Lebanese Lentil Soup Recipe (Shorbet Adas)
My authentic Lebanese lentil soup recipe is a creamy, satisfying soup made with healthy red lentils, characteristic Middle Eastern spices, lemon, aromatic vegetables, and extra rice for a hearty meal. It’s a delicious, one-pot spiced soup you can make in less than 40 minutes!
Similar to beloved Moroccan harira soup, Lebanese lentil soup, or shorbet adas, is commonly enjoyed in Lebanon during Ramadan to break fast.
This lentil soup recipe is made with red lentils. While creamy and rich in protein and fiber, they’re not too flavorful. So I give the broth plenty of love with authentic Middle Eastern 7 Spice, turmeric for the characteristic yellow color, some fresh lemon for acidity, and a couple of other seasonings to tie it all together.
I also add a helping of rice to my Lebanese lentil soup to make it even heartier — and even thicker if you purée it (I’ll get into that later!).
Table of Contents
This recipe can be enjoyed on its own (all that rice will certainly fill your stomach) or with pita or another bread of choice. Looking for something bulkier? Try this lentil soup recipe made with ground turkey and Indian spices!
Chunky or smooth
I love this soup! It is fantastic as is, just cooked and chunky, but I love it even more when pureed using my immersion blender. You could blitz it in your blender as well. Top it with fresh green onions and parsley, plus an additional lemon slice, and serve!
(Be sure to check the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and quantities)
- Dry Red Lentils – Red lentils, also known as “split” lentils, cook the fastest and have a soft, creamy texture. Yellow lentils are the next best choice.
- Onion & Garlic – It wouldn’t be a flavorful soup without this powerful duo!
- Short Grain White Rice – Any white rice can be used in my Lebanese lentil soup recipe. Don’t use brown rice — the lentils will become quite mushy by the time it’s finished cooking.
- Carrot – Just one of many vegetables you can add to Lebanese lentil soup. You can also throw in celery, potatoes, parsnips, spinach, or other hearty produce.
- Lebanese 7 Spice – While this Middle Eastern blend varies from region to region, this is my favorite combination of flavors. It’s much fresher and tastier than store-bought spice blends!
- Turmeric – This spice does add a sweet and earthy flavor, but I especially love it for the vivid yellow color it gives this lentil soup recipe.
- Vegetable Broth – You can use either broth or water.
- Lemon Juice – Add the juice of one lemon (roughly 2 to 3 tablespoons).
- Optional Garnishes – Finely chopped green onions and parsley on top add some final color, flavor, and dimension.
- Cook the Onions & Garlic. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and soften for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for a minute longer.
- Cook the Rice, Lentils, & Carrots. Add the rice, lentils, and diced carrot to the pot along with the Lebanese Seven Spice, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant.
- Simmer. Pour the broth (or water) into the pot and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes or until the rice and lentils are both fully cooked.
- Add Lemon Juice & Serve. Pour the fresh lemon juice into the pot and stir. Serve as-is (for a loose, brothy Lebanese lentil soup), or use an immersion blender to pulse until it’s as creamy as desired. Garnish shorbet adas with fresh green onions and parsley, plus an additional lemon slice, and serve while warm.
Recommended Tools
- Citrus Juicer – Freshly squeezed juice is always better than the artificial, bottled stuff! A good juicer will help you get the most out of your limes, lemons, and oranges.
- Dutch Oven – When it comes to making soups and stews, the Dutch oven is my go-to. It retains heat well and its wide, heavy bottom is perfect for simmering.
Storing and Reheating
Don’t prepare my Lebanese lentil soup recipe too far in advance or the rice may become mushy. To make it ahead of time, cook the rice separately and stir it in just before serving.
Allow any leftovers to cool before transferring to an airtight container. Refrigerate for one week or freeze for up to 3 months! To reheat, return to the stovetop and stir until warmed through.
A rinse is never a bad idea to remove any debris, dust, or other undesirables from your lentils. However, they do not need to soak — a quick rinse and strain are sufficient.
This is a natural result of boiling a starchy ingredient. All lentils contain varying amounts of starch (with red lentils coming in pretty high on that list) and so will release a soap-like substance while the saponins (a complicated-sounding compound that is actually very good for you!) in the legume absorb water and lather, releasing the foam.
Just skim it off, and your shorbet adas is good as new!
Dal is the Hindi word for lentil and refers to a soup made with pulses (the seed of the legume plant — lentils, beans, peas, etc.). In Indian cuisine, dal usually refers to a thicker, curry-like soup (see this dal tadka recipe for an example) compared to this Lebanese lentil soup recipe, which is loose and brothy with of course, different Middle Eastern spices.
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Lebanese Lentil Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups dry red lentils
- 1/2 cup short grain white rice
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 tsp Lebanese 7 spice
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 8 cups water or vegetable broth
- 1 lemon juice
Garnish
- 2 green onions chopped fine
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook onions, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook another minute.
- Stir in the lentils, rice, carrot, Lebanese Seven Spice blend, turmeric, salt and pepper, and cook until the spices are fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add 8 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and cook covered until the rice and lentils are fully cooked, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the lemon juice. Serve whole or using an immersion blender, pulse a few times for desired consistency. Garnish with green onions, parsley, lemon slice and serve warm with pita or bread of choice.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Received your email 16.28 by 17.30 two bowls of steaming delicious soup we’re on the table.
Thank you 🤩
Love it! Thanks so much for letting me know Ivan. Enjoy!
Another delicious one I’m keeping.
So glad you enjoyed this one and thanks for coming back to let me know Arturo!
This is one of those recipes that’s too easy and so, so good! My family loves this one.
Thanks for coming back to let me know Natalie!
This is my go to when I need a comfort food soup, thanks so much!
One of my all-time favs, too!
Kevin, would it be possible to have the headings of your wonderful recipes not so “ink heavy”. It looks great, but is really greedy for ink. thanks, Betsy
Check it out Betsy, I think I fixed it!