Turkish Red Lentil Soup

My family really enjoyed this soup. I doubled the recipe. Just a few tips... 1. I Sauteed the onions with butter prior to adding it to the stock. 2. I added 2 T of Cumin and chopped carrots as others suggested.
I plan on tripling the recipe next time

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I live in Turkey and this soup is often served for breakfast! Turks usually serve it with a lemon wedge or two, which you squeeze into the soup just before eating, and a dash of red pepper flakes, (or a lot - depending on your taste). The lemon adds one more layer of flavour and gives it real "zing"! For those who feel something's missing-try it! I made this last night and followed the recipe exactly, except for a little more paprika, and I added a red pepper. Yummy!

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Oh Toni, slurp, slurp! The absolute simplicity of this lovely, aromatic soup is simply awesome! Here is what I did... I did the prep work (oh so minimal!) last night, and my DH and I had the soup, exactly as you posted, this afternoon, for lunch with some lightly toasted pita bread, Kalamata olives, and pepperocini (on the side). Simply fabulous! There were only two of us for lunch, so for my family dinner this evening, I decided to tweak the soup to make it a more substantial meal, standing on its own. OMG, heaven! I added about 1/2 pound of cubed butternut squash, more garlic, cumin, black pepper, two red bell peppers, a lot of HOT Hungarian paprika (to suit our warped spicy taste buds), some diced shallots, about 1/2 cup cilantro, and one entire medium red onion. I re-pureed all but about 3 cups, and then lightly re-heated. I then garnished it with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of fresh cilantro, and served it with a simple light salad and crusty bread and butter. To die for! Heaven! Nobody in this family likes lentils, red bell pepper, or butternut squash, lol, period. They never knew what hit them! They ate this stuff up like there was no more tomorrow, not even knowing they were eating lentils, etc. This is such a keeper, such a fantastic Autumn soup. I think that I will serve this fantastic soup as one of my starters for our big Thanksgiving feast! Thank you so much for such a lovely, simple, scrumptious soup, as is...or dressed up!

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We had this for lunch today as the weather has gotten very cold and this hit the spot. I did add 2 diced carrots and, as suggested by other reviews, cumin and garlic powder. Just to pep it up a little I added a small amount of cayenne pepper. I didn't have any vegetable stock so used chicken broth as suggested by another reviewer. My DH loved it even though he usually turns his nose up at Lentils. Thanks for posting.

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Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great....just like my turkish mother in law's. If you reheat it later it is often a bit too thick so I find that I need to add more water when I reheat it. Thanks for this wonderful, easy recipe!

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Excellent! This was my 'chicken soup' while I lived in Turkey. Even now, when I get sick I crave this. A few weeks ago, I tried this recipe-and it was FAB. I, in turkish-style, add the crushed red pepper to spice it up (and clear the sinuses) and squeeze a wedge of lemon into it. I also used my handmixer to do the job, only problem was some splashes (insert into soup-then turn on). Oops. End result was just what the doctor ordered!

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Great base! You can take this soup in a lot of directions. Plenty of inspiration from the other comments already made on this recipe, but where this really shines is in its flexibility. Thanks!

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I doubled this recipe and so glad I did. Like all the other reviews it is simple but delicious. I sauteed onion and carrots in a bit of oil then added the paprika. I used rice instead of potato like a handful? Then perhaps another 1-2 cups of broth. It was perfect. Squeezed some lemon in at the end as pr advice from others and that makes quite a difference. Who wouldn't love this??

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I'm a fan of dishes that are easy to make, and this fits the bill! However, I did skip the blending step at the end. If I ever make it for company, I'll blend, but for the two of us the less fuss the better. Per others' recommendations, I added cumin & garlic. Forgot to add red pepper flakes, so I used Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce to taste before serving. Nom!

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This is so simple and so good. With minimal effort you get a wonderful soup. Thanks for the recipe.

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This recipe hardly needs another positive review, but I have to say that I was really surprised by how good this was! It really couldn't be any easier to make, and it costs practically nothing. The second time I made this (in the space of 2 days!) I used smoked paprika instead of regular...it was a nice variation. Also, I didn't blend it the 2nd time around and it was still pretty smooth. Thanks so much for sharing this!

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Fabulous. So easy to prepare and so tasty. Sophisticated taste from a simple recipe. Big bang for your buck.

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This was much more flavorful than I had thought it would be with such simple ingredients! I also used chicken stock (4c water, w 4 tsp chicken stock base). I didn't add any salt as the stock made it salty. I enjoyed mine with a few fresh tortillas. I think pita bread or naan would be excellent with it. Thanks for a yummy, healthy, super easy, budget friendly recipe!

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This recipe is very adapatable. I didn't have any vegetable stock so instead i used 2 chicken bullion cubes and 8 cups of water. 1 onion, 2 potatos, some garlic and i added a tbsp of cumin and a pinch of coriander. It came out amazing and was very easy to make.

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VERY easy and very delicious! I didn't have vegetable broth, so used chicken stock for the liquid.

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I really enjoyed this.Haven't changed a thing.

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Pretty good! I added more potatoes & onion - also, added a little crushed garlic. I don't know if i'd blend it next time - thinking a chunky texture would be best suited for this. Very, very easy and quick!

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OK. Even pretty good. But I would not blend it at all - it strips away all the good texture. Leaving it chunky with big bits of potatoes and onions and lentils would be much better. 3 stars blended, 4 stars unblended.

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This was fabulous ...though I did make some changes: 1) I doubled the recipe 2) Added the juice of 1 lemon 3) Added about 2 T of cumin powder 4) pureed about 4 cups in the blender 5) Used a little less stock Was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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