This Creamy Lentil soup is a hug in a bowl. It’s a comfort food for cold weather days, it’s garnished with veggie meatballs to make it even more filling and nourishing. It can be made chunky or creamy like this one, the choice is yours.

About This Recipe

• Ease in Making the Recipe: This is a very easy soup recipe. The most of the process is sautéing the ingredients and simmering it for few minutes. Because this soup uses red lentils, the cooking process is faster. You can make this just an hr before serving it, or you can make it ahead for serving the next day. This is a smooth and creamy version which uses a blender. I used a stand blender but an immersion blender will work just as fine. If you prefer chunky soup, you can skip the blending part. I used carrots to make the soup extra nourishing and thick, plus it enhances the color of the soup which makes it even more inviting. You can also add potato for an extra hearty soup, you can have it chunky or have it smooth. If you like chunky potato, scoop it out before blending and add it back one the soup has been blended.
• Ingredients: Simple easy to find vegetable, aromatics and spices. The main ingredient is red lentils, the rest are basic ingredients like garlic, onion, oil, carrot, seasoning and spices. This is a very flexible recipe, you can replace carrot with potato, or use both of them for a more hearty filling soup. I added green peas for added texture, this is totally optional but highly recommended if you have them on hand. Another optional ingredient is the meatballs. I used veggie balls to make this soup vegetarian but any kind of meatballs will work. I really love how it taste with the addition of meatballs that for me it is not even optional but a must.
• Texture, Taste & Flavor: Smooth, creamy with added filling texture from green peas and meatballs. It’s really an amazing soup, even my friend who is not a fan of lentils loved this soup.
• Make-Ahead: Definitely Yes! It’s a great make-ahead soup. Keep it refrigerated up to 3 a 5 days or freeze it up to a month. This is a small batch recipe, about 3 servings which for me is just perfect for the entire week. I never have any leftover that I had to freeze.

Ingredients for Creamy Lentil Soup with Veggie Balls

I would like to divide the ingredients into 3 parts. The main ingredients, the aromatics and seasoning, and the optional ingredients.

• Red Lentils – this is the main ingredient. Red lentils are softer and cooks faster which makes it great for soup. I haven’t tried using other type of lentil but I assume it should work just fine since it will be blended anyway. Unless you want it chunky, the you may need to cook it longer until the lentils are soft. Green lentils for example requires longer cooking time because it is harder.
• Carrots – this can be substituted with potato or you can use both carrots and potato. Cut them into small pieces so they cook faster.
• Broth – I used vegetable broth because I want to keep this vegetarian m. If you don’t care, you can use any broth, homemade or store-bought
• Aromatics: I used basic garlic and onion. I like to use yellow onion, but white or red will work as well. You can add more or less garlic to suit your preference. I like adding a lot of garlic in most of my savory dishes.
• Seasonings and Spices: Salt and pepper are the basic, but if you want to add a different flavor, you can also add curry powder, cumin and you’re dried herbs.
• Oil – I often use flavorless oil for making soup, but a light olive oil will work too.
• Sugar – you might find it odd to have sugar added in the soup, but it does enhance the taste big time. You will not taste any sweetness it’s just enhances the flavor. I tasted this without the sugar and it doesn’t taste as good, it is a small amount but it does make a difference.
• Meatballs – I used veggie balls because I want to keep it vegetarian, you can use any type of meatballs. You can even substitute it with cooked and sliced sausage or cooked shredded chicken or Turkey.
• Green Peas – I used frozen green pea

How to Make Creamy Lentil Soup with Veggie Balls

Start by preparing all the ingredients, at least the one that needs cutting and chopping. Once all of that are in place, heat the pan and add the oil. Sauté the onion until translucent then add the garlic. Garlic burn quick so it is often best to add it after the onion or veggie. Add the carrots, lentils, salt, pepper, sugar and for about 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 5 minutes in medium heat. You just want the vegetables to be soft. Transfer into the blender or use an immersion blender to purée the soup. Return to the pan and add the green pea and cook meatballs. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Oil
• 1/4 cup Yellow Onion – chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic– minced
• 1/4 cup Carrots – diced
• 1/3 cup Orange Lentils
• 2 cups Broth (I used Vegetable Broth)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 2 teaspoon Sugar
• Cooked Meatballs (as many or less as you like)
• 1/4 cup Green Peas

Substitution:

• Meatballs can be substituted with cooked sausage, shredded cooked chicken or Turkey
• Carrots can be substituted with regular potato or sweet potato

Instructions:

1. Add oil to a heated pan. Cook the onion until translucent then add the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
2. Add the carrots, lentils, salt, pepper, sugar and broth. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes in medium heat until the vegetables are soft.
3. Transfer in a blender or use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
4. Serve and garnish with more meatballs

Serves 3

Nutritional Information

Nutritional Information was calculated using Veryfitwell Recipe Calorie and Nutrition Calculator. For details about Nutritional Information in this website, please read the Disclaimer page.

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