Jenny’s Secret Carrot and Red Lentil Soup (25 Min, Vegetarian)
- Updated on Jul 14, 2014
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The Burger Issue
It’s an old story, we’ve all been there before; long day at work, the last hour comes, so does another, and suddenly you’re hungry – really bloody hungry.
On the way home is a McDonalds, so you treat yourself to two or maybe even three €1 burgers. They taste alright, they fill you up a bit.
It wont hurt, you tell yourself. But it probably will. Your body and your wallet. It’s certainly not a long term solution to a hungry belly anyway.
I needed to end this vicious cycle – and that’s where Jenny came in. I’ll always thank her for this – her carrot and lentil soup.
Jenny: “No, it’s really so simple to make.”
At first I “only” appreciated the taste, thinking that I couldn’t possibly make it myself because it tasted so good, and I’m crap at cooking. Always have been.
But I asked for the ingredients and cooking time anyway. 5 ingredients, 25 minutes. Hmmm…easier than I thought.
I tried it myself a few days later, preparing for the classic “this takes much longer and tastes much worse” result. But no, it was just as good as Jenny’s version.
I did it again, it worked again. As it has done every time since.
To see if I wasn’t just assuming that it actually made sense to swap some cheeseburgers for the soup (assumption is the brother of all fuck ups after all) I investigated.
Turns out the soup is healthier than pretty much anything I’d ever eaten before..
Health Benefits – Carrot and Red Lentil Soup
The soup (red lentils and carrots) contains a lot of fiber, which is great, because most people eat less than 50% of the daily recommended amount (1).
Fiber has some great benefits: it decreases the risk of diabetes, heart attacks and other stuff (2).Fiber actually makes you feel full too – you won’t be hankering after any other food for a while.
Can you say the same for a burger?
You’re less hungry throughout the day. You eat less. You lose weight (3). That’s a win-win in my book.
And finally one bowl contains around 30g of protein. That’s better than a couple of burgers. If I went to the gym, I’d be laughing!
Beginning of the End of the Burger Issue
Jenny’s red lentil soup is a fantastic step towards a healthier life with less burgers. And it’s a tasty one too.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 carrot
- 1 onion
- 4 cup vegetable broth
- ¾ cup low fat Greek Yogurt
- ¾ cup red lentils, dried
Optional:
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic (1 clove = ½ tsp dried)
Instructions
- Get a pot, pop it on a low heat and add the olive oil.1 tsp olive oil
- Cut the carrots, onion and grate the garlic.2 carrot, 1 onion, 1 clove garlic
- Throw them in the pot, cook for a minute or two and chuck the lentils in after.¾ cup red lentils, dried
- Stir a little until the lentils are covered with oil (they open their pores which then tastes better).
- Add the vegetable broth.4 cup vegetable broth
- Let the soup simmer for 15-20 minutes on low heat.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the lemon juice.1 tbsp lemon juice
- Blend it with a hand blender if available, don't worry if you cant.
- Stir in the yogurt.¾ cup low fat Greek Yogurt
- Ready (eat with bread, add your favourite herbs for variety, and some more yogurt or sour cream).
NOTES
Nutrition
Comments
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49 comments
Very easy and delicious, just my style. I noticed that ‘Jenny’s Secret Carrot and Red Lentil Soup’ became ‘SPICED Carrot and Red Lentil Soup’ where the recipe is listed. Mmmmm … made me wonder about the ‘spiced’ as there are none in the recipe? Anna’s suggestions above sound good though, might give them a try next time.
Heya Sue! Glad you enjoyed . Good point – I just had a quick look at the very original recipe stored in the archives – and it’s the same. I guess there were never any other spices – maybe we just liked the name :D. I bet a tsp of curry powder wouldn’t go amiss, though 🙂
In my experiment with this soup recipe, I added the following 5 spices based on a “Moroccan Lentil Soup” recipe on a cedar spoon.com:
1/8 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. paprika
1/2 t. turmeric
1/2 t. cumin
1 t. coriander
Yummy! 😀 Thank you Dave! Love your site – doing the 7-day high protein plan now.
Thanks Anna! Those additions also sound great. Coooool, enjoy the protein plan!!
Loved this. Left out the yoghurt. Added garlic and lemon juice. Plenty of fresh black pepper. Very nice. Thank you.
Nice! Really glad you enjoyed it. You’re more than welcome, Shona 🙂
Hi there, I only have canned lentils, is there a way I can use them instead? should I just add them at the end?
Hi Shawna! Yes, totally! Canned lentils are more than fine. Yep, just add them in the last three or four minutes, they just need warming through, really 🙂
aaaaargh! 79 Carbs per serving?!! do you know how much insulin I’m going to have to take to eat that? Really defeats the high protein.
Bummer 🙁
Nope, I’m not super familiar with diabetes. But I know that it can be a toughy to go veggie as a diabetic due to the high carb meals. Also, please note that one serving is around 550 kcal. So its a biiiiig bowl of soup. Ingredient wise you wont find anything really carb heavy. Not sure how to do much better than this if you want to go low carb as a veggie.
A whild Karen has been spotted.
Hi! Just wondering about the calorie content – 200g lentils (if going for the metric version) are 100g per portion, but 100g red lentils already have more than 340 calories, so I am not sure if the 302 calories per serving are correct… am I missing something? Thanks!
Hi Laura, thanks for writing. You’re right, the values do seem slightly off. I’ve just run the recipe through our new analyzer and have updated the recipe. Thanks again, and enjoy!
Hey Dave,
Also had a few concerns about the caloric intake for this soup in regards to your 7-day diet plan. On the plan it says
Red Lentil Soup with a slice of bread
(350 kcal, 24g protein, C)
Should I hazard a guess this is a little out? Or do I just split into smaller portions?
Thanks
Hi Miles, good spot! We’ve recently updated the nutrient card in this recipe, but missed it in the meal plan. We’ll update that now, too. Thanks for pointing it out – for now a half portion would be about the right amount (with bread), or a 2/3 portion without bread 🙂
Hi! I have been looking for a red lentil recipe. I can’t eat yogurt but was wondering if I could swap for sour cream?
Absolutely, Ashley! Alternatively cream or creme fraiche would work very well too 🙂
vegan sour cream (Tofutti) cashew nut cream, or plain chopped tomatoes instead.