This easy Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Soup is the kind of comforting, budget-friendly family meal that once you make, you will come back to again and again. Using mixed frozen vegetables, hearty dried lentils, and soft, fluffy potatoes, it's simple to throw together but tastes like it's been simmering all day.
Once everything is tender, it's blended into a smooth, velvety purée and finished off with grated mature cheddar that melts into the soup, giving it a creamy texture and satisfying cheesy tang in every spoonful.
This soup ticks all the boxes for the kids too, fussy eaters have no idea just how jam-packed with veggies and lentils it is. Plus, I find the addition of cheese to meals makes the world of difference for my fussy eater at least! The smooth texture makes it perfect for little ones, you can even share it with a weaning baby. If you have a toddler, weaning baby or fussy eater and are wondering how to adapt this Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Soup for your family, see here >
The Story Behind this Soup
I first made this Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Soup when I had to cobble together a meal my son could, eat who had just had his braces fitted. It was so painful for him to chew that all he could manage for days was smooth soup. And that's one of the reasons why this recipe uses frozen mixed vegetables, because all I really had in my fridge at that time with salad vegetables. Also, luckily I had some potatoes so I could add those for carbs, and I always keep a bag of dried lentils in my pantry. I had no idea at the time this soup was going to turn out as good as it did.
FAQ's for my Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Soup
- Lentils. Use dried red lentils, you'll need to check the packet to see if they need soaking first. See FAQ's below if you are thinking of using tinned instead of dried lentils.
- Frozen vegetables. Look for a frozen mixed bag of sweetcorn, peas, carrot and green beans. This is a classic mix and should be available in all supermarkets and grocery stores.
- Potatoes. Any white potatoes will do, I use Maris Piper's.
- Warming spices. We are going to add a little cumin and smoked paprika, which are not spicy, just flavourful.
- Dried oregano. We'll add this near the end of the cook to keep its full flavour.
- Mature cheddar. Using a stronger cheese means you can use less for more flavour. You can use medium cheddar however, if that's all you have. If you do that, you should taste the soup once stirred in and add more as required for a stronger cheesy flavour.
- You'll also need an onion, two garlic cloves and vegetable stock cubes.
As we're using frozen mixed vegetables, you don't have those veggies to prepare. You can dice your potatoes ahead of time, just add them into a large bowl of cold water and refrigerate until ready to use. You can also dice the onion and grate your cheese and refrigerate. The spices and garlic can be prepared and combined in a small bowl together, again, chill those until ready to use.
I have not tried this as a chunky soup, only as a puréed, smooth soup so I cannot recommend serving it chunky. However, if you have no way to blend it, by all means, go ahead and see how it works, and please let me know down in the comments how it was!
I haven't tested it, but you potentially could with a couple tweaks. Dried lentils absorb liquid as they cook, whereas tinned lentils won't. If you did want to swap a tin of lentils for the dried lentils, I would reduce the amount of stock maybe to 1 ltr and add the tinned lentils later, when you add the oregano. They only need 5-10 minutes to heat through. I haven't tested this though, so I can't guarantee results. You can let me know in the comments at the bottom of this page if you tried it and how it turned out.
Because this soup has potato in, I personally don't think you do. I actually serve it with soft flour tortilla's cut into triangles, mainly for the kids sake, but I end up eating most of the soup with no bread.
Yes, it's an easy one to double or even treble, if you have a cooking pot large enough! Just adjust the scale to the top right of the ingredients list in the recipe below.
Yes, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days (cook day +2). Leftovers can also be frozen, just defrost in the fridge for 24 hours and reheat in the microwave, stirring halfway, until steaming hot all the way through. If you have batch cooked this soup and have a lot to reheat, it would be better to simmer it over a low heat on the stove, stirring every now and then until piping hot.
More on safe food storage and reheating >
My Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Soup is suitable for those on a gluten, egg and nut-free diet. It is also suitable for vegetarians and can be made suitable for vegans if you use a vegan cheese that will melt into the soup.
Adapting My Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Soup For Your Family
Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Soup recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, which will help make it easier to eat together as a family.
Keeping Fussy Eaters Happy
If you have a picky eater you may be surprised to find that they tolerate this soup, especially if they like bread and you serve it alongside. Even just to have them dip their bread in and eat it that way (and not eating it with a spoon) is an achievement!
Making My Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Soup Suitable for Baby Weaning
To be able to share this soup with a weaning baby, you will need to hold back on adding the salt until you have dished up their serving. Then add salt to the pot and stir well before dishing up everyone else's. You can serve theirs with finger-size strips of toast.
I've also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook.
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Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 500 g white potatoes diced 1 cm approx
- 300 g frozen vegetable mix - sweetcorn peas, diced carrot & green beans
- 100 g dried red lentils soaked if needed, see pack
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1.2 ltrs vegetable stock
- Salt & black pepper to taste
- 95 g grated mature (or sharp) cheddar,
- Soft flour tortilla's, cut into triangles, or any bread you like (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-large non-stick pan over a medium-low heat for a couple minutes. Add the onion and fry for 6 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the garlic, smoked paprika and cumin and fry for 1 minute, stirring.
- Pour in the stock, lentils, diced potato, frozen vegetables, salt & pepper and stir very well. Bring to a boil over a high heat. Then reduce the heat to medium and leave on a rolling boil, uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then.
- Then add the oregano and stir well. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for a further 10 minutes.
- Use a stick blender to puree it in the pan or carefully transfer it to a blender.
- Finally, stir through the cheese until melted.
Baby & Toddler
STORAGE
Nutrition
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