by Debbie Chapman
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Do your kids love soup? Leah is a crazy picky eater, but the one thing she will always eat is soup, and thank goodness, because it’s one of the healthiest things she could choose.
My mom came up with the best lentil soup recipe and it’s one of my all time favourites. It’s loaded with veggies and perfect for a cold winter day… or in my case, perfect when I feel like our family hasn’t been eating healthy and we need a little nutrient boost!
One of my most favourite things about making soup is that it is next to impossible to mess it up, so if you want to season it differently for your tastes or change the amounts, it will probably still taste great!
Ingredients:
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 900mL box of reduced sodium chicken broth
- 900mL water (I just refill the chicken broth box again and pour it into the soup)
- 1 can diced tomatoes (bonus if you buy diced tomatoes with herbs and spices… in this case you can leave out the italian herbs listed below)
- 7 stalks of celery, chopped
- 5 carrots, chopped
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 1/4 cup barley
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp thyme
- 2 bay leaves
The short instructions are: saute the onions and garlic, add all the ingredients and simmer for 1.5 hours.
Here is the longer description with pictures:
Saute the onion and garlic in a little bit of oil. Add the chicken broth and the water. Add the can of tomatoes.
Add the lentils and the barley.
Add the bay leaves, Italian seasoning and thyme.
Chop the celery and and add it to the soup.
Chop the carrots and add them to the soup.
The soup will look something like the picture above. Mmmm….
Cover the soup, bring it to a boil and simmer for about 1.5 hours or until the lentils are soft.
It’s a super hearty soup that I make several times a month in the winter. I love to make a pot on Sunday and then have it for lunches during the week.
I threw some lentil soup into the baby bullet and my 9 month old loved it too. It feeds everyone in our little family!
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About Debbie Chapman, the Author of this Post
I'm Debbie Chapman, founder of One Little Project and author of the book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids. I love creating fun and easy crafts and cooking up delicious recipes for my husband and 3 kids.
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Filed Under: Recipes, SoupTagged With: Early Post, soup
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Linda saysI made this lentil soup last week. I made some changes to it. I used brown rice instead of the barley. Did not use the seasonings it called for. Instead I kicked it up a notch. I used red curry powder, ground turmeric, ground cumin and smoked paprika, just add to your liking and then I added fresh baby spinach. And it was so delicious!! My husband really liked it as well. I used the frozen Birds Eye brown rice put it in the microwave for 4 minutes added to the soup. I did have to add more chicken broth. I love the red lentils. Served the soup with garlic bread and it was the bomb!! Will be making it again. Next time I will add some Italian sausage.
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- Delina Durtschi says
Thank-you for a killer soup recipe!! This is the second time I’ve made it and I love it. My husband shudders at the thought of lentils, but he couldn’t even tell that they were there. I love the red color they give to the soup as well as the extra nutrition. Normally I eat very little meat, but I add just a smidge of Italian sausage and it heightened the flavor of the whole pot. This is now one of my favorite soup recipes. Thanks again.
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- Nikki says
This has become the basis for a go-to meal of mine! I saute some crumbled spicy italian sausage after the onion, and I double up on both the barley and lentils for a more substantial stew-like soup. And if I have time, I’ll make the chicken stock from scratch. Delicious!
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