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Layla is my college roommate and lifelong friend. After 20+ years, her red lentil soup is almost as close to our hearts as she is. Make this recipe on the stovetop or in your Instant Pot. And get all our best soup recipes here.
Why we love this recipe
Every family has a handful of signature recipes. And this signature recipe now has more than a handful of families. With just a few ingredients and a level of taste and comfort that goes beyond, it’s practically stone soup. It’s:
- So simple, yet so satisfying
- Vegan and gluten-free
- Make-ahead and freezer-friendly
It’s no wonder so many of you have incorporated it into your culinary repertoire throughout the years.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Red lentils (sometimes called masoor) are a wonderful, versatile ingredient. They’re small and quick-cooking, full of protein and complex carbs, and great at soaking up flavors. There are several varieties commonly sold in the U.S., some smaller and redder, some a little bigger and more peach-colored. You can use them all interchangeably.
- In the original recipe, cumin is the only spice. These days I also add coriander, paprika, and turmeric. You can make it either way.
- Arborio rice is the same short-grain rice you’ll find in risotto, and its starchiness helps create a slightly creamy soup. You can substitute carnarloni (also a favorite for risotto), any type of short-grained rice that you’d use for sushi, or even, in a pinch, the longer-grained but totally delicious basmati rice.
How to make it
Here’s what you’ll do to make red lentil soup (Instant Pot or stovetop). You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- If you like, sauté the onion in two tablespoons of olive oil until softened. I normally dispense with this step and add all ingredients to a pot or Instant Pot.
- If cooking on the stovetop, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until lentils are falling-apart tender, about an hour.
- If cooking in the Instant Pot, set to manual, high pressure, for 10 minutes. Pot will take a while to come up to pressure and then start counting down. After cooking time ends, carefully perform a natural pressure release.
- Soup is ready to eat! It will thicken up a bit as it sits, which I like. It’s great with a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Expert tips and FAQs
For this recipe, whether you’re cooking on the stovetop or in the IP, you really don’t need to soak the lentils in advance to help them cook. They’ll cook quickly regardless. (If you eat a heavily plant-based, unprocessed diet and are concerned about phytates and bioavailability, you can feel free to soak them.)
Do be sure to rinse the lentils until the water runs clear.
Yes! It keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it for up to a year. We almost always have a batch in the freezer to defrost for busy nights.
More favorite red lentil recipes
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Red Lentil Soup (Instant Pot or Stovetop)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil (optional)
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 cup (140 grams) dry red lentils, rinsed
- ¼ cup (45 grams) arborio rice
- 6 cups 1(420 ml) water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
- In a medium pot with a heavy bottom, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion and and cook, stirring occasionally until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat if necessary to prevent browning.
- Add lentils and rice and stir to coat with oil.
- Add water, salt, cumin, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to maintain a simmer.
- Cook, lifting the lid occasionally to stir, until lentils and rice are completely tender and the soup is of uniform and moderately thick consistency, about an hour. Serve hot with lemon wedges to squeeze overtop.
Instant Pot Instructions
- After many years, we finally tested Layla’s Lentil Soup in the Instant Pot, and it works great. You can make a single or double batch in a 6-quart IP using these instructions (a double batch will take longer to come to pressure, but will cook for the same amount of time afterward). Don’t make a triple batch in the IP. It will be too big.
- Place all ingredients into the Instant Pot. The olive oil is completely optional.
- Set vent to sealing position. Cook on manual mode, high pressure, for 10 minutes. (Pot will take between 10 and 20 minutes to come up to pressure before timed cooking begins.)
- Carefully do a manual pressure release by turning the vent to open. (We like to use a towel or a long-handled spoon to do this.)
- Give your soup a stir, and it’s ready to eat!
Step-by-step video
Notes
- At the risk of messing with perfection, I also really love the following variation on the spices: 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, AND 1/2 teaspoon ground sweet paprika (plus the 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper listed in the recipe).
- You can omit the oil and just combine all the other ingredients in the pot from the start. I usually do this now because I don’t notice a difference, and it’s a little easier. Sometimes I drizzle a little fruity olive oil onto each bowl before serving.
- Alternatives to arborio rice include carnarloni and other short-grained rice varieties, including any that you’d use for sushi. In a pinch, you can use a long-grain rice instead, but it won’t contribute quite as much creaminess.
- As a few of you incredible longtime readers have noticed, a prior version of this recipe included a couple of diced carrots. That was a bit of a whim on my part and wasn’t part of Layla’s original recipe. I haven’t included carrots in years and had kinda forgotten about it, but it tastes great, so if you want to add two medium carrots, finely diced, at this stage, go for it. xx
- You can make this soup in advance. Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for up to a year.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I just made this tonight and I’m eating it right now. Well, I’m trying to eat it but it’s very hot and I have to unfortunately keep waiting so that I don’t burn my taste buds. This is the first recipe I’ve tried from your site — it’s delicious! I must admit I used chicken broth instead of water. Thank you for the wonderful recipe; it’s made 5/5 stars in my cookbook, and that doesn’t happen often!
Hi, Zeynep! I’m so glad you like it. Do me a favor and try it with water one of these days, too. I used to make it with broth even though Layla’s original recipe called for water (because that’s just the kind of girl I am, or was!), but over time I switched back to water. I honestly think it’s just perfect that way. Save your chicken stock for a soup that needs a beautiful, delicate broth. 🙂
This soup looks heavenly!
We tried this last night – weeelllllll, we tried to have it last night, only to be interrupted by our Taco Tuesday dinner partners, who wondered why we seemed to have forgotten them. We had! This soup was so captivating, and I had it all ready to go on the table. So, we covered and refrigerated it, checked the burners and turned off the lights and packed ourselves off to Buddies’, for dinner with our friends. Friendship, after all, is more important than eating our soup, right NOW. So, we reheated our soup, hash, and green beans for breakfast, and decided this is a lovely soup, indeed, and we will have it again, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It definitely makes it into our rotation! Yum. Simple, but so, so, so good. Thank you. Now, I’ll have to explore your site further! Thank you for the lovely soup! love, piggledy
Vicki, that’s hilarious. And I’m really glad you liked the soup!
I love this soup!
I went on a hunt for new recipes the other day and i found this one on foodgawker. I chose it because it seemed like a healthy, simple, and no fuss recipe. It tastes oh so much better than i expected! The lemon really compliments it perfectly.
Thanks for the recipe!! I’ll definately be making this one again.
Hi Katie, thank you for letting us know! I agree that the ingredient list doesn’t prepare you for the magic of the finished dish. It’s one of those mysteries that I’d prefer remain mysterious—but I’m glad to be able to pay it forward.
Well now I’m kind of terrified NOT to try this soup. A) Because I fear I’d miss out on something delicious, and 2) Even if you do have scrawny arms you probably still have more upper body strength than I do.
So needless to say I’ll be trying this soup ASAP.
Soup tastes better than fear. Just go ahead and make the soup, and it’ll be allllll goooood.
(Takes off bully costume.)
Thanks for reading, Molly! Hope you enjoy the soup.
Guess what I’m making for dinner???
YUP.
Hope it’s okay that I use homemade chicken stock and garnish with bacon.
Hooray! Of COURSE it’s okay, although I have to say that this is the rare soup that I think is truly just as good made with water. I’m not usually a believer, but for some reason it just works here. Bacon, of course, is unimpeachable.
Mmm… too bad I don’t have all those ingredients on hand. I know, I know. Its the lentils & rice… guess I’ll have to start stocking those because I’m sure this soup is as good as it looks! With a snow day today and all… it would have been the perfect time to try it. Humph. Ah well… I’ll have to wait until I can dig my way out to a store. :o) xo
You’d just better hope you get plowed out before I do, so I won’t have to come…errmm….plow you out with my fists to preserve my reputation as a thug. Wait, eww.
See what a natural I am with them fighting words? Look out!
Yearnfully good soup.
It mends chinks in your soul and leaves lovely warm feelings with its taste and the lemon’s tang.
Just so good.
– Cope
Awwwws. Now I want some more.
just forwarded this recipe to yet another friend and then went deep on it, comments and all… and this one made me smile. xo
That makes me happy.
How could this possibly taste bad? I’m sold.
Whew! Kalyn, I wouldn’t want to have to fight you. You seem so nice and supportive. Also, I think you could probably take me if it came to it.
First of all, please don’t hurt me. Even though your soup doesn’t contain magical leafy greens, I am still very much on your side.
Second, I have an Indian grocery store near me that sells a gigantic bag of red lentils for $6. I mean, this bag is GIGANTIC, so it’s quite a deal.
Third, I have never put arborio rice in a soup. Why is a question I cannot answer.
And fourth, when we finally meet, I challenge you to an arm wrestle. Loser makes the winner a pot of lentil soup. Deal — or no deal?
You can’t beat lentils for price. Between the lentils and the water instead of stock, it’s possible this soup actually pays you to eat it. Hmm.
I only recently switched to arborio in this soup, and it works wonders for slight creaminess. Layla herself turned me on to the idea after having made the switch.
And. Arm wrestling. Deal, of course. But I’ll just bring the soup with me in advance, what with my scrawny arms and everything I’ve heard about your new and improved biceps.