Lentil Vegetable Soup

We all need a hearty, chunky, warming soup right now, don’t we? This lentil vegetable soup is the easiest you can imagine! We use regular ingredients that you probably have hanging out in your fridge and pantry, and toss them all in a pot to cook in only 30 minutes. Doesn’t get much easier! The delicious soup goes perfectly with some crusty bread.

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Do lentils need to be soaked?

In this recipe, we’re using dry lentils. You may have heard somewhere along the line that dry beans should be soaked in water for a while before cooking. What about lentils? This is one of the things I love about them. Lentils don’t require soaking before cooking!

Soaking beans is recommended for a couple reasons. First, it helps cut down on cooking time. Because the beans have already absorbed some water, we can cook them for less time (which uses less energy, but requires more planning). Second, some source say soaking makes the starches in the beans more digestible, causing less gastric distress. The jury is still out on that, but it’s worth a try if beans cause you… um… distress. 😉

But lentils only require 30 minutes of cooking time from their dry state, so no soaking needed! Lentils for the win!

What is the healthiest vegetable broth?

Vegetable broth is sneaky. It sounds healthy – and for the most part it is – but it sure can be high in sodium! This is a double edged sword if you have high blood pressure. Finding unsalted vegetable broth in the store is tricky, too. Many stores just don’t carry it. So what are we to do?

There are a few options here. The ultimate healthiest option is to make your own. That’s because you have complete and total control over everything that goes into it! Check out my post to see how easy it is to make Homemade Vegetable Broth for FREE (!) using scraps from veggies you already use! I like to freeze it in smaller amounts to use as I need.

The next healthiest option is to buy the unsalted vegetable broth if you can find in your local store, or use an online retailer. The only unsalted brand I’ve found is called Kitchen Basics (doesn’t mean there aren’t others; I’ve just never seen them).

Finally, there are low sodium options, that would be your third best best. These can still be higher in sodium that you might like, though. Make sure to read labels and pick the lowest one, paying particular attention to the serving size. Remember you can always use half broth, half water to cut the sodium more. There are many low sodium vegetable broth brands, and they say “low sodium” right on the front of the packaging. Learn more about reading labels for heart health.

Tips and substitutions

One of the things I just love about soup is how versatile it is, and how you can really add just about anything to it. So don’t feel bound to the ingredients list. Use what you have! Here are some ideas if you need them:

• Use split peas instead of lentils. They also require about 30 minutes to cook, and no soaking!
• Use any green in place of spinach; kale, collard greens, or mustard greens would all be great.
• Use a fresh tomato in place of the canned. One to two large tomatoes should do. You’ll want 1 1/2 cups total when you chop them up.
• If you don’t have Italian seasoning, use any blend you like.
• Add a chopped potato or sweet potato to make the soup even heartier!
• Don’t forget to make your own Homemade Vegetable Broth!

If you make Vegetable Lentil Soup, tell me in the comments!