Spicy Lentil Soup

No ratings yet

This spicy lentil soup recipe has a golden, sunny color, and it's as easy to make as it gets! It's surprisingly flavorful and has warm spices in the silky and nourishing broth.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: red lentil soup, spicy lentil soup

Servings:

Author: Natasha Bull

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
10 saffron threads crushed, optional but recommended, see note
2 tablespoons flour
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 cups dry red lentils rinsed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
Handful chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Add the olive oil and butter to a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the onions and sauté for 5-7 minutes until softened and lightly browned.
Stir in the garlic, ground cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, turmeric, saffron (if using), and flour. Cook for about a minute, stirring nearly constantly.
Pour in the broth. Give it a good stir to ensure the flour has dissolved and the flavorful browned bits are scraped up from the bottom of the pot.
Stir in the lentils and tomato paste, and then add the bay leaf. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat to a rapid simmer so it’s gently boiling. Simmer, uncovered, until the lentils are tender (about 10-15 minutes), stirring occasionally so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
Discard the bay leaf. Stir in the evaporated milk and simmer for another few minutes until warmed through. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup to your desired consistency (you can skip this step if you prefer a more rustic texture with the lentils intact). Stir in the chopped fresh cilantro and season generously with salt & pepper.

Notes

Saffron is quite concentrated, so you don't need a lot. To crush it, either use a pestle and mortar or put it in the corner of a ZipLoc bag with a bit of salt and rub it between your fingers until it's crushed.

Nutrition