Tomato Lentil Soup with Manzanilla Olives
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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
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Nutrition
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could you make this in the slow cooker?
While I haven’t tested this recipe in a slow cooker, I think that it would work great. I would follow step 1 and then add everything to your slow cooker and cook on low heat for 4 hours.
Can I use my insta pot?
You sure can!
Delicious! I’m not sensitive to heat in foods that much but I might only do 1/2 tsp of pepper next time….there is a bite. And there will be a next time!
I jut did this recipe. Is absolutely delicious 😋.
Delicious! I followed your exact recipe and it was perfect. Next time I may try using frozen spinach since I usually don’t have fresh spinach on hand.
Thank you for including the ingredient amounts right below the instructions…super helpful. I’ll be adding this to my regular weeknight rotation for sure!
100% scrumptious!
This is such an amazing meal and a really easy to follow recipe. The ingredients are items that I often already have stocked in my pantry and refrigerator so that’s another great thing about this recipe. I served mine with homemade focaccia which paired so well!
Hey I am so excited to make this tonight. Just wondering did you use fresh or dried herbs? 😊
We used dried in the recipe development. But fresh would be great if you have them!
Filling, savoury, delish! 🤤 I don’t like olives but followed the recipe to the letter, so I included them, and it’s indescribably comfort food. Mixed leftovers with halloumi it complements so well. We are putting this on our remake list 🤤🤤
it’s a very nice recipe thanks for sharing this recipe.
Made this for dinner. Really fancied a vegetarian meal. Added a bit of cayenne pepper to add a bit of heat. It was delicious 😋.
I used chicken broth instead of vegetable and frozen spinach instead of fresh. I also added a slice of chilli pepper. I omitted cream and served it with sour cream on the side. Absolutely delicious! Every one in my family loved it. Will make it again.
I liked reading the comments on this one as they gave me ideas for additions, of course I had my own which were chicken sausage and jarred red peppers, I forgot to put the cream in but will today with the left overs. I used green salad olives stuffed with red peppers and it was very good, I want to use the ones called for, one of these days, to taste the difference. I also topped it off with garlic bread crotons.
It’s a winner for sure!!!!
This soup is fantastic. I used frozen spinach because I happened to have some. I am sure that it would have been even better if I had added cream but I didn’t use any cream and it’s pretty delicious without it. I can’t wait to make this again.
Loved this soup. I replaced the cream with plain Greek yogurt.
Rich and very tasty, one of my favorite soups in cold season.