This lentil soup was one of my favorite meals growing up! My grandmother (Oma is the German word for grandma) used to make such a yummy lentil soup that this recipe has become somewhat of a family treasure. And today I want to share with you.
Today one of the other parents in my children’s school asked on our Facebook group what they send for lunch. She was somewhat stumped because she was sick of making a bagel with cream cheese every single day. My children’s school has some nut and seed allergies, it’s a sugar-free school and all days except one is dairy or parve (so no meat) — which does make packing school lunches somewhat of a challenge.
So, when we sat down for family dinner and devoured this soup and my 7-year old said: “Mommy, this is really the perfect soup, you know?!” I decided I will write it up so other families might enjoy it too.
This soup is so quick to prepare and needs almost no oversight while cooking — you can literally prepare it in less than ten minutes.
Today was a rainy day and I felt like making soup. So I made it today for lunch between writing and scheduling close to a 
hundred social media posts and writing another 1,500-word blog post for my daytime job as a digital marketer. And taking the time to get dinner prep out of the way by the time the girls came home from school gives me back some precious time with them.
A quick word to the lentils. I am trying to eat as clean as I can, so I love to buy organic whenever possible. When it comes to lentils, I really like the Bob’s Red Mill Heritage Beans Brown Lentils for their nutty and earthy flavor.
I love this recipe because:
- Great for meal prep: You can cook huge batches and freeze them in smaller portions.
- Kid-Friendly. Kids love it – it makes great school lunches and gets kids to eat their veggies easy…
- Easy-to-travel with. You can prep this soup ahead of time and portion it out in wide-mouth pint mason jars, that can be stored in the fridge for up to three days or you can even can them using a pressure cooker. Then grab and go for an easy brown-bagged lunch for work or on a business trip. Just heat up in a microwave.
- Super healthy. Lentils are an amazing source of dietary fiber and important minerals such as iron, copper, phosphorus, zinc, and manganese. These yummy legumes also include protein, molybdenum, folate, pantothenic acid, potassium, and vitamin B1 and B6.
- Budget-Friendly. Okay, it’s cheap. Even if you buy all vegetables organic, you will still come out to about $10/pot which serves 8-10 people.
- It’s vegetarian, vegan, and kosher parve. There are no animal products used, so go ahead and enjoy.
- Oh, and did I mention, it gets even better the next day when you warm it up?
Yes, I love this soup. 🙂
- 1 Small Onion
- 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
- 6 Small Carrots
- 2 Large Russet Potatoes
- 1 Bag of Lentils
- Salt, Pepper to taste
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar (optional)
- 1 Tsp. Brown Sugar (optional)
- Put the olive oil and finely chopped onion into a large, heavy-bottom soup pot and let the onion become translucent on medium heat. Don't let it burn.
- In the meantime, peel potatoes and carrots. Cut into ½" pieces and add to the onion into the pot.
- Then thoroughly rinse the lentils and add. Add salt, pepper, and one bay leaf.
- Fill with filtered water until all ingredients are well covered.
- Once it boils, set the timer for 15 minutes. Test if the lentils are cooked.
- Add vinegar and sugar before serving and mix well.
Germans like to eat their lentil soup without tomato paste in it, but they add sugar and vinegar just before serving. Pair it with some fresh baked Bauernbrot with some butter spread on top and some (home-brewed) ale beer for the adults and you will be in heaven.
If you are feeling in the mood to switch things up, you could add celery (we just don’t like cooked celery in our family) or if you eat meat, you can add a thicker hot dog-like sausage called Bockwurst.
I would love to hear what you think – please let me know how your’s came out!
All my best, Hannah