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Sopa de Lentejas- Mexican Lentil Soup

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Sopa de Lentejas is a Mexican Lentil Soup with potatoes, cilantro, and a tomato based broth. It’s meatless and can be made vegan with vegetable broth.

Overhead view of lentejas in a white bowl with a gold spoon.

Similar to Fideo, Sopa de lentejas is an easy and affordable soup to make. However with lentils you will get more fiber, protein, and iron as opposed to just the fideo noodles.

This recipe is how my Mother in law makes lentejas, but there’s quite a few variations that also add diced veggies like carrots and zucchini. She only adds potato but you can definitely add other vegetables if you like!

Ingredients Needed

The ingredients for this Mexican Lentil Soup are simple and can be found at most grocery stores.

  • Lentils
  • Potato
  • Tomatoes
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Cilantro
  • Chicken or vegetable broth

You don’t need to soak lentils, however you will need to wash and rinse the dried lentils, and make sure there are no foreign pieces.

Soaking the lentils does cut down on cooking time and I’ve heard can make them easier to digest. But I cannot verify this.

Ingredients with text, (cilantro, potato, green lentils, chicken broth, garlic, roma tomatoes, onion).

This recipe uses 1 cup of lentils and they will double in size as they cook. On the recipe card you can adjust the serving size to make a larger batch of soup.

Tomato Based Mixture

This tomato based mixture is used in a variety of other recipes like Sopa de letras, Albondigas, and Mexican Rice.

Tomato, onion, garlic, and chicken bouillon in a blender.

Just place halved roma tomatoes, half of a small white onion, or quarter of a large onion, 1 garlic clove, and 1 cup of broth. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth.

Give it a quick taste to see if any additional salt is needed.

How to make Sopa De Lentejas

This is a great soup to make for the week and have as a light meal or side dish.

Once the lentils are rinsed and sorted, place them in medium to large pot with a lid. Add 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth, or you can use water and bouillon.

It’s important to use a good quality broth for flavor. This is where all the seasoning will come from. In the video below I use Chicken bone broth for even more immune boosting properties.

Lentejas in a white bowl.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium and boil for 10 minutes.

While the lentils are boiling, peel and dice a large russet potato into even small pieces. Then make the tomato based sauce.

Add the potatoes, sauce, and a handful of whole cilantro to the boiling lentils. Continue cooking for 15 minutes or until the lentils and potatoes are soft. Keep in mind if the lentils are older, they will take longer to cook.

Can you Freeze Lentil Soup?

Absolutely! Portion out leftovers into freezer safe bags once the soup has cooled. I like to do 2 portions at a time and freeze up to 2-3 months.

Mexican lentil soup in a white bowl with a gold spoon.

To thaw, place in the refrigerator overnight, or place the frozen bag in cool water for 20 minutes. Then empty contents into a pot and simmer over medium heat until warm.

The lentils will expand after cooking, if the soup is too thick then add more water or broth, and additional salt if needed.

Serve with hot sauce for some spice, a squeeze of lime, or avocado slices.

More Mexican Soups:

Feature image of Mexican lentil soup in a white bowl.

Sopa de Lentejas – Mexican Lentil Soup Recipe

Renee
Mexican Lentil Soup is a simple soup of lentils, potatoes, and cilantro in a tomato based broth.
5 from 6 votes
Print Recipe Share by Text
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Cup Dried Green Lentils Washed well
  • 4 Cups Chicken Broth or Vegetable broth for Vegan. You can also use water with bouillon.
  • 2 Roma Tomatoes Halved
  • 1 Cup Broth or Water If using water then add a bouillon.
  • ½ Small White Onion Cut into quarters
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • 1 Large Russet Potato Peeled and Diced into even small chunks
  • Handful of cilantro with stems Add the cilantro in whole, and remove at the end or you can leave it in.
  • Salt The amount of salt needed will depend on the broth or bouillon you used. Taste when the soup is done and add more if needed.

Instructions
 

  • Rinse dried lentils well, pick out any debris, and place in a medium pot with a lid. Add 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth. Or you can use water and bouillon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer lentils for 10 minutes.
  • While lentils are cooking place sliced Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, and 1 cup of broth in a blender. Blend until smooth.
  • Peel and dice the potato into small even pieces.
  • After 10 minutes of the lentils boiling, add the blended tomato sauce, the diced potatoes, and whole cilantro to the pot.  Bring the heat back to a low boil, cover, and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
  • Check the lentils, If they are still hard then place the lid back on and continue to simmer. Once the lentils and potatoes are soft, the soup is done. Taste for seasoning and see if additional salt is needed. You can remove the cilantro stems or leave them in the soup.
  • Serve the lentil soup with a squeeze of lime, queso freso, diced avocado, or hot sauce for spice.

Video

Notes

If the lentils are old, they will take longer to cook. 
The seasoning of the soup will depend on the brand of stock or broth you are using. Always taste before serving. 
To Freeze, portion out leftovers into freezer safe bags once the soup has cooled. I like to do 2 portions at a time and freeze up to 2-3 months.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 159kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 10gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 722mgPotassium: 675mgFiber: 11gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 189IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 39mgIron: 3mg

Nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and depends on ingredients and amounts used. Thai Caliente makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.

Keyword Lentejas, Mexican lentil soup, Sopa de Lentejas
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13 Comments

  1. Easy recipe to follow and so delicious! I added three times the garlic because you can never have too much garlic and increased the amount of potato. Seasoned to taste with salt as recommended! My husband loved it. Although it’s Summer for us in California right now and soup might sound too hot, I was excited to try this recipe and perfect it for Winter time. Glad I did! And to know that I can freeze it, that’s a plus!! Thanks much for sharing your recipe!

    1. More Garlic is never a bad thing! 😉 So glad you enjoyed the recipe, yes this soup is perfect for winter, but I still enjoy it in the Summer too! Thank you for the review and rating!

  2. Very tasty! I have never had lentils before So I wasn’t confident about working with them but they are very easy. I didn’t have the best broth on hand so I used a good bit of salt and onion powder for more flavor. Threw in cucumber and carrots since I really like veggies. The cilantro is a MUST, the soup smelled so good and I couldn’t wait to eat it while it was cooking! The queso fresco makes it a little bit heartier, but I would also be really happy with the soup without cheese. I was really impressed!!