A hearty and warming curry soup with lentils and carrots.

Todays recipe title is quite a handful! (Try saying it quickly 3 times :)) But despite the lengthy title, this recipe is super simple and comes together quickly. It’s the perfect fall dinner as the spices warm you from the inside and the lentils keep you full for a long time. A nourishing bowl of goodness so to say!

Lately I have been on the top of my game when it comes to meal prep. This is mainly due to spending most evenings at university and not having the possibility to cook during the weekdays. I have classes 4 times a week which go pretty late and I usually get home around 10pm. I certainly do not feel like cooking anymore at that time! So I take my Sundays to meal prep for the whole week. This has been a game changer. Not only am I eating healthier (no more frozen pizza at 10pm!) but it has also helped me to waste less food and feel less stressed.

When I started meal planning a few months ago, I was amazed at the impact it had on me. I had no idea that the daily question of “what should I cook today” took up so much of my mental energy! Meal planning has helped me feel less stressed because it helps me concentrate on other things and frees up my time during the week to get more work done. I can not imagine my life without meal prep anymore!

So my Sundays are now mostly spent on cleaning and prepping food for the week. I am used to it now and it has become a routine for me. However, when I first started, the idea of cooking meals for the whole week in just a few hours felt daunting. It took me soooo long and I was completely exhausted afterwards. But through time I learned to prep meals and combine different dishes in a way that I could get multiple things done at once. E.g. roasting veggies in the oven and using them for various dishes is a huge time saver!

Speaking of prepping meals ahead of time, this soup is also a great make-ahead meal. You can easily prep this on the weekend and then take it with to work in a thermos or simply enjoy it when you get home. If you do not find the time to make it ahead, don’t worry. It is done in no time! You can also easily whip this up on a busy weeknight.

Curry Paste

What makes this soup so delicious is the homemade curry paste we are using to season our soup with. Don’t be alarmed at the sound of a diy curry paste sounding time consuming and difficult. It’s really not! All you need to do is combine all the ingredients with a mortar and pestle. This takes you 5 minutes tops….and that’s already counting the time you need to grate the ginger and mince the garlic. You’ll have some leftovers of the curry paste, which you can use for other recipes such as curries, various stews and soups.

If you have a well stocked pantry, you’ll probably have all of the ingredients on hand needed for the curry paste. The spices used not only bring a lot of flavour to our dish, they are also incredibly healthy for you! Tumeric contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and is commonly used in ayurvedic medicine due to its healing properties. Garlic and ginger, which contain medicinal properties, can help you ward off a cold during flue season. Combining these spices make a tasty and nourishing soup.

While curry and tumeric are wonderful ingredients to use in the kitchen, they also stain like crazy. It’s best to use a stainless steel immersion blender and avoid storing the soup in plastic containers. If you should get any of your equipment stained, put it out into the sun. The sunlight bleaches the material and gets out the stains. (I was able to save my Vitamix with this trick!)

If you give this chunky carrot lentil curry soup a try, let me know in the comment section below. I always love hearing from you!

Chunky Carrot Lentil Curry Soup {Vegan}

Two brown bowls with chunky carrot lentil curry soup.

A hearty and warming curry soup with lentils and carrots.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10-12 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4

Ingredients

Curry Paste

10cm fresh ginger (4 inches)
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons tumeric
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Chunky Carrot Lentil Curry Soup

1 large yellow onion
500g carrots (1 lbs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
120g dried red lentils (1/2 cup)
2 and 1/2 tablespoons curry paste
1l vegetable broth (4 cups)
1-2 tablespoons lime juice
salt and pepper
optional, parsley for garnishing
optional, salted and roasted peanuts for garnishing

Instructions

To make the curry paste, peel and mince the ginger and garlic.
Combine all the ingredients and grind to a smooth paste with a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
For the soup, peel the onion and cut into small pieces. Cut the carrots into thin rounds.
Heat olive oil in a large pot and add the onions, carrots, red lentils and curry paste. Sauté for 2 minutes on high, then add the vegetable broth. Bring everything to a boil then reduce the heat and let the soup simmer for about 8-10 minutes until the carrots and lentils are soft.
Puree with an immersion blender until you reached the desired consistency.* Add lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with parsley and roasted peanuts and serve immediately.