Greek Lentil Soup Recipe

4.59 from 12 votes

A simple, old-fashioned Greek Lentil Soup (Fakes Soupa) made with just 5 basic ingredients. Earthy-flavored and so comforting!

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Greek

Keyword: Dinner, gut-healing foods, superfood

Servings: portions

Calories: 413kcal

Ingredients

300 grams (1½ cups) brown lentils
120 grams (¾ cup) red onion minced
3-4 large garlic cloves finely chopped
1 large dried bay leaf or 2 small ones
60 ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil Greeks use up to ⅓ cup of olive oil in this soup, and it becomes even thicker
1 liter (4 cups) hot water or stock see notes below
unrefined sea salt
ground pepper
red wine vinegar to serve with

Instructions

Soak The Lentils (Optional):

Soak lentils in plenty of room temperature water for 2-3 hours. Drain and rinse.

Cook The Lentils:

Bring lentils to a boil in a medium-sized cooking pot with plenty of water.
Drain in a strainer after 2 minutes.
Add the lentils back to the cooking pot along with salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and bay leaf.
Pour the hot boiling water or stock and bring to a simmer.
Simmer gently, covered over low heat for about 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are soft and tender.
Pour in the olive oil and raise the heat to medium (gas stove), or medium-high (electric stove).
Cook until the soup thickens, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. NOTE: Stirring helps the olive oil to combine and the soup to turn creamier.
Serve warm with a few drops of red wine vinegar and some crusty bread on the side. If you let the soup sit for 15-20 minutes, it will thicken a bit more.

Notes

-In the traditional Greek recipe, we don't use stock. However, if you're accustomed to cooking with stock, I recommend using it in this recipe as well. A homemade vegetable stock would be best, or a store-bought low-sodium one.

Nutrition