Lentil Tomato Soup is a comforting soup that mixes together sweet roasted red peppers, tomatoes and onions along with lentils and smoky chipotle chili powder. This soup is packed with flavor and makes a great freezer friendly meal.
LENTIL TOMATO SOUP
You guys might know by now my love for lentil soups.
We make so many throughout the cooler months of the year.
I love using lentils in soups because they are hearty and filling, healthy and can be pureed into a smooth creamy texture.
They pair so nicely with fresh vegetables and warm spices.
In today’s Lentil Tomato Soup red lentils are paired with roasted heirloom tomatoes, onion, bell peppers and garlic and paired with Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, turmeric and chipotle chili powder.
This is one of my favorite soups.
I love the smoky sweet flavors from the roasted vegetables and the chipotle chili powder and chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce.
I love to use chipotle chilies as they add a great smoky flavor, in soups, stews, dry rubs, the options are endless. Try them in my Vegetarian Chili, Albondigas en Chipotle, Grilled Flank Steak Dry Rub, and Chicken Tinga.
If you like vegan lentil soup try my Moroccan Carrot Red Lentil Soup, Lemon Lentil Soup, Lebanese Lentil Soup or this Turkish Lentil Soup.
Why You Will Love This Lentil Tomato Soup Recipe
Healthy and Nutritious: This hearty soup is a vegan soup that is also gluten free and dairy free, packed with protein rich lentils which keep you feeling fuller and satisfied for longer, and lots of vitamin rich vegetables and spices.
Make Ahead: This soup can be made earlier in the day, or the day before, then cooled and stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to heat up and serve. In fact it will taste even better if left to sit as the flavors will meld together and intensify. It makes one of those easy weeknight dinners we all love!
Great for Batch Cooking: This soup recipe is great for batch cooking. Double the recipe up, enjoy some now and freeze individual portions of the soup for a quick and easy meal another day.
Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Fresh Tomatoes – heirloom tomatoes are the tomatoes I like to use in this soup because they have robust flavor. You can honestly use any tomatoes you like. I think a firm vine tomato or a roma tomato usually works really well. You also can used canned tomatoes, especially fire-roasted tomatoes would be great or crushed tomatoes.
- Peppers – for this recipe I’ve used a large red bell pepper because of their sweet flavor, but you can use other colors if you prefer.
- Garlic – I like to use a whole head of garlic for this recipe as I find that roasting it with the vegetables adds so much flavor. If you don’t want that much garlic you can just use a few cloves of garlic or skip it all together.
- Onion – white onion works nicely in this recipe but you can swap that for red onion, sweet onion or even shallots.
- Seasoning – this soup is flavored with a mixture of dried herbs and spices, including Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, turmeric and black pepper. A few other spices that work nicely in this soup are curry powder, cayenne pepper or cumin.
- Chili – smoky chili adds heat to the soup with both chipotle chili powder (you can use regular chili powder if you can’t find chipotle) and also 2 chipotles in adobo sauce or you can use a chili pepper.
- Lentils – the dried red lentils help thicken the soup and also add some protein.
- Vegetable broth – I use good quality vegetable broth to flavor the soup. If you want you can use chicken stock or chicken broth. Try my homemade chicken broth. If you want a slightly sweet flavor and a creamier texture try subbing half of the broth for coconut milk. You also could add heavy cream for an even creamier soup.
- Fresh herbs – finish off the soup with a garnish of freshly chopped parsley or cilantro.
How to Make This Lentil and Tomato Soup
1. Prepare the vegetables: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and line a large baking sheet, or two medium baking sheets with parchment paper.
Half the red peppers, and face them skin side up on the baking sheet. Quarter the onions and tomatoes and add them to the sheet as well.
2. Add the spice and garlic: Mix all of the seasonings together in a small bowl. Drizzle the 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over the vegetables, and add half of the seasoning blend.
Coat the vegetables well. Slice about ½” off of the head of the garlic bulb to expose the cloves. Place the bulb in aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
3. Roast the vegetables: Place the baking sheet in the oven for 35 minutes, or until you start to see the skin of the bell pepper begin to char. Remove the vegetables from the oven.
4. Make the soup: Heat a large Dutch oven or large soup pot on medium high heat. Once warmed, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining seasoning blend to toast for about a minute. Add the rinsed lentils and 4 cups of vegetable broth.
Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the bulb, and add the remaining roasted vegetables to the pot. Stir everything together and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the lentils are soft.
5. Puree the soup and serve: Once complete, use an immersion blender to purée the soup. If you don’t have an immersion blender, let the soup cool for about 10-15 minutes before adding it to a high speed blender to purée. If you desire a thinner soup, add some extra broth.
Garnish with red pepper flakes, fresh cilantro or parsley and a dollop of Greek yogurt.
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Recipe Tips & Modifications
- Lentils – I’ve used dried red lentil in this soup, but if you want to make things even easier you can swap for a can of green lentils, yellow lentils or brown lentils.
- Vegetables – this recipe can be easily bulked up by adding extra nutritious vegetables. Try carrots, celery, mushrooms or zucchini.
- Citrus: you can add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to add a touch of sweetness to the soup and balance out the acidity.
- Chili – this recipe uses both chipotle chili powder and chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce, which will give the soup its smoky flavor. You can adjust the amount of chili heat in this soup by adding more or less chili to suit your own tastes.
- Greens – I often like to add a handful of leafy greens to soup just before serving. Try adding spinach, arugula, chard or kale for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking and allow the greens to wilt.
- Puree the soup – puree the soup to smooth using a stick blender. If the soup is very thick you can add some extra vegetable broth to thin the soup down to the desired consistency.
- Leftovers – once cooked and cooled, store leftover soup in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze – to freeze the soup make sure the soup is fulled cooled. Store the soup in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What to Serve with Tomato Lentil Soup
This is a hearty and filling bowl of homemade soup so I tend to keep any additional sides simple. It’s great with some with crusty bread, or try my Homemade Pita Chips or Homemade Tortilla Chips.
I also always love adding a salad alongside soups. Try this Mexican Street Corn Salad, Watermelon Arugula Salad, Lemon Arugula Pine Nut Salad, Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing, or this Jalapeño Coleslaw.
Other Soup Recipes You Might Like:
MEXICAN RED LENTIL SOUP
MOROCCAN RED LENTIL SOUP
LEBANESE LENTIL SOUP
ITALIAN SAUSAGE SOUP
GARBANZO SOUP
CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP
NAVY BEAN SOUP
CHICKEN POTATO SOUP
Lentil Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
- 2 lbs heirloom tomatoes
- 1 large red peppers, halved, seeds removed
- 1 large bulb of garlic
- 2 medium white onions, quartered
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, or you can use regular chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup red lentils, rinsed and picked through for debris
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
- freshly chopped parsley or cilantro, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and line a large baking sheet, or two medium baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Half the red peppers, and face them skin side up on the baking sheet. Quarter the onions and tomatoes and add them to the sheet as well.
- Mix all of the seasonings together in a small bowl. Drizzle the 2 tablespoons olive oil over the vegetables, and add half of the seasoning blend. Coat the vegetables well.
- Slice about ½” off of the head of the garlic bulb to expose the cloves. Place the bulb in aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven for 35 minutes, or until you start to see the skin of the bell pepper begin to char. Remove the vegetables from the oven.
- Heat a large Dutch oven or pot on medium heat. Once warmed, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining seasoning blend to toast for about a minute.
- Add the rinsed lentils and 4 cups of vegetable broth. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the bulb, and add the remaining roasted vegetables to the pot. Stir everything together and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the lentils are soft.
- Once complete, use an immersion blender to purée the soup. If you don’t have an immersion blender, let the soup cool for about 10-15 minutes before adding it to a high speed blender to purée in batches. If you desire a thinner soup, add some extra broth.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro or parsley and a dollop of Greek yogurt.
Notes
- Puree the soup – I puree the soup to smooth using a stick blender. If the soup is very thick you can add some extra vegetable broth to thin the soup down to the desired consistency.
- Leftovers – Once cooked and cooled, store leftover soup in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze – Once cooked and cooled, store the soup in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
