Name: Broccoli Lentil Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1/3 cup olive oil; 1 pound russet potatoes (chopped into large cubes); 1/2 large yellow onion (diced); 6-8 cloves garlic (minced); 16 cups vegetable broth ((or water)); 3 whole bay leaves; 1 pound brown lentils; 1 pound broccoli (stems removed, but crowns left whole); salt (to taste); Cayenne (to taste - optional)

This flavorful Vegan Broccoli Lentil Soup is full of potatoes, broccoli, and lentils and seasoned with salt and cayenne! The perfect soup to keep you warm during those long winter months.

It’s another Meatless Monday over here at SMTY and this broccoli lentil soup will not disappoint!

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This recipe is actually inspired by our good friends, the Conroy’s (hey Conroys!). They’re probably the cutest family you’ll ever meet and guess how many of them there are….

SEVEN.

Yea. I know.

There’s Barney, Tina, Emma, Lucy, Liam, Clara and last, but not least, Alice.

They are such an incredible family and they just happen to be vegetarians! One night, Trevor and I were over at the Conroy’s house for dinner and out comes this kind of weird looking soup, Tina’s broccoli lentil soup. At first, I was a little hesitant. Tina is an AMAZING cook, but broccoli soup? And it kinda looks brown….

and there’s no cheese and no meat? Say WHAAAT?!

But, after I actually tried this soup I was utterly blown away. This soup is why people say to “never judge a book by it’s cover”, because I’m telling you this is the best soup I’ve ever had. It’s so flavorful, it’s healthy, it’s filling, it makes a ton, and it just so happens to be vegan. So, “thanks, Tina” for first introducing me to this incredible broccoli lentil soup!

First, let’s prep the veggies. Start by cutting potatoes into large chunks. Leave the skins on and make sure not to cube them too small, or they’ll just disintegrate into the soup. Then you’re going to prepare your broccoli by cutting off the stems. Leave on as much or as little stem as you like. I like to cut the broccoli so all of the crowns are bite sized. Then dice about half of a yellow onion and mince a bunch of garlic.

This recipe uses quite a bit of garlic (as you know I’m obsessed with it as you can see in this Light Greek Yogurt Lemon Pasta), so if you have a garlic press, I’d highly recommend using one to save some time! I honestly have never loved anything as much as my garlic press. Overall love in life goes like this… Trevor, Teddy, and then my garlic press.

After all of your veggies are prepped, you’re going to heat oil in a large stock pot and start browning your potatoes. Once the potatoes start to stick to the bottom of the pot (be careful not to fling hot oil on yourself trying to “unstick” the potatoes), add in your onion and continue cooking until the potatoes are golden and the onions are slightly softened.

Then stir in the garlic and cook for thirty seconds.

The base of this soup, the browned potatoes, onion, and garlic add SO much flavor to this soup, but you also need to make sure you’re seasoning throughout the process! After each step below, taste, and re-season with a little bit of salt, so you can really build the flavor! We also like to add cayenne pepper, but that’s optional! Quick tip: as with any time you are seasoning your dish, don’t add too much at once. Season, taste, season and taste, because you can’t take it out, but you can always add more!

Next, add in 16 cups of hot water.

Yes. You read that right.

16 cups of water! I told you this makes a ton of soup!

Bring this to a boil, making sure to scrape the potato off the bottom of the pot, and then add in your bay leaves. You’re going to cook this for 15 minutes.

Now stir in the lentils and reduce your heat. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Next stir in the broccoli and simmer for another 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes have past, pluck out the bay leaves, re-taste and re-season with salt and the optional cayenne pepper!

Serve immediately or let cool and then store in the refrigerator! This soup usually lasts Trevor and I for about a week. Trevor likes to eat this with a side of peanut butter crackers…don’t ask, some sort of fond childhood soup and cracker memory…. I love to butter up some saltines and dunk them in.

This broccoli lentil soup is so flavorful thanks to the longer cooking time, and seasoning throughout the process, but it’s still so easy! Just prep the veggies and then dump everything in when the recipe calls for it! Make this soup on a Sunday afternoon and have the most delicious, healthy, warm, filling soup for the week!

– Jennifer

Do you ever eat vegan? People always wonder how vegans get their protein, but if you look below 1 and 1/2 cups of soup is only 177 calories with almost 12 grams of protein! Show me the yummy!