Red Lentil and Ham Soup [Video]

Red Lentil and Ham Soup is an easy delicious, curried lentil soup that can be on your table in 20 minutes and a perfect solution for that left over holiday ham.

Waste not, want not is our motto! We love savory ham leftovers. They make the most delicious soup. You really do not need that much of the meat; even the left-over ham bones will work fine. The ham adds a delicious smokey flavor to this curried red lentil soup.

Red Lentil and Ham Soup

Are you feeling burnt out from cooking all the time? We totally get that! That is exactly why this curried ham lentil soup is going to be your new go to recipe for those days that you don’t feel like cooking a large meal.

This lentil soup recipe is literally a fire-and-forget stove top recipe using staple ingredients like in our 17 Pantry Recipes for Emergency Preparedness. Do you know what is even better? The leftover soup. Really? Once the flavors have a chance to mingle, they are even better the next day.

Do you want to make this soup in the instant pot or slow cooker? No worries, we have you covered and included the directions in the recipe card below. You can pop everything in your slow cooker before you leave for work or school in the morning and come home to a delicious hot meal. If you love the idea of a no fuss meal with lentils and ham, be sure to try our Instant Pot Lentil Ham Stew.

Nourishing Soup

A little warming soup between the change of season is just what you need to nourish your body and it keeps your body fueled. This in between weather with one minute hot and then the next minute cold combined with heavy wind and dampness is hard on your body. Pamper yourself and explore our recipe category for soup, curries and stews for more recipes to keep you cozy and healthy during this transitional time.

Split Red Lentils Compared to Whole Red Lentils

Split red lentils are great ingredient when you want to eat… like YESTERDAY! Actually, because the red lentils are split, they only take about 7-8 minutes for them to cook. At the 7–8-minute mark, the lentils are tender but still hold their shape and great addition to salads or our Middle Eastern Rice and Lentils.

If you cook the split red lentils a little longer in the red lentil and ham soup (around 15 minutes), it makes a creamy, delicious, almost pureed soup. You could, if you wish, pulse this soup in the food processor or blender before serving. However, it’s delicious just the way it is.  

Lentils usually double in volume once cooked. Therefore, the 1.5 cup raw lentils should yield about 3 cups of creamy cooked red split lentils. This makes the soup rich, creamy and so cozy.

In contrast to the split lentils, “whole” red lentils are not split, and they take about 15-20 minutes to cook to tender. If you want whole red lentils to get creamy then you will have to cook them for at least 30 plus minutes for the same effect.

Ingredients

Split Red Lentils

Lentils make for a super creamy and speedy soup. However, as discussed above, if you want to use whole red lentils you will need to increase your cooking time. If you like you can exchange with black, green or brown lentils, you will also need to increase cooking time.

Basic Sofrito

Made with chopped celery, carrots and onions. Of course, we added garlic too.

Chicken broth

Ours broth was gluten free and low sodium. Homemade broth is fantastic. If you want to make this recipe vegan, exchange with vegetarian broth and hold the ham.

Ham

We used a few slices of leftover Spiced Holiday Glazed Ham. You could even just use the ham bone if that is all you have left. Heck, even Spam ham makes one delicious soup. If you want to make this recipe vegan, exchange the ham with a plant-based meat alternative of choice. However, please note, that most plant-based meat alternatives have gluten and other odd ingredients we are not fond of.

Spices and Herbs

Herbs and spices are an inexpensive and aromatic way to explore the world. Fresh thyme is lovely, but you can also use 1 teaspoon of dried thyme in this Red Lentil and Ham Soup. Bay leaves is an ingredient that really makes lentils extra delicious like in our Baked Tilapia with Caramelized Onion Lentils.

In addition, we added a mild curry powder to give this soup that desired umami. We did not add so much curry powder that it was hot, but just flavorful. You can add as much or as little as you wish to cater to your family and friends. If you don’t have mild curry powder but are contemplating buying some. Here are a couple of good recipes to close the deal. Have you ever tried our Cozy chicken Curry Soup, Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Curry or Vegan Curried Rice?

How to Make Easy Red Lentil Soup?

Stove Top Method

Sauté onion, celery and carrot in a large pot with a little olive oil, just until aromatic. Then add garlic, chicken broth and bay leaves to the pot.

Add red lentils, thyme, ham or ham bone, mild curry powder and salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium heat for about 15 – 20 minutes or until the lentil soup is creamy and delicious.

Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot) Method

Sauté onion, celery and carrot in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) with a little olive oil, just until aromatic. Then add garlic, chicken broth and bay leaves to the pot.

Add red lentils, thyme, ham or ham bone, mild curry powder and salt and pepper to taste. Place the lid on the pressure cooker and lock into place. Be sure to put the steam release valve in the closed position. Set the pressure cooker for 10 minutes on high pressure cooker. Allow to naturally release for 10 minutes and then carefully release the steam valve.

Slow cooker Method

Put all of the ingredients for leftover ham and lentil soup into slow cooker. There is no sautéing required. Put the lid on the slow cooker and set on high for 4 hours or low for 6 to 8 hours.

You will be amazed at how easy this red lentil and ham soup comes together. However, your wallet will love you even more as you are being thrifty and can save some serious cash only using a handful of some pantry supplies.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

More Lentil Recipes

• Instant Pot Lentil Ham Stew
• Baked Tilapia with Caramelized Onion Lentils
• Best Vegan Warm Swiss Chard Lentil Salad

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