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Lebanese Spinach and Lentil Soup

Lebanese Spinach and Lentil Soup

You are here: Home / Blog / Lebanese Spinach and Lentil Soup
Lebanese Spinach and Lentil Soup

Lebanese Spinach and Lentil Soup

A Traditional Middle Eastern Lentil Soup

Fall is here. It still doesn’t really feel like it here in south Louisiana, but fall is here nonetheless. With the advent of fall and football season, our minds and stomachs naturally turn to soup. It just makes sense. As the old Campbell’s Soup commercials used to say, “Soup is good food.”

And it is! Soup is good food. It is also easy to prepare. And you can make multiple meals in one pot… at the same time.

Soup is good food. Easy to prepare. And you can make multiple meals in one pot at the same time.
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I always make BIG soups. My family of 5 will eat on it for a couple of days. Then, if there is any left, I freeze it for future use.

This particular soup – Lebanese Spinach & Lentil Soup – is perfect for this time of the year. We all know that spinach is good for you. Popeye the Sailor Man taught us that. But lentils are also really good for us too. Lentils are very small beans, but they pack a majorly healthy punch.

  • Lentils are an excellent source of fiber.
  • Lentils are heart-healthy. They are known for lowering cholesterol.
  • Lentils are full of B-vitamins and protein.
  • Lentils stabilize blood sugar levels.
  • Lentils are an excellent source of Iron.

Lentils are also quick and super-easy to prepare. Unlike white Navy peas or red beans, lentils do not have to be pre-soaked. They just need to be picked through (for small stones or debris), rinsed and then cooked for about 30 minutes. Like I said, super-easy, right?

Lentils are also popular all throughout the Middle East. As a matter of fact, biblical scholars believe that Esau sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup. Jacob must have been a great cook! 😉

Lentils are a staple in Middle Eastern cuisine. I have already shared a couple of recipes that feature lentils here on CatholicFoodie.com:

  • Mujadra, which is a delicious lentils and rice dish topped with caramelized onions and olive oil.
  • Mujadra Patties, which I sort of stumbled upon by accident. It’s a great way to eat Mujadra the next day.
  • Mexican Lentil Soup, which my wife prepared last December for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
  • Lentil & Carrot Soup, which was submitted by my friend Mike Lindner.
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Lebanese Spinach and Lentil Soup
Author: Jeff Young
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 10 to 12
Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons regular olive oil (or coconut oil)
  • 2 large onions, finely chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 cups red or brown lentils, picked-over and rinsed
  • 10 cups water (see note below)
  • ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
  • 1 bunch fresh spinach, washed (about 2 cups)
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Kosher salt and freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
  • Laban or full-fat Greek-style yogurt (see note below)
Instructions
  1. In large stainless steel pot, sauté the onions in the olive oil (or organic coconut oil) over medium-high heat until they start to soften. About 3 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and continue to cook until they start to caramelize, about another 3 to 4 minutes.
  2. Stir in garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the garlic from burning.
  3. Add the cumin and cayenne, and stir to mix in well.
  4. Add lentils and water. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
  5. Once the soups starts to boil, reduce heat to medium or medium-low and allow to simmer until lentils are soft. About 30 minutes.
  6. Add mint, and the add salt and pepper to taste.
  7. If you want a creamier soup, you can mash some of the lentils against the side of the pot with a large stainless steel spoon once they are softened. Stir well.
  8. Once the lentils have attained their desired softness and you are ready to serve, add the spinach. You can chop the spinach, if desired, but it is not necessary. I prefer to add the leaves whole. Spinach shrinks when it is cooked, so chopping isn't really necessary.
  9. Add the lemon zest and juice. Taste and tweak with salt and pepper.
  10. Serve in bowls and garnish with dollop of laban or Greek-style yogurt (see note below)
Notes
Use Water Instead of Stock
Normally, when making soups, I advocate using stocks instead of water (usually chicken stock). However, I am amazed at how much flavor these little lentils pack. I prefer to use plain water when making soups with beans. This goes for White Beans and Rice and Red Beans and Rice too.

Laban or Labneh:
Tart and creamy, Laban, or labneh, goes really well with this dish. Laban is a very thick Lebanese yogurt. We mix it in a bowl with some lemon juice and add a dash of salt… all to taste, of course. It’s a perfect for this soup. If you can't find the Lebanese version of the yogurt, then full-fat Greek-style yogurt will suffice.
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Join Jeff Young The Catholic Foodie in the Holy Land

Join Jeff Young, The Catholic Foodie and Fr. Kyle Sanders on a Food Meets Faith Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Registration for my next pilgrimage to the Holy Land is now open! The pilgrimage will be from February 26 to March 8, 2015. Fr. Kyle Sanders, a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, will travel with me as the Spiritual Director.

I want to invite you to grow in faith together with me around the table of the Eucharist and around the dinner table in the Holy Land.

Register before August 1, 2014 and you will receive a free autographed copy of my soon-to-be-released cookbook: Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine, published by Liguori Publications.
TO REGISTER: CALL SELECT INTERNATIONAL TOURS AT 1-800-842-4842.

See full itinerary HERE. You can also download it.

About Jeff Young

Jeff Young, perhaps better known as The Catholic Foodie, is an author, blogger, radio host and podcaster. He is the founder and producer of The Catholic Foodie blog and podcast where he provides "Catholic culinary inspiration to help you grow in faith around the table." Jeff hosts a daily radio show – The Catholic Foodie Show – on BreadboxMedia.com, and he co-hosts the Around the Table Food Show on Catholic Community Radio 690AM (New Orleans) and 1380AM (Baton Rouge). Jeff is a monthly contributor to CatholicMom.com and a contributing author of Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary, published by Ave Maria Press. Jeff is also a contributing author of The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion: A Book of Daily Reflections by Ave Maria Press. Jeff Young is a proud member of the elite Catholic Speakers Organization, CMG Booking. Jeff has spoken on topics ranging from "growing in faith around the table" to "using social media in the New Evangelization." Jeff's first book, Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine, published by Liguori Publications is now available. With 78 recipes and stories of faith and family (including his travels to the Holy Land), the book is sure to inspire you to get into the kitchen and to gather your family around the table. The book is available on Amazon.com, Liguori.org, and wherever good Catholic books are sold.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Betsy Cohen

    October 7, 2013 at 8:00 PM

    Great tip about using water instead of stock. I usually substitute stock in soup recipes and now I know NOT to do that with this one.

    Reply
    • Jeff Young

      October 7, 2013 at 9:14 PM

      Betsy, I really am just so amazed at how much flavor comes out of these little beans. When I have used chicken stock, it just overpowered the soup. Water, in my humble opinion, works best with this recipe.

      Reply
  2. Bobby Bilco

    April 24, 2014 at 7:03 PM

    Great recipe, but one correction is necessary–lentils are NOT beans; they are however the edible seeds of a legume plant.

    Reply
  3. Anna

    October 26, 2014 at 12:46 PM

    Do you make a version with carrots as well? The picture looks like there might be carrots too?

    Reply
  4. Imokon

    December 22, 2014 at 4:19 PM

    We make this with potatoes traditionally. My grandmother and mother used big peeled ones but I get lazy and use the small baby ones with skin on and they taste perfect. No carrots whatsoever. My grandmother was raised in a Catholic monastery in Lebanon and taught us a lot of things. Served with pastry stuffed with spinach, onions and sumac called fatayer.

    Reply
    • Jeff Young

      May 29, 2015 at 8:50 AM

      Oh that sounds so good, Imokon! Love the idea of the pastries… and serving the soup with potatoes. What a blessing to have the influence of your grandmother. That is a special treat.

      Reply
  5. Rachel

    March 8, 2015 at 12:37 PM

    Yum! I just made this last night for dinner and am now eating another bowl for lunch. This soup is definitely going into my permanent rotation! I halved the recipe (just cooking for one person) but kept the full amount of spinach, because I can’t get enough of it. I followed the directions and used water instead of stock, but I’ll admit I couldn’t help myself from adding about a cup of vegetable broth to the mix near the end of cooking, and I liked the result!

    Reply
    • Jeff Young

      May 29, 2015 at 8:49 AM

      Thanks for the tip, Rachel! I love this soup. I am always so amazed how powerful a punch those little lentils make. Flavorful and nutritious!

      Reply
  6. Lily Mae Martin

    May 17, 2015 at 4:08 AM

    My four year old and I just made this, this is the best. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Jeff Young

      May 29, 2015 at 8:48 AM

      Awesome, Lily! I’m so happy that y’all like it! And it’s great that you have your 4 year old in the kitchen helping! Kudos to you!

      Reply
  7. Amy

    November 14, 2015 at 11:24 PM

    Not sure why nobody else is writing about the cayenne powder. I sincerely remember using only one teaspoon as directed and it totally ruined the soup by making it too hot. I did what I could to salvage it because I can’t stand throwing out food, but I guess I learned to never use more than a pinch of cayenne and only gradually build it up by taste. It’s just a very powerful thing and a little goes a long way!

    Reply

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About The Catholic Foodie

Jeff Young, perhaps better known as The Catholic Foodie, is an author, blogger, radio host and podcaster. He is the founder and producer of The Catholic Foodie blog and podcast where he provides "Catholic culinary inspiration to help you grow in faith around the table." Jeff hosts a daily radio show – The Catholic Foodie Show – on BreadboxMedia.com, and he co-hosts the Around the Table Food Show on Catholic Community Radio 690AM (New Orleans) and 1380AM (Baton Rouge). Jeff is a monthly contributor to CatholicMom.com and a contributing author of Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary, published by Ave Maria Press. Jeff is also a contributing author of The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion: A Book of Daily Reflections by Ave Maria Press. Jeff Young is a proud member of the elite Catholic Speakers Organization, CMG Booking. Jeff has spoken on topics ranging from "growing in faith around the table" to "using social media in the New Evangelization." Jeff's first book, Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine, published by Liguori Publications is now available. With 78 recipes and stories of faith and family (including his travels to the Holy Land), the book is sure to inspire you to get into the kitchen and to gather your family around the table. The book is available on Amazon.com, Liguori.org, and wherever good Catholic books are sold. Read More…

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