Gordon Ramsay’s lentil soup is a warmly spiced bowl of red lentils simmered with cumin, garam masala, ginger and turmeric until they break down into a thick, earthy purée that only takes about 30 minutes from pan to table. Half gets blended smooth while the rest stays chunky, so every spoonful has both texture and body.
This is his Spiced Lentil Soup from the Ultimate Cookery Course, where he writes that “red lentils, onion, garlic, tomato purée and a few spices are all it takes to create this stunning winter warmer.” What makes his version different from every other lentil soup online is how little he uses: no carrots, no celery, no stock vegetables cluttering the pot. Just lentils and spices, which means the lentil flavour actually comes through instead of hiding behind everything else.
The technique that holds it all together is blooming the spices in oil before the lentils go in. Two minutes of cumin, coriander, garam masala, ginger and turmeric cooking in hot oil releases the essential oils and deepens the flavour in a way that stirring dry spices into liquid never will.
Gordon Ramsay Lentil Soup
Course: Soup, Lunch4
10
minutes30
minutes310
kcal40
minutesEasy
Spiced lentil soup from Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course. Split red lentils simmered with cumin, garam masala, ginger and turmeric in chicken stock, half blended and half left chunky for texture. Topped with yoghurt and fresh coriander. Ready in 30 minutes. His Bread Street Kitchen version uses Puy lentils, fresh tomatoes and chilli for a deeper, heartier take.
Ingredients
275g (10 oz) split red lentils, rinsed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala
1-2 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp tomato purée
800ml (3⅓ cups) chicken stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-4 tbsp natural yoghurt, to serve
Fresh coriander leaves, to serve
Directions
- Rinse the lentils: Wash the red lentils under cold running water until the water runs clear, then drain well and set aside.
- Cook the aromatics: Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 4 to 6 minutes until lightly golden.
- Bloom the spices: Stir in the cumin, coriander, garam masala, ginger, turmeric and tomato purée. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until the spices are fragrant and the kitchen smells warm and toasty.
- Simmer: Add the lentils and pour in the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils are very soft. Top up with a splash of water if it gets too thick.
- Half-blend: Ladle half the soup into a blender and blend to a smooth purée, then pour it back into the pan. The soup should be part smooth and part chunky. Adjust the consistency with a little boiling water if needed. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve: Ladle into warm bowls and top each with a spoonful of yoghurt and a few fresh coriander leaves.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay only half-blend this soup?
Blending the whole thing would give you a smooth purée like a dhal, which is fine but one-dimensional. By blending only half and stirring it back in, you get a creamy base that still has soft lentil pieces running through it.
That contrast between smooth and chunky keeps it interesting and makes a simple soup feel more like a proper meal.
What about the Bread Street Kitchen version?
Ramsay has a second lentil soup in Bread Street Kitchen that takes a completely different approach. It uses Puy lentils instead of red, which hold their shape and have a nuttier, earthier bite.
The base is built with 500g fresh tomatoes, a red chilli and fresh coriander stalks, then simmered for 40 to 45 minutes in 1.75 litres of vegetable stock before blending smooth. It serves 6, so it’s the one to make when you’re feeding a crowd. Ramsay says “it will be even better the following day as the flavours intensify and deepen.”
Can you use Puy lentils instead of red?
Yes, but the soup will be different. Red lentils break down completely in 25 minutes, which is why half-blending works so well here.
Puy lentils hold their shape and need 40 to 45 minutes, so you’d end up with a more textured, brothy soup rather than a thick purée. That’s exactly what the BSK version does, and it works beautifully with the fresh tomatoes and chilli.
Why bloom the spices before adding the lentils?
Dry spices contain oils that carry most of their flavour, but those oils only release properly in hot fat. Stirring cumin and garam masala into liquid just makes the soup taste dusty.
Cooking them in olive oil for two minutes before anything else goes in unlocks the warmth and depth that makes this taste like something from a restaurant rather than a tin.
What goes well with lentil soup?
Warm naan bread torn into pieces for dipping is the obvious choice, and the soft bread soaks up the spiced broth perfectly.
If you want to build a fuller meal around it, serve the soup as a starter and follow with a lamb curry as the main. The spice profiles sit in the same family so the meal flows naturally from one course to the next.
