil Soup
Most vegetarian lentil soup recipes have a somewhat “earthy” flavor. Here are some ideas for enhancing the flavor profile:
- Adding some rosemary will give it a bit more robust flavor;
- adding cayenne can give it some heat and peppery spice;
- pork and/or chorizo is a popular addition if you eat meat;
- Hearty greens are a great addition to all soups, both from a flavor and nutritional standpoint;
- a squeeze of lemon always adds a bright fresh flavor to soups
- smoky additions (smoked paprika, fire-roasted tomatoes, smoked salt)
The lentils, an onion and some broth is really the basic template and you can enhance the flavor with whatever you have in your pantry from there.
How to Add a Smoky Flavor to any Soup
Since we smoke a lot of tomatoes from our garden (small farm), I have used smoked tomatoes in the recipe below. We toss a lot of meaty tomatoes in our Bradley smoker at the end of the season, freeze them in ziplock bags and use them throughout the Winter.
If you don’t have access to smoked tomatoes, you can usually find smoky substitutes by using smoked paprika, smoked chipotle peppers or smoked salt.
How to Make Smoky Lentil Soup
The ingredient and recipe details are listed in the recipe card below. In short:
- Sauté chopped onion in olive oil until translucent, then add garlic, thyme, and smoked paprika briefly.
- Add red lentils, broth, and salt, bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add smoked tomatoes (or fire-roasted canned tomatoes) and simmer another 20 minutes until lentils are softened.
- Stir in spinach until wilted. Add optional protein if desired and season to taste.
FAQ
Yes, but they take longer to cook and hold their shape more. Red lentils break down into a creamier soup.
Use a 24-ounce can of fire-roasted tomatoes, or add an extra tablespoon of smoked paprika or a chipotle pepper.
Yes. Lentils are allowed on slow carb. Skip the optional chorizo if it contains sugar.
Up to 5 days refrigerated. It thickens as it sits; add broth when reheating
Yes. Use vegetable broth and skip the optional meat. The lentils provide plenty of protein.
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Smoky Lentil Spinach Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 Tablespoon smoked paprika or your favorite paprika
- 1 Cup dried red lentils
- 5 Cups broth use vegetable broth or chicken broth
- ½ Teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ Cup smoked tomatoes alternatively use 1 24-oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 4 Cups baby spinach fresh
- ¾ Cup kalamata olives (chopped) Optional
- 1 Pound Pork or chorizo optional
- 1 Pound Shrimp Optional
Instructions
- In a dutch oven, large skillet, or large pot, heat olive oli. Add chopped onions and saute over med-high heat for 5 min or until translucent. Add garlic, thyme and paprika and saute briefly, for about 30 seconds.2 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 Teaspoon dried thyme, 2 Tablespoon smoked paprika
- Add lentils, broth and salt to the pot and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, turn heat to medium-low and simmer for about 20 min., stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes and simmer another 20 minutes or until lentils are softened to your preference (they can be al dente or mushy)1 Cup dried red lentils, 5 Cups broth, 1/2 Teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 Cup smoked tomatoes
- Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Add any of the optional ingredients (see article above) and bring up to serving temperature over medium heat.4 Cups baby spinach
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