Lentil soup barely costs anything per serving, freezes well, and needs almost nothing you wouldn’t already have half of in the pantry. The one thing that trips people up is not having the full list in hand before they’re at the store.
What to buy
- 1 cup dried red or brown lentils
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- Olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- Lemon, to finish (optional)
Before you start cooking
Rinse the lentils under cold water until it runs clear — skip this step and the soup turns cloudy instead of clear, which doesn’t affect flavor much but it’s an easy fix to get right from the start.
The full method — simmer time, when to add what, how to season at the end — is in the GrocerSage app, along with auto-adding this list straight to your cart.