THM Blended Red Lentil Soup (Instant Pot, Crock Pot, Stove Top)
Even people who don't like lentils will love this super frugal, super easy blended red lentil soup that costs less than $5 to make and feeds a crowd!
Ingredients
For soaking...
- 1 pound red lentils about 3 1/4 cups
- 8 cups pure water for soaking
For cooking...
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or other healthy fat, such as grass-fed butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 cup red bell pepper diced
- 2/3 cup celery sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 1 1/2 to 2 quarts pure water or bone broth or vegetable stock, depending on how thick you like your blended soup
- 1 to 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or more to taste
Instructions
The evening before...
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Sort through lentils and remove and stones or debris.
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Add lentils and soaking water to a large bowl or pot, and soak overnight.
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Drain and rinse the lentils.
The next day...
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In a 6 quart soup pot, melt the fat.
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Add veggies and saute for several minutes.
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Add water (or bone broth or vegetable stock), soaked lentils, and seasonings and stir well.
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Bring to a boil, skimming off any foam that develops.
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Reduce to medium high heat and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the lentils have burst.
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Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth and creamy. Alternatively, allow the soup to cool several minutes and blend in a blender in small batches.
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Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired.
Recipe Notes
Instant Pot Method:
- If using an electric cooker such as the Instant Pot, press the "Saute" function. If using a stovetop cooker, place on burner over medium heat.
- When hot, add fat to insert pot.
- Add veggies and saute for several minutes.
- Add water or broth, soaked lentils, and seasonings and stir well.
- Secure lid, set vent knob to Sealing.
- Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Allow pressure to release naturally, or release remaining pressure after 10 minutes of natural pressure release.
- Remove the lid and blend, as instructed above.
Crock Pot Method:
- Melt fat in a skillet and saute veggies for several minutes.
- To your slow cooker add the veggies, soaked lentils, water or broth, and seasonings.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.
- Blend as instructed above.
A Note For Trim Healthy Mamas:
The fat listed in the Nutrition Info is the fat naturally present in lentils. This fat doesn't count toward your ADDED fats allowable for an E meal. 1 tablespoon of fat spread out over 5 quarts is basically no fat per cup. So having a teaspoon of butter on bread or oil in a salad dressing would be totally fine with this soup!