Pumpkin and red lentil soup

Photographer: HFG staff

This hearty pumpkin and red lentil soup recipe is high in iron, so it's a fantastic choice for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Serves: 6

Time to make: 55 mins

Hands-on time: 15 mins

Ingredients

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2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ teaspoon chilli powder
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 bay leaf
4 fresh lemon thyme sprigs, leaves picked, plus extra to garnish (see tips)
4½ cups pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into 3cm cubes (see tips)
1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
4 cups reduced-salt vegetable stock
4–6 tablespoons each low-fat Greek yogurt and toasted pumpkin seeds, to serve

Instructions

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1 Heat the 2 tablespoons oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan (that has a lid) over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 min or until slightly softened. Add the garlic, chilli, nutmeg, bay leaf and thyme, then cook for a further 2 min.

2 Add the pumpkin, lentils, stock and 2 cups water, and season with ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with the lid. Cook for 30 min or until the pumpkin and lentils are tender. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

3 Blend the soup until smooth, adding more water to thin it if necessary. Spoon into bowls, then serve topped with the Greek yogurt, toasted pumpkin seeds, a grind of black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and extra thyme sprigs.

HFG tip

If you can’t find lemon thyme, use regular thyme instead. You could swap the pumpkin for butternut squash, if you like.

Nutrition Info (per serve)

Calories 324 cal

Kilojoules 1356 kJ

Protein 17.3 g

Total fat 16.1 g

Saturated fat 3 g

Carbohydrates 29.3 g

Sugar 6.7 g

Dietary fibre 5.7 g

Sodium 394 mg

Calcium 111 mg

Iron 4.7 mg

Note: This nutrition analysis is a guide only. Nutrition composition will vary depending on the exact ingredients used. See our guides on your optimal daily nutrition intake, and supermarket shopping.

First published: Aug 2020

2 comments on Pumpkin and red lentil soup

25331632 May 14, 2022 at 2:03 pm #

The protein per serve of this recipe doesn’t look right to me. The only substantial protein ingredient is the red lentils – and at 18gm protein per cup , this would provide approx 3gm of protein per serve of soup. Please let me know if I’m missing something here. Perhaps you have overall nutritional value here, rather than per serve?

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- Jen deMontalk May 24, 2022 at 1:43 pm #
  
  Hi there
  Thanks for your question. The protein mostly comes from the red lentils, yoghurt and pumpkin. 1 cup dried red lentils has significantly more protein than 1 cup cooked lentils – around 44g. With the protein from the lentils, pumpkin and yoghurt and other ingredients combined, we get the total per serve that’s shown in the NIPs panel.
  
  Warm regards
  Jenny de Montalk, Healthy Food Guide managing editor
  
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