November 1, 2024
Lentil Soup Calories: Lentil Types, Preparation,  Servings & Storage 

Lentil Soup Calories: Lentil Types, Preparation,  Servings & Storage 

Looking for smart eating hacks? Lentil Soup calories and nutrients can be your biggest temptation in the way. Fortunately, it doesn’t harm your tummy or your waistline. You can have lentil soup either as a lunch or dinner, whenever suits you. 

You must be cautious about how lentil soup is prepared. It could be home-cooked or store-bought. The canned lentil soup often comes loaded with sodium which can raise your blood pressure. 1 cup lentil soup probably falls into less than 200 calorie scale. But again, the calorie count differs on the brands you purchase it from. 

Stay tuned with us to delve deeper into Lentil soup calories, its overall nutritional profile, how it is made and what can you serve along with this delicious and soothing lentil soup. 

Lentil Soup Calories & Nutrition

How to get an insight into Lentil soup calories? USDA’s Food Data Central has given the tidbits about the approximate amount of calories in Lentil Soup. 

It’s estimated around 159 calories, 4 grams of fats, and 22 grams of carbs but still, it varies as per the brand you have chosen and its preprocessing operation. 

Canned and ready-made parts usually have more calories rather than raw lentils as the sodium amount is significantly increased. 

Lentils in raw form contribute greatly to its total caloric amount as each serving contains 114 calories. 

Besides calories, there is a significant portion of healthy amino acids, fats, and fiber. Lentil Soup contains healthy nutrients, such as phytonutrients, antioxidants, and a large number of minerals and vitamins. 

However, the amount of sodium is concerning especially if you are using canned lentil soup, you can control it by reducing the amount of salt.

How to curb off lentil soap Calories? You can do it either by running for 13 minutes,  walking for 37 minutes, or bicycling for 19 minutes. But still, it varies as per your body weight and lifestyle.

What Are Lentils & How To Choose Appropriate Type?

Lentils are the class of legume family consumed in a variety of ways will make a great snack or a main course depending upon your preparation.

Lentils are widely consumed not just in the Middle East like Turkey or Gulf countries, but have made their way into the West as well. HANDS DOWN this soup may be your favorite delicacy and lentil soup calories can be the biggest persuasion. 

Now the question is which type of lentils will work best for your soup? You can choose any, green, yellow, red or brown. The color will decide the aesthetics of your soup, as appearances speak loudly for the appeal of your food. 

Here I have chosen green lentils (Spoiler: I’m a bit biased with green color and love pretty everything in green and yes it gives a healthier look to your soup)

Now the concern is which one you shouldn’t choose. I recommend you don’t go for Puy lentils, you must have seen them, the little black French lentils because they are rigid in shape and don’t soften while cooking. 

Another concern is the usage of canned cooked lentils, can you use them? So yes, you surely can but I suggest you choose dried lentils as the texture will be great and the cooking time difference is negligible.

How To Prepare Lentil Soup At Home?

Making Lentil soup at home may be easier than you realize and lentil soup calories count is significantly less if made at home. You may feel that its not the most aesthetic soup existing but the thing making it appealing is its simplicity. We will add simpler ingredients and make it super delicious. 

So, what exactly is added into lentil soup? 

  • Sauteed onions, carrots, garlic and celery beforehand on low flame to make for a rich flavor base. 
  • A dash of spices by pepper, salt and paprika. 
  • 30 minutes soaked lentils. 
  • To top of it, we will ad some zest into our otherwise bland soup by squeezing lemons. 

Lentil Soup Calories: Lentil Types, Preparation,  Servings & Storage 

Course: soupCuisine: MediterraneanDifficulty: easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

45

minutes
Calories

159

kcal

Ingredients

  • Flavor Base:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil/ Butter

  • I onion

  • 1 ¼ cup carrot

  • 2 garlic cloves

  • 1 ¼ cup celery

  • 14 oz tomato puree

  • 2 cups green lentils

  • Spices:

  • 1 ½ teaspoon paprika powder

  • ¼ teaspoon salt & black pepper

  • ½ tsp coriander and cumin powder

  • 2 dried bay leaves

  • 1 ½ liter chicken/ vegetable stock

  • 1 whole lemon including juice and zest

Directions

  • Put olive oil on medium flame and cook chopped onions and whole garlic cloves for approximately 2 minutes.
  • Now add carrot and celery and cook again till the onions become soft and sweet. The flame should be kept low. (Less the flame is, richer the taste will be!)
  • Now add remaining ingredients including stock and spices except salt and lemon. Stir thoroughly to blend all of it well. 
  • Now increase the flame and simmer your soup. You can scoop out the layer on the top and blend again and cover it with lid. 
  • Now again lower the heat and cook for approx. 40 minutes until lentils becomes soft but not mushy. (Avoid using that long for canned soup, as they will get mushed up.)
  • As you must have added bay leaves, now you can pluck them out.
  • Now you have to thicken your soup by blending it with two to three pulses within pot. An alternative to this is taking 2 cups out of pot. Blend separately and transfer it again to pot.
  • Then again, you can adjust the consistency by adding more water.
  • Lastly spice it up with some salt and pepper. 
  • Serve along with some lemon and parsley on the top. One of my favorite suggestions would be adding some cream over the top although its optional but it heightens up the flavor. 
  • Serve hot along with some fresh bread topped up with butter.

Notes

  • Although this recipe is for dried lentils, but if you necessarily going to make using canned lentils namely Fillo’s Peruvian Lentils or Great Value Organic Lentils. Use double quantity of lentils and reduce stock amount to half and ultimately cooking time will be reduced. 
  • However, cooking time varies so make your guess according to lentils softening.

What You Can Serve Along Lentil Soup?

To better complement the lentil soup, we have these delicious sides you can serve along and have the best of experience and lowest lentil soup calories. 

Extra Spices: You can add spices on the top of soup and add into broth while simmering the soup to improve flavor. These spices include Baharat, za’atar and sumac. 

Pita bread/chips: You can have your best and economical appetizer by serving it with pita chips. Pita bread is cut into smaller sizes and fried or maybe air-fried to acquire crispness. 

Lemon Wedges: Another best side dish with lentil soup is either squeezing lemon juice on top of ready lentil soup and serving wedges on the side.

Herbs: You can serve with fresh earthy herbs including parsley, mint and coriander to give rich vibrant flavor and look to the soup. 

Cream or Yogurt: My favorite serving with this soup is a dollop of Greek yogurt or cream which gives a tangy and sweet flavor at the same time. 

However, creativity knows no bounds. You can serve as many sides as you want and the way you want. Just Enjoy and be easy on your calorie intake. 

How To Store Lentil Soup?

I have a bigger family and that comes with many tummies to fill. My homies eat everything right after I put it aside from the flame. Foodies, right? So, I usually prepare lentil soup in bulk, but it leftover and I need to store it to get through the week. How do I do it? I keep it in the refrigerator and it can be easily stored for 5 days more or less given the temperature. 

However, after 3 days taste may change, so to be cautious freeze it if you plan to store it longer than few days. 

Does the texture change? No. Does the color darken? No. So it’s an ideal savory dish to make on weekends and relish it throughout the week. You can also store in your freezer and lasts for as long as three months without going bad. The time could be beyond than this and may last for 6 months. 

You can make it as often as you want as it doesn’t strain your budget and is super easy to make while being wholesome at the same time.  

Bottom-line

Lentil soup calories are estimated around 159, but it can increase or decrease depending upon processing, and brand. Lentil Soup is one of the healthiest and calorie-deficient lunches you can opt for as it causes you no love handles, extra fats, nothing nada. It can be easily prepared by choosing the right kind of lentils and adding healthy ingredients to make a strong flavor profile. 

You can even store it for a week or as far as 6 months depending upon your storage conditions. Read it thoroughly and share what you think of this recipe. Do share what you would like to read next and we will come up with that!

FAQs on Lentil Soup Calories

Nutrition Facts

1 servings per container

Serving Size248g


  • Amount Per ServingCalories159
  • % Daily Value *
  • Total Fat 4g 7%
    • Saturated Fat 1.1g 6%
  • Cholesterol 7.4mg 3%
  • Sodium 1319mg 55%
  • Potassium 357.1mg 11%
  • Total Carbohydrate 22g 8%
    • Protein 9.3g 19%

    • Calcium 42%
    • Iron 2.7%

    * The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

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