Our Tomato & Red Lentil soup is always a family favourite. There’s something so comforting and familiar about it. I think it’s the combination of a classic tomato flavour with the thick and creamy lentils that makes this soup perfection. For a lentil soup, this recipe works really well in hotter weather as it’s wonderfully refreshing and light.
You say tomato…I say any tomato!
For this recipe, you can make use of any fresh tomatoes languishing at the bottom of your fridge to really minimise any potential food waste. Additionally, you could also opt for frozen or bottled sun-dried tomatoes, or 400g tinned tomatoes. I like to roast the fresh tomatoes to add a slightly charred flavour to the soup. Don’t worry though, this recipe has made sure you’ll be able to retain that fresh and lively flavour of the original tomato too. Give it a try! Tomatoes are just one of many ingredients that feature on our blog post, Souper Foods that boost hearth health. Take a peek to find out just what makes them so good for us.
Fancy another spoonful of soup?
You can find this recipe, and all my other quarantine cooking here on our blog, or you can watch a step-by-step video guide over on our Instagram.
We’re passionate soup makers and love trying out new flavour combinations to really contribute to our 5 a day target. We’ve also cooked up a Roasted Garlic Soup to celebrate all the anti-oxidative goodness of garlic. Or our protein-filled Pasta e Fagioli. Lastly, do check out our creamy and filling Potato and Leafy Spinach soup. Be sure to accompany this soup with some light reading on the health benefits of white potatoes and spinach.
Finally, if you tend to batch cook like me, then you might be wondering what is the best way to store all this soup whilst retaining all their natural goodness. We’ve got you’re back, just check out our post on storing soup the Soupologie way.
Let’s get cooking!
Vegan & Gluten-Free Tomato & Red Lentil Soup
Equipment
- Baking Tray
- Saucepan
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Wooden Spoon
- Stick Blender or Food Processor
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil or Olive Oil
- 1 Onion peeled and chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves chopped
- 2 Carrots peeled and chopped
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 90 g Dried Red Lentils
- 1 x 400g Tinned Tomatoes (or a mixture of 400g fresh/sundried tomatoes)
- 750 ml Vegetable Stock
- Handful Fresh Herbs e.g. Basil, Parsley or Coriander, or 2 tsp Dried Herbs
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- If using fresh tomatoes, preheat oven to 220°C/420°F. Depending on the size of tomato, you can leave small ones whole or chop into segments for larger tomatoes.
- Lay out the tomatoes in an even layer on an oven tray.
- Lightly mix the tomatoes with 1 tbsp of the oil and season with salt. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, checking regularly to avoid burning the tomatoes.
- Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Heat the rest of the oil on low in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and carrots, cooking for 5 minutes and stirring regularly. Sprinkle over any herbs or seasoning according to preference.
- Add the roasted tomatoes to the pan and cook for 30 seconds.
- Tip in the dried lentils and cook for another 30 seconds before pouring in the vegetable stock. Bring soup to a boil then turn down to a simmer, partially covering the pot with a lid. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until the lentils are soft.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and blend with a food processor or stick blender until super smooth. Serve & enjoy!