One of my most favorite food items to cook with is red lentils! And this is one of my personal favorite recipes which received many ooo’s and ahhh’s from my Gluten Free cooking class. PLUS it’s totally allowed on my Gluten Free Sugar Cleanse and also received rave reviews from the last group to go through. (FYI – next one starts on May 9th! Check out the details here…)
This recipe actually comes from a relative in Italy who kindly gave it to my Aunt, who then gave it to my mom. Not only is this meal easy, but it’s a total hand-me-down from across the sea! If you’ve never tried red lentils (or lentils in general), please give them a try. Red lentils are inexpensive, incredibly easy to cook, deliciously nutritious and very adaptable to whatever flavoring you’d love for them to have.
Lentils are a powerfully nutritious legume with plenty of protein and fiber that can hold up in your pantry when kept in a tightly sealed jar. Please buy them dry rather than the pre-cooked ones in the can since lentils don’t take nearly as long to cook as dried beans. Red lentils especially cook quite fast and make A LOT!
Pin This Recipe And Save It For Later
Red Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Lb Yellow or orange lentils Rinse thoroughly
- 1 28 ounce or 32 ounce Can Diced tomatoes
- 3 Large cloves garlic Minced
- 1 Medium onion Chopped
- 5 Cups Water
- 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 Cup Fresh basil leaves Loosely packed
Instructions
- In a large pan, sauté onions and garlic for about 4 to 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer.
- Meanwhile in a separate pot, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add lentils and reduce heat to a simmer. Any foam that rises to the top should be skimmed off with a large spoon and discarded. This is your “Fart Foam” which is filled with the waste from the lentils that can cause gas as they are digested. Cook lentils until they become tender (about 10 – 15 minutes).
- Once lentils are soft, add tomato mixture to pot and season with salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings to taste. Loosely slice or tear up basil leaves and cook for another 20 minutes at a simmer. If soup becomes too thick for your liking, add more water.
- Optional: You can add cubes of avocado to each bowl before serving.
Recipe Notes
I generally freeze a large container of this in a plastic container for days when I need something hardy to eat, but am limited on time to cook. Reheats easily and tastes just as good. Sometimes I’ll even add some chickpeas as well just to give it even more bulk, especially if I need it to go the extra mile.