Red Lentil Soup with Lemon-Mint Yogurt

This lentil soup recipe is easy to get excited about because it is delicious, satisfying, comforting, beautiful, and, thanks to the lentils, meaty. When you're eating this, it really doesn't seem like a vegetable-based soup. Garnish with thinly sliced mint.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 60 mins
• Calories: 294 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• ½ lemon, juiced
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 cup red lentils
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 rib celery, diced
• 3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste, or more to taste
• 6 leaves fresh mint, thinly sliced

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, tomato paste, and salt to melted butter. Cook, stirring often, until onion softens and tomato paste turns a deep brick red or brown color, 5 to 7 minutes.

Step 2

Add garlic, cumin, and cayenne pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Stir in lentils, celery, and carrot. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils and vegetables are very tender, 30 to 40 minutes.

Step 3

Meanwhile, make lemon-mint yogurt: Grind mint and salt in a mortar and pestle to a paste. Add yogurt, lemon juice, and zest; stir together until combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Step 4

Taste soup for seasoning. Use an immersion blender to purée about 1/2 of the soup to achieve a creamier texture. Serve hot with spoonfuls of lemon-mint yogurt.