How To Choose The Best Lentils For Your Soup

Beyond being an affordable pantry ingredient, lentils are extremely nutritious, versatile, and an especially good addition to a hearty soup. They're pulses, which are the edible seeds of legumes. There are a number of different varieties and each looks and tastes unique, but all of them are great at soaking up the flavors of aromatic broths. Red, brown, green, or black, pretty much any type of lentil can be used for soup but knowing which to choose will give you more control over the taste and texture of your finished dish.

One of the best reasons to keep dried lentils in your pantry is that they cook up very fast. The fastest cooking time goes to the red lentil, which also easily breaks down into soups and stews. This makes red lentils the ideal candidate for thickening and creating a smoother texture. The other types of lentils take a little longer to cook but hold their shape better. The reason is that red lentils actually start out as green or brown lentils but then are hulled and split, so they don't have their protective shell and consequently break down easier. Another time saver is not having to soak lentils like you would beans; you can simply rinse and check them for stones or other debris prior to cooking. And if you can't be bothered to sort through and cook them dry, canned lentils are comparable in flavor and conveniently require less prep time.

Because each lentil variety has slightly different characteristics, your soup will vary in flavor and consistency depending on which kind you use. Brown lentils are some of the most commonly found in supermarkets and have a mildly nutty taste and a creamy texture. They're often used as a meat substitute for ground beef because of their color and texture. Brown lentils will hold their shape at first but are versatile because if you let them go past being cooked through, they will begin to disintegrate into the soup or stew.

Lentilles du Puy are a variety of green lentil from France. They are grown in the Puy region, which has a specific terroir and is regulated by the government. They are prized for their mineral and pepper flavor and have a thicker skin which means they will hold their shape very well.

Black lentils are also referred to as beluga because of their lustrous resemblance to beluga caviar. Aside from their unique appearance, black lentils are known for their robust texture and earthiness that sets them apart from other lentils.

Lentils should be a staple in your pantry because they're inexpensive and couldn't be easier to cook. Just make sure you're choosing the legumes based on texture and flavor (since they break down to varying degrees) so you wind up with your ideal batch.