Golden Chicken and Lentil Soup

Golden Chicken and Lentil Soup is exactly what your soul needs! A stew-like bowl loaded with aromatics, red lentils, tender chicken, and tons of herbs. Truly a protein-packed, hearty soup!

I am truly a chicken soup aficionado in the cooler months.

Give me some chicken, lentils, or noodles, and a handful of aromatics and I’m all set. 

I love making Turkish-style red lentil soup – ideal for when you need a soup that will stick to your ribs, but are working with just the sparest pantry situation.

Golden flu-fighting chicken noodle nurses me back to health when I need a boost on anti-inflammatory ingredients in black pepper, ginger, and turmeric and a big serving of carrots and celery.

And don’t even get me started on the abundance and beauty of a moroccan spiced sweet potato and brown lentil soup. Ugh, the aromas wafting from your slow cooker will have the family around the table in no time.

But I digress. All this to say that I love combining aromatic spices with humble ingredients like red lentils, chicken thighs or breasts, and fresh herbs to create a soup that will have you day-dreaming about dinner.

What really sets this recipe apart is the traditional Pakistani or Indian method of browning the onions in oil until they’re golden and caramelized before we add in our spices and protein. The oil creates layers of flavor that carry throughout the recipe. It’s exactly how my mom has always made homemade daal and it’s why I start that way for this recipe. Then we’ll borrow some middle eastern seven spice to give the soup plenty of flavor. And to finish it off we have a boat load of fresh herbs along with some baby spinach – a rift on the glorious Ash Reshte soup, sans noodles. And what you’re left with is a protein-packed bowl of chicken dal soup. The lentils add plenty of fiber and keep you full and the flavors would be absolutely amazing over a scoop of fluffy basmati rice.

I won’t say that this recipe is one that’s quick and easy. 

The truth of the matter is that, sometimes, delicious recipes require an extra ingredient, time. The slow process of caramelizing and browning the onions will pay off though, I promise.

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Ingredients for healthy chicken lentil soup

• Oil: Use olive oil or a high heat oil like avocado oil. This will allow the onions to cook through without reaching the smoke point of the oil.
• Onions: you’ll need roughly two onions that are thinly sliced. We’ll cook them down in the oil which will give this soup tons and tons of flavor.
• Garlic: I like to use fresh garlic cloves because it adds a nice punch of flavor. For this recipe, I don’t suggest using garlic powder instead. Stick with the real stuff, it’s worth it.
• Spices: for the spices I like to use turmeric, ground coriander for some brightness and seven spice. In the past, I’ve also used cumin and garam masala instead of seven spice because that’s what I happen to have on hand, and it works. You’ll also need a sprinkle of cayenne pepper for a little heat and some kosher salt and black pepper.
• Chicken: I use chicken breast because that’s what I typically like. But you could use chicken thighs or tenders here as well. Just keep in mind that it might change the cooking time a bit if you were to use thighs instead.
• Chicken Broth: feel free to use vegetable broth or even bouillon along with water here.
• Lentils: You want to specifically use red lentils (or masoor dal) for this recipe, like we do for my Turkish Red Lentil Soup. The cooking time won’t be as accurate for brown lentils or green lentils as they require a bit more time to cook through. That’s not to say you can’t use them, it’ll just have a slightly more pronounced texture in the soup. Whereas, the red lentils kind of blend right in.
• Fresh Herbs: use cilantro, parsley, dill and mint. There have been plenty of times where I’ve taken the liberty to swap out fresh mint for dried mint, because I always have some in the pantry. About 1 tablespoon works perfectly here. You could even swap the herbs for baby spinach or kale if you want it to be a bit heartier. 
• Lemon: A squeeze of fresh lemon really gives this the best taste.

Making chicken and lentil soup

1. Caramelize the onions: Start by adding a few glugs of oil to a large pot. Once warm, add the thinly sliced onions and take your time and cook them down. This will take a bit of time, so be patient. Once the onions are fried and golden, remove some for the garnish, the rest will become the base of the soup.
2. Bloom the spices. Add in the garlic and give it a few seconds before you add in the spices. Heating them through in the oil will allow the flavor to carry throughout the soup. 
3. Simmer the soup. Then pour in the chicken broth and bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling, gently lower the chicken breast into the soup using tongs. Allow the chicken to cook all the way through before removing it. Check for doneness using a meat thermometer.
4. Add the lentils. Once the chicken is done, add the lentils to the soup pot and let them cook all the way through. You’ll see some foam rise to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon and then continue to cook until the lentils are tender. Shred the chicken while you wait.
5. Finish the soup. Add the chopped herbs and the chicken back to the soup pot. Then taste and an adjust with more seasonings as desired. You can add the lemon right away or to individual bowls if you anticipate leftovers.
6. Serve warm. Top the soup with the remaining fried onions and serve with crusty bread if you want something to dip in that golden deliciousness!
7. Reheating. To reheat leftovers, simply pop into a bowl and microwave for 2-3 minutes or until its warmed through.

Other vegetarian lentil soup recipes:

• Comforting Red Lentil Soup (Daal Soup)
• Luxurious Turkish Lentil Soup
• Winter Detox Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

Other ways to use lentils:

• Lentil Stuffed Zucchini Boats
• Garlic Brown Lentil Daal
• Lentil Kale Salad with Parmesan
• Lentil Rice Pilaf with Caramelized Onions