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 41-60

  • Binder photo sven

    18 October 2008

    sven rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Whow

    20 October 2008

    Whow rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this for my husband's lunch on a very wet, miserable day. Just what was needed - it was warming and yummy and so quick to make. I forgot to add the olive oil (!) next time I make it I think I'd leave it out again, it was delicious as it was.

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  • Binder photo sairdair

    20 October 2008

    sairdair rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Love this recipe! It's so easy and it tastes delicious. Have had to copy recipe out for lots of friends after they tasted it. I tend to add a good dollop of sweet chilli sauce at the end rather than use chilli flakes.

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  • Binder photo Frankie

    22 October 2008

    Frankie commented on this recipe

    Lovely. I thought I'd have some left over but everyone had seconds.

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  • Binder photo Frankie

    22 October 2008

    Frankie rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Sweetpickle123

    25 October 2008

    Sweetpickle123 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I Love this Soup - for a bit of extra warmth try adding a small de-seeded chilli when you add the carrots.

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  • Binder photo tangopat

    29 October 2008

    tangopat rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this in advance of our going to a football match on what must have been the worst day of the year weatherwise! Brilliantly warming to come back to - have recommended it to all the family.

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  • Binder photo cookingforgirls

    30 October 2008

    cookingforgirls rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I make a lot of soups and have never used milk in the way suggested in the recipe. I really liked the rich texture and flavour it gave, but rest of family didn't like it so much. Looks like I'll be eating the left overs which is fine by me. Didn't bother grating the carrots. Just chopped them and cooked for ten minutes at the beginning.

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  • Binder photo kriek

    04 November 2008

    kriek rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Excellent for cold, wet dreadful days or after a long walk outside. Easy, filling and delicious.

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  • Binder photo broadbean

    06 November 2008

    broadbean commented on this recipe

    added onions and left out the milk.delicious soup,have made it several times.my 15 month old daughter loves it too!

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  • Binder photo toffeebanoffee

    07 November 2008

    toffeebanoffee rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Yvonne-S

    10 November 2008

    Yvonne-S rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    Oh dear I feel a failure now after reading everyone's comments :-( I followed the recipe to the letter but found the soup quite bland and uninteresting, could be my cooking skills but I wont be making this one again.

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  • Binder photo flubbles1982

    12 November 2008

    flubbles1982 rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    I have to agree with Yvonne-S, I make a lot of soups and I found this soup incredibly sweet and very bland at the same time. I also found that the soup was a bit chalky (not sure if this is down to the lentils). I will not be making this again either, however there are some lovely soups on here, which I have made and shall continue to make.

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  • Binder photo Alice

    15 November 2008

    Alice rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    Rather disappointing.

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  • Binder photo cakeyshoes

    16 November 2008

    cakeyshoes rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    my all time fave soup recipe from GF, hearty warming and full of flavour. not sure why other reviewers found it to be bland and tasteless. i have made this on countless occasions and all who have tried it love it.

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  • Binder photo Tilly

    22 November 2008

    Tilly rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made this today for lunch as the snow is falling outside. Hubby and I really enjoyed this soup, although,I must say it is an acquired taste..... made Herb bread to accompany it, and lunch was a great success. Have enough soup for a later day, so will pop it in the freezer.

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  • Binder photo Wendy

    23 November 2008

    Wendy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fully agree - a delicious, heart-warming soup. My local shop didn't have cumin seeds or chilli flakes so I used ground but have now stocked up on seeds and flakes for next time. I think I undercooked the carrots because the texture was rather 'bitty' after a fair time in the blender but we still really enjoyed it. My ancient food processor grates very finely so I used the slicer and probably should have cooked the carrots first.

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  • Binder photo millymolly99

    23 November 2008

    millymolly99 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Love this soup, I have made it a few times now, it's so easy. Like some of the other comments I add a little extra and stock and omitt the oil. I freeze it in single servings and just lift a tub out of the freezer in the morning and heat up at work for lunch

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  • Binder photo forbairt

    08 December 2008

    forbairt rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Tasty :) First taste of this was meh its ok ... then I sat down to a bowl of it and my god it was good. Also way too simple to make. This heralds an end hopefully to me buying fresh soup / tinned soup anymore :) Its also extremely cheap to make and damn filling :)

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  • Binder photo Damson

    13 December 2008

    Damson rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really easy and tastes delicious - perfect for winter

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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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