Easy Lentil Soup Recipe with Smoked Mushrooms (2024)

FAQs

Should you cook mushrooms before adding to soup? ›

While it is not necessary to pre-cook the mushrooms before adding them to the soup, it can enhance their flavor and texture. Sautéing the mushrooms in a bit of butter or oil before adding them to the soup can help develop their natural flavors and bring out their earthy aroma.

Do you cook lentils before adding to soup? Nope! Dried lentils cook in 35 minutes in the soup, and there's no need to soak them either!

Why does my lentil soup taste bland? Lentils have a relatively mild taste and take well to seasonings. To avoid a bland lentil soup, use a flavorful broth—whether that's homemade or store-bought chicken or vegetable broth. The other key is building flavor.

Cook It Longer

Sometimes soup just needs to simmer longer to reach the perfect consistency. Check to see if the vegetables are tender, and then taste the broth. If the soup tastes a bit watery, give it more time.

The mushroom stayed pretty much the same. It got a little bit tougher, but just 57%, which compared to the other stuff is not much at all. It was good at the end of the 40 minutes of cooking; you can't overcook it.

We like cremini mushrooms for their darker color and super meaty texture, but regular white button mushrooms are OK, too. Take your time sautéeing the onions and mushrooms—let the heat and butter draw out their natural juices, and then let them get a little bit of color, too.

Avoiding Mushy Lentils

You want to see just a few bubbles in the water and some gentle movement in the lentils. They will plump up nicely without splitting their skins or becoming mushy. The other trick is to wait to add the salt or any acidic ingredients until the lentils are done cooking.

Red lentils are the fastest cooking and they dissolve as they cook and make for a smooth soup. Others, such as green and brown lentils, hold their shape and make a soup with more texture.

Don't worry about soaking lentils, split peas, or black-eyed peas (or cowpeas). Lentils and peas are softer than dried beans. They'll cook within 5 to 20 minutes without any soaking time.

When cooking dal why does it create foam on the top? The grey foam that forms on top of a pan of lentils is caused by a substance in the beans called saponins. This substance lathers up in the water, just like soap – in fact, the word 'saponins' actually comes from the Latin word for soap, 'sap!

What are the best tasting lentils? ›

Black Beluga lentils have the most flavor, adding a rich, earthy taste and a firm texture that holds up well during cooking. Black lentils will be ready in 20–25 minutes; however, they will fall apart like their brown, green, and red partners once you cook them for too long.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

Cooking mushrooms concentrates their flavor and brings out notes of sweet earthiness from the Maillard reaction taking place. The best way to do this is to sear the mushrooms first in a dry pan.

Ideally, you'd cook the mushrooms in the same chicken pot (preferably in the chicken fat) and concentrate their flavors before building the rest of the stew right on top. Adding the raw mushrooms straight to the liquid in the pot diluted their flavor and didn't do anything to help their texture.

Mushrooms don't require extensive cooking time. Once they are added to the soup, simmer them for about 10-15 minutes to ensure they are tender but still retain some firmness. Overcooking can result in mushy or rubbery mushrooms, so it's best to monitor their doneness as you cook.

You'll want to wash and trim the mushroom stems before adding them. Sliced mushrooms are easier to eat in soup. I like to add mushrooms at the end of cooking the soup, so they don't get too mushy.