Soups, Stews and Chili Recipes Soup Recipes Beans and Peas Lentil Soup Recipes Red Lentil Soup with Lemon Mint Yogurt 4.9 (30) 24 Reviews 6 Photos 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. By John Mitzewich John Mitzewich John Mitzewich — aka Chef John — has produced more than 1,500 cooking videos for Allrecipes. He's the actor, director, and screenwriter whose hands and voice confidently walk you through techniques. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Updated on October 1, 2022 Save Rate Print Share Add Photo 6 6 6 6 Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins Total Time: 1 hr Servings: 4 Jump to Nutrition Facts Cook Mode (Keep screen awake) Ingredients 1x 2x 4x Oops! Something went wrong. Our team is working on it. Original recipe (1X) yields 4 servings 2 tablespoons butter 1 large yellow onion, diced 3 tablespoons tomato paste, or more to taste 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste 4 cloves garlic, crushed 2 teaspoons ground cumin ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 quart chicken broth 1 cup red lentils 1 rib celery, diced 1 large carrot, diced Lemon-Mint Yogurt: 6 leaves fresh mint, thinly sliced 1 pinch salt 3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt, or more to taste ½ lemon, juiced ½ teaspoon lemon zest Directions 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. 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. 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. 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. Chef's Notes: To make this dish vegan, use olive oil instead of butter, vegetable broth instead of chicken, and plant-based yogurt instead of Greek yogurt. Other varieties of lentils will work. If making the soup ahead, blanching the mint for a few seconds in boiling water and then shocking it in ice water will help retain its green color when mixed into the yogurt. Crumbled feta cheese is a nice substitution if you're not into yogurt. I Made It Print Nutrition Facts (per serving) 294 Calories 8g Fat 41g Carbs 16g Protein Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label Nutrition Facts Servings Per Recipe 4 Calories 294 % Daily Value * Total Fat 8g 11% Saturated Fat 4g 22% Cholesterol 22mg 7% Sodium 1654mg 72% Total Carbohydrate 41g 15% Dietary Fiber 17g 62% Total Sugars 7g Protein 16g 32% Vitamin C 21mg 23% Calcium 78mg 6% Iron 5mg 28% Potassium 790mg 17% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. ** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data. (-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.