Chicken and leek barley soup
A warm chicken soup with soft leeks, carrots and pearl barley.
About 55 min · 405 kcal · 36 g protein per serving
Red lentil, carrot and cumin soup
A thick red lentil soup with carrot, cumin and lemon.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 20 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm red lentils collapse in 22 to 28 minutes
- Photograph the finished bowl
- Time
- About 45 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 535 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 27 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
No regulated allergens in the ingredients as listed. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- vegetable stock. Vegetable stock often contains celery, and some contain milk or gluten; check the label, especially if you need it vegan.
Cooking steps
Rinse the lentils until the water runs clear.
Soften the diced onion and carrot in the oil over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
Add the cumin and cook for 30 seconds, then add the lentils and the stock.
Simmer for 22 to 28 minutes, until the lentils have collapsed and the carrot is completely soft.
Blend until smooth, then stir in the lemon juice off the heat and finish with the coriander.
The useful detail
The lemon goes in after blending, off the heat. Acid added at the start of a long simmer cooks away to nothing, and this soup tastes flat and sweet without it.
Make it work for you
One serving is A deep bowl, half the pot. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Sweet potato instead of carrot
Sweeter and thicker.
Per serving: about 70 kcal more, about 1 g more protein, about the same fat.
Leave it unblended
Chunkier and more like a stew. Cook the carrot smaller if you do.
Chicken stock instead of vegetable
Rounder and more savoury. It stops the soup being vegan.
Per serving: about 5 kcal more, about 2 g more protein, about 1 g more fat.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A blended soup that still carries real protein, which most blended soups do not, because the lentils are the body of it rather than a thickener.
| Energy | 535 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 27 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| of which saturates | 2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 89 g |
| of which sugars | not calculated |
| Fibre | 16 g |
| Sodium | 1,570 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| onion | 120 g | FDC 170000Onions, raw | 48 kcal | 1.3 g |
| carrot | 300 g | FDC 170393Carrots, raw | 123 kcal | 2.8 g |
| olive oil | 14 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 121 kcal | 0.0 g |
| ground cumin | 2 g | FDC 170923Spices, cumin seedFoodData Central records cumin seed; ground cumin is the same seed, milled. | 8 kcal | 0.4 g |
| red lentils | 200 g | FDC 174284Lentils, pink or red, raw | 716 kcal | 47.8 g |
| vegetable stock | 980 g | FDC 171583Soup, vegetable broth, ready to serve | 49 kcal | 2.4 g |
| lemon juice | 31 g | FDC 167747Lemon juice, raw | 7 kcal | 0.1 g |
| fresh coriander | 10 g | FDC 169997Coriander (cilantro) leaves, raw | 2 kcal | 0.2 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 1074 kcal | 55.0 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. of which sugars could not be calculated, because one ingredient’s record does not cover it; the row above says which. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool it quickly, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. The FDA chart gives soups and stews 3 to 4 days. It thickens considerably overnight; loosen it with water or stock.
- In the freezer
- The same chart gives soups and stews 2 to 3 months in the freezer for best quality.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout, stirring so it heats evenly.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
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