Turkish Red Lentil Soup (Mercimek Çorbası)

This Turkish red lentil soup is really warming and just very gently spiced. It's a cosy soup, perfect for autumn and winter and great for batch cooking. Because it's not too hot it's ideal for families and easy to spice up if you want to!

It's also known as Mercimek Çorbası and it's an easy one pot recipe made from red lentils, potato, carrot, onion, garlic, stock and spices. It's budget friendly, contains fibre, protein and vegetables.

Mercimek Çorbası is usually served smooth so I blend it before serving but you can choose to leave it chunky or blend half of it for an inbetween texture.

It's not a spicy soup but it does contain some spices. I've added a little Turkish seasoning to the soup but also sprinkled some over the top when serving. This adds a lovely flavour to the soup.

Ingredient notes for Turkish red lentil soup

This cosy lentil soup doesn't contain too many ingredients and you'll probably have a lot of them at home already. You'll need:

• Cooking oil - I just use light olive oil but you can use sunflower or vegetable oil too
• Aromatics - crushed garlic and finely diced onion. You can use red or brown onion.
• Vegetables - Carrots and potatoes, peeled and diced.
• Tomato puree - This adds a little falvour and richness.
• Stock - I use vegetable stock to keep this vegetarian but you could use chicken stock if you are not bothered.
• Turkish seasoning - This soup often contains cumin but I've used the Turkish seasoning from Steenbergs. It contains urfa chilli, aleppo chilli, sumac, garlic and salt.

How to make Turkish red lentil soup

First heat a little oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, carrot and potato. After coooking for a few minutes, add the tomato puree, turkish seasoning and red lentils followed by the stock. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend using either a stick blender or transfer to an immersion blender. Squeeze in the lemon juice and serve.

I like to top with some fresh herbs and a little more Turkish seasoning.

Can you adapt this soup?

Yes of course. It may not be traditional to add all kinds of extras but if it tastes good then feel free to experiment. I think other vegetables would also be good in it. Root vegetables such as sweet potato and parsnip or squash woud be nice and so would tomatoes and peppers.

If you want a hotter soup, add some more chilli powder, especially if you have urfa or aleppo chilli.

What can you serve with it?

This soup is lovely as it is but it's delicious with bread. If you have Turkish bread that's great but if not, any bread is a great way of making it more substantial.

Or why not make a cheese toastie to serve with it? Or add some croutons on top for extra crunch.

Storing and reheating the leftovers

Any leftovers will keep well in the fridge for up to three days. You can also freeze it for up to three months.

Reheat in a small saucepan on the hob or in the microwave. If you reheat on the hob you may need to add a little extra water so it doesn't end up too thick.

Recipe

More recipes you might like

If you like this Turkish lentil soup then why not give one of these lentil recipes a try:

• Red lentil soup with curry spices
• Green lentil and coriander soup
• Vegan lentil chilli with black beans
• Sweet potato lentil and tahini soup

You might also like my collection of soup recipes.

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