Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup

I love the smoked paprika in this Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup and this crockpot soup also has onions and tomatoes. And this soup with red lentils and chickpeas is also vegan, for those who care about that!

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I’ve been loving smoked paprika lately, an infatuation that started when my friend Margarethe sent me a recipe using it. Then I got inspired about creating a crockpot soup with smoked paprika when I spotted a recipe for yellow split pea soup with smoked paprika in a cookbook.

This Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup was one of those recipes where it took me a few tries to get it just right, but I served this version to my brother Mark and his wife Lisa when they stopped by on Saturday, and they both gave it a thumbs up.

And no matter how much we long for spring, you know there’ll still be more cold wintery days before warm weather arrives, so make this soup in your crockpot next time it’s a cold day where you are.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• onion
• olive oil
• garlic
• Smoked Paprika (affiliate link)
• sweet paprika, preferably Szeged Sweet Paprika (affiliate link)
• Dried Thyme (affiliate link) or Ground Thyme (affiliate link)
• salt
• black pepper
• red lentils
• chickpeas
• vegetable stock or canned vegetable broth (affiliate link)
• tomatoes

Can you make this lentil and chickpea soup with brown lentils?

You can make the soup with brown lentils of course. But red lentils dissolve more quickly and add amazing color to the soup, so I recommending using red lentils if you can.

Can you make Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup with chicken stock?

If you don’t care about the soup being vegetarian or vegan you can definitely use chicken stock or canned chicken broth in this soup.

Love your slow cooker?

If you’re still a slow cooker fan you can use Slow Cooker to find all my slow cooker recipes. And you can also find lots of Slow Cooker / Instant Pot Recipes on my other site!

How to Make Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Saute a generous amount of chopped onion in olive oil, then add garlic, smoked paprika and other spices and cook 2-3 minutes more.
2. Add the onions and spices to the crockpot along with red lentils, chickpeas, and vegetable stock.
3. Let the soup cook for 2-3 hours on high, or until the lentils are very soft and starting to dissolve.
4. Add 2 cans petite diced tomatoes plus the juice and cook for 2 hours longer on high. The lentils and chickpeas should both be quite soft when the soup has cooked this long.
5. Remove about half of the soup and puree completely with an Immersion Blender (affiliate link), food processor, or blender. (This photo is a giant 8-cup glass measuring cup with about 4 cups of soup.)
6. Stir the pureed soup back into the CrockPot, season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper, let cook about 15 minutes more and serve hot.
7. If you’re not vegan, this is good with a dollop of sour cream.

More Slow Cooker Soup You Might Like:

• Goulash Soup
• Slow Cooker Cabbage Soup with Ham
• Slow Cooker Ground Turkey Soup

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe for Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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Yield: 8 servings

Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes

I loved the smoked paprika in this Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup.

Ingredients

• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup red lentils
• 2 15 oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed
• 5 C vegetable stock (see notes)
• 2 14.5 oz. cans petite dice tomatoes

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in frying pan and saute the diced onion until it’s soft and starting to brown lightly, about 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, dried thyme, Vege-Sal, and black pepper and saute 2-3 minutes more, or until spices are fragrant.
3. Add onion-spice mixture to CrockPot, then rinse out the frying pan with 1 cup of the stock and add to crockpot along with red lentils, rinsed chickpeas, and rest of stock.
4. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or until lentils are starting to soften and dissolve into the soup. (I cooked mine for 2 1/2 hours. Cooking time will depend partly on how old the lentils are.)
5. When lentils are starting to soften, add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes with juice. Cook for  about 2 hours more on high, or until the lentils and chickpeas are both quite soft.
6. Then remove about 1/2 the soup to a bowl (or the large 8-cup measuring cup I had worked perfectly.)
7. Puree the soup you removed using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. (If you’re using a food processor or blender, be very careful with the hot soup, pureeing in batches if necessary.)
8. Stir the pureed soup back into the soup in the CrockPot; taste and add more salt or fresh ground black pepper if desired. Let soup cook about 15 minutes more, then serve hot.

Notes

Use 3 cans vegetable broth and a little water if you want to use broth from a can. Please don't skip the Smoked Paprika (affiliate link) because it adds amazing flavor to the soup.

I used a 3.5 quart slow cooker (affiliate link).

I haven’t frozen this soup, but I have no doubt that it freezes well, so make a double batch if you only have a big CrockPot.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 238Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 0mgSodium 630mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 11gSugar 7gProtein 12g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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South Beach Diet / Low-Carb Diet Suggestions:
Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup is made with low-glycemic ingredients, and would be approved for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. However dried beans and legumes are limited to 1/3 to 1/2 cup serving for phase one so unless you have a very small serving I would consider this phase two for the South Beach Diet. This is too high in carbs for low-carb diet plans.

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Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for Red Lentil Chickpea Soup was posted in 2011. It was last updated with more information in 2023.

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