“So Much Dill” Lentil Lemon Soup – Super Easy and Fast!

A delicious and filling vegan soup flavored with lots of dill and lemon. Ready in under 20 minutes with minimal effort.

Perhaps you’ve been in this same situation. Having seen some beautiful and vibrant bunches of dill at the supermarket or farmer’s market, you buy one bunch and soon find that you are having dill every day with every meal. It is a pickle (? – one of abundance!) For inspiration, you google “what to do with too much dill”.

Alas, some herbs are like that in their bounty. A bunch of basil, I can easily use up in one meal. On the other hand, cilantro gives for many days, one bunch garnishing endless bowls of soup or stew with plenty to spare for green sauce. Dill is in a similar boat. It is more pungent than most other herbs. Only one or two stems are needed when used in garnishes and condiments like tzatziki.

The past week I have been steadily working through my supply of dill (which is only really one bunch!) Fortunately, dill is a versatile herb. In addition to accenting salads, soups, and stir-fries, dill works great as its own feature flavor. For instance, in Chinese cooking, dill is commonly paired with ground meat as a dumpling filling. See also my dill and tofu-ricotta filled pasta shells.

This vegan dill lentil lemon soup uses a good amount of dill. The texture is like dal soup. The dill and lemon flavor combo makes it light and refreshing. Perfect for sunny days!

Why you’ll love this dill lentil lemon soup

• Easy: This soup could not be easier to make. If you can cook lentils, you can make this soup! All we are doing is cooking red split lentils in a pot (or in a pressure cooker), then flavoring with dill and lemon. There is minimal effort involved in making dill lentil lemon soup.
• Fast: In the pressure cooker or instant pot, red split lentils only need 3 minutes or less to cook! With the time it takes for the pressure cooker to heat up, lentils are ready in 10 to 15 minutes total. On the stove top, red split lentils take around 10 to 20 minutes to cook – perhaps more cooking time for a mushier consistency.
• Healthy: lentils are high in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Dill is also a good source of various vitamins and minerals, in particular vitamin C!
• High Protein and Filling: How much protein is in this lentil lemon dill soup? 100 grams (roughly more than half a cup) of split red lentil has 354 calories, 60 grams of carbohydrates, 31 grams of fiber, and 27 grams of protein. The high protein and fiber content makes this soup very filling. You can also increase the protein content by another 20 plus grams if you elect to add meat or another protein source like tofu.

Ingredients

• Red split lentils: Red lentils are the quickest type of lentils to cook. Split lentils cook faster than whole ones. I don’t recommend substituting other kinds of lentils, but if you do, note that the cooking time will change.
• Dill: the star of the show. We don’t want any stems that are too tough.
• Lemon: Use at least one lemon, both zest and juice. If your lemon is small, you may need more!

How to make dill lemon lentil soup

1. Cook the lentils.

Instant pot method – Rinse your lentils then add lentils and water to your instant pot/pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then natural release.

Stove top method – Rinse the lentils, then add to a pot with water. Bring to a boil then simmer on low-medium heat for 10-20 minutes, uncovered, or until desired consistency is achieved. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. You may need to add more water as needed.

• Flavor the soup.

Once the lentils are cooked, add water or stock to adjust the consistency. Flavor the soup with chopped dill, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper. No need to reheat the soup. The heat from the lentils will be enough to soften the dill.

The soup is ready to be served! If desired, garnish with yogurt or sour cream.

Optional additional protein

If you are looking to increase your protein intake, you can add an additional protein source to this dill lentil lemon soup.

If you eat meat, chicken thighs are a great option. This works best on the stove top. Simply add two boneless chicken thighs to the pot with the lentils and water and cook for 20-30 minutes. The chicken adds flavor to the stock and more protein. Once the chicken and lentils are cooked, adjust for consistency and flavor with dill and lemon.

Print Recipe

Dill Lemon Lentil Soup

A delicious and filling vegan soup flavored with lots of dill and lemon. Ready in under 20 minutes with minimal effort.

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American, Canadian, Fusion, Mediterranean

Diet: Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Low Fat, Low Lactose, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: Comfort Food, Dill, High Protein, Lemon, Lentils, Light lunch, One Pot/Pan, Soup, Spring/Summer, Weight loss

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups split red lentils
• 4 cups water or broth, plus more to adjust consistency
• 1 lemon
• 1 bunch dill
• salt and pepper (red or black), to taste

Instructions

Cooking the lentil

• Instant pot method – Rinse your lentils then add lentils and water to your instant pot/pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then natural release.
• Stove top method – Rinse the lentils, then add to a pot with water. Bring to a boil then simmer on low-medium heat for 10-20 minutes, uncovered, or until desired consistency is achieved. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. You may need to add more water as needed.

Flavoring the soup

• While the lentils are cooking, sort, wash, and chop the dill. Sort the dill by removing any stalks that too tough, keeping the tender leafy bits. Wash and chop roughly.
• Once the lentils are cooked, add water or stock to adjust the consistency.
• Now add the chopped dill to the lentils. Zest the lemon directly into the soup. After the lemon is zested, cut the lemon in half and juice the lemon, adding the lemon juice to the soup.
• Give everything a good stir, then season with salt and red pepper flakes (or black pepper) to taste.
• The soup is ready to be served! If desired, garnish with yogurt or sour cream.

Video

@hellenshouse

DILL LEMON LENTIL SOUP – if you have a bunch of dill, this is the most low effort soup you can make with that dill! you can optionally add more protein also – just cook with the lentils. Full recipe here 🔗https://hellenshouse.com/dill-lentil-lemon-soup/ #easysouprecipes #easysoup #lentilsoup #vegansoup #easydinnerideas #dill #abundance #vegan#easyveganrecipe #loweffort #instantpotrecipes #ninjafoodie #instantpotcooking #fastdinnerideas #quickdinnerrecipes

♬ original sound – Hellen Chan – Hellen Chan

Notes

It is best to use the stove top method if you want to add additional protein like chicken thighs to the soup. To do so, add two boneless chicken thighs to the pot with the lentils and water and cook for 20-30 minutes. When everything is cooked, season the soup with dill and lemon.