Red Lentil Soup Recipe
Legumes are generally a cheaper source of protein. But do they provide enough protein for a proper meal? NimbleFins recreates a favourite soup recipe—see below for the recipe, the cost and the protein provided.
Notes
Red lentils range in price depending on where you shop. We've found it most economical to buy lentils in smaller international markets, where you might get a large bag for a few quid. If you like this recipe, it may be worth buying this way—lentils can keep for quite a long time in the cupboard!
Alternative Toppings: As a somewhat 'neutral' soup, this recipe is amenable to lots of different finishing touches. We like the traditional Turkish way, with a generous squeeze of lemon, some crushed dried mint and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (ideally Aleppo). But you could instead stir in some natural yogurt (more protein!) or sprinkle on some shredded cheese (again, more protein!) or try different herbs other than mint. Paprika or thyme come to mind, or perhaps even sage. You could also sprinkle croutons on top, instead of serving with warm, buttered rolls. Let us know how you like it in the comments section below.
Red Lentil Soup Recipe
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- A few onions, chopped (around 2 cups)
- A few cloves of garlic, grated (~1 tablespoon)
- 2 tablespoons of concentrated tomato puree
- 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 cups of red lentils, rinsed
- 4 tablespoons of white rice
- 2.5 litres of water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- Mint (dried is fine, although you can also use chopped fresh mint)
- Lemon wedges
- Rolls (we bought whole grain) and extra butter
Directions
Let's cook!
- Cook the onion, garlic, tomato and spices. Warm a large pot (that can handle more than 3 litres) on medium heat, then add the butter. Once it has melted, add the chopped onion. Cook around 5 minutes, stirring every so often, until the onion is translucent but the edges have not yet browned. Add the garlic, stirring for a minute or so until you can smell the garlic in the air. Add the tomato paste, paprika and cumin, stirring and cooking for around 1 minute. It should look like this:
- Add the lentils and rice. To the pot, add the lentils, rice and salt (use an amount to your tastes and health requirements). Stir to mix, then add the water. First bring to a rapid boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer. Cover the pot and cook gently for around 30 minutes, until the lentils and rice have softened and broken down. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Blend and serve. Optional: Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Serve the soup drizzled with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and an extra lemon wedge on the side, in case you want extra. Crush some dried mint in your palm (to release the aroma) and dust over each bowl of soup. Add a dash of red pepper flakes to taste (ideally Aleppo). Serve with toasted and buttered rolls.
This soup is all about personal tastes. In our family, some people like it with extra lemon. Some like it with extra red pepper and mint. Try different amounts when you eat to find your perfect bowl of soup. Enjoy!
How to make red lentil soup for £5
The NimbleFins team went to Lidl to see if we could make this recipe for under £5.
Here's what we bought and how the costs broke down:
| Recipe cost at Aldi | Product size | Cost to buy | Amount needed for recipe | Recipe cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butter | 250g | £1.89 | 4 tablespoons | £0.47 |
| Onions | bag of 3 onions | £0.95 | 1 - 2 | £0.63 |
| Garlic | Bulb | £0.37 | few cloves | £0.12 |
| Tomatoe puree | tube | £0.59 | 2 tablespoons | £0.15 |
| Sweet paprika | Jar | £0.69 | 2 tablespoons | £0.14 |
| Cumin | Jar | £0.65 | 1 teaspoon | £0.08 |
| Red lentils | 500g bag | £1.29 | 2 cups | £1.29 |
| White rice | 1 kg | £0.52 | 4 tablespoons | £0.05 |
| Mint | 30g | £0.52 | to taste | £0.52 |
| Lemons | 4 pack | £0.69 | 2 | £0.35 |
| Rolls | 6 pack | £0.49 | 6 pack | £0.49 |
| Total | £8.7 | £4.3 |
Assuming our cupboard was bare and we needed to buy every single ingredient, we would have to spend £8.70 to buy everything needed to make our red lentil soup recipe. But you may very well have many of the ingredients in your cupboard already, such as the cumin, paprika, tomato puree, onions, garlic, and even butter. But if you don't and you needed to spend the £8.70 to get everything, keep in mind you're only using some of the ingredients. We calculate the cost to be £4.30 to make the entire recipe—and you'd be left with extra butter, onions, garlic, tomato puree, paprika, cumin, rice and lemons. You will essentially use up all of the red lentils and rolls, and maybe the mint (note: Aldi only sells fresh mint, not dried. Dried mint is more economical and tastes just as good in the recipe, if not better).
You could use many of these extra ingredients as the base for our Mexican rice meal!
Does this meal have enough protein?
Protein is generally expensive, but red lentils are known to be a cheap and cheerful protein source. Does red lentil soup provide a decent amount of protein? Yes, especially when you consider that this is a large recipe that will provide more than 1 generous bowl of soup per person, plus the whole grain rolls served with the soup add additional protein. Here is the protein breakdown, assuming the recipe serves four (and the four people equally share the 6-pack of rolls—that's 1.5 rolls per person):
| Protein | Per Serving (grams) |
|---|---|
| Red lentils | 24.0 |
| Whole grain rolls | 10.7 |
Total | 34.7 |
It's commonly said that adults need 0.75 grams of protein per day, per kg of bodyweight. That means around 50 grams of protein is needed per day on average, as a rough estimate. So, a meal providing 35 grams of protein is solid indeed. And for under £5!