Easy Homemade Red Lentil and Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

I work on lots and lots of projects throughout my days. A cute holiday craft here, a fun new snack for the boys there, some DIY art… But what I always need to remind myself is that the most important project I can work on is MYSELF! I tend to push exercise or meal planning aside … because let’s face it, crafting and house tweaking are way more fun! But I owe it to myself and to my family to prioritize healthy living too. Yesterday I kicked off a week of wellness posts with the smoothie I have been craving lately and my hope is to help infuse some new ideas into your fitness routine. With spring break and summer coming up, I am feeling motivated and figured I could share some of my tried and true ideas with you. Today’s post is an easy homemade red lentil and butternut squash soup. It’s still soup season right?

This recipe makes a huge batch, and I even doubled it last time and gave some away and froze some. (it freezes great!) My little trick with this soup is that I just keep it in the fridge and heat myself up a little bowl if I feel hungry. Earth- shattering, right? 😉

But I find that it is better to fill up on this filling soup rather than “empty” snack bars. Sometimes I’ll even eat a little bowl before we leave if we are going out to eat. This way I am not starving and tempted to eat two bowls of chips and salsa or an entire basket of bread when we sit down at the restaurant! This soup is protein packed and super filling. And the best part is that while it is homemade- using ready to use Trader Joe’s ingredients really cuts down on the prep time. Here you can see all of the ingredients in the soup.

Red Lentil Soup Ingredients:

1 T coconut oil

1 medium onion, diced ( I get the Trader Joe’s pre diced shown in photo above)

1 lb or about 2 c cubed butternut squash (I get the Trader Joe’s pre cubed shown in photo above)

2.5 cups red lentils, rinsed and drained

6 c vegetable broth

2 cans or 1 jar crushed tomatoes

1 t turmeric

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 t salt

Red Lentil Soup Optional Additions:

Of course I add hot sauce when I serve it

dash cayenne pepper

chopped avocado as topping

chopped cilantro as topping

light coconut milk (add 1 T per bowl before serving)

Red Lentil Soup Directions:

Saute onion and garlic in coconut oil over low heat until onions are soft.

Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30-45 minutes or until the lentils and butternut squash are soft. Add more broth if needed.

This soup can be pureed in blender, or using an immersion blender stick. Can leave some of the soup intact and chunky. Reheats well; add more vegetable broth as needed when reheating.