Lentil Soup – Inexpensive, Protein Rich, Gluten-Free, and Delicious

In an effort to reduce our grocery bill during this time of high food prices, I’ve been shopping my pantry whenever I can. This lentil soup recipe was so affordable to make, super easy, and insanely delicious. I have added it to our regular soup rotation. In the colder months, I like to make a large batch of soup or chili once a week to have in the fridge for easy and nutritious lunches.

You must try this recipe out, and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

• 2 cups red lentils (I used split red lentils – they cook faster)
• 4-5 cups of Chicken broth (you can use store bought, homemade broth, or bouillon cubes)
• 1 onion chopped
• 6-8 Garlic cloves finely chopped
• 3 carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• Olive oil
• 1 Lemon

Directions

1. Add olive oil to a pot and add onions, garlic and carrots. Sautee for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add cumin and salt to release the flavour, let sautee for another minute.
3. Add dried lentils, mix around.
4. Add broth to the mix, mix, reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 10-15 minutes until lentils are soft.
5. Once the lentils are soft, use an immersion blender to fully blend the soup (Alternatively you can let soup cool and then pour into a blender).
6. Remove from heat, add the juice of 1 lemon, stir to mix and serve while hot.
7. Enjoy with some fresh bread or crackers.

Protein content

1/2 cup of lentils contains about 12 grams of protein, so if you have about a 1 cup serving, that is 24 grams of protein which will increase if you make your own chicken stock. This is an inexpensive way to have a nice balanced meal in my opinion.

Try it out!