This Italian Lentil Soup is your everyday Lentil Soup. A hearty nutritious bowl of plant based powerhouse made with lots of veggies, lentils, herbs and seasonings. Super easy to make & ready in 15 minutes. Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free. Meal-Prep and Freezer Meal Option. Instant Pot and Stove top recipe included. Video Recipe.
Italian Lentil Soup
This Italian Lentil Soup is the easiest soup to make on the planet. It definitely qualifies for a highly nutritious soup as it's loaded with veggies, lentils, herbs and seasonings. Lots of flavors that will make you want more servings. Comfort food at it's best.
Vegetarian/Vegan or not, this soup is a great source of protein and dietary fiber. It's light yet filling and perfect for any palate.
It can be the perfect main or side dish that requires 10 easily available ingredients, 15 minutes and an Instant Pot.I have also shared the stove top recipe in the recipe card below. It is by far one of the easiest lentil soups I've ever had and also the most flavorful.
All you need to do is toss in all the ingredients in the Instant Pot, set it for 15 minutes and go finish some chores. When the timer beeps, come back to enjoy a delicious comforting bowl of soup.
What goes into this Italian Lentil Soup, Lentil Soup Ingredients
Nothing fancy, honestly. Inspired by the classic Minestrone Soup, all I do is toss in everyday ingredients readily available at home and replace the pasta with lentils. You can use whatever veggies you have. I typically use, onions, tomatoes, squash or zucchini & celery. You could even throw in some greens like spinach or kale if you'd like.
The Italian herbs and seasonings go very well in this soup. If you'd like to experiment different flavors and variations of this soup, you can tweak the flavors with some curry powder, or some abodo seasoning, or even some zataar spice mix. I also like to add a little garlic as it just takes the soup to the next level.
For the soup base you can either add water or vegetable broth. If you don't mind the extra nutrition go for the vegetable broth. Adding the broth will make the soup towards a brownish color. If you like a bright red color soup, then just stick to the tomatoes and water instead of the broth.
Which Lentil to use for lentil soup
You can add any dried lentils to this soup like red, green or brown. I've used dried green lentils for this recipe. You can see the picture below. The only lentils that you don't want to use for this soup are the Black Beluga lentils or the French Puy lentils. These black variety of lentils will not soften like other lentils.
What's awesome is that you don't even need to soak the dried lentils. Just a couple or rinses and the lentils can be used directly. Dried lentils also give a great texture to the soup from the starch released when cooked.
How to make the best Italian Lentil Soup : Recipe
This is the easy part. Just throw in all the ingredients into the Instant Pot and set the timer on High Pressure for 15 minutes. No sauteing of the onions or soaking of lentils required.
What makes this Instant Pot Italian Lentil Soup so good
Trust me when I say this, you are going to want seconds and thirds of the lentil soup. Try it yourself. The secret ingredient to make this lentil soup yum, is adding a dash of freshness, freshly squeezed lemon juice just before serving. Sure to tantalize your tastebuds and retains the nice vibrant color of the soup.
Here is why you should try this Instant Pot Italian Lentil Soup
- Love at first sip, because its seriously delicious
- Full of flavors
- Plant based
- Heart healthy
- Lots of fiber and protein
- Super easy to make, ready in 15 minutes.
- Soon will become your family favorite
- Vegan + Gluten Free + Oil Free
- Versatile
- Budget friendly
- Meal Prep + Freezer Meal + Make ahead + Lunchbox
Can you Meal Prep or make a Freezer Meal
Honestly prepping the ingredients for this soup isn't time consuming. However if you'd still like to meal prep this soup then I'd recommend storing all the chopped veggies, herbs and seasonings in a freezer safe container. When you want to make the soup just toss in the ingredients in the Instant Pot and add the broth or water.
For a freezer meal, I would make a large batch of this soup and store it in single serve freezer safe mason jars or freezer containers, filling it ¾th. Freeze it with the lid off for the first 24 hours so the glass doesn't break and then cover with the lip after the first 24 hours. Thaw it by removing it from the freezer the night before consumption. If it's thick for you, water it down with a couple tablespoons of water, heat it and enjoy it warm.
Longevity of this Instant Pot Italian Lentil Soup
This soup will keep in the freezer for 3 months. In the fridge, this soup will keep for 3-4 days depending on the freshness of the ingredients.
So I hope you do consider trying this soup as Lentils are good for you. Make it for lunch / dinner or for your next potluck. When you try it and fall in love with this soup, don't forget to come back and leave us a comment, sharing your feedback. We love hearing from you. Or tag us on Instagram @dbellyrulesdmind.
More Lentil Recipes
- Instant Pot Dal Tadka (Restaurant style Yellow Dal)
- Instant Pot Dal Makhani (Restaurant style Black Dal)
- Might Mung Breakfast Salad
Italian Lentil Soup
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Diet: VeganDiet
Description
This Italian Lentil Soup is your everyday Lentil Soup. A hearty nutritious bowl of plant based powerhouse made with lots of veggies, lentils, herbs and seasonings. Super easy to make & ready in 15 minutes. Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free. Meal-Prep and Freezer Meal Option. Instant Pot and Stove top recipe included.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
- 3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup dried green lentils, rinsed
- 1 tablespoon Italian herb mix
- salt to taste
- Garnishing
- 1 tablespoon cilantro / parsley for garnish
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Toss all ingredients in the Instant Pot, except for the garnish
- Pressure Cook the Soup on 'High' for 15 mins.
- Quick Release Pressure when the timer goes off.
- Garnish with lemon juice and your choice of herb.
- Serve it warm.
Stove Top Instructions
- Toss all ingredients in a large pot, except for the garnish
- Bring to boil and then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Garnish with lemon juice and your choice of herb.
- Serve it warm
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Additional Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 110
- Sugar: 7
- Sodium: 425
- Fat: 1
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 21
- Fiber: 7
- Protein: 7
- Cholesterol: 0
