Easy Tortilla Soup with Red lentils. 1 Pot 30 Minutes! Make it in a saucepan or Instant Pot. Add veggies of choice, garnish with tortilla chips or avocado. Vegan Gluten-free Soyfree Nut-free Recipe. Jump to Recipe
This easy 1 pot tortilla soup has red lentils, peppers, tomato, veggies that you want and a few spices. Put everything in a saucepan and simmer until done. I like red lentils in this soup as they cook quicker and make for a lighter dinner. Beans can be an issue for some for dinner, and this works out perfectly. You can also add in some uncooked washed quinoa while simmering. Add veggies of choice and serve with garnishes of choice. See Video Below.
Few ingredients, 1 pot, filling and quick. whats your favorite addition to tortilla soups?
Serve this with 100% Whole Grain Dinner Rolls, Gluten-free Garlic rolls, tortilla strips or biscuits.
More 1 Pot Soups
- Broccoli Slaw Soup,
- Turkish lentil soup,
- Turmeric Laksa Curry Soup with fresh turmeric root,
- 15 min Indian Spiced tomato Soup,
- Minestrone
- Mushroom chickpea greens soup.
If you make this simple soup, do tag me on Instagram!
What lentils to use in this tortilla soup
There are so many different lentils and names for them. Red Lentils come in various varieties. Red whole and unskinned lentils look brown and are called Indian brown or brown lentils, which take about 30 minutes to cook in a saucepan. When skinned, they are whole red lentils, called red lentils(!), take about 18 to 22 minutes. These are not as easily available. When skinned and split, they are called red lentils or masoor dal, which are quick cooking (11 to 13 mins) and are easily available. I use the split red lentils in this tortilla soup.
In recipes and shops the split and whole red lentils are often used interchangeably. There are many recipes on the blog that use red lentils by which I mean the split red lentils. Either will work here, the whole red lentils will just take a few minutes longer to cook.
Video:
1 Pot Lentil Tortilla Soup (Instant Pot or Saucepan)
Ingredients
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 cup (60 g) chopped red onion
- 3 to 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 jalapeno minced (optional)
- 1/2 cup (74.5 g) chopped green bell pepper
- 1/2 cup (74.5 g) chopped red bell pepper
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) oregano and thyme
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cayenne or chipotle pepper powder or both
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) garlic powder
- 1/2 cup (90 g) red lentils quick cooking lentils - masoor dal, washed and drained
- 2 cups (500 ml) water or broth
- 2 large tomatoes finely chopped, or 1.5 cup crushed tomatoes from a can
- 1 to 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 to 1 cup water or broth
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) or more salt
- 1 cup cooked black beans
- Crumbled tortilla chips for garnish avocado and other garnishes and lime juice
Instructions
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes Add jalapeno, bell peppers and mix and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the spices and herbs and mix in. Add a pinch of allspice or loves for additional flavor if you wish. Add the washed and drained lentils and water and cook for 11 to 12 minutes or until al dente.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well. Add other additions such as 1/2 cup corn or cooked black beans or other beans, veggies, some chopped up corn tortilla at this point. (I make the soup with or without beans , pictured without beans). Cook for 10 minutes or until desired consistency. Taste and adjust salt and heat.
- Add a dash of lime juice, garnish with chips, avocado, cilantro. See IP instructions in Notes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
J'Ana
This looks like a great recipe and I am excited to try it! Recipe says it makes 3 servings, so is the nutritional value calculated for 1/3 of the total pot of soup?
Thanks for clarifying.
Vegan Richa Support
yes
Elsie
This soup is a winner in my house. My child loves it too. I do the version with black beans and add chopped kale at the end. I love it with a splash of lime, tortilla chips, avocado, and shredded vegan cheese.
Richa
Yum
Heather
I love this recipe as written. Today I really wanted some, but didn’t have peppers, so I subbed sweet potatoes and added corn. Instapot for 5 mins. Excellent!
Richa
Awesome!
Sarah
Wonderful recipe. I doubled everything and added a jalapeño and Serrano. Hubby keeps asking me to make this one.
Vegan Richa Support
those serranos though 🌶 🌶
Sylie
I LOVE this recipe! Simple prep and cooks so fast in the instant pot. We all love customizing with toppings like sour cream, cheese, tortilla, avocado, cilantro. I also throw in finely chopped kale after its cooked for extra veggies!
Vegan Richa Support
sounds fun
Sylvia
I just made this with some variations, water sautéed onion, garlic, green bell pepper. I did not have thyme so used one bay leaf, no black beans so added one cup red lentils, no red pepper but added one Serrano pepper in addition to one jalapeño, pretty much doubled the seasonings, used about 3 tablespoons tomato paste. I ended up using about 5 cups of water with a little better then boullion vegetable broth. Set it in the instant pot no need to add lime or cilantro cause the flavor was spot on. I ate 2 cups , came out nice and creamy just the way I like it. This made alot of soup so definitely have about 2-3 nights more for dinner. Dipped oil free baked tortilla chips. It was really good. Definitely a keeper, thank you.
Vegan Richa Support
spot on!
Tia
I have made this so many times and I love it. I usually double the recipe and use white bean. I’ve paired this with rice, pasta, bread- and each combination worked well! Thank you so much for this great recipe!
Theresa
So good! I had two servings and my husband had 3!!
Kellie
My new favorite soup! I tried this because I needed to find high protein foods to cook for my elderly mom. I’d never tried red lentils before and wasn’t sure whether we would like them, but they are super high in protein, so I gave this a try. Wow! It was fast and easy to make, and truly delicious! I omitted the green bell pepper and jalepenos as they wouldn’t sit well with my mom. Instead of water, I used chicken stock (not broth, as stock has more protein). I also added some cooked shredded chicken for more protein (I cooked the chicken separately in my Instant Pot earlier) . It was outstanding! I’m an Instant Pot girl, but this soup is so fast and easy to make on the stove that I felt no need for the IP. The soup is just as tasty without chicken. I only added chicken to give it more protein for my mom’s diet. If you like tortilla soup, definitely give this a try!
Shelley
Probably the best soup I’ve even eaten. Definitely the best soup I’ve ever made.
Vegan Richa Support
wow!!!!
Cynthia
I made this recipe today. I was generous with the spices, used vegetable broth in place of water, blended three tomatoes with a little broth instead of diced tomatoes, added corn . I also had the time to make my own tortilla strips in the oven. The cilantro and lime juice adds so much flavor. Both of my picky eaters had a bowl. This will be in weekly rotation at my house during the cold, rainy weather. Loved it so much I even walked some over to my friend who also enjoys vegan food. Thank you !
Vegan Richa Support
that sounds great! thanks for stopping by
Lynn
This is delicious! When my husband (meat eater) has seconds, it’s a winner! I made it in my IP, so quick and easy too. Thank you 👍
Fusion
Prepared with whatever available … Tasty ! Thanks Richa
Vegan Richa Support
So glad!
Sandra
This is a delicious and filling soup. I subbed a cubanelle pepper for jalapeño. Just the right heat and lots of flavor!
Melissa Britton
Hi. I would like to cook this is a sauce pan and double the recipe. I am confused about the amount of water to use…since it is stovetop, do I double the amount of water? Is the note about not doubling the water refer to cooking in the instant pot? Thank you!
Richa
thats for stove top, use a bit less than double water (1/2 cup less) and double everything else.
Lani
OMG..It was terrific..I tripled it. I used 5 cups of water and it came out more like a stew but I liked it that way. I used 2 jalapeños and 1 tsp of smoked paprika, and 1/2 tsp of chipotle powder. Other than that I tripled everything…yummy yummy
Richa
yay!
lani
If you double or triple this should you be double or triple everything? If you triple, use the 8 qt?
Richa
you’ll need a bit less water and a bit less heat than double, triple. cooking time will remain the same. For triple, add an extra minute
Hope
So yummy and easy. My whole family loved it. Thank you for a great recipe!
Richa
yay
Vegan Sweta
I have made this recipe so many times, without any oil or tortilla chips.
I don’t bother with the amounts listed here, I always double it and eat it for a couple of meals.
Thanks Richa!
Molly
Very easy and delicious! Like others, made a few substitutions based on what I had on hand (white onion instead of red, garlic powder instead of fresh, one whole red bell pepper), but otherwise followed as instructed for the Instant Pot. Served over leftover brown rice and topped with cilantro, lime & tortilla chips. Will make great leftovers.
Vegan Richa Support
yummy, perfect for leftovers
Heather
Simple, filling and quick. From prep to table in about 30 minutes with the Instant Pot. We were out of jalapeños so I substituted a few Thai chilies and a small can of diced green chilies and it had a nice heat to it.
Diane Weaver
I don’t have an instapot. Could this be made in a slow cooker?
Richa
its a stove top saucepan recipe with instant pot option. it takes 0 mins on the stove. It an probably be made in a slow cooker, i just dont know the times
Tony
I made this soup and loved it ❤️Great recipe
Brenda J
Another winner in our house. Your recipes are quickly becoming our favorite! Your spice combinations are spot on.
Richa
awesome!
Jenna
I’m new to using an Instant Pot, and I’m a little confused by the note. It says to add a total of 2 cups of water or broth. Is that in addition to the 2.5-3 cups water/broth already in the recipe? Thanks!
Richa
no just 2 cups of water. For the saucepan you need the additional 1/2 to 1 cup more as the water evaporates. Water stays in in the Instant Pot, so generally you need less water than saucepan. So add rest of the ingredients except water, and 2 cups of water
amy
My 5 year old hates entire categories of food including soup and stirfry. He loved this though and requested that I make it tomorrow as well. We omitted the jalepeno and cayenne to make it more kid friendly. Great, quick recipe.
Richa
yay! that sounds awesome!
kristin
One word “amazing” thank you for sharing!!
Sharon
Absolutely delicious…warm, spicy, filling, and comforting!
Davol
I make this soup regularly and it’s DIVINE! Thank you Richa ????
Zoe
This was so tasty and easy, thank you! I used chipotle chilli with adobo in place of jalepinos and it was great!
Cherie
Richa, love your recipes! I will make this soup for this week. I was going to just make lentil veg soup then this one came up in my newsfeed and changed my mind!
Christina
I was just wondering how I was going to convert it to the Instant Pot when I saw your note at the bottom! Thank you! I can’t wait to try it!
Janna
Yum! Huge hit with the whole family.
Marissa
Amazing even using onion powder instead of onion. Added chick peas too!
Richa
AWesome!
Shawna
Super easy and satisfying. I used poblano peppers instead of jalepenos and used chickpeas as my add in. Turned out really well!
Muchi
Just made this, and … wow! Delicious. Richa you are my favourite cook by a long way. Every recipe I have made of yours has been outstanding. Whenever my non-vegan family comes to visit I cook up something new of yours, and they are always bowled away. Indeed, they often say their favourite food is when they come to visit me. Needless to say, though, they wouldn’t consider becoming vegan for even a minute. Interesting logic. Anyhow, as I always say: let the world travel its path, and we will travel ours.
Thank you, Richa, for all the inspiration, and the endlessly yummy food.
Christine
Hey Muchi, too bad that Richa didn’t reply to your comment, I loved it : )
Richa
Thank You!!!
Richa
yay! thanks!
Marta
Hi Richa!
The stars aligned today, I got all the ingredients and some time to cook (it doesn’t always happen, especially both at the same time) and made this.
Easy, simple and delicious, as are many of your recipes.
Thank you!
Darlene
Where is the tortillas? Its name is Lentil Tortilla Soup.
Richa
They are the garnish. Not in the pictures, coz I ran out 🙂
Julia
Just wondering what makes this a tortilla soup?
Richa
I forgot to mention Tortilla Chips in the garnish. Added now. I used some corn noodly strips instead for the pictures.