Meatless Friday: Lentil Soup with Spinach

For Meatless Friday, Barb Szyszkiewicz shares a recipe for a simple soup you can have on the table in less than an hour. Download our printable recipe card!

I used to think it took all day to make soup. And for some kinds of soup, that's true. But this soup is pretty quick to put together, and requires only about half an hour of simmering time.

Enjoy this soup with your favorite bread.

Lentil Soup with Spinach

Ingredients:

1 large sweet onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
2 large carrots, sliced thin or diced
2 TBSP butter or olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled (do not crush)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup green lentils, rinsed
4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups water
pinch of crushed red pepper or Aleppo pepper, to taste
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups baby spinach

Directions:

In large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat (or warm the olive oil). Add onion, carrot, and celery. Cook 5 to 10 minutes until it begins to soften. Add garlic cloves and seasonings. Stir well and cook another minute. Add tomatoes and cook 5 more minutes.

Add lentils, broth, water, salt and both kinds of pepper. Partially cover the pot and simmer 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove garlic cloves. Put about 2 cups of the soup into a separate pan and blend with immersion blender (or use a regular blender). Return to the soup pot. 

Add spinach and cook 5 minutes until it softens. Add more salt and/or pepper to taste.