ITALIAN LENTIL & VEGETABLE SOUP RECIPE | easy + affordable

This Nourishing Italian Lentil and Vegetable soup is an easy, healthy, affordable, one-pot meal. Layered with protein and fiber-rich lentils, carrots, onions, collard greens, and more. This veggie-packed soup is an Italian-style recipe that is made right on the stovetop and is perfect for meal prep (or Sunday dinner!).

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TIME STAMPS
0:00 Intro – Italian Style Lentil Soup
0:47 Prepping the ingredients, starting with the onions
1:15 Prepping the leaks
2:14 Prepping the garlic
2:34 Preparing the celery and carrots
2:45 Prepping the collard greens
3:37 My favorite soup pot
3:58 Cooking the soup
6:17 Why green lentils?
8:14 Storing soup for meal-prep

EASY LENTIL SOUP RECIPE
1 pound green or brown lentils
2 onions chopped (about 3 cups)
2 leeks chopped (about 2 cups)
6 cloves of chopped garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground cumin
8 stalks of chopped celery about 3 cups
6 carrots chopped (about 3 cups)
1 bunch of collard greens stemmed and cut into ribbons
4 cups veggie broth
8 cups water
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

In a large stockpot on medium heat, sauté the onions, leeks, and garlic with olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are translucent and very tender.

Add the celery, carrots, and collards and sauté for 10 more minutes.

Add the chicken stock, water, tomato paste, and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through. Adjust the seasonings and finish with the sherry vinegar. Enjoy!

NOTES
This soup makes a large amount. Feel free to cut the recipe in half, if you aren’t wanting so much.

STORING LEFTOVERS
In the refrigerator: Once the soup has cooled, transfer it to an airtight container and place in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To freeze: Transfer cooled soup to a resealable freezer bag or airtight container, and freeze for up to 3 months. Be sure to leave some space at the top to account for expansion as the soup freezes. Then, label it with the date.

To reheat: When you’re ready to enjoy the frozen soup, simply thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. Once thawed, you can reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave until it’s heated throughout.

NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 166kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 161mg | Potassium: 545mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4208IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 3mg

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#lentilsoup #italianlentilsoup #healthyrecipes

If you’re looking for a healthy simple affordable meal to enjoy throughout the colder months then this easy Italian style lentil and vegetable soup recipe is for you layered with protein Rich lentils plenty of vegetables and warm cozy spices this is a delicious nutritious meal that is perfect for meal

Prep because not only is it delightful when it’s freshly made so good but it’s even better the next day so it makes great leftover and it freezes really well now you’re going to notice that this makes a very large pot of soup and that’s because I

Do like to make extra when I’m making it but if you don’t want to do that you could easily cut the recipe in half or even in a quarter depending on how much soup you want to make now to get started I like to do all of the prep work in

Advance this way when we get over to the stove everything is ready to go so the first thing I’m going to do is chop up two onions now you can use yellow onions or white onions they will both work for this recipe as a matter of fact I have

One yellow and one white because that’s what I had on hand so note to self use what you have use what you love ideally you want to end up with about 3 cups of chopped onions then I love to add some chopped leaks as well leaks have a mild sweeter

Onion flavor where the white and yellow onions are a little bit stronger so they balance each other really well this idea was actually inspired by AA Garten and it really adds a nice layer of Dimension to the soup now if you’ve never worked with leaks before be aware that the

Inside of the leaks can be rather dirty so what I like to do is I trim off the dark green tops those are usually very tough and I don’t use them in the recipe and then I just trim off the bottom and slice the leak in half lengthwise then

I’m going to run this under some cold water rinsing both the outside of the leak and getting in between each layer like you can see here and you’re just going to continue to do that until you do not see any more dirt or debris and the water is running clear then to cut

My leaks I will slice the leak in half lengthwise one more time and then come across to create quarter moons I’m also going to need some fresh cloves of garlic for this soup I like to use six big fat cloves easiest way to chop up and prep your garlic is to take

The knife over the top of each clove give it a firm tap and that will loosen up the skin and then once I have all the garlic skins removed I just put them in a pile and chop them up I’m also going to need three cups of chopped

Celery and 3 cups of chopped carrots and then the only other ingredient I need to prep are my colored greens personally I am always looking for easy ways to work more dark leafy greens into my diet and soup is one of the easiest ways to do this now if

You’ve never worked with colored greens before they’re very easy to work with all you need to do is take out this thick tough stem that runs through the center I usually just lie The Leaf open and then trim right around each side of the stem and then it comes right out

From here I will rinse the leaves under some cold water get them nice and clean and then I’ll stack a few leaves on top of each other roll them into a big fat cigar slice it in half lengthwise one time and then come across to create thin

Ribbon so it’s going to look just like this once they’re prepped and ready to go now that we’ve got all of the heavy lifting out of the way we’re going to take this over to the stove and get started now I love to make all of my

Soups and my chilies in a nice heavy enamel coated cast iron pot the one that I’m using here is the lodge brand I love this pot because it’s beautiful it’s really reliable and it’s much more affordable than other pots like this that are on the market so if it’s

Something you’re looking for I’m going to link to it down in the description box below so I’m going to turn my heat to a medium low heat and I’ll add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pot once that olive oil is hot in go our chopped

Up onions our leaks and the garlic I’ll add a big fat pinch of salt this is going to help to pull some of the liquid out of those vegetables and get them cooking give it a stir and let this go for about 10 minutes or so the goal here

Is for the onions and the leaks to become nice and tender and fragrant and you’re going to know it’s just about ready when those onions start to turn translucent so now I’m gonna add some extra flavor here we’re gonna add a tablespoon of ground Thyme and then a

Tablespoon of smoky ground cumin along with those chopped up carrots our celery and the collared ribbons now collared greens are a bit tougher than most other leafy greens which is why I like to get them in the pot early because the longer they cook the more tender and soft

They’re going to become so I’m going to add a little bit of salt a little bit of pepper give this all a stir and let it go for another 5 to 10 minutes again we’re just looking to get the raw edge off of those veggies and for everything

To begin to soften a bit now side note if you wanted to use a leafy green like kale or swiss Shard or baby spinach you could add that towards the end of the cooking for this lentil soup recipe but again since the collards are a little

Tougher I like to get them in early now you can see that all of the have softened a bit these flavors are coming together so I’ll give it one more stir and then into the pot I’m adding one4 cup of tomato paste this is going to add

A little bit of sweetness and a little more depth to the soup and then we’ve got one pound of lentils I am using green lentils and we’re going to talk more about that in just a minute and then for our liquid I have four cups of Veggie broth and then anywhere between 6

To eight cups of filtered water I usually start with six and then if the soup looks thick I will add another cup or two while it’s cooking now keep in mind you could use all veggie broth but I find four cups adds plenty of flavor and then using water instead of extra

Broth is just a very easy way to keep this recipe super affordable now as for our lentils lentils are a fantastic plant-based source of protein and for a soup like this you could use a green lentil or a brown lentil both of these lentils will hold their shape really

Well when they cook so they work really well for Soups and salads and recipes like I’m sharing today now what I do not recommend is using a red or a yellow lentil because both of those lentils will break down when they cook so they almost create more like a stew like

Texture and they definitely will not work for this Italian style lentil soup okay so you want to stick with brown or green lentils for this recipe once I’ve got this all stirred together really well I’m going to pop on a lid leaving the pot partially cover covered and then

Turn up the heat bring everything up to a boil once you’ve got a full boil like you can see here I’m going to turn the heat down and leave the pot partially covered and then we’re just going to let this simmer anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour you’re just looking for all

Of these flavors to come together and for those lentils to become nice and tender now keep in mind while the soup is cooking if it looks like it’s getting super thick then you might want to go ahead and add that extra one to two cups of water just to get the consistency

That you like once the soup is ready your lentils will be nice and tender all of those veggies will be cooked through and so what you’re going to want to do here is just give it a little taste test see if it needs a little extra salt a

Little extra pepper and then I really love to finish this with a couple tablespoons of cherry vinegar it just adds a pop and a flavor that brings everything together if you didn’t have that on hand a couple tablespoons of lemon juice would also work really well now you can most definitely enjoy the

Soup when it is freshly made and we will usually do that and then for the leftovers you want to let the soup come to room temperature and then transfer it into some airtight containers and then you can either pop it in the fridge where it will happily last for up to 5

Days or you can store it in the freezer where it will last for up to 3 months this is such a satisfying and nourishing recipe and as you can see it takes a little longer than most of my recipes to cook but it’s a very simple recipe and

It’s really hands off once you’ve got it on the stove so this is something that you could enjoy for a Sunday dinner and then enjoy the rest for later in the week or later in the month that’s like a warm earthy Vibe so good delightful as always if you enjoy easy

Healthy recipes just like this one please take a moment to like the video subscribe to the channel and hit that notification Bell so you never miss a new recipe I’m Danny Spees thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you back here next time with some more clean and

Deliciousness cheers I love to make all my soups and my chilies in a big heavy cast heavy cast iron enamel coated in a nice heavy enamel coated pot like I have here like I have here