🥣 Turkish red lentil soup

Name: Turkish red lentil soup
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Turkey
Ingredients: 250 g red lentils, rinsed; 1 onion, chopped; 1 carrot, chopped; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1.5 litres water; Salt, chili flakes and lemon wedges to serve

Origin: Turkey

255kcal

per serving · 300 g

85kcal

per 100 g

12 gProtein4 g / 100 g

8 gFat2.5 g / 100 g

33 gCarbs11 g / 100 g

Mercimek çorbası is Turkey's everyday red lentil soup. Red lentils are simmered with onion, carrot and tomato paste, seasoned with cumin, then blended until velvety smooth. The result is thick, earthy and mildly sweet. It is served hot with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of chili flakes, and is a standard first course in homes and lokantas.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

Veganno meat, fish or animal products in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Not keto11 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.

What it is made of

red lentilsonioncarrottomato pastecumin

Recipe

4 servings40 min

Ingredients

250 g red lentils, rinsed
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp olive oil
1.5 litres water
Salt, chili flakes and lemon wedges to serve

Method

Soften the onion and carrot in the oil for 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste and cumin and cook for 1 minute.
Add the lentils and water, bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes until very soft.
Blend until smooth, season with salt and thin with water if needed.
Serve hot with lemon and chili flakes.

How to make it lighter

Use one tablespoon of oil — each tablespoon is about 120 kcal.
Skip the drizzle of chili oil on top and use dry chili flakes instead.
A bowl makes a filling starter: have it before the main course to eat less of heavier dishes.

History

Lentils have been grown in Anatolia for thousands of years, and lentil soups have long been part of Ottoman and Turkish cooking. The smooth red lentil version is now the most common soup in Turkey, served from breakfast to dinner and especially popular to break the fast during Ramadan.

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Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →