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    Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds

    Published: Dec 03, 2012 / 31 Comments

    14.3K shares
    • Facebook141
    Recipe Print

    Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds - healthy, delicious, French-style soup.  Cooked carrots and lentils are blended in a blender to create a smooth, velvety soup.  The combination of spices (cumin, coriander, nutmeg, chili, and, especially, the Cajun spice) create additional dimension to the soup.  The soup has a well-balanced flavor - the sweetness of carrots is compensated by earthiness of lentils.  The toasted sliced almonds sprinkled on top complete this soup perfectly!

    Carrot and lentil soup, with toasted almonds on top

    I made this carrot and lentil soup with toasted almonds first time 2 years ago for Christmas, and it was an immediate hit with the family. Even those family members who did not like the idea of a "carrot and lentil soup" fell in love with it, finished their bowls and asked for seconds.

    Carrot and lentil soup

    The special thing about this recipe is that it combines blended carrots and blended lentils together, thus creating a completely different flavor where usual sweetness of carrots is compensated by earthiness of lentils. The resulting carrot and lentil soup has a well-balanced flavor where you don't even know that you're eating carrots, and at the same time you do know you're eating them: the carrots flavor becomes more subtle. The toasted sliced almonds sprinkled on top complete this soup perfectly! And if you're a carrot lover - you'll appreciate the difference in flavor lentils create. If you are not a carrot lover (like my husband) - you'll love this lentil soup anyway, because of the flavor complexity the lentils, the spices, and the toasted almonds bring. And you'll definitely love this soup if you're a lentil lover.

    Carrot and lentil soup

    Spices are very important in this recipe. Their combination(cumin, coriander, nutmeg, chilli, and, especially, the Cajun spice) creates additional dimension to the lentil soup. In my ingredients list, I emphasize that you could use anywhere from ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of Cajun spice - depends on how subtle you want Cajun spice be in your soup. Also, make sure to season the soup well, because with carrots and lentils, just the right amount of salt and pepper brings out all the right flavors. In my ingredients list, I put a minimum amount of salt (½ teaspoon) - feel free to adjust it up, the way you like it.

    Carrot and lentils soup recipe, spiced up, spices, coriander, cumin, cajun, half-and-half

    carrot and lentil soup with toasted almonds
    5 from 4 votes

    Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds

    Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds - healthy, delicious, French-style soup.  Cooked carrots and lentils are blended in a blender to create a smooth, velvety soup.  The combination of spices (cumin, coriander, nutmeg, chili, and, especially, the Cajun spice) create additional dimension to the soup.  The soup has a well-balanced flavor - the sweetness of carrots is compensated by earthiness of lentils.  The toasted sliced almonds sprinkled on top complete this soup perfectly!
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 30 mins
    Cook Time 40 mins
    Total Time 1 hr 10 mins
    Course Side Dish
    Cuisine French
    Servings 4 people
    Calories per serving 147 kcal
    Author: Julia

    Ingredients

    • 4 carrots
    • ½ cup green lentils , dry
    • water
    • ½ cup half and half
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon cumin
    • ½ teaspoon coriander
    • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
    • ⅛ teaspoon chilli
    • 1 teaspoon Cajun spice
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Instructions 

    • Boil carrots in water until carrots soften and are thoroughly cooked. Bring ½ cup of lentils to boil in 2 cups of water, cook lentils until they are cooked. Add water if necessary. Reserve water from both cooking the carrots and lentils.
    • When carrots and lentils are cooked, let them cool. When they are cooled, add carrots in 2 batches to blender. Add first batch of carrots plus ¼ cup of reserved water from cooking carrots. You can also use regular water. Blend until carrots reach puree consistency. Do the same with the second batch of carrots. Put pureed carrots in a large pan.
    • Add cooked lentils to the blender along with ½ cup of reserved water from cooking lentils. Blend until pureed. Add pureed lentils to pureed carrots in a pan. Add ½ cup half-and-half. Heat through without boiling. Add all spices, stirring constantly. Add at least ½ teaspoon Cajun spice. Taste to check the flavor. Add salt and pepper, adjust other spices if necessary, going especially generous with Cajun spice.
    • Before serving, toast sliced almonds in the oven preheated to 350 F for about 5 minutes. Ladle soup in soup bowls. Sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds on top. Grind black pepper over the soup.

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Information
    Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds
    Amount per Serving
    Calories
    147
    % Daily Value*
    Fat
     
    4
    g
    6
    %
    Saturated Fat
     
    2
    g
    13
    %
    Cholesterol
     
    11
    mg
    4
    %
    Sodium
     
    347
    mg
    15
    %
    Potassium
     
    460
    mg
    13
    %
    Carbohydrates
     
    21
    g
    7
    %
    Fiber
     
    8
    g
    33
    %
    Sugar
     
    3
    g
    3
    %
    Protein
     
    7
    g
    14
    %
    Vitamin A
     
    10545
    IU
    211
    %
    Vitamin C
     
    5.1
    mg
    6
    %
    Calcium
     
    65
    mg
    7
    %
    Iron
     
    2.1
    mg
    12
    %
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

    Tried this recipe?Be sure to leave a comment and provide a Star Rating below - I love your feedback and try to respond to every comment!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vicki

      February 02, 2023 at 2:23 pm

      Looking forward to making this. I love your creamy mushroom soup recipe.

      Is there anything you recommend I place of Cajun spice? I have found different brands taste very different.

      Reply
      • Julia

        February 13, 2023 at 7:34 pm

        Vicki, I couldn't agree more. So many brands of Cajun spice taste so different.

        If you'd like to make your own Cajun spice, take a look at this recipe where I made the Cajun spice from scratch:

        https://juliasalbum.com/cajun-chicken-recipe/

        My absolute favorite store-bought version is Frontier Cajun Seasoning. This Cajun seasoning is not overly spicy, and the flavor is much better than other brands I've tried. My local store recently ran out of this particular seasoning mix, but gladly Amazon carries it, too.

        Reply
    2. Diana

      September 28, 2021 at 3:53 pm

      One of my favorite soups. I usually add a lot of cayenne pepper.

      Reply
    3. vivian

      August 31, 2015 at 9:10 am

      Looks like a great soup, why not leave lentils whole for more texture?

      Reply
    4. Lisa

      December 22, 2013 at 1:56 pm

      I made a double batch and it is delicious! Even my sceptic husband enjoyed it. I strained the purée through a fine sieve to give it a more silky texture. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe, it's a keeper

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 23, 2013 at 3:03 pm

        Lisa, glad to hear that you both loved the soup! Straining the puree through a fine sieve is not a bad idea for a more sophisticated texture! I am going to make a note of that! 🙂

        Reply
    5. lisa

      December 19, 2013 at 3:35 pm

      How much does this yield? I want to know if I should double the recipe

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 20, 2013 at 2:55 pm

        Lisa, this makes 4 appetizer size servings (not too large) meant to be served before the main dish.

        Reply
    6. Kara

      November 27, 2013 at 4:16 pm

      I made this for our restaurant and the customers loved it...don't leave out the Cajun spice because it really added a nice flavour to it.

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 07, 2013 at 4:06 am

        Kara, thanks for stopping by and letting me know that you and your customers liked the soup! 🙂 I agree - I would not leave out the Cajun spice - it really adds a lot to this soup!

        Reply
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