Healthy lentil soup with kale combines pantry staples with a few fresh ingredients for an easy meal! Make this soup for plant based meal prep for the week or use as a vegan freezer meal.
Is Lentil Soup Healthy?
Brown lentils are readily available at most grocers and are high in protein and budget friendly. Lentils are a low calorie food and rich in iron and folate – yeah! They pack health promoting polyphenols and are a fiber rich food.
These little brown legumes are also calcium rich and have 38 grams of calcium per cup – for someone like myself who never drank milk as a kid and now avoid dairy this is great news! These small beans are perfect for a plant based diet. If you love lentils be sure to check out these other great lentil recipes on the blog: red lentil sloppy joes and french lentil salad bowl.
This vegan lentil soup with kale also includes carrots, celery and kale – this is nutrient powerhouse of a soup IMO!
Ingredients in One Pot Lentil Soup with Kale
This soup is vegetarian, vegan, plant based, low calorie and low fat and also a protein + fiber powerhouse. This means it fits into any diet, lifestyle or family dinnertime. My family loved this – including my vegetarian son and non plant based husband!
This one pot plant based soup comes together easily and is perfect for meal prep and is even freezer friendly (if it lasts that long!). I soaked my lentils for a few hours, but if you don’t have lectin sensitivities you don’t need to do that. Everyone should rinse their lentils well though!
For this soup you will need:
- Brown Lentils
- Kales
- Vegetable Broth
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onion
- Minced Garlic
- Dried Thyme
- Dried Parsley
I LOVED the addition of these vegan bacon bits, but you do not need to add these, it is perfectly tasty as is!
How To Serve Lentil Soup with Kale
This lentil soup with kale comes together quickly and can be a meal as is, but sometimes you may want a little more to go with it! We love this paired with a light salad such as:
- Oil Free Kale Salad with Almond Butter
- Strawberry Avocado Salad with Maple Poppy Seed Dressing
- Spa Salad with Beets and Avocado
Other ways to serve it include with vegan grilled cheese or crusty bread. I love to top mine with vegan bacon bits and gluten free croutons. (I usually make my own with vegan gluten free bread!)
If you make this vegan lentil soup with kale, I would love to know! Tag @badtothebowl on social media.
Vegan Lentil Soup with Kale
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup brown lentils, rinsed well*
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped sweet onion
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 tsp crushed dried thyme
- 1 Tblsp parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- dash of pepper
- 3 cups kale, chopped small
- lemon juice (optional)
- (optional)
Instructions
- Water sauté carrots, celery, onion and garlic in large stockpot.
- Add well rinsed lentils and thyme, parsley. Stir well.
- Add vegetable broth. Stir well. Add bay leaf
- Bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- Using an immersion blender, blend half the soup into a pureé. Alternately, you could purée one cup of soup in blender and then return to stock pot.
- Add kale and let wilt – about 10 minutes longer. Add squeeze of lemon.
- Serve immediately, topped with vegan bacon bits or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days. This also freezes well!
