Lentil Soup with Butternut and Kale

November 30, 2020

Lentil Soup with Butternut and Kale

Lentil Soup with Butternut and Kale is comforting and nutrient-dense, thanks to the butternut squash, lentils, kale, and leeks.

Lentil Soup with Butternut and Kale

This vegetarian butternut squash lentil soup is like a bowl of comfort – the perfect way to warm up on a cold night. This colorful soup, made with healthy ingredients, tastes delicious. The cooked leeks give complexity to the body of the soup. For even more lentil soup recipes, try my Lebanese Lentil Soup, Red Lentil Soup with Spinach, and Instant Pot Chicken and Lentil Soup.

This soup is also dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan. It’s all made in one pot and freezes great. Leftovers are perfect for lunch.

Do lentils need to be soaked?

No, lentils do not need to be soaked like beans do, which saves a lot of time.

Are you supposed to peel butternut squash before cooking?

Yes, it’s best to peel butternut squash before cooking since the skin can be very tough. If you’re short on time, buy your butternut squash peeled and pre-cut from the supermarket.

How to Freeze Lentil Soup:

This butternut squash, kale, and lentil soup is great for meal prep. It freezes wonderfully, so you can save it for dinner on a night when you don’t have time to cook. Freeze the soup in glass food containers or in zip-locked bags laid flat in your freezer for up to three months.

Thaw the soup overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave or on the stove. If you forget to thaw the night before, you can microwave the frozen soup in 30-second intervals, stirring in between each interval.

Lentil Soup Variations:

Sub sweet potato for the butternut squash if you prefer.
Feel free to use curly kale if you can’t find Lacinato kale, also known as Tuscan kale. You can also switch the kale for another leafy green like spinach or Swiss chard.

Lentil Soup with Butternut and Kale

More Lentil Recipes You’ll Love:

Lentil Soup with Butternut and Kale

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 50 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins

Lentil Soup with Butternut and Kale is comforting and nutrient-dense, thanks to the butternut squash, lentils, kale, and leeks.

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 leeks, white part only, cleaned and chopped
1 celery stalk, diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups vegetable broth
1 pound peeled and diced butternut, 1/2-inch dice
2 ounces lentils
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
black pepper
3 cups packed chopped lacinato kale, stems removed

Heat a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
When hot, add oil, then add onion, carrots, leeks and celery, reduce heat and cook about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring.
Add the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes, stirring.
Add the broth and lentils and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until halfway cooked, 20 minutes.
Add the butternut and cook until tender, about 15 minutes more. Discard the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Add the kale and cook 7 minutes longer until the kale is tender.

To Freeze: Let the soup cool then transfer to a freezer-safe container. Keep frozen for up to 3 months.
To reheat, transfer to the refrigerator the night before then reheat on the stove or microwave.

Serving: 11/3 cups, Calories: 122kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 1.5g, Saturated Fat: 0.5g, Sodium: 309.5mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 8g

Blue Smart Points: 1

Green Smart Points: 2

Purple Smart Points: 1

Keywords: lentil soup, lentil soup with butternut, vegan lentil soup, vegetarian lentil soup

posted November 30, 2020 by Gina

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Recipe Girl®

Layered Peppermint Crunch Bark

November 30, 2020

Layered Peppermint Crunch Bark is a recipe to make during the holidays every single year!

You’ve probably seen Layered Peppermint Crunch Bark packages and sold in the store. This is the homemade version, and it’s so much better! Make it, package it up and gift it to friends and neighbors for the holidays. It’s such a delicious treat to munch on, and it’s easy to make!

Ingredients needed:

white chocolate
bittersweet chocolate
candy canes
whipping cream
peppermint extract

How to make Layered Peppermint Crunch Bark:

You will lay out some foil on a baking sheet and mark a 9×12-inch rectangle on the foil. White chocolate is melted in a pan. Some of the white chocolate is then spread out onto the foil within the borders of the marked rectangle.

Note about white chocolate:

Don’t be tempted to buy white chocolate chips. They’ll seize when you try to melt them. Use a chunk of white chocolate, chop it up and melt it.

Crushed candy canes are sprinkled on top and then it’s chilled until set. Bittersweet chocolate melted and mixed with cream and peppermint extract is spread onto the cooled white chocolate. Then it’s chilled until this layer is set.

Finally, you’ll re-warm the white chocolate and spread it onto the top. The remaining crushed candy canes are sprinkled on top. You’ll chill this layer until firm and then cut into pieces.

Isn’t it beautiful? I love the layers. The combination of white chocolate with the mint-flavored bittersweet chocolate and the crunch of candy canes is all so good together.

Another big bonus is that it looks so pretty too!

This is one holiday dessert recipe that you’re going to want to add to your festive treat platters every year. Enjoy!

Here are a few more peppermint dessert recipes you might like to try:

Layered Peppermint Crunch Bark

This is a recipe to be made every year during the holidays!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Bark, peppermint

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Chill Time: 1 hour

Servings 35 pieces

Calories 134kcal

Author RecipeGirl.com (adapted from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients

17 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped (don't use white chocolate chips)
6 ounces crushed peppermint candy canes, divided
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate
5½ tablespoons whipping cream
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Instructions

Turn a large baking sheet bottom side up. Cover securely with foil. Mark a 12x9-inch rectangle on the foil. Stir the white chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water) until the chocolate is melted and smooth and a candy thermometer registers 110°F (the chocolate will feel warm to the touch). Remove the pan from over the water. Pour 2/3 cup of the melted white chocolate onto the marked rectangle on the foil. Using an icing spatula, spread the chocolate to fill the rectangle. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup crushed candy canes. Chill until set, about 15 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, stir the bittersweet chocolate, cream and peppermint extract over medium-low heat until just melted and smooth. Cool to barely lukewarm, about 5 minutes. Pour the bittersweet chocolate mixture over the white chocolate rectangle. Using an icing spatula, spread the bittersweet chocolate in an even layer. Refrigerate until very cold and firm, about 25 minutes.
Re-warm the remaining white chocolate in a bowl set over barely simmering water to 110°F. Working quickly, pour the white chocolate over the firm bittersweet chocolate layer; spread to cover. Immediately sprinkle with the remaining crushed candy canes. Chill just until firm, about 20 minutes. If you let the bark go much longer than this- it will be very hard to cut neatly.
Lift the foil with the bark onto a work surface; trim the edges. Cut the bark crosswise into 2-inch wide strips. Using a metal spatula, slide the bark off the foil and onto the work surface. Cut each strip crosswise into squares. You can also cut the squares diagonally into triangles.

Nutrition

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A Couple Cooks

Easy Pizza Soup

November 30, 2020

Take one bite of this pizza soup, and it tastes like your favorite pie in bowl form! Serve with crusty bread for an outrageously delicious meal.

With our affinity for artisan pizza recipes, I’m surprised it’s taken us this long to think this idea. Pizza soup! Because who wouldn’t want all the flavors of a supreme pizza wrapped up in a cozy bowl? The broth is flavored with pizza sauce, tomatoes, and a little Parmesan to make it creamy. The toppings are swimming along inside: bell peppers, garlic and mushrooms, making for a savory pop that surprises you in every bite. Serve with garlic toast, grilled cheese or simply crusty bread and it’s a meal you’ll want to make over and over…and over. (We already have.)

Ingredients in pizza soup

This pizza soup was only a matter of time. Alex and I have been enamored with making artisan-style pizza since our honeymoon to Italy years ago. We’ve spent a decade researching pizza dough recipes and learning from professionals, and you’ll see that culmination in our next level Margherita Pizza. So what better challenge than to take all that know how and distill it down into a…soup?

This pizza soup is for when you want the experience of pizza, but none of the hassle. The broth tastes so spot on that after a spoonful you’ll exclaim, “That tastes just like pizza!” (Promise. We did.) Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make it:

Pizza sauce
Canned crushed tomatoes (fire roasted if possible)
Vegetable broth
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese
Red onion, garlic, bell pepper, mushroom
Dried oregano and fennel seeds

Find your favorite pizza sauce or make homemade

Part of the pizza flavor in this recipe comes from…pizza sauce! There are lots of great all natural pizza sauces out there these days. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Grab a high quality jar of pizza sauce, organic if possible. Check the ingredients on the back to make sure there’s not too much added sugar or preservatives.
Or, make homemade! You can also make your own pizza sauce. Our Easy Pizza Sauce takes just 5 minutes in a blender. It’s sensational.

Fire roasted tomatoes add complexity

Here’s another tip for the best flavor in this pizza soup. Use fire roasted canned tomatoes! Fire roasted tomatoes are canned tomatoes that have been roasted over an open flame. It lightly chars the outsides and makes the flavor sweet right out of the can unlike most canned tomatoes.

Fire roasted tomatoes are sold by several different brands, and have become popular in grocery stores here in the US. If you can’t find them, you can substitute any high quality tomatoes you can find.

Fennel seeds add meaty flavor

Lastly: don’t be tempted to leave out the fennel seeds! Fennel is a vegetable that’s used in recipes raw or as dried seeds. You should be able to find them in the spice aisle in your grocery. Why is fennel seed so important? Well, it’s a spice that’s used in sausage, so it makes your brain think of meat. It adds as meaty, savory flavor to this soup that cannot be replicated!

Pizza soup variation: add mix-in ingredients!

Want to add more “toppings” to this pizza soup? It’s easy to add more vegetables to make this soup even more filling or to add protein. Here are some more ideas:

White beans (to add plant-based protein)
Spinach
Chopped pepperoni
Sliced black olives

What else would you add to this pizza soup?

Easy garlic bread — Go for garlic bread, grilled cheese or cheese toast

What to serve with pizza soup

Once you’ve cooked up a pot of pizza soup, the best part is figuring out what to serve with it! There are so many great ways to accessorize it to make it a full meal. Here are some ideas:

Croutons: Mix up a recipe of homemade croutons to add on top!
Crusty bread: Serve with artisan bread like a sourdough or no knead bread.
Cheese toast: A favorite! This ultimate cheese toast has mayo, mustard and gooey cheese.
Garlic bread: Try our classic garlic bread, or an even easier version, garlic toast!
Grilled cheese: Try avocado grilled cheese or even better, pesto grilled cheese dippers! YUM.
Gluten free options: Browse this list of bread substitutes!

This pizza soup recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.

Easy Pizza Soup

1 Star 2 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars 5 Stars (5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 5 reviews

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4
Diet: Vegetarian

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