This wonderful creamy red lentil squash soup is a family favorite that I like to make on a cold winter night! The spices (coriander, cumin cinnamon & turmeric…Yum!) blend beautifully with the sweet flavor of the butternut squash and the red lentils. No one has any idea that this nutritional powerhouse of a legume, rich in protein, fiber and vitamin and minerals is hidden in this yummy comforting soup! You will LOVE this soup, and there is no question it will love you back!

Creamy Coriander Butternut Squash And Red Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 20 oz packages of fresh peeled cut-up butternut squash
- 9 cups water
- 1 ½ cup dry red lentils
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 Tbsp tomato concentrate
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
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Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan and stir in the chopped onion and garlic for a few minutes until soft.
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Add the coriander, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric and tomato concentrate and stir.
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Add the butternut squash and water and bring to a boil uncovered.
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Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for 20 minutes covered.
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Add the lentils, stir and continue to simmer for an additional 15 minutes or until the butternut squash and lentils are very soft.
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Add salt and pepper.
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Place in food processor or blender and purée until smooth.
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Ladle in a soup bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of coriander and cinnamon.
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Stir the surface gently so as to get a swirl on the surface…et voilà!
Fantastic recipe, Catherine
Cooked it for the first time ever today
Wanted to celebrate the beginning of the Fall season
Cheers!
YAY John!! So nice to hear from you! Happy Autumn my friend! 🙂
Delicious soup!! I made this recipe last week, and my whole family loved it!! I am a huge fan of lentils, and you incorporate them with mastery in this recipe. I made a double batch (as I do with all your recipes), froze it, and then enjoyed it again on Halloween night. What a treat! Thank you, Catherine, for feeding my family well! -Denine
I made this soup today, a perfect day in Florida, just a slight coolness to the weather, finally. I was very pleased with the result. I used the hand immersion blender and the soup was not creamy smooth with the first try, so I cooked it more as I didn’t think the lentils were cooked the first time. the extra cooking helped. I used fresh squash and that might had made a difference in the cooking time. I added a dollop of Greek yogurt to make the swirl. It tasted great and looked wonderful. The squash flavor is lost to some of the spices and I think that I will reduce some of them the next time I make this soup ! I didn’t tell anyone about the lentils. Very satisfied with the results and the directions were easy to follow. Thanks so much for this.
I have been enjoying reading your recipes but this is the first I tried. I will attempt more.
Susan
What a wonderful and thorough review Susan! I love that kind of feedback! I am truly delighted! 🙂
Hi Catherine,
My husband went to one of your husband’s lectures, and we checked out your recipes as a result. In case you don’t know, your husband speaks very highly about your cooking skills!
Today, I decided to make the Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Soup. When it was time to add the butternut squash, I noticed that I had purchased cut up sweet potatoes by mistake!! LOL! They were right next to each other, and they look exactly the same! Well, I wasn’t about to run out to the store, so I figured sweet potato soup would have to do! I had to add more salt and a little more water to thin it out a bit, but it met with my family’s approval anyway! I’m sure it will be even better when I make it with squash the next time around!
Thanks for the great recipes!
Anne
Please add me to the your mailing list. The recipes seem delicious.
I will, Maggie! Welcome to the Cuisinicity table! 🙂
Do you have nutritional information and values for the recipes posted?
Hi Jodi, I do not and I elaborate why here: https://cuisinicity.com/calories-in-calories-out-but-dont-obsess/ but I am sure there are aps where you can plug in all the ingredients I list and generate a detailed nutritional analysis, if you really wanted to know. I hope this is a little helpful!
This was delicious! Even my husband, who thinks he doesn’t like lentils, loved it!
YES!!! Rajani, I am truly delighted to hear that!!
HAHAHAHAHA!!! You gave me such a good laugh!!! Love that determination Sara!! Keep it coming!! (I am still chuckling!)
Yet another AMAZING recipe, and perfect for the 80 F and cloudy day that we had here today!
My soup was not as smooth the one pictured because I don’t have a blender, but a hamburger masher, a pinch of violence, and a dash of rage were enough to make it soup-ishy. Can’t wait to try more!
bonjour , je viens de réaliser votre soupe , elle est délicieuse, bien goûteuse et … très …réconfortante!
….la prochaine fois , néanmoins , je mettrai un peu moins d’eau afin qu’elle soit plus épaisse ! encore plus réconfortant!! merci pour toutes belles recettes et bel automne à vous! Martine de France
Merci Martine! C’est une bonne idée! Régalez-vous bien!
My family grew tons of butternut squash in our garden this season and I’ve been trying to figure out how to use them. I can’t wait to try this recipe. It looks and sounds so warming and delicious!
Kayla, that’s wonderful! I can’t wait for you to try it and please get back to me and let me know if you like (love) it!!
I finally made this for dinner last night (I’ve been looking forward to it). I used the squash from frozen and served it with a spinach salad. Even my dad who is not much of a soup-eater loved it! This will definitely be added to our list of favorite cold-weather recipes. Thank you so much for sharing all your fantastic (healthy!) recipes. So appreciated! 🙂
Kayla, that’s such a great compliment when someone who is usually not a fan of soups, loves one of mine! YAY for your dad! So delighted to hear it!