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Bowl of thick high-fiber red lentil vegetable soup with peas, kale and carrots, 10g fiber a bowl
Emma Hartwell

High-Fiber Lentil Vegetable Soup (10g a Bowl)

A thick red lentil and vegetable soup with 10g of fiber a bowl. The lentils dissolve into the base on purpose, so there is no blender, and the peas and kale go in last so it stays bright.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 6 bowls
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Calories: 290
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion diced (about 150g)
  • 2 medium carrots diced (about 200g)
  • 2 stalks celery diced (about 100g)
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 300 g split red lentils about 1 1/2 cups, rinsed
  • 1 400g can crushed tomatoes
  • 1.5 litres vegetable stock about 6 cups, plus water to loosen
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 200 g frozen peas about 1 1/2 cups, straight from the freezer
  • 80 g kale stems removed, chopped (about 3 packed cups)
  • 1 lemon juice only
  • salt and black pepper to taste, at the end

Method
 

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery with a pinch of salt and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and sweet rather than just warm. Add the garlic, cumin and smoked paprika for the last minute, until fragrant.
  2. Rinse the red lentils under cold water until it runs mostly clear. Stir them into the pot with the crushed tomatoes, stock and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer with the lid half on.
  3. Simmer 20–25 minutes, stirring occasionally so nothing catches, until the lentils have completely lost their shape and the soup coats the back of a spoon. Red lentils keep absorbing liquid as they cool, so if it looks thick now, loosen it with a splash of water.
  4. Stir in the frozen peas and the chopped kale and cook for 5 minutes more — the peas should still be bright green and the kale should keep a little bite. Remove the bay leaf.
  5. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Taste and season — it will want more salt than you expect. Serve with seeded wholegrain bread.

Notes

Fiber: 62.4g across the pot, so ≈10.4g per bowl of six, computed from USDA values — 32.4g red lentils, 9.0g peas, 7.6g crushed tomatoes, 5.6g carrots, 3.3g kale, 2.6g onion, 1.6g celery, 0.3g garlic.
Red lentils only. Brown or green lentils hold their shape and leave the liquid thin; if that is all you have, blend a third of the finished soup.
Spinach for kale wilts in two minutes and brings a little less fiber (2.2g per 100g against 4.1g). A drained can of chickpeas stirred in with the peas adds about 15g to the pot.
Storage: 4 days in the fridge, 3 months frozen. It thickens to a paste overnight — that is normal; reheat with a good splash of water or stock.