How to make Healthy Tomato Lentil Soup

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This Healthy Tomato Lentil Soup is a soup of wonders.  It is has the thickness and consistency of a luxurious bolognaise sauce, and can be used in many ways (other than on it’s own!) You can make your lasagnas, pastas and con carne dinners so much healthier (and cheaper!) by swapping out that fatty mince for this recipe!

This Tomato Lentil Soup recipe makes a LOT, plus I know my men will happily eat and love it. The soup is more than just tasty, though! It is protein-rich, methylating, and full of vitamins and minerals.

Is Lentil Soup Cheap to Make?

This Healthy tomato soup is one of the cheapest meals you can feed your family.   Nothing expensive is in this soup! Nor are there any weird or wacky ingredients (which tend to be more costly).

The main ingredients are lentils and tomato passata – which together cost less than $10.  And this recipe will make about 10 servings! 

In fact, this recipe is so cheap, it has become a staple in our home during these days of inflation. Because we are trying to live on a $100 grocery budget, this soup has become a crucial meal and we have it almost weekly!

Is Lentil Soup Vegetarian?

This Healthy Tomato Lentil soup is vegetarian and vegan friendly.  No animals were harmed or milked in the making of this soup! Even though it contains no eggs or dairy, it is chock-full of protein (from the lentils) and healthy carbohydrates.

This soup is a one-pot-wonder – there’s no need to have anything else with it (although I do like to flesh it out with rice or use it as the bolognaise in lasagna!)

Is lentil soup the healthiest soup?

Lentil soup is one of the healthiest soups you can eat. Good for your waistline, this Tomato Lentil Soup is fat-free, low-calorie and refined-carbohydrate free.

This Tomato Lentil Soup is chock-full of nutrients.  Tomatoes and lentils and water form the base of the soup, each with their own various benefits. 

The lentils are a known blood-sugar stabiliser, which is also key in maintaining a trim waist. They are also a good source of pre-biotics, meaning that they feed gut flora to help prevent digestive diseases.

Lentils also have a high protein content, plus contain iron and folate and are good for methylation, which is a key bodily function. 

The tomatoes are also very nutritious, boasting of vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K. 

Eating this soup will nourish your body and keep you slim. It is a low-cost way to optimise your health, which we are all about here at Simply Home and Health.

Here are some wonderfully flavourful ways you can serve Tomato Lentil Soup:

This Healthy Tomato Lentil Soup can be diversified into so many different flavour profiles, which means that you can have so much variety, even if you are on a tight budget! 

Because this tomato lentil soup can thicken into a luxurious, rich, bolognaise consistency, it can be used in countless ways. Spice it up and make it Indian, or add cumin and paprika it to make it Middle-Eastern. You could simply add rosemary and oregano, and keep it Italian. 

I have used this Tomato Lentil Soup recipe for:

• Vegan lasagne (see picture above, made with sourdough tortillas)
• On rice, for Vegan Chilli con Carne
• As a flavourful and protein-rich pizza sauce
• The filling inside Sourdough Calzone
• Quasadillas
• The base for a cheap curry sauce

How much time does this Soup take?

The soup is made using a slow-cooker.  As a busy mum, I love using this wonderful and miraculous machine.  I can just throw all the ingredients in the pot, and walk away for the day.  Come dinner time, all you need to do is season and thicken to your liking and serve!

Do you need to soak the lentils before cooking?

If you are using red lentils, then definitely not. Red lentils easily turn to mush once they are added to liquid, so I would recommend not pre-soaking.

There is no need to soak brown lentils, either, because the soup is in the slow cooker for so long, it does the job for you!

What is the Negative of Lentils?

One downside to lentils is that because they are so full of fibre, they can be difficult to break down and cause gas and cramping if you eat too much of it.

Now, I eat a lot of lentils, and I have to say that I do experience a bit of gas, but no cramping. What I experience though, is definitely not so bad as to make me avoid them altogether, and I eat them often on a daily basis!

Lentils are so beneficial and nutritious in so many ways, a little bit of gas is not going to stop me from eating them.

What Ingredients does this Soup need?

I used brown lentils for this recipe, but you could use any kind.  Because it is in the slow cooker for so long, even the firmer lentils soften nicely.  Red lentils disappear almost completely, producing a thicker, more unified consistency.

The Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste elevate this soup significantly.  Both add a little bit of sweetness and condensed flavour, which enriches the soup and makes it such a lovely consistency.  The soup would otherwise be watery (as you can tell by this Hungarian Stew Recipe, I love me my Worcestershire Sauce!).

I added tinned fish to the latest batch, for extra flavour and protein (although, it does not need it, for the lentils alone provide sufficient protein).  The fish is a rich source omega-3s which I want to get into my boys as often as I can!  This soup is a great way to disguise the fishy flavour.

This recipe is otherwise vegan and vegetarian, as stated above.

Why is my tomato soup watery?

The key to having a thick, rich and luscious tomato soup or sauce, is to cook the tomatoes for the correct length of time.

While tinned tomatoes or tomato passata can start out as being watery and flavourless, when they are cooked for an extended period of time, the water evaporates and you are left with a richer sauce which is deep in tomatoey flavour.

Because this recipe is slow-cooked, the temperature is not high enough for the tomatoes to reduce and thicken. To get that desired consistency, I would recommend transferring from the slow cooker into a pot (once the lentils are soft), and cook it at a higher temperature for 15-30 minutes.

Why cook Tomato Lentil Soup in a Slow Cooker?

If you are scrapped for time, it is perfectly fine to cook this recipe on the stove in a pot. Simply swap out the brown lentils for red lentils, and you will have a thick Tomato Soup in under 30 minutes!

The benefits of cooking this soup in the slow cooker is to save yourself a kerfuffle at the end of the day. I find it easier to get things done in the morning – I am at my most productive then, whereas in the afternoon, I do hit a bit of a slump and am less inclined to get busy in the kitchen.

So I love that when I have something on the go in the slow-cooker, I have the comfortable assurance, all day, that dinner is done. All I have to do come dinner-time is season it and serve.

I also like using a slow cooker because my vessel is large, so I can make a massive batch of this soup which can be stored away in the fridge, to later be thickened into sauces and curries or whatever my urge may be for that day.

Making it in the slow cooker means I don’t have to soak the lentils or hover. I can get on with my other tasks once it is in and cooking.

I love it!