Spiced carrot & lentil soup

Spiced carrot & lentil soup

A delicious, spicy blend, packed full of iron and low fat to boot. It's ready in under half an hour or can be made in a slow cooker

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 10 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian, Dairy-free

To make dairy-free, see 'Try' below

Method

  1. Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for 1 min, or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas. Scoop out about half of the seeds with a spoon and set aside. Add the oil, carrot, lentils, stock and milk to the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened.
  2. Whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer). Season to taste and finish with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted spices. Serve with warmed naan breads.
Try

Make it Moroccan

Substitute the chilli flakes and cumin seeds for a few teaspoons of harissa paste. You could add cooked shredded chicken at the end of cooking, too.

IF YOU WANT TO USE A SLOW COOKER...

Place half the cumin seeds, half the chilli flakes, the oil, carrots, lentils and 700ml stock into your slow cooker pot. Cover and cook on High for 3 hours until the lentils are tender. Dry-fry the remaining cumin seeds and chilli flakes just until fragrant. When the lentils are done, stir in the milk and whizz up the soup depending on how chunky you'd like it.

Make it dairy-free

For a richer but dairy-free alternative, use a can of reduced-fat coconut milk instead of the milk.

238 kcalories, protein 11g, carbohydrate 34g, fat 7 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 5g, salt 0.25 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2005.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 301-320

  • Binder photo Sarah

    01 December 2010

    Sarah rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo FoodLover81

    04 December 2010

    FoodLover81 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    very tasty and a great warming meal on a very cold winters day

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  • Binder photo Sam Moores

    05 December 2010

    Sam Moores commented on this recipe

    Superb once I'd added three tbsp orange juice. Fantastic and freezes very well

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  • Binder photo ailie

    06 December 2010

    ailie commented on this recipe

    Fantastically easy and tasty soup - really fast to make not much longer that opening a tin = Jamie Oliver eat your heart out - made in under 30 mins

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  • Binder photo scifly

    10 December 2010

    scifly rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Yorkshire Bex

    10 December 2010

    Yorkshire Bex rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Just made this for lunch, lovely! I've run out of cumin, so used a tsp of chilli powder and grated a clove of garlic and a thumb nail size piece of ginger in with the carrot. Also used brown lentils as all I had. Haven't got a food processor so had it quite chunky, just used the potato masher for 2 mins, really tasty!

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  • Binder photo bazzanet

    12 December 2010

    bazzanet rated this recipe

    3 stars

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  • Binder photo vikki

    12 December 2010

    vikki commented on this recipe

    This is very tasty and perfect for this cold weather! I made this with soya milk to make it dairy free (works just as well as cow's milk) and added a potato as I didn't have quite enough carrots. I also added more stock after liquidizing as it had come out quite thick and I wanted it more soupy. I will be taking some to work with me tomorrow. Yum!

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  • Binder photo chi3

    14 December 2010

    chi3 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    i love this recipe so much, it was the turning point of when I fell in love the bbc good food. I use it with the coconut milk, and add the chili flakes. thank you so much!

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  • Binder photo Ruth

    20 December 2010

    Ruth rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really yummy soup! Added extra chilli and it had a lovely warming kick to it. Definitely will be making this again - quick and easy with store-cupboard ingredients.

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  • Binder photo Verity

    20 December 2010

    Verity rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I love this soup it is waming, substaintial, cheap and easy! Perfect!

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  • Binder photo Mrs H

    21 December 2010

    Mrs H rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious and so quick! Even my toddler daughter enjoyed it (though I went easy on the chilli)

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  • Binder photo mossop

    01 January 2011

    mossop rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious. So simple to make and tastes lovely.

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  • Binder photo Kee

    01 January 2011

    Kee rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo missyali

    06 January 2011

    missyali rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is sooooo good and simple. I've made this with low fat milk, soya milk and coconut milk and all work equally well. Theres not much that i would change with this recipe its perfect everytime!

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  • Binder photo synolda

    14 January 2011

    synolda commented on this recipe

    Very tasty and simple. It took me slightly longer because I peeled the rather small carrots (not keen on the chemicals if they're not organic).

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  • Binder photo jsosborne

    15 January 2011

    jsosborne rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    My other half doesn't like carrots so I'm always left with loads from the weekly veg box. I decided to try this and he absolutely loved it! I didn't use oil or yoghurt (as we're both on January diets) and served it with low-fat naan breads. Absolutely wonderful, best soup ever and very filling!!

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  • Binder photo PeeJay

    15 January 2011

    PeeJay rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Delish if not quite as spicy as expected so will add more next time. We like thick soup so was fine for us and, served with naan bread makes a filling meal.

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  • Binder photo recipes

    16 January 2011

    recipes rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Good recipe. I am convinced that the oil adds nothing but calories though and have left it out without any detrimental change to the taste. The addition of onion and garlic enhances the flavour too.

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  • Binder photo Marola

    17 January 2011

    Marola rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    A winner :-)

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 10 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian, Dairy-free

To make dairy-free, see 'Try' below

Healthy vegetarian supper

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • pinch chilli flakes
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 600g carrots , washed and coarsely grated (no need to peel)
  • 140g split red lentils
  • 1l hot vegetable stock (from a cube is fine)
  • 125ml milk
  • plain yogurt and naan bread, to serve
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238 kcalories, protein 11g, carbohydrate 34g, fat 7 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 5g, salt 0.25 g

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