Inspired by the flavors of qorma-e-sabzi, an Afghan spinach stew, this soup relies on frozen spinach and whatever fragrant herbs and alliums are lingering in the back of your fridge—a mix of parsley, cilantro, dill, or even scallions will work. Cooking the greens separately and adding them back in at the end ensures they stay vibrant; the simple aromatics and ground spices seasoning the lentil and rice base are bolstered by the verdant addition.
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What you’ll need
Kitchen Towels
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Dutch Oven
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Pyrex 4-Cup Measuring Cup
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Recipe information
Total Time
1 hour
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Wrap one 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, in a clean kitchen towel and twist and squeeze towel tightly over the sink to expel as much liquid as possible.
Step 2
Melt 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a medium Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add spinach and ½ cup finely chopped herbs (such as cilantro, parsley, and/or dill) and season with kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up spinach, until mixture is combined and spinach and herbs are slightly darkened in color, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
Step 3
Heat 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in same pot over medium-high. Add 3 medium onions, thinly sliced, and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and frizzled around the edges, 9–12 minutes. Add 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, and cook, stirring often, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 1 Tbsp. ground coriander, 2 tsp. ground cumin, ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring often, until combined, about 1 minute.
Step 4
Add ⅔ cup basmati rice, ⅔ cup French green lentils, 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 6 cups water; stir to combine. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat so soup is at a simmer and cook until rice is cooked through and lentils are tender (they will still retain a bit of bite), 30–35 minutes.
Step 5
Stir spinach mixture into soup and cook, stirring often, until combined and heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add juice of 1 lemon and remaining 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter; stir until butter is melted. Taste soup and season with salt and black pepper.
Step 6
Mix 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt, a big pinch of salt, and remaining 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a small bowl to combine. Ladle soup into bowls and top each with a spoonful of yogurt mixture to serve.
How would you rate Lentil Soup With Greens and Rice?
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Reviews (8)
Back to TopDelicious recipe. If you truly want soup and not something that leans casserole, don’t cook the rice in with everything else - cook it on its own, in veg broth if you want to infuse a little more flavor into the rice itself, then put a portion in the bottom of the soup bowls.
AmyQ
5/2/2024
This dish was easy to make and had very good flavor and is hearty. However, the rice, which is added at the same time as the lentils, cooks for too long and becomes mushy in the dish. Next time I would either add the rice just 15 minutes before serving or would cook rice separately. This recipe has the rice simmering for 30 minutes which I found too much.
Anonymous
Grand Rapids
3/31/2024
A great pantry recipe that still feels fresh. The consistency was closer to a stew than a soup, but I liked it so I didn’t add more than the six cups of water and four of broth that the recipe called for. Cooking the onions until they were frizzled were key. It gave it a great depth of flavor. Definitely made way more than four servings but it’ll freeze easily.
Anonymous
3/24/2024
This is good. I used fresh spinach because that’s what I had and had to opt for brown lentils for the same reason. I think green will work better next time as they hold their shape during cooking. Do not skip the butter knob at the end. Splash citrus is great, and also add a little bit of olive oil. Suspect I will have to add more liquid when I reheat this. Also, will add more spinach.
Glory
NJ
3/23/2024
Fantastic recipe - the ingredients sounded like a good combination, but it’s tastier than I would have imagined. Cooking the spinach & herbs separately kept the flavors from getting lost. I meal prepped it for lunch and was in a hurry to eat the first day - I didn’t have time to mix up the yogurt sauce and instead used plain whole milk Greek yogurt; it was still delicious!
Anonymous
Atlanta, GA
3/20/2024
This is a very delicious, simple and chic recipe. The blend of savory spices with citrus made this dish very exciting for such an easy meal. It was not as soupy as I expected considering the total 10 cups of liquid required (yay!). I added shredded chicken breasts towards the end for protein and it gave me 6 total servings. The yogurt mixture was the perfect topping!
Chef Gabò
Seattle, WA
3/19/2024
I was nervous about how this was going to turn out. My husband hates cumin, but I was looking for something vegetarian. The flavor was amazing. Don’t skip the yogurt sauce. It really added to the flavor of the soup. I had so many leftovers, I was able to share with a friend after my husband and son had seconds. I will definitely make this again. The only change I made was to use fresh spinach.
Lori D
Avalon, PA
3/17/2024
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