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    Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds

    Published: Dec 03, 2012 / 29 Comments

    14.3K shares
    • Facebook107
    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. Lauren

      November 24, 2013 at 3:53 pm

      Would this work with with red lentils do you think? That is what I happen to have so I was just wondering 🙂

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 25, 2013 at 2:12 am

        Yes, red lentils will work here! I made this soup with green and yellow lentils and both worked fine, so don't see any reason for red lentils not to work. In fact, red lentils get even mushier than any other lentils, according to this article, so this is perfect for this soup!

        Reply
    2. Laura

      November 23, 2013 at 9:30 pm

      Made this tonight! Delish! A bit spicy but not bad, my toddler ate some too!

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 25, 2013 at 2:57 am

        Glad you liked it! 🙂 Wow, even the toddler ate it, with the spice?! 🙂 What a good toddler you have! 🙂 He will grow up to be an adventurous eater!

        Reply
    3. Meredith

      October 04, 2013 at 7:06 pm

      Just curious, why do the lentils and carrots need to cool? Does this do anything for their flavor when combined or just makes it safer to handle?

      Reply
      • Julia

        October 04, 2013 at 9:32 pm

        I cool them so they are safer to handle. It will not affect the flavor whether you cool the lentils and carrots or not. You might have a very hot splash out of your food processor though if you use hot liquids. 🙂 It did happen to me once.

        Reply
    4. Julia

      December 27, 2012 at 10:02 am

      Hi Julia- I am dying to try this recipe with my family- is the chilli mentioned chili powder? Help! Thanks- Julia H.

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 27, 2012 at 4:16 pm

        Yes, it's chilli powder. You can add more than 1/8 teaspoon if you like it spicier.

        Reply
    5. Lauren

      December 17, 2012 at 6:21 pm

      I love how this sounds. But what is Cajun Seasoning?
      and how does it reheat?

      Thanks

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 18, 2012 at 4:15 pm

        Laura, Cajun seasoning is usually paprika, garlic, onion, red pepper, etc. It reheats fine, it's just a dried powdered seasoning. Here is the link to one: http://www.myspicesage.com/cajun-seasoning-p-71.html?cPath=1_46

        Reply
        • Lauren

          December 21, 2012 at 3:08 pm

          Thanks for the info on the cajun spice.
          I meant to say how does the soup reheat, Sorry I was tying with only half a brain.

          Reply
          • Julia

            December 23, 2012 at 2:48 pm

            It reheats just fine, it might be a little thick - I added a touch of milk next day to thin it up. With soups like that I always like the flavors better the next day.

            Reply
    6. Ari @ Ari's Menu

      December 04, 2012 at 4:30 pm

      I've never tried carrot soup, but this looks delicious!! Maybe I will just have to give it a try 🙂

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 05, 2012 at 1:53 pm

        Absolutely! I've never had carrot soup until 2 years ago either :), didn't even think I'll like it, but it's very tasty, one of my all time favorites.

        Reply
    7. Hungry Huy

      December 04, 2012 at 3:29 pm

      I used to eat lentils a while ago as a protein source, but haven't tried them in any REAL recipes. This looks way more appetizing!

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 05, 2012 at 1:52 pm

        I love lentils and use them all the time as side dish. They're great, especially in soups, pureed or not.

        Reply
    8. Melanie

      December 04, 2012 at 9:22 am

      Mmmm. Love carrots, love lentils, and I love your bowl!

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 05, 2012 at 1:52 pm

        Thank you. 🙂

        Reply
    9. Christin@fortmillscliving

      December 04, 2012 at 6:34 am

      This soup is making me salivate! I don't think I've ever cooked with Lentils before!
      Love the bowl- it's the perfect color to compliment the soup.

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 05, 2012 at 1:51 pm

        Thank you. You're right about the bowl - I didn't have a white bowl, and my other bowls were of orange color, which made the soup and the bowl look like one. So the green one was a good alternative to emphasize the soup color!

        Reply
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