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Lentil Soup with Ground Beef is a tasty soup that’s made with brown rice or cauliflower rice and it’s easy enough to make for a work-night dinner! If you prefer an even lower-carb soup, you can make this soup with cauliflower rice or check out Instant Pot Low-Carb Ground Beef Cauliflower Soup for a low-carb soup with similar flavors.

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Lentil Soup with Ground Beef and Brown Rice finished soup in bowl

I first made this Lentil Soup with Ground Beef years ago on a day I was too sick to go the store, and I don’t think there’s anything that tastes as good or as comforting as soup when it’s cold outside. Then recently on a day that was soup weather, I made this soup, took some better photos, and enjoyed it that night for dinner. I have a few containers in the freezer now for those snowy days I’m sure are still going to come. I did add some balsamic vinegar to the finished soup this time, and I loved the way it perked up the flavor so I’m updating the recipe to add that.

A lot of the good flavor here comes from the homemade beef stock and homemade chicken stock I always try to have in the freezer, but I think even if you had to use canned beef broth and chicken broth this would still taste pretty good.  Use the low salt version if you used canned broth, and don’t be in too much of a hurry and shorten the simmering time, because that’s another step that builds in flavor. This soup uses the kind of ingredients many people always have in the house, so it might become one of your favorites. 

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

How can you make a soup that’s lower in carbs?

You might be surprised if you check the nutritional information because this soup is relatively low in net carbs. But if a soup with both lentils and brown rice seems too high in carbs for you, just replace the brown rice with about 1 1/2 cups frozen cauliflower rice. Or check out Instant Pot Low-Carb Ground Beef Cauliflower Soup for a similar soup that’s low in carbs and made in the Instant Pot.

More Lentil Soups To Try

Lentil and Sausage Soup with Sweet Potatoes 
Spicy Red Lentil and Chickpea Stew 
Spicy Sausage, Lentil, and Tomato Soup from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Slow Cooker Greek Lentil Soup

Lentil Soup with Ground Beef and Brown Rice process shots collage

How to make Lentil Soup with Ground Beef:

(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)

  1. Heat a small amount of olive oil and cook the ground beef until it’s nicely browned.
  2. Move ground beef to soup pot.
  3. Heat a tiny bit more olive oil and cook the onions and celery until they’re starting to soften.
  4. Then add the garlic, dried thyme, ground cumin, and dried parsley and saute a couple of minutes more.
  5. Add the vegetables to the soup pot with the ground beef and rinse out the frying pan with 2 cups water and add to the soup. 
  6. Add beef stock or broth, chicken stock or broth, lentils and chopped carrots and let the soup cook at a very low simmer for about 60 minutes, or until lentils are tender.
  7. When the lentils are tender, add a bit more water if needed and then add the rice (or cauliflower rice) and cook 30-40 minutes more, or until the rice is done.
  8. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper, stir in balsamic vinegar if desired, and serve hot.

Lentil Soup with Ground Beef and Brown Rice thumbnail image of finished soup in bowl

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe 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!

Lentil Soup with Ground Beef and Brown Rice finished soup in bowl
Yield: 6 servings

Lentil Soup with Ground Beef and Brown Rice

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

Lentil Soup with Ground Beef is a tasty soup that’s super easy to make and you can replace the brown rice with cauliflower rice if you prefer fewer carbs!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 2 tsp. olive oil (or more, depending on your pan)
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 T minced garlic or garlic puree (or less if you don’t like garlic as much as I do)
  • 1 T dried parsley
  • 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 4 cups homemade beef stock (see notes)
  • 2 cups homemade chicken stock (see notes)
  • 2 cups water, plus more as needed
  • 2/3 cup brown lentils
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
  • 1/2 cup brown rice (see notes)
  • salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • 2 T balsamic vinegar (optional)

Instructions

  1. Heat 1 tsp. olive oil in heavy frying pan, add ground beef and cook until meat is well browned, using a turner to break up into small pieces.
  2. Remove meat to heavy soup pot.
  3. Add another tsp. olive oil to frying pan and add onions and celery and cook 3-5 minutes, until vegetables are starting to soften.
  4. Add garlic, dried thyme, ground cumin, and dried parsley and saute 1-2 minutes more.
  5. Add vegetables to soup pot with meat, and rinse out frying pan with the 2 cups of water and add to soup pot.
  6. Add beef stock, chicken stock, lentils, and chopped carrots to pot and cook at a very low simmer about 60 minutes, or until lentils are quite soft.
  7. Taste soup and decide whether to add a small amount of water. (There should be quite a bit of liquid, and the broth should be flavorful but not too strong tasting. If there isn’t very much liquid or broth seems too strong add more water at this point.)
  8. Add brown rice and continue to simmer soup 30-40 more minutes, or until rice is done but still a bit chewy.
  9. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper (I did not add salt.)
  10. Stir in balsamic vinegar if desired.   Serve hot.

Notes

If you don't have homemade stock, use 2 cans beef broth and one can chicken broth, low sodium recommended. I used Uncle Ben's Brown Rice (affiliate link), which I really like.

This soup freezes well. You may need to add more liquid when the soup is reheated, because some will be absorbed by the rice.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 304Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 1095mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 3.2gSugar: 3.2gProtein: 26g

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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© Kalyn Denny
Category: Soups & Stews
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
If you’re a South Beach Dieter, be sure to use low fat ground beef, and the use of carrots would make this Lentil Soup with Ground Beef limited to phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet. This soup is surprisingly low in net carbs, but use cauliflower rice instead of brown rice if you prefer, or check out Instant Pot Low-Carb Ground Beef Cauliflower Soup for a low-carb soup with similar flavors.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more tasty recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for This Recipe:
This soup was originally posted in 2007. The recipe was last updated in 2021 with the option to use cauliflower rice.

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