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–+ servings
Best and easy lentil soup on serving bowl garnished with cilantro.
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5 from 9 votes

Best Lentil Soup | Dal Soup

A filling and healthy vegetarian soup recipe that is best and easy to make with simple ingredients from your kitchen in under 30 minutes. This lentil soup is high in protein, low in fat, high in fiber, and good for weight loss. Make delicious lentil dal soup with red, green, brown, or any dried lentils you choose.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: Indian, Italian, Mediterranean
Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 279kcal
Author: Kushi

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker or Instant pot

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Split red lentil or Masoor dal (use any lentil of your choice)
  • 2 tablespoon Olive oil or Coconut oil (use any cooking oil, ghee or butter)
  • 1 Onion, chopped
  • 1 inch Ginger, grated
  • 5 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 Green chile, finely chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida or Hing (optional)
  • 2 Tomatoes, chopped
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon Red chile powder
  • ½ teaspoon Coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon Cumin powder
  • 1 to 2 teaspoon Lemon juice (adjust to taste)
  • Salt, to taste
  • 3 cups Water or broth
  • 1 tablespoon Cilantro or coriander leaves, chopped

Instructions

Pressure cooker lentil soup

  • Wash the lentil or dal in water until water runs clean and drain. Keep this aside.
    1 cup Split red lentil or Masoor dal
  • In a pressure cooker, add oil. Once hot, add onion, ginger, garlic cloves, and green chile (turmeric powder and hing if adding). Saute until the onion becomes translucent. 
    2 tablespoon Olive oil or Coconut oil, 1 Onion, chopped, 1 inch Ginger, grated, 5 Garlic cloves, finely chopped, 1 Green chile, finely chopped, ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder (optional), ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida or Hing (optional)
  • Add the tomatoes and saute for a minute. 
    2 Tomatoes, chopped
  • Finally, add the lentils, water, and salt and mix well. Pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles on medium flame. Once the pressure drops, open the lid. The lentil should be soft at this stage. 
    3 cups Water or broth, Salt, to taste
  • To serve the soup at this stage, you have three options :
    1. Mash using a potato masher
    2. Once the lentil cools, add it to a grinder or blender and blend until smooth. This makes your soup creamy, and we prefer this a lot. 
    3. Use an immersion blender and blend. 
  • Blend the soup to a coarse or smooth texture based on your liking. 
  • Transfer the soup back to the pot, add red chile powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, cilantro, and water for desired consistency, and simmer. Switch off the flame. 
    ½ to 1 teaspoon Red chile powder, ½ teaspoon Coriander powder, ½ teaspoon Cumin powder, 1 tablespoon Cilantro or coriander leaves, chopped
  • Add lemon juice and mix. Taste and adjust salt and seasoning. Serve hot, and enjoy. 
    1 to 2 teaspoon Lemon juice (adjust to taste)

Instant pot lentil soup

  • Drizzle oil into your IP. Set to SAUTE. Once hot, add onion, garlic, green chile, ginger, and until onion becomes translucent. This may take 6 to 8 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes and saute for one more minute.
  • Finally, add the washed and drained lentils, 4 cups of water, and salt to taste and mix well. Cover your IP lid with a pressure valve to sealing.
  • Set on HIGH PRESSURE for 8 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release any pressure manually.
  • Open the lid, and at this point, you can puree the soup to desired consistency using an immersion blender, regular blender, or mixer. This will make your soup creamy.
  • Transfer the soup back to your pot. Turn on SAUTE mode, add red chile powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, cilantro, and water if required to adjust consistency, and boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off your IP.
  • Add lemon juice and mix. Serve hot, and enjoy.

Notes

  • Adjust all the spices to taste.
  • Add veggies of your choice to make it more nutritious.
  • You can reduce or skip the oil to make it zero oil or low fat. The flavor will change accordingly.
  • If the soup becomes thick, you can thin it down with water, broth, or coconut milk and heat it just before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 279kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 631mg | Potassium: 893mg | Fiber: 17g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 343IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 108mg | Iron: 6mg