Lemony Lentil Vegetable Soup with Rosemary & Fennel

by

An overhead shot shows a bowl of lentil vegetable soup with a crust of bread perched on top. The soup is finished with finely chopped parsley. A spoon is sticking out of the bowl.

This simple lentil vegetable soup recipe is naturally hearty, but also vibrant and light. Green lentils and a mixture of chopped fennel, carrots, celery, and onions fill out the seasoned vegetable stock of this creation. Garlic, fresh rosemary, lemon zest and juice, plus a finishing hit of miso flavor this pot of goodness that cooks up in 35 minutes on the stove. You get deep umami from the miso, woodsy comfort from the rosemary, and the unmistakable bright notes of lemon. This vegan soup strikes the perfect balance of ease and coziness. Like most soups, it gets better as it sits, so it’s perfect for meal prep!

An overhead shot shows a bowl of lentil vegetable soup with a crust of bread perched on top. The soup is finished with finely chopped parsley. A spoon is sticking out of the bowl.
An overhead shot shows ingredients on a cutting board for a soup.
An overhead shot shows two plates. One has: minced garlic, lemon zest, and chopped rosemary. The other has: chopped fennel, carrots, celery, and onions.
For this soup, you will need to chop the following: carrots, celery, onion, fennel, garlic, rosemary, and lemon zest.

Simplicity is the name of the game with this vegetable lentil soup. I love the earthy flavor of lentils in combination with pine-y and woodsy fresh rosemary. Lemon and garlic naturally fit in here as well. With this powerhouse flavor trio, it’s hard to go wrong! This pot is packed with aromatic vegetables like fennel, celery, carrots, and onions that are first sautéed for a solid 10-12 minutes for maximum flavor development. I know that this sounds like a long time, but it adds so much to the final result!

This soup is minimal in terms of ingredients, so I do think it’s important to start off with a delicious vegetable stock. Homemade is ideal if you can swing it! My recipe for that is linked in the ingredients list below. Beyond that, I recommend seasoning well with salt and pepper and making any adjustments that you need to at the very end. I always find myself tweaking a soup in the final stages with acidic components, salt, pepper, something with a bit of heat etc.

More lentil soups!

If you want to add more vegetables, a couple handfuls of chopped spinach or kale would be nice here! Just drop them into the pot towards the end of the simmering time so that they get a couple minutes to wilt. I love to enjoy this soup with drizzles of chili oil or chili crisp on top (love this one). If you also crave the spice, I highly recommend it.

Hope you love this more simple offering from my kitchen! It hits at 12 ingredients (minus oil, salt and pepper), which is pretty minimal for me! If you’ve made any of my soups before, you know I like to load them up with spices, herbs, umami-boosters etc. Sometimes the pure goodness of the ingredients is just the thing though. Enjoy!

An overhead shot shows sautéed vegetables in a pot. Minced garlic, rosemary, and lemon zest have just been added.
An overhead shot shows green lentils being poured into a pot with sautéed vegetables.
An overhead shot shows a hand pouring a bowl of miso and vegetable stock into a pot of soup.
Adding a mixture of light miso dissolved with hot stock adds deep umami flavor to the lentil vegetable soup.
An overhead shot shows ladle emerging from a pot of lentil vegetable soup. The ladle portion is in harsh, direct sunlight.
An overhead shot shows a bowl of lentil vegetable soup with a crust of bread perched on top. The soup is finished with finely chopped parsley. A spoon is sticking out of the bowl.

Lemony Lentil Vegetable Soup with Rosemary & Fennel

Make this simple lentil vegetable soup with roughly 12 ingredients and about 35 minutes of cooking time. Miso brings savory depth and lemon perks up the earthy lentils and vegetables. This vegan soup is light and hearty at the same time!