Quick Vegan Lentil Beer Soup Recipe

Protein rich, plant-based, and tasty as all get out, black and red lentil beer soup is an easy home-cooked meal for life’s busy times. Made in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, this warming soup can be on the table in 30 minutes.

Ingredients for this unique lentil soup:

• This rustic lentil beer soup calls for both black and red lentils. The black lentils (affiliate link) stay chewy and yet soft, while the red lentils (affiliate link) melt and disappear into the broth.
• Fun fact: Black lentils are sometimes called black Beluga lentils–with their tiny shape they almost look like black caviar!
• Diced potatoes and carrots add vegetable character and color to catch your eye.
• Beer? Beer adds character and other flavorful features, like beer sometimes does with people. A nutty malty brown ale or a stout gives richest flavor, but it’s fine to use whatever beer you have in the fridge.
• If you don’t want to add the alcohol, but still keep the caramel malty notes, substitute a non-alcohol beer like Clausthaler **affiliate link.)
• A spoonful of vinegar stirred in at the finish balances the red lentil and carrot sweetness, and adds a classic German sweet and sour punch.

Like all my soups, this lentil beer soup can be cooked in a pressure cooker. About 10 minutes of prep, 5 minutes to come to pressure, and 7 minutes in the pressure cooker–dinner in 30 minutes–wunderbar!

How to make this easy Lentil Beer Soup:

• Saute the onions and carrots in your cooking pot, either a stovetop pressure cooker or an Instant Pot, or, for regular cooking, in a large saucepan.
• Add the vegetable broth, lentils, potato, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper.
• If you’re using a pressure cooker, lock the lid in place and cook on high pressure 7 minutes.
• For regular stovetop cooking, cover and simmer 25 to 30 minutes, until the red lentils get soft and mushy.
• Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the beer and simmer about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the vinegar. Taste, adding more salt and pepper if you think it’s needed.
• Serve garnished with parsley.

Since I was old enough to drink beer I’ve been making this hearty vegetarian soup. And since I can’t leave a recipe alone, there’s a variation almost every time.

Leafy greens stirred into lentil soup add another dimension:

If I have leafy greens that need to be use, like kale or chard or beet greens, I add the chopped greens at the same time as the beer, simmering until the leaves are tender.

FAQ’s:

Lentils are good for us!

• Lentils are high in fiber and complex carbohydrates, while low in fat and calories. Lentils are gluten-free, and rich in vitamins and minerals like potassium, iron, folate and magnesium.
• A ½ cup serving of cooked lentils provides about 12 grams of protein.
• Lentils contain many beneficial plant compounds called phytochemicals, which protect against chronic diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes and cancer.
• Did you know? Lentils get their name because of their lens shape.

In my old recipe journal, I kept a magazine clipping of a Lentil Wunderbar Soup recipe, the inspiration for this recipe. Wunderbar in German means wonderful, marvelous. Wunderbar lentil beer soup! (I forgot to note from where I cut the recipe, so if you have a clue, please write.)

• This velvety scarlet-color soup with red lentils and beets also comes together fast and easy in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot.

• Here’s a brothy minestrone soup with lentils, broken lasagna noodles, and kale–another speedy pressure cooker soup!

• One more pressure cooker soup for you–Instant Pot Farro and Hearty Greens Soup.

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Easy Lentil Beer Soup

Quick to make, high-in-protein, plant-based, and tasty as all get out, black and red lentil beer soup is an easy home-cooked meal for the busy times of life. Makes about 10 cups soup. 8 to 10 servings.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: lentil soup

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 2 carrots, diced
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup black lentils
• ¾ cup red lentils
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ¾ teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (12-ounce) beer, your choice (see note)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Instructions

• Heat the oil in the pressure cooker. (see note for regular cooking.) Stir in the onions and carrots and sauté for a few minutes. Add the vegetable broth, black and red lentils, potato, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and about 20 grinds of pepper.
• Lock the lid in place and cook on high pressure 7 minutes. Quick release the pressure. Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the beer and simmer about 5 minutes. Stir in the vinegar. Taste, adding more salt and pepper if you think it’s needed. (I usually add another 1/2 teaspoon of salt.)
• Serve garnished with parsley.

Notes

• If you don’t drink alcohol, substitute a N.A. beer, like Claushaler. Otherwise choose the beer you have on hand.
• For regular stovetop cooking, cover and simmer 25 to 30 minutes, until the red lentils get soft and mushy.

Nutrition

Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 940mg | Potassium: 356mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2938IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 4mg

Did you make this recipe?Mention @lettyskitchen or tag #lettyskitchen

This is an update of the black and red lentil soup recipe I first posted in December 2016! It also appeared on Pressure Cooking Today, where I’m a contributor.