Moroccan Lentil Soup

There was a blizzard in Colorado this weekend, so I decided it was a good day to make soup…

and I have been waiting for a day exactly like this to make this Moroccan Lentil Soup…

I made the Lentil Soup for myself, and also made a pot of Chicken Noodle Soup along with a loaf of French Bread. Nothing beats bowls of hot, steamy soup and crisp, warm French Bread on a cold, snowy day. Yum! 😋

I think we will be eating soup and bread for lunch all week, but no complaints here… the soup was wonderful… it was a warm spicy broth, but not too spicy at all. 😃

Moroccan Lentil Soup

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Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1 Onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup lentils
• 1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can cannellini or white navy beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil, optional
• 1½ tsp salt (or to taste)

Instructions

 

• In a large pot, sauté the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, and ginger in 1 Tablespoon olive oil for about 5 minutes.
• Add the vegetable broth, water, lentils, garbanzo beans, cannellini beans, diced tomatoes, garam masala, cardamom, cayenne pepper, and cumin.
• Bring to a boil for a few minutes, then simmer for 1 to 1½ hours or longer, until the lentils are soft.
• Optional (for a thicker soup): Puree half the soup in a food processor or blender. Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir and enjoy.

Notes

1. My favorite way to make this soup is in a 6-qt Instant Pot.  Omit the oil from the recipe.  Toss all the ingredients in the pot, and set to the soup setting.  It will be done in 30 minutes!
2. You can also make this soup in a crock pot.  I just put all of the ingredients in to a crockpot and cook on low for 8-9 hours.  You can omit the olive oil if making in the crockpot.
3. To make this carnivore friendly, you can microwave or fry a sausage link (i.e. chicken sausage or Italian sausage, etc), and then slice up and add to the bottom of the soup bowl.  Ladle the soup into the bowl with the sausage.