Simple Lentil Soup Recipe (2024)

PUBLISHED March 19, 2020· MODIFIED August 24, 2021 · by the author listed in the recipe card 1435 words. · About 8 minutes to read this article.· This post may contain affiliate links · As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases· 4 Comments

Make this delicious and authentic tasting Simple Lentil Soup Recipe with just a few basic ingredients. It's quick and easy to make in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.

Why This Simple Lentil Soup Recipe Is The Perfect Dish For Dinner

This crazy, utterly ludicrous, totally ruthlessly efficient, and ultimately surprisingly authentic tasting Indian dal recipe in quite typical of my cooking style. Minimal ingredients, maximum flavor. So now you have no excuse to not eat healthily.

You may be appalled when I suggest that you use canned Rotel to make a traditional Indian dal recipe, but you'll just have to #trustUrvashi on this one. I assure you that it comes out tasting more authentic that you could possibly believe. And if you can make the same amazing tasting Lentil Soup Recipe with far less effort than traditional methods, why wouldn't you?

Thanks to your "set it and forget it" Instant Pot, you can make a wonderfully tasty one-pot lentil recipe for your family with very little effort. This easy yet delectable Instant Pot soup recipe is hearty enough to be served as a main course or can be served as an appetizer along with other Indian dishes.

So what are these three ingredients?

• Lentils (any type of split lentils)
• Rotel or canned or fresh tomatoes with green chilis
• Turmeric.

That's it! other than that, it's just water and salt and off you go.

If you're looking for a vegan Instant Pot recipe, you've hit the jackpot with this Simple Lentil Soup Recipe. Enjoy a full-flavored Instant Pot lentils recipe that's effortless and only takes a handful of ingredients to make. Now let's get cooking...

How To Make This Simple Lentil Soup Recipe

Follow these instructions to make this simple vegetarian recipe:

• Combine. In the Instant Pot, combine Rotel, lentils, water, salt, and turmeric.
• Cook. Close the lid. Select PRESSURE COOK and set the pot at high pressure for 30 minutes. I know this sounds like a lot, but the tomatoes do retard the cooking a little and you want a smooth, creamy dal at the end of this. At the end of the cooking time, allow the pot to rest undisturbed for 10 minutes and then release all remaining pressure.
• Serve. Serve with rice, naan, tortillas—whatever you want. After all, if we can make dal unconventionally, we can also eat it with unconventional accompaniments!

What Do These 3 Ingredient Lentils Taste Like?

So every child in India gets fed some version of this very plain rice and lentils dish. My Grandmother called it Varan Bhat in Marathi (varan means plain dal, and bhat is rice).

Normally when you make dal you’d add a lot of different spices to it. But for little kids, you sometimes just want to feed them something bland but full of protein.

So that’s when a lentils dish like this one comes in handy. So if you ask me how it tastes, it tastes like comfort food and childhood to me. Very much like this Khichadi, it’s something adults might eat when you’re a little under the weather.

It is also often made as a complement to other spicy dishes like Chicken Vindaloo or other well-spiced rich dishes, as a calming influence on your stomach.

This dal cooks for 30 minutes under pressure. This means that you can make brown rice Pot-in-pot, but not white rice, right alongside the dal. Check out my youtube video on how to do pot in pot cooking and subscribe to my channel while there.

Do You Have To Soak Lentils Before Cooking Them?

Another wonderful thing about this Simple Lentil Soup Recipe is that there's no need to soak the lentils before cooking them. As a matter of fact, you really don't need to soak lentils before cooking them no matter what lentils recipe you cook up.

Though soaking lentils can help reduce the cooking time when using traditional cooking methods, there's no need to do so when using a pressure cooker to cook them. The Instant Pot can cook up yummy lentil recipes with no soaking step required!

What Goes With Lentil Soup?

Serve this Simple Lentil Soup Recipe with these tasty side options:

• Naan bread
• Basmati Rice
• Air Fryer Chili Cheese Toast
• Amchoor Potatoes
• Indian Cabbage Slaw

Tips And Tricks For Making Varan Bhaat

• Normally you’d use onions, garlic, ginger, oil, cumin, etc. But no. We won’t be doing that here. You can, of course, use 1 cup of fresh or canned tomatoes and some mild green chiles if you prefer.
• Whatever you do, do not use the Hot version of Rotel. I did that. Even doubling the dal after that didn’t help to make it more edible!
• One thing you really, really must do is add a lot of ghee on top of the lentils and rice! Click here if you don’t already know how to make your own ghee for a 20-minute failproof ghee recipe.
• The milder taste of this makes it a perfectly family-friendly recipe.
• Do not skimp on the 30 minute time. Tomatoes retard the cooking and you want a soft, mushy dal.
• You can use any split lentils to make this dal.
• Download a printable here on the different types of dals.
• Refer to this post to understand how to make perfect lentils in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop.

Looking For More Lentil Recipes? Check These Out!

• Indian Chana Dal Fry - Enjoy a complex range of flavors from a simple dish.
• Instant Pot Langar Ki Dal - The most flavorful way to combine and cook two dals in your Instant Pot!
• Instant Pot Lentil Soup - A beautiful vegan lentil soup.
• Instant Pot Moong Dal Soup - A delicious traditional Indian soup.
• Dal Makhani Creamy Lentils - Smooth, creamy, spicy, and hearty.
• Indian Dal Soup - Deliciously smooth and savory.
• Pressure Cooker Rice and Dal - Indian comfort food made easy.
• Red Lentil Soup - Good for you and so very easy to make.
• Easy Instant Pot Pinto Beans for savory, tasty, and fast Mexican-style beans

Trust me, once you've had this Simple Lentil Soup Recipe it will easily become one of your favorite go-to Instant Pot recipes. Make sure to share this recipe with your friends on Pinterest and Facebook so they can enjoy it as well!

Don't forget to check out my other Best-selling Instant Pot Cookbooks!

Indian Instant Pot, Keto Instant Pot, Instant Pot Fast and Easy, Healthy Instant Pot & Vegetarian Instant Pot.