Spiced carrot & lentil soup in a bowl

Spiced carrot & lentil soup

By Jane Hornby
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(875 ratings)
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Prep: 10 mins Cook: 15 mins

Easy

Serves 4

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

Nutrition and extra info

  • Freezable
  • Healthy
  • Vegetarian

Nutrition:

  • kcal238
  • fat7g
  • saturates1g
  • carbs34g
  • sugars0g
  • fibre5g
  • protein11g
  • salt0.25g
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Ingredients

  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • pinch chilli flakes
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
    olive oil

    Olive oil

    ol-iv oyl

    Probably the most widely-used oil in cooking, olive oil is pressed from fresh olives. It's…

  • 600g carrots, washed and coarsely grated (no need to peel)
    Carrot

    Carrot

    ka-rot

    The carrot, with its distinctive bright orange colour, is one of the most versatile root…

  • 140g split red lentils
  • 1l hot vegetable stock (from a cube is fine)
  • 125ml milk (to make it dairy-free, see 'try' below)

    Milk

    mill-k

    One of the most widely used ingredients, milk is often referred to as a complete food. While cow…

  • plain yogurt and naan bread, to serve
    yogurt

    Yogurt

    yog-ert

    Yogurt is made by adding a number of types of harmless bacteria to milk, causing it to ferment.…

Method

  1. Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry 2 tsp cumin seeds and a pinch of chilli flakes for 1 min, or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas.

  2. Scoop out about half with a spoon and set aside. Add 2 tbsp olive oil, 600g coarsely grated carrots, 140g split red lentils, 1l hot vegetable stock and 125ml milk to the pan and bring to the boil. 

  3. Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened.

  4. Whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer).

  5. Season to taste and finish with a dollop of plain yogurt and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted spices. Serve with warmed naan breads.

  • Recipe Tip

    Use a soup maker

    Save time and effort by placing all your ingredients in a soup maker and whizzing up a delicious soup in no time. Read our review on some of the best soup makers available. 

  • Recipe Tip

    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.

  • Recipe Tip

    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.

  • Recipe Tip

    Make it dairy-free

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

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Comments, questions and tips

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Kaehrling
17th Aug, 2019
5.05
Super easy and can be doctored up if you like it with more of a kick. I added ginger, garlic, coriander seed (instead of cumin seed) and cumin powder. I chopped the carrots instead of grating and it was totally fine. An easy go to!
A 88's picture
A 88
3rd Aug, 2019
2.05
Maybe it was the carrots I used but this soup was so bland and tasteless. I followed the recipe to a T but I found I had to add a bunch of yoghurt and extra spices to be able to eat it (but even then it was still bland). All I could taste was the lentils and the soup was really grainy. I think it needs another vegetable other than carrots and less lentils to get a bit more depth of flavour. I make a different soup every week in winter but this is probably the worst I've had...Easy to make but not sure why it has such high reviews
Andria Weil's picture
Andria Weil
30th Jul, 2019
Made this for the first time tonight and the family loved it. Super easy for a weeknight meal. My husband loved the limited clean up! I made it vegan - substituting coconut milk for regular milk using a full can vs. the recipe recommendation which called for less liquid. It seemed too thick to me. Added some salt to taste at the end which perked it up. Also added in a thumb of fresh ginger (shredded) as I love ginger. Added the ginger with the carrots, etc. so it could all cook together. Used an immersion blender to smooth it all out. I don’t love super hot stuff so found the spice at the right level but can understand if others want more kick from the red pepper. That’s an easy enough adjustment to make but don’t feel I need to for my family’s taste. Definitely try it - super cheap, easy and healthy!!!
Janette1956
23rd Jul, 2019
5.05
Delicious ! All the family enjoyed . Made it vegan by using almond milk and leaving out yogurt . Cooked it a little longer before spinning in the processor and yes it’s good to increase the cumin seeds and Chili a little . Wished I had made twice as much to use next day.
evethemighty
4th Jul, 2019
1.05
So bland! I added at least twice, if not three times as much spice but still couldn't stand it. Ended up throwing it away.
Maria Teresa De Matos Matilde's picture
Maria Teresa De...
6th Jun, 2019
5.05
Delicious and easy to prepare. Thank you!
Vbreen
1st Jun, 2019
5.05
This is one of my favourite soup recipes. It’s so simple to make and most of the ingredients are store cupboard basics. Great for weekday work lunches.
Sable Rain's picture
Sable Rain
21st May, 2019
5.05
This soup is so good! I followed the recipe to the letter, blended it with a stick blender, and garnished with Greek yoghurt, fresh coriander, and fresh red chili pepper. This is going to be another regular in my rotation of recipes.
KateUli88
5th May, 2019
5.05
triple the spices and use a blender at the end - absolutely delicious!
Fanmail Only's picture
Fanmail Only
28th Apr, 2019
4.05
It’s a good simple recipe. For me using a blender at the end is essential otherwise it’s got an unappealing texture. Very cheap though and perfect for packed lunches.

Pages

keenanmd
12th Jun, 2019
Can I freeze this recipie?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
17th Jun, 2019
Thanks for your question. Yes, you can freeze this recipe. All our freezable recipe are marked with a blue star above the nutritional information. Freeze before adding the yogurt.
Alastair King
23rd Jan, 2019
When i add the oil to the hot pan it burns the seeds. Is it ok to add the oil after the stock?
amac253
23rd Jan, 2019
I don't have cumin seeds, but I do have ground cumin. Can I substitute this? If so, how much would I need for 2 tsp cumin seeds?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
25th Jan, 2019
Thanks, yes you can substitute it. We'd recommend using 1 - 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin at the beginning, depending on taste.
Mcgillt
13th Oct, 2018
Hi, can you tell me how long I can safely store the soup in the fridge?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
17th Oct, 2018
Thanks for your question. We recommend keeping the soup for up to 2 days in the fridge or freezing it for a later date.
Filmsrose
14th Aug, 2017
would this be ok to chill and freeze please?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
17th Aug, 2017
Thanks for your question. Yes, you can freeze this. We put a blue star above the nutritional information on all our freezable recipes. Hope that helps when looking at future recipes too!
LITTLECHEF14
4th Jul, 2017
hi dont know what i did wrong but it came out as a baby food consistency like loads of bits in it dont know what happened help!!

Pages

Kungfoophil
7th Apr, 2019
5.05
I added a tin a of 5 bean salad and parsnips for a variation on a great recipe
jellymother
19th Mar, 2019
4.05
This soup was excellent although I did fry off some onions with fresh red chillies before adding the carrots & lentils. Great texture once blended. Will definitely make again.
Rochelle Beech's picture
Rochelle Beech
5th Mar, 2018
4.05
tasty, used a teaspoon of harrisa instead of chilli flakes.
harvey6
16th Jan, 2017
I have made this soup many times but my latest batch was the tastiest yet. I forgot to remove the scoop of toasted seeds so had double the amount in the pot from the start. I had two parsnips which needed used so I added them keeping the original amount of carrots but adding more water. I like the soup even better now, it's subtly different in a nice way.
notnixon's picture
notnixon
23rd Sep, 2016
Delicious! I used coconut milk (the drinking kind) rather than cows milk. The hint of coconut really helped the flavour.
Atay
27th Apr, 2016
5.05
Fantastic recipe - cheap, easy, tasty and healthy - I made it vegan by swapping the dairy milk for a tin of coconut milk. This has become a regular of mine and has been a big hit with friends.
JoanneMat
10th Sep, 2015
4.05
If you are going to blend at the end there is really no need to grate the carrots to begin with just chop quickly and throw in to pot!
ollynewport's picture
ollynewport
1st Mar, 2015
If you prefer a chunky soup, cut the the carrots into small cubes, keeping the rest of the ingredients the same. If you wish to have meat: take several slices of smoked streaky bacon, cut into small pieces, fry until crispy, and add to the saucepan along with the carrot, lentils, milk and stock.
fitnessjonas
6th Dec, 2014
A great soup, very filling. I have it as a snack as it has good balance of veg and vegetarian protein.
jaysterhowl
27th Jun, 2013
This soup is lovely, but much nicer if you add extra spices and a bit of smoked paprika (as others have said). Be very meagre with the chilli flakes however, as the frying at the start really brings out the spice!
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