4.2 46 Published Oct 05, 2020, Updated Feb 20, 2023 I’ll be completely honest and say that a cabbage lentil soup doesn’t sound that exciting and it’s not the most photogenic, but you have to trust me on this one… it’s delicious! It has some additional veggies like onion, garlic and tomatoes, but what really takes this soup to the next level is the miso and apple cider vinegar. Not only do they amp up the health benefits of this soup, they also boost the flavor.
Ingredients Needed
veggies: canned tomatoes, cabbage, onion and garlicflavor enhancers: apple cider vinegar, basil, bay leaf, white miso pastebeans: green or brown lentilspantry staples: olive oil, vegetable stock, ground pepper, sea salt and sriracha
Adding Miso to Soup
Miso is a fermented soy paste that adds a salty, umami flavor to dishes. It is often found in Japanese cuisine, but I love having it on hand to amp up the flavor (and nutrition) of my dishes. For this soup recipe the miso adds a lovely umami flavor. I know it’s hard to justify buying a container of something that you only need 1 teaspoon of, but I strongly encourage you to pick up a tub of miso for this recipe. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of other ways to use it including my soba noodle salad and miso broiled salmon (so good)! This is the brand of organic miso paste I usually buy. The great thing about miso is that it lasts forever (about a year) in the fridge… it won’t go bad per se, but the flavor will start diminishing after a year. As I mention, it is a soy product, but there are soy-free miso options made with chickpeas if you don’t consume soy. Of course, if you don’t have miso on hand, you can still make this soup, you might just need to add additional salt before serving.
Cooking the Lentils
To keep the prep super easy for this soup, I use precooked lentils that I has meal prepped, but you can also purchase cooked lentils from the produce section of the grocery store. Here’s how to cook the lentils (you can do this 2-3 days in advance):
Rinse 1/2 cup green or brown lentils in a fine mesh sieve and remove any bad lentils or small stones.Add the rinsed and drained lentils into a saucepan with 2 cups of water.Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender, but not mushy. Drain the lentils and use in the recipe.
Another option is to cook the lentils right in with the soup. For this option, you only need to add 1/2 cup of uncooked lentils (that have been rinsed and sorted). You’ll want to add the lentils when you add the vegetable stock and let the soup simmer for 50-60 minutes or until the lentils are tender. You should also add more vegetable stock or water (around 2 cups) as the cooking lentils will soak up liquid.
Making This Soup in the Instant Pot
I haven’t tried making this soup in the Instant Pot or a pressure cooker, but I know some of you might want to make it this way so if I were to cook this soup in the Instant Pot, here’s what I would do:
What to Serve With Cabbage Lentil Soup
In my mind, soup naturally pairs well with a lovely salad, but bread or crackers work nicely with this soup because it gives you something to soak up the flavorful broth. For salads to pair with this, I recommend this Fuji apple salad or my beet salad with arugula. For bread and crackers, you could do pumpkin cornbread muffins, almond crackers or crusty bread.
More Lentil Recipes To Try
Mediterranean Lentil SaladLentil Tuna SaladVegan Lentil Loaf (Vegan Meatloaf)Slow Cooker Red Lentil Stew with Butternut SquashKale Sweet Potato Lentil SaladLentil Meatballs
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