Red Lentil-Pumpkin Soup

Delicious base with which to tinker and create your own version! That's what I did: I put the pumpkin in at the beginning because I wanted it to blend with all the spices, added 1/2 tsp. each of coriander and turmeric as someone else suggested, and in place of the last 1/2 cup of broth and 1 cup of water I used full fat coconut milk. I did not blend mine as I like the consistency as is! Perfection!

I really enjoyed the mixture of red lentils and pumpkin.  I used just 1 tsp. oil and doubled the cumin and red pepper.  Also added 1/2 tsp. each of smoked paprika, ground coriander, and turmeric.

The pumpkin flavor is not as prominent as the lentil and the cumin, but it's a thoroughly delicious soup, and I love blended soups. 

I have a Turkish Red Lentil Stew that has similar elements to this recipe so I knew I had to try this one. Agree with other reviews - must amp up the spices. I added coriander and fenugreek to the mix and I also added Mezzetta Hot Chili Peppers (hard to find but totally worth the flavor - start with Sendicks). If you use fresh pumpkin or squash I recommend you bake it first in the oven. Well and any excuse to pull out my Emersion blender is fine by me.

I made it exactly as written, and it's a decent soup, but a little bit bland. Mostly, it tastes like lentils and cumin, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it could use more spices as other reviewers have noted. It's also a little on the thin side.

While hubbie loved this soup, I thought it needed more spice and heat. Wish I would have read the reviews first!

I added a pinch of paprika and turmeric and a moroccan blend spice mix which had cayenne. Turned out tasty, but a bit thin. Will try to double amount of lentils next time and maybe more pumpkin for color.

Made this to get us through the Feb blizzard! Tweaked a bit to suit our tastes, but basically followed recipe. Added 1tsp garam masala, used more pumpkin & subbed broth for the water. Gorgeous in the bowl, very nice soup.

It's got good flavor. It just seems like baby food. It's not bad, just not what I like.

Used an entire can of pumpkin and upped the spices as suggested by others. Also added in some tumeric and nutmeg. I thought it had a nice, smoky Mediterranean flavor. Really good with greek yogurt mixed in.

I agree that this would have been a little bland without extra spices. After reading the other reviews I increased them by half and waited until the end to add the garlic. Even so, I was reluctant to dilute the flavor by adding the water, but the consistency would have been too thick without it. I too had to use mostly brown lentils, so my result didn't look like the picture. And having misread the title I was hoping for a more "pumpkin-forward" soup. I might make this again, but maybe with more pumpkin - or leaving it out altogether and keeping the lentils intact, as they were tasty enough by themselves.

I made this just as written except I used chicken broth instead of vegetable, but I too found it a bit bland and had to had more salt and barely noticed the kick from the cayenne pepper. An immersion blender is a must, makes it as easy as anything to prepare.

This was very flavorful! A great fall recipe on a cool day. I used brown lentils because the store was out of red. The soup didn't look as pretty as the one pictured, but tasted great. Also on the immersion blender, I couldn't seem to get it as smooth as I wanted. Seemed as if I was using the wrong attachment or something (I'm new with the tool). I used Greek Yogurt and doubled the recipe to avoid having left over pumpkin.

I disagree with wonderwab - it wasn't bland - I used cayenne for the red pepper and it had a kick to it the more I ate - will make again

This soup was easy to make, but turned out bland. It needs something, but I don't know what could make it better. Greek yogurt would have been better than the plain LF yogurt. Definitely not making again

Super delicious! I would do a double recipe next time since my husband and 4 and 6 year-olds ate this right up with some pumpkin biscuits on the side. I highly recommend using an immersion blender instead of a standard one. So much easier and less clean up. If you don't have one and only have one recipe that would use it, it would still be worth it to get an immersion blender. I can't believe how long I went without one. Really great recipe and easy and quick.

This was delicious! I had to add extra salt to compensate for my unsalted veggie broth, but after that it had a great balance of flavors. I garnished with some pepitas and sriracha and served with naan bread. Will definitely make again!

Next time I double the recipe, it went quickly, served with grilled cheese sandwich. I used an immersion blender too, but used a deep pot and had not problems. I think I would add a bit more spices to really pop up the flavor as well but what a great meal on a chilly night

I just made this soup tonight and it was outstanding! I loved it. I followed the recipe to the letter with the exception of doubling the cinnamon because I love cinnamon, and I felt it was perfect. I also didn't use a blender - I used an immersion blender, but learn from my mess, and if you use an immersion blender, add the additional 1/2 cup vegetable broth, water and pumpkin and then blend it all up together, otherwise there isn't enough to cover the blender and there's a bit of splashing to deal with on the counter and yourself (trust me on this). I used all of the toppings and just thought it was delicious! I couldn't stop raving about it as I was eating it. I am excited to have the left overs for lunch tomorrow. We had it tonight as a main dish with a side salad and it was light yet filling...nice way to get some lentils in to our diet too! Definitely give this recipe a try and tweak the spices to your liking. Enjoy it...I definitely did! ; )

My husband is a vegetarian so we always check out the new recipes each month. We made this last night and it was wonderful -- easy, healthy, with a nice kick from the red pepper, crunch from the pumpkin seeds, and cool/creaminess from the yogurt. Served with a salad and crusty bread. Would definitely make this for company.