Mercimek Corbasi (Red Lentil Soup)
Turkish flavors, weeknight effort. Red lentils meets onion in a 40-minute lunch worth keeping in rotation.
✓ USDA-verified nutrition data
380 calories
19g protein
56g carbs
11g fat
9g fiber
Ingredients
- 2 cups Red lentils
- 1 Onion
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Potato
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 Lemon
- 7 cups Vegetable stock
- 1 tsp Mint
Steps
- Rinse the lentils until the water runs clear. Chop the onion, carrot, and potato into rough chunks — everything gets blended, so knife work does not matter here.
- Soften the onion, carrot, and potato in the olive oil for 8 minutes, then add the garlic, cumin, and paprika and stir 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the lentils and stock, bring to a boil, then simmer 25 minutes until the lentils have completely collapsed and the vegetables are falling apart.
- Blend until velvety smooth, adding water if needed — mercimek should be silky, not porridge-thick. Season boldly with salt.
- Melt the butter with the dried mint until it foams and smells incredible. Swirl half into the soup and reserve the rest for drizzling.
- Serve each bowl with a wedge of lemon, a drizzle of mint butter, and extra paprika. The lemon is not optional — it lifts the whole bowl from good to unforgettable.