Kale Lentil Soup
This simple red lentil tomato soup with kale and Brussels sprouts is easy to make, satisfying and so nutritious! You’ll love this soup for a quick meal that stores well for healthy meals all week.
Features
- Dietary Features: Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, nut-free.
- Nutrition Features: Low-fat, high in fibre, high-protein.
- Easy to make with veggies and pantry staples.
- Customize with any veggies you have on hand.
Ingredient Notes
A complete list of ingredients with amounts and full instructions is located in the printable recipe card below. This section covers ingredient and substitution considerations.
- Flavour Basics: Onion, garlic, carrot and celery are key for adding an amazing flavour base to the soup along with plenty of nutrition.
- Brussels Sprouts: This soup is a great way to include this nutritious veggie in your diet but if you don’t have any on hand, you can skip them or swap them for another veggie of choice.
- Spices: To create the warming, flavourful spiced broth, you’ll need chili powder, cumin, coriander and paprika. For a little heat you can add chili flakes but feel free to omit if you’re sensitive to spice.
- Broth: Any homemade or store-bought carton or cubed vegetable broth works.
- Diced Tomatoes: Any kind works but I love fire-roasted for the most flavour!
- Lentils: Use uncooked red lentils. You can use green lentils if you like but they’ll require a longer cooking time.
- Kale: Use any variety of fresh kale. Spinach works too!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Step 1: Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic and Brussels spouts to a large soup pot with a couple tablespoons of water or broth. Saute them for 6-7. minutes until softened.
- Step 2: Add the spices and cook for a few more minutes.
- Step 3: Add the broth, diced tomatoes and lentils and simmer for 15-20 minutes uncovered until the lentils are soft.
- Step 4: Stir in the chopped kale and enjoy!
Notes & Tips
- The soup is quite thick as written, almost like a stew. If you’d like it to be a bit thinner, add up to 2 cups extra vegetable broth at the end, to your preference.
- Red lentils can be substituted with green lentils or quinoa. The cooking time will be a bit shorter for quinoa and a bit longer for green lentils.
Storing
- Let cool before storing.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freeze in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- Thaw overnight in the fridge if frozen.
- Reheat as needed on the stovetop or in the microwave. The soup will thicken after storing but can be thinned by stirring in additional broth or water, if desired.
More Healthy Soups
Here are some more delicious soups you’ll love:
- Butternut Squash Lentil Soup
- Cauliflower Potato Soup with Peas
- Easy Vegan Minestrone Soup
- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup
- Lemon Lentil Soup
- Vegan Tomato Soup
Did you try this recipe?
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Kale Lentil Soup
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 large servings
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This hearty soup is low in fat but high in protein and fibre and packed with nutrients. It’s easy to make in under 30 minutes, full of flavour and keeps well so you can enjoy it for healthy meals all week.
Ingredients
- 1 white onion, diced (300 g, about 2 cups)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 ribs celery, chopped (140 g)
- 1 large carrot, chopped (170 g)
- 2 cups quartered brussel sprouts, stems removed (200 g)
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes (omit if sensitive to spice)
- 7 cups vegetable broth (1750 mL)
- 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup uncooked red lentils (175 g)
- 4 cups de-stemmed and finely chopped kale (160 g, 1 large bunch)
Instructions
- Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and brussel sprouts to a pot with 2-3 tbsp water or broth. Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until softened and fragrant, stirring often.
- Stir in the spices and cook for 2-3 more minutes. If the pot starts to dry out, add another 1-2 tbsp broth or water.
- Add the broth, diced tomatoes and lentils and simmer for 15-20 minutes uncovered until the lentils are soft.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped kale. Let it sit for a few minutes until the kale is mixed in.
- Season with salt and pepper, if needed, and serve right away.
Notes
- This soup will continue to thicken after it sits a day or two and the lentils soak up more of the liquid. You can add more water or broth to adjust the consistency or just enjoy it as a stew.
- Let cool then store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
- Calories: 164
- Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Fiber: 12 g
- Protein: 11 g
Keywords: red lentil kales soup
Originally published December 27, 2017.
The kale lentil soup is delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
I don’t have any dried lenits. Could I use canned? I have them on hand.
Yes but you’ll need to reduce the liquid amount and cooking time and you can just stir them in at the end with the kale. Thanks!
HI! Is there a sub for the tomato? Would you do more veggie broth in its place – dietary restriction
Yes, you could do more broth. Obviously it would be a different soup though! Have you browsed the soup section? I do have lots of tomato-free soups you could try!
This is my favorite soup to make! Easy and sooo comforting and delicious!
★★★★★
Thank you for this great tasting soup!! Amazing recipe!
★★★★★
This worked out really tasty and so easy! I left out the brussel sprouts but stuck pretty close otherwise and I garnished with yoghurt and cilantro- awesome! Thank you!
I just recently found your blog and I have made three of you recipes in the last 18 hours! All three were absolutely perfect! This soup was so good, I added an additional 1/2 c. of lentils and a can of organic kidney beans to add even more protein. Thank you for sharing your amazing recipes and your knowledge on flexible dieting, it’s been very valuable information!!
haha, amazing!! So happy you liked all the recipes and you’re finding useful info! And thanks for the comment, it means a lot. 🙂
Too many of my soup recipes use the chili powder/cumin line of seasonings. I’m looong for a new taste but live the Brussel sprouts and kale in this recipe. How would you recommend merging this recipe with your other lentil soup recipe? Adding the veggies to the other or changing the seasonings in this one??
You can just go ahead and add the brussels and kale to the other one, you may need a little additional broth but otherwise no problem. Or just skip the chili and cumin in this one. You could do like a thyme, sage, rosemary, bay leaf kinda flavour, or just leave them out all together.
I love that there’s so many healthy ingredients in this soup. It’s definitely tougher getting them in during the winter.
Totally, I love loading them all into soup then I don’t have to think about it!