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.
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 veggies if you like!
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Preparing Dried Lentils
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.
Lentils will cook in about 25 minutes of boiling, however if the lentils are older they may take longer to cook. So keep that in mind when timing the soup.
Soaking the lentils does cut down on cooking time and I've heard can make them easier to digest. But I cannot verify this.
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 Fideo, Albondigas, and Mexican Rice.
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.
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. Serve with hot sauce for some spice, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.
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.
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 low to medium heat.
The lentils will expand after cooking, if the soup is too thick then add more water or broth, and additional salt if needed.
Watch the Video Here
Sopa de Lentejas - Mexican Lentil Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Dried Green Lentils Washed well
- 4 Cups Chicken Broth or Vegetable Stock for Vegan. Alternatively you can use water with bouillon.
- 2 Roma Tomatoes Halved
- 1 Cup Broth or Water If using water then add a little bouillon.
- ½ White Onion Cut into quarters
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 1 Large Russet Potato Peeled and Diced to 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 and Pepper to taste The amount of salt needed will depend on the broth or bouillon you used. Taste when the soup is done and add if needed.
Instructions
- Rinse dried lentils well, pick out any debris, and place in a medium to large pot with a lid. Add 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth. Or you can use water and bouillon. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium and boil 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 potato into even pieces.
- After 10 minutes of the lentils boiling, add the blended tomato sauce, the diced potatoes, and whole cilantro. 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 fresh chopped cilantro on, hot sauce, a squeeze of lime, queso freso, or diced avocado.
Notes
Nutrition
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.
Marcella Symington says
Perfect for this cold weekend! Thank you, and have a good one!!
Renee says
Yes! Isn't this weather a nice change?! Hope you have a great weekend as well, Marci!
Tisha says
Do you have to put the tomatoes etc in the blender ?
Renee says
Hi Tisha, yes place Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, and 1/4 cup water in a blender. Blend till smooth. Enjoy!
Maria sullivan says
Omg! This soup is so easy to make and it tasts amazing
Renee says
Thanks so much Maria!
MSG says
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!
Renee says
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!
Morgan says
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!!
Renee says
Thank you Morgan for the review and rating! I'm so glad you enjoyed the soup and lentils for the first time!!