This wonderfully flavorful, rich, and nutritious lentil soup reaches for cultural ethnicity with various spices as well as the well-known and lauded Harissa paste. You can make this soup quickly either on the stove-top or in your Instant Pot pressure cooker!!
In my single and married (but pre-child) past I had the privilege of traveling across the world to Africa and Nepal as well as a handful of other countries. I think Ethnic food is incredible. The flavors in the soup truly seem to transport me to other places!
What do you need to make this Mediterranean – style Red lentil soup?
- Harissa paste – this is a big one. It’s a combination of a variety of spicy red peppers as well as some spices. Really contributes a depth of flavor and cultural authenticity to this soup!
- Fresh Ginger – I did add the option to use dried ginger in the recipe card but fresh is best!
- Red Lentils – there are other lentil colors out there, brown, black etc., but red is quick cooking and perfect flavor for this recipe
How to serve this soup:
- Over rice
- with a side salad and crusty bread
- alongside hummus and vegan yogurt
One last comment! The white stuff you see swirled in the top bowl of soup is a bit of my homemade yogurt. I talk about it in this post: 2 Easy Ways to Make the Vest Vegan Yogurt. Happy cooking everyone! Can’t wait for you to get wrapped up in the flavors!!
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Mediterranean-Style Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup
Ingredients
- 1 C. Finely Diced Onion
- 1 C. Finely Diced Carrot
- 4 Large cloves minced Garlic
- 1 tsp. Fresh minced Ginger OR 1/4 tsp Dried Ground Ginger
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 1/2 tsp. Himalayan Salt or other sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. Cumin
- 1/4 tsp. Tumeric
- 1/4 tsp. Paprika
- 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. Chilli Powder
- Pinch Coriander
- 1 tsp Harissa OR Pinch Cayenne use more of either depending on how spicy you like it
- 1 Can Diced Tomatoes 14.5 oz
- 1 Can Chickpeas garbanzos (15.5 oz)
- 1 C. Dry Red lentils Rinsed
- 32 oz. or 4 Cups Vegetable Broth
- 2 C. Water
- 1 T. Fresh Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Finely dice onions and carrots either by hand or with a food processor. Mince Garlic and Ginger root. Add all these to instant pot or stock pot and begin to Saute’ with olive oil. Add seasonings and salt. Saute’ for a few moments until fragrant and onions begin to soften. Stir frequently to prevent burning.
- Now add can of diced tomatoes (with juice) that you’ve either pulsed in a food processor, or chopped a bit to create smaller pieces. Add the remaining ingredients (lentils, rinsed/drained chickpeas, veg. broth, water, Harissa) with the exception of the fresh lemon.
- If using Instant Pot: set Manual (high) pressure to 11 minutes and allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes before manually releasing remaining pressure.
- If cooking on stovetop: Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for approx 45 minutes or until lentils are tender.
- Stir in Fresh Lemon, garnish with fresh herbs if desired, and serve!
Nutrition
Had this for lunch today – it was amazing – loved it – this is my new go-to-lentil soup recipe. I didn’t have vegetable stock so I used just plain water and added some chicken style seasoning. I had tried it once before and got impatient and didn’t wait for the instant pot to depressurize by itself for 10 minutes and it wasn’t as good. Today I made myself wait and it was absolutely perfect.
Thx for your comment! So glad you enjoyed it! Loved the idea of using water and chicken-style seasoning as well!
This soup is amazing! I love it and so do my kids!
So glad the whole family loves it! That’s a win for sure! 😉
This looks delish!! I especially love Instant Pot recipes. Can’t wait to give it a try.
Thanks so much! Hope you love it! 😉