Best Greek Lentil Soup Recipes

GREEK LENTIL SOUP (FAKES)

Steps:

• Place lentils in a large saucepan; add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring water to a boil and cook for 10 minutes; drain.
• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and carrot; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in lentils, 1 quart water, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Stir in tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have softened, 30 to 40 minutes. Add additional water if the soup becomes too thick. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste.

GREEK-STYLE LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Place the water, broth, lentils, carrots, onion, celery and 1/2 teaspoon oregano in a 5- or 6-qt. slow cooker. Cook, covered, on low 4-5 hours or until lentils are tender., Stir in the spinach, tomato sauce, olives, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon oregano. Cook, covered, on low about 1 hour longer, until spinach is wilted. If desired, serve with red onion, parsley and lemon wedges.

FAKES (TRADITIONAL GREEK LENTIL SOUP)

Steps:

• Boil one glass of water and add the lentils. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then drain the lentils. That way the soup is lighter!
• Put in the pot enough warm water and add the lentils. Put the onion, the bay leaves, the garlic and the tomato paste. Boil in high heat with the lid on for 10 minutes. Add the oil, salt and pepper to taste. Keep boiling for 30 minutes.

GREEK LENTIL AND SPINACH SOUP WITH LEMON

Steps:

• In a large, heavy soup pot, combine cleaned lentils, stock (or water), chili, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, oregano, basil, thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat to very low and let simmer, partially covered, about 30 minutes.
• Add potatoes and spinach, cover again and let simmer another 15 minutes. Add the butternut squash. Cover again and let simmer while you do the next step.
• Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the onion and sauté until it starts to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the celery and garlic and sauté another 3 minutes, stirring often. Add this mixture to the soup; deglaze the skillet with a little soup and add the pan contents to the pot. Add salt, taste for seasoning.
• Just before serving, add the lemon juice, stir well and taste again for seasoning. Serve hot with a lemon slice floating on top of each bowl of soup.

ZESTY GREEK LENTIL AND BARLEY SOUP

Steps:

• Rinse the lentils well under cold water and place them in a medium pot. Add some water, just enough to cover them, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Empty the lentils into a colander to drain and discard the water.
• Return the lentils into the pot, add the barley, olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, tomato sauce, 6 cups of fresh water and the paprika and pepper. (Hold off on adding the salt and the oregano). Cover and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat, partially uncover the pot, and cook for about another 30 to 40 minutes or until the lentils, the barley, and the vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally. Add the oregano and the salt and cook for 5-10 minutes more or until the soup is slightly thickened. If the soup is becoming too thick, add some hot water at this stage. Remove the bay leaves.
• Just before serving, drizzle the red wine vinegar (or even better, Balsamic vinegar) and some extra virgin olive oil and stir well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Pour into soup bowls, squeeze a few drops of fresh lemon juice for added flavor, and serve. This soup is traditionally served with seasoned Kalamata olives and a loaf of good, crusty flatbread.

GREEK LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• In a large stock pot, heat the oil and saute garlic, celery, onions, and carrot until veggies are tender.
• Add the water, stock, and the rinsed lentils.
• Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.
• Add the tomatoes, along with the juice in the can, as well as the chopped herbs, and salt and pepper.
• Stir in the spinach and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes more.
• Re-check seasoning before serving.

GREEK LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Combine onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in a stockpot; add enough water to cover vegetables. Bring mixture to a boil; add oil, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer vegetables until slightly tender, about 15 minutes.
• Stir lentils into soup; simmer until lentils are tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Cool soup slightly before serving.

GREEK LENTIL SOUP (FAKI)

Steps:

• Prepare the lentils: Lentils are harvested by machine so often they come with small rocks and irregular looking beans that you do not want in your soup. To check the lentils, pour them in small batches onto a plate so they are able to spread out. Give them a quick look over, remove any foreign objects, and dump them into a bowl. Repeat until you have checked all of your lentils. Then fill the bowl with cold water and rinse your lentils 2-3 time to remove any dust or bean skins. Throw the lentils into a big soup pot.
• Dice your carrots and celery and throw them into the pot as well.
• Add 2 boxes of stock to the pot and put the soup on a high heat until it boils and then reduce to medium. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are done.
• To finish the soup, turn the heat to low. Now add the oregano and salt and pepper to taste. The soup is finished with a liberal addition of red wine vinegar, which adds an important top note to the soup. We often add it to the soup and then have the vinegar on the table to allow folks to add additional vinegar to their liking.
• Optional Ingredients: Over the years I have tried out other Faki recipes. Here are my favorite additions from those experiments. The bulgur bulks up the soup into more of a stew. Despite how successful the soup can be if you add some (or all) of thee additions, I still most often stick with the basic soup. To add the additions, the tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and/or bulgur wheat goes in at the same time as the stock. The additional spices go in during the seasoning phase.

HEARTY GREEK LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Place lentils in a pot with water to cover; bring to a boil. Drain, reserving water.
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add celery and carrots; cook and stir until slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Add the partially cooked lentils, potatoes, tomatoes, parsley, vinegar, cinnamon, salt, and pepper; cover with water and bring soup to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low; partially cover and let simmer until liquid is almost gone, 35 to 45 minutes.

LENTIL SOUP, GREEK STYLE (FAKES)

Steps:

• Pick over and wash the lentils. Put them in a large pot covered with water and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and rinse Lentils and set aside.
• In a large pot add 1 tsp of the olive oil and saute celery, garlic, onions, and carrots, until tender, approx 5 minutes
• Add Lentils, bay leaves, salt and pepper and 2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and cover partially for 20 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes and oil and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, partially covered and simmer for 30 minutes or until Lentils are tender.
• Remove the bay leaves, add vinegar and adjust seasoning. Ladle into bowls and serve with crispy toasted pita bread.
• *optional - drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive oil on top of each bowl of soup. It adds such a beautiful flavor to the finished soup. Kali Orexi (Hearty Appetite)

GREEK LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Wash and pick over the lentils, and put them in a large soup pot with the water and bay leaves. Bring them to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
• Prepare the onions, celery and carrots, and sauté them in the olive oil until soft and slightly browned in spots. Add them to the lentils when the lentils are getting tender; after about 30 minutes of cooking.
• Dissolve the tomato paste in some of the soup water, and mix it into the soup. Add the salt, pepper and oregano.
• Cook the pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water until almost tender. Drain and add to the soup.
• Wash the Swiss chard well, and shred it finely. Add it to the soup, and simmer until the pasta is tender and the chard is bright green.
• If soup appears to be too dry at this time, add more liquid. (This should be a thick, stew-like soup, but, if heat is too high, there may be too much evaporation).
• When the soup is fully cooked, stir in 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste.

EV'S LENTIL SOUP (GREEK - FAKESS)

Steps:

• In a large pot, cover lentils with boiling water and allow to boil for 10 minutes.
• Drain lentils of this 'first boiling' (greeks think that this process makes the lentils easier to digest - I prefer it).
• Put lentils back into pot.
• Add bulgar or barley (if using), onions, garlic, carrots, tomato paste, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
• Pour 2 ½ quarts of boiling water over lentils, bring to a boil.
• When mixture boils, decrease temperature to leave the lentils cooking at a simmer and cook, covered, for 1 ½ hours.
• Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar and simmer ½ an hour longer.
• Taste.
• If the lentils are still too firm to the bite, allow to cook until they are tender and soup has thickened (soup will continue to thicken as it cools).
• If the soup is too thick, you can thin with a little hot water.
• Traditionally, we eat this soup with lots of Kalamata olives, feta cheese and crusty bread.
• I serve half the soup on one day and freeze the other half (it freezes beautifully) to serve on another day when I'm too busy to cook.
• Crockpot Version: Put all the ingredients except for olive oil and balsamic vinegar into your crockpot.
• Cook on low for 7 hours.
• Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar and cook a further 2 hours.
• Ev's notes: You can enrich this already delicious soup by making a couple of variations. Add 1/2 lb of minced bacon, but cut back the olive oil to a couple of tablespoonfuls; or add 1 lb of sliced sausage, like Kielbasa. Again, cut back on the oil.
• New note: (added Dec. 27, 2004) I have taken to adding 1/2 cup bulgur wheat to this soup when I add all the other ingredients; it makes the soup more nutritionally complete if totally vegetarian, and really good and hearty; I strongly urge you try this version.
• Freezer Note: This makes quite a lot of soup - definitely enough for 2 meals (plus a little extra for the super-hungry) for my family of 5. I have taken to freezing half the batch to provide me with a quick, nutritious dinner further on down the line when time is short and you don't want to resort to ordering inches Just defrost in microwave, reheat well and serve.

PRESSURE-COOKER GREEK-STYLE LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Place water, broth, lentils, carrots, onion, celery, garlic and oregano in a 6-qt. electric pressure cooker. Lock lid; close pressure-release valve. Adjust to pressure cook on high for 15 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes; quick-release any remaining pressure. , Stir in spinach, tomato sauce, olives, vinegar, salt and pepper. If desired, serve with red onion, parsley and lemon wedges. Freeze option: Freeze cooled soup in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally; add broth if necessary.

GREEK RED LENTIL SOUP WITH LEMON, ROSEMARY AND FETA CHEESE

Steps:

• 1. Rinse lentils thoroughly in a colander under cold running water. Set aside to drain. 2. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat and saute onion with 1/2 tsp salt until translucent. 3. Add garlic, carrot, pepper, chiles, herbs, bay leaves and 1/2 tsp salt. Saute until the carrots are just tender. 4. Add rinsed lentils and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the lentils are soft and falling apart. If you like, the soup can be pureed or left as is. If you choose to puree, remove the bay leaves first. 5. Season the soup with lemon zest, lemon juice and more salt and pepper to taste. 6. Mix together the feta cheese, rosemary and pepper. Sprinkle over soup before serving.

FAKES - GREEK LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• In a pot, cover lentils with water and boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
• Dry the pot, or in a different pot, cover bottom of pot with thin layer of olive oil. Place over medium heat, add lentils, stir to coat, then add about 6 cups of water.
• Add tomatoes, onion, garlic, bay leaves and pepper. Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer for about 40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper taste. Continue to cook until lentils are soft, but not mushy.
• If soup seems too thin, remove a cupful and puree with immersion blender until smooth, the add back to the pot. To serve, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle some crushed oregano leaves to taste. Decorate with sprig of fresh oregano if desired.

GREEK LENTIL SOUP (FAKI SOUPA)

Steps:

• Sort & wash lentils. Place in large pot and add all ingredients, except red wine vinegar. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours. Stir in red wine vinegar and serve.

GREEK LENTIL AND SPINACH SOUP WITH LEMON

Steps:

• 1 In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, combine the lentils, stock or water, jalapeño, coriander, cumin, oregano and bay leaves
• 2 Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low
• 3 Simmer, partially covered, about 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender
• 4 Add the potatoes, spinach and butternut squash, re-cover and cook another 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes and squash are tender
• 5 Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil until shimmering
• 6 Add the onion, and cook, stirring, until it starts to soften, 3 to 4 minutes
• 7 Add the celery and garlic and cook, stirring often, until they soften, 3 minutes
• 8 Add the mixture to the soup, deglazing the skillet with a little bit of the broth from the soup, then add the deglazed contents back to the soup pot
• 9 Add the salt and pepper, taste, and add more if needed
• 10 Pick out and discard the bay leaves
• 11 Thinly slice one of the lemons and cut the other into wedges
• 12 Just before serving, stir the lemon juice into the soup
• 13 Serve the soup hot, with a lemon slice floating atop each bowl
• 14 Pass lemon wedges at the table

GREEK LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Place the dried lentils in a large bowl. Sort through and remove any shriveled up lentils. Pour cold water over to cover lentils and let stand at least two hours. Pour off water and rinse.
• Clean the garlic and thinly dice; chop the onion and thinly slice the carrots. Place the vegetables in a large stock pot with the olive oil and sauté for 7 to 8 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and lentils.
• Pour in water and add seasonings. Turn heat to medium high and bring to a rolling boil, stirring frequently. Cover and turn heat to medium low and cook for two hours, stirring occasionally.
• Serve with a tossed green salad for a healthy, protein packed meal!
• Serves 6 to 8.