Tomato Lentil Soup with Manzanilla Olives
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This tomato lentil soup is easy to make and a super cozy vegetarian meal. The lentils are cooked in a rich broth with tomatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, and spices. The soup is finished with a bit of spinach, a splash of cream, and some delicious Manzanilla olives.
You’re looking at one of my all-time favorite vegetarian soup recipes. It’s the kind of soup I make when I want something cozy and satisfying, but also full of big, interesting flavor.
The broth is rich and dreamy, with just a slight smokiness from paprika and a savory, almost briny depth from the Manzanilla olives. The tender lentils soak up all that goodness and make the soup hearty enough to count as dinner — no sides required.
I almost always serve soup with a slice of buttered bread or garlic bread, but this one is so full and flavorful that I’m perfectly happy with a big bowl on its own. It’s comforting and the kind of recipe I find myself coming back to again and again.
Also, be sure to check out my two other vegetarian lentil soup recipes: coconut red lentil peanut soup, a hearty one-pot meal, and my coconut lentil soup with ginger kale.
Store, freeze, and reheat
Store: This soup keeps well for at least 5 days in your fridge, making it ideal for meal prep. Make a pot of this creamy vegetarian lentil soup tonight and enjoy the leftovers for lunch this week!
Freeze: You can freeze this olive soup for up to three months. Let it cool completely before transferring it to a freezer-safe container. Note: it will thicken, and the lentils will become extra soft. Simply add a little more stock when reheating.
Reheat: I like to reheat this in a pot on the stovetop, but a microwave works well, too.
Tomato Lentil Soup with Olives Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion (minced)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 carrots (minced)
- 2 stalks celery (minced)
- 2 teaspoons EACH: thyme, oregano, and smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon EACH: salt and pepper
- 1 cup brown lentils
- 6 cups vegetable stock (can use chicken stock)
- 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 3 ounces chopped fresh spinach (or baby spinach leaves)
- 1 cup chopped Manzanilla olives
- ½ cup cream (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and let it cook until it softens, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, and celery to the pot and let them cook for about 5 minutes. Mix in the thyme, oregano, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 medium onion, 4 cloves garlic, 2 carrots, 2 stalks celery, 2 teaspoons EACH: thyme, oregano, and smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon EACH: salt and pepper
- Add the lentils, stock, and tomatoes to the pot and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the lentils are soft.1 cup brown lentils, 6 cups vegetable stock, 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
- Add the spinach, Manzanilla olives, and if using, the cream and stir until the spinach wilts.3 ounces chopped fresh spinach, 1 cup chopped Manzanilla olives, ½ cup cream
Video
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Popular vegetarian soup recipes
If you love soup as much as we do, make sure to check out all of our soup recipes!
The olives were unexpected and made this soup delicious! My husband doesn’t really like Manzanilla olives so I left them out and just sprinkled a few on top of his. He really enjoyed it and added more olives.
Thanks for sharing such a delicious, easy recipe. I will be adding to my favorite rotations.
I made this soup and it’s so delicious. I had to freeze some of it because I left town for the holidays. When I got back, I remembered the soup and had it for dinner a couple of nights. It was still really good. I’ll make it again this weekend for next week’s lunch…Yummie!
This soup is amazing.
Very good, added some cayenne pepper for heat but didn’t change anything else.
This is outstanding and the olives really add something different from most soups.
More than yammy! Finally I found a great vegetable lentil soup! Thank you. I look forward to test your other recipes!
It’s more than clever, that you list the ingredients with their amounts below every steps of instructions.
I had kale in my garden, so I used it in place of spinach and I also used yellow lentils and oat cream.
Thank you very much for sharing this recipe!!!
This was SO good! Really delicious! Only two changes–unsweetened soymilk instead of cream, and capers instead of green olives. I love that you list the ingredients with their amounts below every step of the instructions (why don’t all recipes have this?!). And I especially appreciate the ability to flip a switch and not have my screen go dark while my hands are too full of onion and garlic to hit the track pad! Thank you!
Simply delicious! I had chard, so I used it in place of the spinach, and the chard stems in place of the celery. I also used coconut milk for the cream. Easy and flavorful. I also love how for each step of the recipe, the ingredients for that step are listed. This recipe is a keeper.
So yummy! I’m constitutionally incapable of exactly following a recipe so I made some changes. Mostly doubled everything but seasonings. Used immersion blender to purée about half the lentil mixture before adding double spinach, pint of cream and 1 cup olives. Absolutely delicious!!
I made this soup for dinner tonight and it was VERY good! No substitutions, made exactly as written and my husband loved it. Needless to say it goes into my “this one’s a keeper” file! Thanks for sharing!
I have made this soup 2 or 3 times already and it is absolutely delicious! I like to add andouille sausage for some more protein and a kick and I love it!
Thank you for this amazing recipe.
Absolutely love this recipe. I make it several times a year. I omit the cream to save calories and I never miss it. Thank you!
Delicious!! I love this recipe. I added some red pepper flakes for a little heat and the kicker was about a TBSP of champagne vinegar added right at the end! The vinegar really brightened up the flavor.
***I forgot to select five stars in my previous review. Please use this one with the five stars? Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for this great lentil soup recipe! It was a little salty for me, so I added a cup of water at the end, and it was still delicious. Next time, I think I will try omitting the salt during cooking. We can add salt at the table if necessary.
Thank you for this great lentil soup recipe! It was a little salty for me, so I added a cup of water at the end, and it was still delicious. Next time, I think I will try omitting the salt during cooking. We can add salt at the table if necessary.
We love lentil soup and olives in our house so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it, and it did NOT disappoint!
I will definitely be making this again. I think it would work well in the crock pot too. Thank you!