Vegetarian, vegan, and kid friendly, this Lentil Alphabet Soup is irresistible thanks to the playful pasta, and it’s filled with fiber and protein thanks to the lentils and vegetables. I have no doubt your kids will happily slurp up every last spoonful.
This one pot, savory soup is made with carrots, celery, lentils, and adorable alphabet pasta, and the veggies and lentils are so tiny, even the pickiest eaters at your table will love it.
The UN General Assembly has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses. Why? Because lentils, dry beans and peas, and chickpeas are a nutritious superfood, and they’re sustainable — they have a low carbon footprint and enrich the soil. Pulses are regarded as a food of the future, poised as a powerful solution for feeding the world’s growing population.
Here at Liz’s Healthy Table, I’m starting the Pulses’ celebration early with this lentil soup, and I’ve given it a family-friendly spin with alphabet-shaped pasta. {Check out Pulses.org for more recipes and pulses cooking tips.}
Did you know that one cup of lentils has 16 grams of fiber and 18 grams of protein?
But wait, there’s more: One cup of cooked lentils has nearly 40% of your daily requirement for iron, and they’re also a good source of zinc, a mineral that strengthens the immune system.
For my homemade alphabet soup, I chopped carrots, celery, and onions into tiny pieces. And I cooked them until tender.
Once tender, I added a 32-ounce carton of vegetable broth, tomato sauce, and the alphabet pasta, and brought to a low boil.
When the pasta was tender, I stirred in the cooked lentils.
Picky Eater Tip: While the soup cooks, set out a bowl of the dried alphabet pasta and challenge your kids to spell out words … like their names!
- Serves: 5
- Serving size: 1 cup
- Calories: 150
- Fat: 3g
- Saturated fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 24g
- Sodium: 680mg
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 7g
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion, finely diced (about ¾ cup)
- 3 small carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice (about ¾ cup)
- 3 celery stalks, trimmed and cut into ¼-inch dice (about ¾ cup)
- One 32-ounce carton all-natural vegetable broth
- One 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- ¼ cup dried alphabet pasta
- 1¼ cups cooked lentils
- Heat the oil in a dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Add the broth and tomato sauce, increase the heat to high, cover, and bring to a boil.
- Remove the cover, stir in the pasta, and reduce the heat. Maintain at a low boil and cook, stirring frequently to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot, until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the cooked lentils, and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes.
What are your favorite recipes using pulses?
Fun podcast, ladies. Love lentils, but chickpeas get my vote for favorite pulse 🙂
This soup is easy and delicious! My son does not like legumes at all. I made this soup and put it in mason jars for lunches. My son grabbed a jar and took it to school. I asked him after school if he enjoyed lunch, he said it was good! It was a legume breakthrough! Yeah! 🙂
Love this, Dawn. A legume breakthrough! Thanks for sharing, and great idea to put it in a mason jar. 🙂
SOOO cute and sounds delicious! Pinned it 🙂
I added this to my February working mom meal plan!
We hope you and the kiddos love it! It’s one of our most playful recipes yet!
Can you use dried lentils, and cook them in the soup?
Hi Amber. The recipe should work fine with dried lentils … with a few caveats. Lentils take 15 to 20 minutes to cook depending what type you are using, but with the addition of the tomato sauce, it could take a bit longer. Also, they double or triple in size. So I’d suggest that if you use dry lentils, you follow the usual cooking directions (i.e. rinse first) but only use 1/2 cup at the most. Remember too that the pasta has to cook, which means the pasta might be done before the lentils. What type of dry lentils do you want to use? (helpful link: http://www.lentils.ca/recipes-cooking/how-to-cook-lentils/). I say go for it and see how it turns out 🙂
I love this soup and make
It all the time for my girls. Do you have an adapted version for a slow cooker? Thanks!
Gosh. We don’t. We tend to use the pre-cooked lentils (Trader Joe’s), but we’re sure it would be ideal for the slow cooker when starting with uncooked lentils. We will try it soon!
As for the slow cooker, what about our barley soup? http://www.mealmakeovermoms.com/kitchen/2015/01/29/slow-cooker-barley-bean-soup/
Thanks! I use precooked lentils too, though anytime I can put everything in the slow cooker and not watch a pot is great. The girls are little and cooking can be a challenge 😉 Thanks for the other recipe. Looks delish!