This hearty and protein-packed dahl soup with lemon, turmeric and ginger is totally delicious and very easy to make. Perfect comfort food!
🍴Why you will love this recipe
There's nothing more healing and comforting than a steaming bowl of lentil dahl soup, with a base of two 'superfoods' - ginger and turmeric, and a squeeze of lemon. Good for the body as well as the soul.
Dried red lentils are a great source of fibre and protein, and all sort of other nutrients - see this article on the health benefits of lentils. And when something so nutritious is as delicious as this lemony dahl soup, there are really no excuses!
The soup is so easy to make, and can be as smooth or as chunky as you like. It freezes very well, so you can make up a big batch at once and put individual portions in the freezer for a busy day.
📝 What you need
Ingredients
Red lentils Dried red lentils make wonderful soup (and dahl!) as they break down fairly quickly to give a thick and luscious texture. You could also use half-and-half red lentils with yellow split peas. Totally delicious, but the split-peas take a bit longer to cook, so prepare to add another 20 minutes or so to your cooking time.
Fresh root ginger Regular readers will know that I often use ready-chopped ginger from a jar, or a tube of ginger purée to save time, but here I think it really makes a difference if you use fresh root ginger - it is one of the stars of the show in this healing soup, and needs to be zingy and at its best rather than just a background flavour.
Ground turmeric I've specified ground turmeric here as the fresh stuff is harder to get hold of. Ground turmeric will give you all the deep flavour and beautiful yellow colour you need for this soup, but if you can find fresh turmeric go for it! It will really take this soup to the next level.
👩🏽🍳 How to make your lentil dahl soup
For a full, printable recipe with ingredients and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this page 👇🏼.
Peel and finely chop the onion and carrot. Fry gently in a large saucepan.
Peel and finely chop the ginger. Add to the pan with the crushed garlic clove. Peel and chop the potato and add to the pan.
Stir through the turmeric, then rinse the dried red lentils and add to the pan. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir through the spinach and lemon juice, season and serve.
🔪 Top Tips & FAQs
The consistency of this dahl soup is up to you - blitz it to a smooth purée if you prefer, or just mash the larger chunks with a potato masher, or leave it fully chunky as it comes!
For a spicy dahl soup add half a teaspoon of crushed chilli flakes along with the turmeric, or add a finely chopped fresh chilli at the same time as the potato.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Your soup will freeze brilliantly, so why not make up a double or even triple batch whilst you're at it, if there's room in your freezer?
I love leaving the spinach or kale leaves whole if I'm serving this soup fresh, but if freezing I tend to either chop them up small or blitz the soup to a smooth purée as the leaves can go a bit slimy after freezing and defrosting. Or you could leave them out entirely and add some to your defrosted soup just before serving.
This soup gets better and better after a day in the fridge as the flavours develop. It will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
As I mentioned above, the 'falling apart' texture of dried red lentils is wonderful in thick, creamy stews and this Slow-Cooker Butternut Dahl is a favourite - the butternut squash also breaks down into a velvety soft sauce so this really is a hug in a bowl for not much work.
Or my kids love this easy Red Lentil Cottage Pie from Jamie Oliver's site - just use vegan cheese instead of parmesan.
🍽 If you liked that...
.... you might also enjoy these vegan recipes from The Veg Space:
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📖 Recipe
Dahl Soup (Lentil Soup with lemon and turmeric)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon rapeseed or sunflower oil
- 1 onion
- 2-3 cm fresh root ginger
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 carrots
- 2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 potato
- 150 g dried red lentils
- 1 litre vegetable stock (check it is vegan)
- handful spinach or curly kale
- 125 ml dairy-free milk
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan or casserole dish. Peel and finely chop the onion and carrot, and fry gently for 2-3 until starting to soften.
- Peel the ginger (a teaspoon is surprisingly handy for this job, give it a try!), then finely chop and add to the pan.
- Peel and crush the garlic clove and add to the pan along with the turmeric. Peel and finely chop the potato and add to the pan.
- Rinse the red lentils in a sieve, then add to the pan followed by the stock.
- Bring the soup to the boil and cook for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are soft.
- Add the spinach/kale (removing any large stalks), and cook for a further minute.
- Stir through the dairy-free milk and the juice of the lemon. Taste and season well with salt and black pepper as required, then serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Amy says
This looks lovely and very healthy. In these early spring months, this is a real tummy warmer to get us through. I'll be making this one with the family this weekend. Love the blog, by the way, favourited!
Lulu says
Love the post! Will make it for my family this weekend! Thanks!!
mohan kumar says
Nice blog to follow while preparing recipes.thank you for sharing.
vitaglowproducts says
yummm
Tina says
Absolutely love this soup. Perfect on a cold winter evening when you get back from work and want something quick, hearty and nutritious. Leftovers are perfect for work lunches too.
LegoBeast says
What are peoples suggestions for diary-free milk please?
Jane turner says
I’m trying this tomorrow!!!! Nice and amazing recipe shared by you, thank you so much for that.
Arnab says
Very nice recipe. We have to try. So easy, flavorful and delicious.
Sharon says
What a beautiful, winter warmer! Lately I've been making at least one batch of soup a week, and I love using lentils to make them more substantial and give them a protein boost. I'm definitely to go to pin this one to try!
And thanks for the tips about using old margarine tubs for freezing single portions. Such a great idea! :o)
Kate Ford says
Thanks Sharon - yes its such a handy way of freezing soup!
Midge @ Peachicks' Bakery says
What a gorgeous colour on that soup! Definitely going to try it out, we are very into roasted carrots here at the moment too!
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food says
I'm with you: the pairing of ginger and turmeric is absolutely FABULOUS—and so loaded with health benefits! We're having a lovely polar vortex at present in Wisconsin USA (yeah, it's -10º F outside), so I need more soups like this in my life.
Kate Ford says
Oh my, that's seriously cold! Yes lots of soup required, I think.
Kyra Rodriguez says
I wanna try to make it even though I'm not really fan of turmeric. But, it really looks so yummy!
Deirdre says
This such a beautiful simple lentil soup, I love the addition of a few veggies and some non-dairy milk. I bet it's really filling as well as being a complete meal in itself.
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
Love the look of this soup and the flavours sound delicious. This looks like it would be a lovely hearty full of flavour soup.
Kate Ford says
Thanks Cat! X
Mayuri Patel says
Lovely colour of the soup and its such a comforting meal. Definitely makes it a delight to enjoy after a hectic day.
Kate Ford says
Yes the bright yellow is really cheering on a cold, grey day!
Kim says
I love this recipe! So easy, flavorful and crowd pleasing! Will be making this all winter long!
Kate Ford says
Thanks Kim!
Lisa Bynum says
I know the type of week you are referring to! I have had my fair share. This soup sounds so amazing. Like everyone else, trying to get back to eating healthy. This soup would make that very easy.
Kate Ford says
Yes this is a really healthy soup. Thanks for stopping by!
Carrie | Clean Eating Kitchen says
I do love lentil soup, and I love the added turmeric and ginger in this! Wholesome and tasty, what more could you want?!
Kate Ford says
Yes the turmeric and ginger make it extra special!
Lisa says
Such a delicious soup! For some unknown reason this was my first time making soup (if we're not counting the questionable soups made back in highschool for home ec). I was seeking out a healthy soup that contained turmeric and ginger as prime ingredients as I felt a bug brewing and wanted to stop it in it's tracks.
This soup was super simple and cheap to make and yields imo 2 servings if like me you like a big bowl of soup.
I also added 4 cloves of garlic because garlic is the shiz and omitted the squeeze of lemon as I find that turmeric and lemon mesh together in a kind of unpleasant way. I also added a large handful of kale at the end for it's green goodness.
And bam. You know it's good when you're exclaiming to yourself just how good it is after every spoon.
Yeah, this recipe has definitely became a staple I will make again and again and will forcefully try to shove down people's throats for both it's flavour and health benefits.
Thank you!
Mike Hultquist says
This turned out great. Nice and hearty for this BRRRR cold winter. You were spot on with the fresh ginger. Loved it.
Kate Ford says
That's great to hear, thanks Mike - glad you enjoyed it.
Corina Blum says
It looks delicious! It's the kind of soup that is just perfect for cold winter days and the fresh root ginger in it must give it a lovely ginger kick too. Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
Kate Ford says
Thanks Corina! X