Craving tomato soup but want something a little heartier? This tomato lentil soup is rich, creamy, and bursting with Italian-inspired flavor. With red lentils, juicy tomatoes, and silky coconut milk, it’s comforting, satisfying, and guaranteed to hit the spot.
My creamy vegan tomato soup is one of my favorite chilly-day comfort foods. It’s so rich and flavorful! But I don’t generally make a meal of it. When I’m craving soup and feeling hungry, I usually turn to heartier recipes like my classic lentil soup or Mediterranean red lentil soup. Then it occurred to me — why not just add lentils to my tomato soup? It worked really well in my red lentil butternut squash soup, and it was just as perfect in this tomato lentil soup!
Jump to:
This tomato lentil soup tastes a lot like my classic vegan tomato soup, but the lentils make it a touch earthier and way more satisfying. A big bowl of this with some crusty bread is all you need for dinner, and it makes such a cozy, comforting meal.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Olive oil. Other neutral high heat oils will work fine.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Spices. We're just using a pinch of red pepper flakes, which you can skip if you don't want any heat, and some dried oregano.
- Vegetable broth.
- Red lentils. We're using split red lentils. Whole red lentils will work fine, but you'll need to increase the simmer time in step 2 by a bit.
- Diced tomatoes.
- Coconut milk. We're adding some full-fat coconut milk to make the soup extra creamy. It won't make the soup taste like coconut, but if you're nervous, try swapping it with a vegan heavy cream alternative, such as those made by Silk or Califia Farms.
- Sugar. You only need a tiny bit of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. Make sure your sugar is organic, since conventional sugar is often processed using animal bone char.
- Salt and pepper.
- Fresh basil.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Cook aromatics and spices. Start by cooking diced onion in a bit of oil, until it starts to soften. Add minced garlic, red pepper flakes, and oregano, then cook everything for another minute, stirring constantly.
Step 2: Simmer the lentils. Stir in the broth and red lentils, raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for about ten minutes. The lentils should have softened and absorbed some broth, but still be slightly undercooked.
Step 3: Simmer the tomatoes. Stir in a large can of diced tomatoes, bring the soup back to a boil, then lower the heat again and let it simmer. After another ten minutes the lentils should be soft and the soup thickened.
Step 4: Blend. You have options here! I like to use an immersion blender, but you could also move the soup to a blender, blend it, and then transfer it back to the pot.
Step 5: Finish the soup. Stir in the coconut milk, sugar, salt, pepper, and fresh basil.
Step 6: Serve. Your tomato lentil soup is ready to enjoy! Ladle it into bowls and serve. Optionally (but highly recommended), with a sprinkle of vegan Parmesan cheese and a crusty piece of bread.
Variations
- Add pesto. Finish your soup with a few spoonfuls of homemade or store-bought vegan pesto. The flavor will blow you away!
- Pasta soup. Add some cooked small pasta, like shells, ditalini, or orzo.
- Spicy tomato lentil soup. Add some fiery flavor by upping the amount of red pepper flakes.
- Add veggies. Once the soup is blended, let it simmer for a few minutes longer with quick-cooking vegetables like fresh greens like kale or spinach or some thawed frozen veggies.
Frequently Asked Questions
It certainly is!
You can, although you may need to increase the simmer time by a few minutes in step 2. The soup will also have an earthier flavor and more muted color.
Tomato lentil soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about three days, or in the freezer for about three months.
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Creamy Tomato Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- Pinch red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 ¼ cup split red lentils
- 1 (28 ounce/794 gram) can diced tomatoes
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon organic granulated sugar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup fresh basil, chopped
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with the oil and place it over medium heat. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion. Sweat the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until it becomes soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Cook the mixture for about a minute more, stirring constantly, until the garlic becomes very fragrant.
- Stir in the broth and lentils. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, until the lentils have started to soften and expand, but are still slightly undercooked.
- Stir in the tomatoes. Raise the heat to bring the mixture back to a boil, then reduce and let it simmer for 10 minutes longer, until the soup has thickened and the lentils are very soft.
- Remove the pot from heat. Blend the soup, either leaving it in the pot and using an immersion blender, or by transferring it to blender and blending in batches. Always use caution when blending hot liquids.
- Return the soup to the pot if you transferred it to the blender. Stir in the coconut milk and warm the soup back up on the stove if it has cooled down too much. Stir in the sugar, then season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the basil.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Comments
No Comments