That's my experience of lentil soup, too. I think it's the nature of lentils. I am never excited about the texture or appearance. Your recipe sounds delish!

I do like daal (with that yummy dumpling), though. But the seasoning is completely different.

I don't put other stuff with lentils...nothing but onions and garlic...oh and maybe a ham shank.
My favorite lentil soup is very like split pea soup......

Your soup sounds awesome, right up to the lentils. That has been my experience too - they are sort of muddy looking. I usually puree most of the lentils and that seems to help, it really is the nature of the beast

Alexa

Your ingredients sound like they'd make a delicious lentil soup.

There are different colors and varieties of lentils but they all have a softish texture. If it's the mouth feel that you don't like, that won't change much with the type.

All the lentil soups I made have a sort of muddy look.
Grey lentils:

Red lentils (with chick peas):

Is it the color or the flavor you don't like?
I make my lentil soup with canned diced tomatoes, because I like the acidic tang flavor it adds that seems to compliment the lentils earthy flavor, and also because the resulting soup looks less "muddy." But it's brown soup, even under the best of conditions. I also add carrots, celery and chopped spinach for color. Can also add spaghetti broken up in little pieces or ditalinni or orzo.

I also add canned diced tomatoes; I don't use sausage, parsley, or cloves, but I do add oregano and thyme. I use jalapeños instead of pepper, and I tend to use a bit of vegetable soup base instead of salt. I haven't added spinach (although I use that in Minestrone), but I have occasionally added diced zucchini, something that I normally reserve for Minestrone as well. Sometimes I will ad Garam Masala or Indian spices (very sparingly) for an Indian flavor - or just a bit of ginger, cardamom, and fenugreek.

Lentil soup is one of my favorites, and I always keep huge amounts of dried lentils on hand. The only bean I have more of is garbanzos.

Lars

Try a splash of sherry vinegar to brighten it up?

I make mine the same as yours with leftover lamb bones, in the pressure cooker. I also make sure I have italian parsley.

Well, good! At least it sounds as if it is the lentils and not the cook!! I think it is part texture and part flavor - it tastes as if I threw some clods of mud in the soup for more minerals or roughage or something. And I think it is the nature of the bean/legume.

Maybe next time I will just buy one cup of other lentils in bulk if I see them. That way I won't feel as if I have to eventually consume a whole pound bag. Hey....I can add them to the dog's homemade food! They would cook up in the pressure cooker along with the ground turkey and brown rice just fine.

I think I will gradually use up this bag of lentils when making a mixed bean soup. If I only use part lentils along with lots of other beans then maybe the muddy taste will be lessened.

I also don't do black-eyed peas and whole garbanzo beans because of their taste and texture. But I have learned to like baby limas!

Teresa

If you prefer lentils which don't disintegrate, I recommend trying French lentils. They are tiny, dark green lentils, which retain their substance. I buy them at Whole Foods.

Ann H.

You might think twice about feeding legumes to your dog. Just a thought.

Sally

I like the French lentils as well--they really have much more flavor. But they're a dried legume and aren't going to taste fresh--it's a richer, deeper flavor, earthier. I also think that the depth of flavor in the stock is going make a big difference. My family's a big fan of my lentil soup, and I use Patricia Well's Bistro Cooking one, with some variations, depending on what I've got handy.

I also make sure to heat the dried spices, like cumin, in an oil before adding to the mixture.

Teresa, I find the taste of black-eyed peas somewhat similar to lentils, so it may just be that you don't like them period.

Must have been the week to make lentil soup. I made a pot, too.

Red lentils taste a lot less earthy to me. Here's a New York Times recipe I really like.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

I second what Christine said. If you want to acquire a taste for lentils, the red lentils are a good starting place. They are much lighter in flavor as well as color (the soup ends up being yellow, rather than orange or red) and I also suspect that they are lower in fiber content, as they feel less "solid" in the mouth.

Also, I have noted that in most cultures where lentils are consumed, some form of sour/acid flavoring agent is often added just before serving, which cuts that "muddy" flavor.

Some drizzle a bit of red wine vinegar and olive oil over the top of their lentil soup at table, some a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or a garnish of chopped cilantro. Indian dal (lentil) preparations almost always contain tamarind (a very sour, pulpy dried fruit that is either used as a concentrate paste or dissolved in the original cooking water), chopped tomatoes, grated fresh ginger/coconut, various sour/hot spice mixes or a combination of such ingredients.

If you haven't tossed your leftover soup yet, try using a bit of vinegar or lemon juice to brighten it a bit and see if that helps.

I will certainly give the soup a shot of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil, Rachelellen. I took my mom some of the soup, she says she loves lentil soup, but I'm sure not going to just toss the rest. I'll try it with the red wine vinegar too. I'm glad I didn't make a huge recipe.

I soak 2 cups dry lentils in salt water overnight, drain and then cook in slow cooker for 4 hours (sometimes more) with 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/4 to 1/2 cup dry sherry with 2-4 cups fresh water.
I rarely get a chance to add them to a recipe before my husband scoops bowl fulls out of the slow cooker. He loves them. I also enjoy them before as well as after I season them. I freeze and always have lentils ready to add to any recipe for enchiladas or pasta or curry or whatever. I think it may be an acquired taste but I make sure my lentils are well cooked.
FYI - I've heard they have more protein than any legume so I never feel the need to add any other protein source to the mixture.

Oh I love lentil soup, even hubby and little man love it. I use pretty much the same ingredients, chopped veggies and a bit of ham and a bay leaf. Cook in slow cooker until very soft. Fish out the ham and bay leaf then puree the whole thing. Slice up the ham, put a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (or sour cream) on top of the soup then top the sliced ham. Sprinkle some chopped fresh parsley. That way, the soup is more creamy than muddy. We love it. Al

I made a soup using brown lentils a few days ago. It had chicken stock, about a half cup of canned tomatoes, celery, onion, carrots, finely chopped lacinato kale and Indian spices. The flavor was good, and I didn't mind the greeny/brown color. What I wasn't happy with was that while all of the lentils were cooked enough, some lost their skins and I really didn't like the texture of the loose skins in the soup. I also had French green lentils, maybe those would have worked better. I cooked this in a regular pot. A few weeks ago I made a mixed bean soup in the pressure cooker and had the same problem. I pureed that one and it was fine. But I wanted this soup to have a variety of textures with the lentils and the veggies.

What should I have done?

Lee

Teresa,

Yesterday, I watched a re-run of Barefoot Contessa. She was fixing breakfast & lunch for her film maker friends. :)

Anywho, for lunch it was tuna rolls & lentil soup. While Ina was stirring the lentils she commented, "OK, now add a tablespoon of cumin. It helps bring out the EARTHY flavor of the lentils." And, I thought of this thread.

Sure enough...your soup had cumin.

Seems to me it might be a matter of personal interpretation whether a taste is "earthy" or "tastes like dirt" (as I believe Mary1000 posted on her lentil thread)! lol One could certainly make a case that they are one and the same?! ;)

Sooo, for those who don't like lentils...maybe, try them without cumin. Probably heresay to cumin lovers (sorta like cilantro?) but if one is determined to add the health benefits of lentils into one's diet & doesn't care for a helping of, shall we say, "soil"...it's worth a try. Go another route with the seasonings.

Pardon this interruption of your regularly scheduled programming...just my little brain needing to get rid of this thought before the hard drive crashes! (It's almost med time!)

/tricia

Funny, Tricia! I think I have decided to give the lentil soup a rest for now. I can use up my bag of lentils adding small amounts to the dog's food or adding some to mixed bean soup. If I'm out somewhere and see a good lentil soup, I might have a cup just to see if theirs is better. Maybe in the future I will try some of those lovely green or orange lentils and see if they taste less muddy. There are so many more soups in the universe to try after all!

Teresa

The orange ones are nicer. They are still like swallowing a methane bomb for me but the flavor is better.

Here, we use the green "Puy" lentils as a veggie. Cook in water, onion, garlic and ham for 40 mins. They do not disintegrate and shouldn't taste muddy. LOL THey're also delicious mixed half/half with couscous and made into taboulé.
The red are for soup as they do disintegrate.

The only time I soak lentils is when I cook them with rice as a side dish so they will get done at the same time as the rice. I saute chopped onions and garlic in olive oil, then add rice and lentils, spices and water or broth, cover and simmer until they're done.

This winter, I tried an unusual lentil soup with fruit. Even though it had the garlic and cumin, the flavor was delicate for a lentil soup.

LENTIL-APRICOT SOUP (6 Â 8 servings)

2 cups red lentils, rinsed and picked over
8 cups water or more (used part vegetable broth)
2 cups finely minced onion
2/3 cup 1/4" diced carrots
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. dried mustard
2 Tbs. minced garlic
1 cup minced dried apricots
1 1/2 to 2 tsp. salt or to taste
2 to 4 Tbs. balsalmic vinegar (or to taste)
Black and cayenne peppers to taste
Chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish

Put lentils and water or broth in a soup pot. Add the onions, carrot, mustard and 1 tsp. of salt. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the lentils are soft, adding more water if mixture seems too thick.

Add the garlic and apricots and simmer, covered, for an additional 15 minutes or so. Stir in the vinegar and peppers to taste and correct salt if needed.

I use this brand of beans and lentils to make soup. 4 parts chicken broth to one part beans. I usually use 2 cups of the bean mix and 8 cups of broth. I add celery, carrots, diced ham and shrimp. I also add in a tsp or so of liquid crab boil. Not pure lentil soup, but a close cousin.

Jo

That looks yummy, Jo! And I love Bob's products - I'll have to look for that, or maybe make my own similar mix.

Teresa

Teresa, if you like cilantro, try this red lentil soup. It's really delicious, and not muddy like brown lentil soup.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Lentil Soup with Lemon