This is one of our favorite soups! It’s famous at our church’s Lenten soup supper. It has a really pleasant, interesting flavor that’s not too sweet and fruity. Most people want to know what’s in it but can’t guess that it’s apricots, so it’s perfect for “Guess the Mystery Ingredient” if you like to play that game. It’s easy to make and inexpensive.
This recipe is vegan and gluten-free and contains none of the most common allergy triggers, so it’s excellent for serving to groups with diverse dietary needs. However, if you are not a gluten-free vegan, we advise eating this soup with monterey jack cheese and rosemary-whole-wheat crackers.
To make a big pot of soup–about 10 main-dish servings–you will need:
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 8 dried apricots
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups dry red lentils
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup crushed or finely diced tomato (frozen is fine)
- 2 cups grated carrot (frozen is fine)
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. thyme
- salt and pepper to taste–we like white pepper in this recipe
Dice the onion and apricots. Crush the garlic. Saute these things in the oil in a large soup pot until onion begins to brown.
Add the lentils and broth. If carrots or tomatoes are frozen, also add them at this time. (We sometimes buy large amounts of vegetables on sale and slice/grate and freeze them. You can throw them into the pot frozen and break them up as they cook.) Cover and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 30 minutes.
Add tomatoes and carrots (if you didn’t already) and seasonings. Simmer another 10 minutes; if soup seems watery and you want it thicker, take the lid off, turn up the heat a bit, and stir occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the pot.
Serve as soon as you’re ready! Don’t be afraid of leftovers; this soup is just as good reheated. Reused glass jars are great for storing leftovers.
Apricot Lentil Soup works for me! Visit the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop for more healthy recipes!
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Your soup sounds delicious. I love how ‘surprise ingredients’ can give such great flavours. Apricots are so useful in cooking. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe with the Hearth and Soul hop.
I would never think to put in apricots, but when I think about it, it is a good idea. Just a bit of sweetness and great vitamins too. thanks for sharing with the Hearth and Sou hop.
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That sounds great! I’m going to make it after our next grocery trip – I’m gluten-free, and the only thing I’ll need to do is find a source of apricots that’s not the bulk bins, since the stores I go to have flour in the center of everything, and it has a tendency to spread itself around. 🙂 So long as the apricots aren’t floury, and the vegetable broth is GF, you should be fine.
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Wow apricots!! So creative really. I never would have thought of that. This looks great. Thanks for linking up with us today. I love to discover new blogger friends. We will be having a soup and stew theme for January too so hope to see more of your recipes.
Thanks! I wouldn’t have thought of it either, but I saw a recipe online for red lentil soup with apricots (it said to use fresh ones, which we never have handy) and cumin and thyme. We liked the combination of flavors but didn’t like making it with canned vegetable juice as that recipe said. After a few experiments, we got the balance of carrots and tomatoes right. I’m sure it’s more nutritious this way than if made with canned juice.
I always get in a soup mood when it finally cools off (which is barely happening now in the CA desert!). This sounds delicious and I love that apricots are that “extra special something” that give it it’s flair.
Lentil soup is my favorite, and this sounds like a really different twist on it. I don’t normally like to combine sweet and savory, but I might have to try this!
It’s really not very sweet or very fruity; it just has a pleasant flavor.
Ooooohhh! What a great combination, very clever, and packed with nutrition! Thanks for sharing 🙂 You and Jennifer are destined to be BFFs 😛 Thank you for joining us for meatless monday, you must come again 🙂
Thanks! I haven’t done the calculations to figure out the nutrition facts, but I figure this soup must be very good for me because I feel so good when I eat it.
Thanks for hosting Meatless Monday!
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When you mentioned this soup on a comment on my blog, I couldn’t wait to come over and search for it.. I’ve never seen anything like it and will have to try it.. Looks delicious.
The apricot flavor works very well with thyme, and then having tomatoes as well as carrots takes it in a not-too-sweet direction.