While soup is a favorite among adults, kids can sometimes be a harder sell. My 5 minute soup recipe, discovered one night when I needed food on the table with no dinner plan, has become a staple in our family. Adults love it, but it is a great soup for kids, and the 5 minute prep time makes it a winner.
Helpful Hint When Soup Cooking
Below you will find a list of ingredients and directions for the fastest easiest soup your kids will love.
I included exact amounts, but feel free to be flexible! If you have slightly different sized bags for the frozen vegetables, it is fine. I buy different brands sometimes, and have also thrown in 2 bags of cauliflower to the one bag of carrots on occasion.
It always comes out amazing, so don’t stress.
If you are nervous to experiment and veer off recipe, but have always wanted to try, soup is the place to start. I have made so many adaptations on this soup depending on my mood or what I have in the house.
For printable recipe card scroll to the bottom of article
The Five Minute Soup Recipe
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, or olive oil spray
2 onions, diced
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 bag frozen cauliflower (680grams)
1 bag frozen carrots (700grams)
1 tablespoon Salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp – 1 tsp. curry (the taste is very mild and I have never had a picky eater turn it down, but if you are worried start with 1/2 a teaspoon first)
Directions
- Dice onions and set aside
- Add Tablespoon of olive oil to 5L pot or use cooking spray. Heat on Medium/high
- Once oil is heated add onions and lower temperature to Medium heat. Keep pot cover partially on and stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Rinse the one cup of red lentils. Once the onions have softened add the lentils to the pot and stir together with the onions.
- Add the frozen carrots and the frozen cauliflower to the pot.
- Add water but not to cover. Allow approximately 1 inch of frozen vegetables to stick out above the water line. Add spices.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes
- Use an immersion blender until soup is well blended
Planning Ahead For An Off-Plan Day
I try to always keep one bag of frozen carrots and one bag of frozen cauliflower in my freezer. Onions and lentils I generally always have. You can even keep pre-diced frozen onions to store for a soup that takes even less than five minutes to prep!
Although I usually plan my dinners out ahead of time, there are days that don’t go according to plan. Life happens. Having those ingredients on hand means I can have dinner prepped in minutes and table ready within 35 minutes.
I can walk in the door, prep the soup, prepare a salad while the soup is simmering and serve with a nice crusty bread.
A great recipe to have in your arsenal when you are out of time, or just because it tastes that good.
Hacks, Tips & Tricks
The Speeding Up Cooking Time Hack
When you have a bunch of hungry kids waiting for the dinner you haven’t even thought of, every minute counts.
I usually fill the kettle with water and put it on to boil before I even start the soup. That way instead of filling the pot with water after I have sautéed the onions, and added the lentils and vegetables, I just add the already boiled water. Not having to wait for the soup to boil up is definitely a time saver.
Although we officially call this Five Minute Soup in our family, I do make this sometimes when I am not in a rush! When dinners are planned ahead and this soup is on the menu, I save money by cutting up fresh vegetables instead of using the frozen bags.
Adding Protein To Dinner
When I serve the soup and bread for dinner I like to make a greek salad on the side. The feta cheese is a nice way to add in protein. My favorite salad dressing is an old recipe from allrecipes.com that I have been making for over a decade. If you want the recipe you can get it here.
Turning Soup For Kids Into Soup For Picky Adults
My dad is not a fan of blended soup. When he was here visiting, I made this soup but added diced celery and butternut squash. I did use the immersion blender, but just a quick burst or two. This gave the soup a thick instead of watery base, but left lots of chunky vegetables.
Because there are no potatoes in this soup, it is lower carb than many other recipes out there. To bring down the carb content even more replace the carrots with pumpkin.
The chunky vegetables changes this from just a soup for kids to a more gourmet looking soup. Most of my kids will eat it this way too, but for those picky eaters the original recipe is the way to go.
Five Minute Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil or olive oil spray
- 2 onions diced
- 1 cup red lentils rinsed
- 1 680 gram bag frozen cauliflower can be approximate amount
- 1 700 gram bag frozen carrots can be approximate amount
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp curry if you want more mild taste use 1/2 tsp
- 1 pinch pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel and dice onions and set aside
- Add olive oil to 5L pot or use cooking spray
- Heat on medium/high. Once oil is heated add onions and lower temperature to medium heat. Keep pot partially covered and stir occasionally to keep from burning
- Rinse the lentils. Once the onions have softened, add the lentils to the pot and stir
- Add the frozen carrots and frozen cauliflower to the pot. Add water but not to cover. Allow approximately 1 inch of frozen vegetables to stick out above the water line.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and add spices. Simmer for 30 minutes. Allow soup to cool. Use an immersion blender until soup is well blended. Reheat and serve
I just made the 5 minute soup! We loved it! So easy, yes, it literally took 5 minutes! Definitely a winner! Thanks so much.
This soup is ridiculously delicious and actually took 5 min to make!!! Thank you!!
This was as easy and delicious as promised! An instant hit by everyone in the family which in and of itself is an absolute miracle!
This soup was so yummy!! Had it a party and someone shared the recipe Tastes sooo good! And super easy!