I made lentil soup for the first time and didn’t love the recipe I used. The consistency came out perfect (I cooked it all night), but the flavor just wasn’t there. Basically I used:
2 cups lentils
8 cups veggie broth
3 potatoes
6 carrots
2 onions
Bunch of garlic
2 bay leaves
Cumin
Salt
Oregano (I had no thyme)
Lemon juice (added at the end)
It came out decent and my toddler loves it, so that’s a win. However, I would like a tastier soup, so recommendations please 🙂
by sweetpotatoroll_
6 Comments
I know it’s not traditional, but I always add chopped ham. I also never use lemon juice. It looks very watery to me. Another good trick is to add chicken bouillon powder to the broth. Not too much, just enough to add flavor.
This is my favorite: https://www.recipetineats.com/lentil-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-20178
Mushroom and/or mushroom powder, ham or pancetta cooked in a pan first and don’t forget to also add the yummy fond. I never tried it with lemon juice so now you gave me an idea for my next batch 🙂 oh I add celery too!
Since we’re not keeping it traditional I’d try ham, a couple of anchovy fillets, msg, or tomato paste.
Maybe frying off the onions, garlic, tomato paste, and anchovies before adding to the slow cooker filled with lentils, carrots, and potato.
Cook the onions, I actually caramelize mine instead of just lightly cooking or even browning. I add tomato paste to the caramelized onions and cook until it’s rusty then deglaze with the stock. I roast the garlic while I’m dealing with the onions. Better Than Bouillon a roasted Garlic is a good alternative if you don’t want to do your garlic in the oven. If you decide to add celery toss it in towards the end of your onion cook time.
For umami flavor while keeping it vegan/vegetarian (if that’s an issue for you) use Yondu. It packs that yummy umami flavor and is vegan. I’d also recommend mushroom powder like others here have.
Also I find that I have to up the amount of spices recommended in any lentil soup I’ve made. And check to make sure your spices aren’t expired since they lose flavor the older they are.
Try using smoked pepper in place of regular pepper, it’s amazing how much extra flavor it gives. I love Bourbon Barrel Foods Bourbon Smoked Pepper! I keep it in a Turkish pepper grinder because the cracked peppercorns are still large-ish which is great because there’s more surface area that got smoked.
I like a bit of warmth to my lentil soup so I add a bit of Better Than Bouillon Smoky Chipotle to mine, same as others add a bouillon cube or powder to theirs.
Take it from a Beatle. Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Lady Linda have spoken about this recipe.
https://old.reddit.com/r/beatles/comments/4uk6mr/paul_mccartneys_lentil_soup_recipe/
Although, to be fair, Paul’s recipe is similar to the one you used. Paul is a vegetarian (not vegan. he loves cheese.), so as a vegetarian recipe there are limitations. I suppose you could boost the salt and seasonings, and that might jazz it up sufficiently.
But my thoughts are – this recipe would be greatly improved with a rich, chicken bone broth. Save up chicken bones, make the broth separately in your slow cooker (or make it in an instant pot). A rich broth is going to be the first step to jazzing up the flavor.
You could try something with sauteing the veg a bit before you start the soup. The golden brown sautee will add flavor.
And of course adding ham or sausage or something will really boost all of this.