As soon as the air turns crisp and the leaves start to fall, I find myself craving comfort food. For me, nothing says autumn more than a big pot of hearty homemade soup simmering away on the stove.
And while I love experimenting with different recipes, there’s one simple dish I make every single week without fail: my four-ingredient lentil soup. Food prices are on everyone’s mind at the moment, and this is one of the reasons I come back to this recipe week after week. It’s cheap, filling and warming — everything you want when the nights start drawing in.
Even better, it costs me around £3.48 for the ingredients from Aldi which works out at 49p per portion, making it one of the most budget-friendly meals in my kitchen.
It’s also incredibly healthy, packed full of vegetables alongside red lentils for fibre and a touch of protein. I often make a big batch on a Sunday and eat it for lunch during the week — a big pot can easily make six to seven portions.
The best thing about this soup is that you can add as many vegetables as you like. The three staples are onion, carrot and leek, but I often throw in anything from celery to sweet potato, butternut squash, bell pepper or even potato.
Four-ingredient lentil soup recipe
Serves up to seven portions.
Ingredients
- One onion
- Five carrots
- Two leeks
- 100g red lentils
I also add salt, pepper, and a stock cube, but I don’t really count those as they’re kitchen staples.
Method
I start by roughly chopping the onion, carrots and leeks, then cooking them gently in a splash of oil until they soften.
Next, I add the red lentils and cook them for around a minute before adding plenty of boiling water (or stock if I’ve got it). You can add as much or as little water as you like, depending on the consistency you like your soup.
Then it’s just a matter of letting it bubble away until the lentils are soft and the carrots tender. This usually takes around an hour.
Make sure to season to your taste with salt and pepper, or any other spices that take your fancy such as a touch of cumin.
The final step is to blitz it with a hand blender for a silky, smooth texture; other times I leave it a little more chunky. Both ways are delicious.
This soup tastes the best when scattered with fresh parsley and served with buttered bread. It can also be batched cooked and frozen for up to three months.
