Hey everyone,

Question for you! I just made lentil soup for the first time and it was amaaaaaazing! Right before I dug in though, I checked out the nutrition label. The calorie content is pretty high!

I know that calories are calories and you can technically gain weight by eating an excess of whole foods too. BUT are lentils okay sometimes? I imagine they won't be my biggest weight loss hurdle, compared to what I used to eat!

Thanks so much! And I would have included the recipe link but I'm still too new for links! Just google "greek feta lentil soup" and it should come up from theperfectpantry.

Thanks!

-Sarah

I don't think lentils are the problem, it must be whatever else is in that soup... (I didn't google the recipe).

I just made my first lentil soup this week, too. But the soup was incredibly low calorie. It had a cup of lentils in the whole soup; a cup of lentils has 230 calories and I got 8 servings out of the soup. So... the lentils contributed 29 calories per bowl. The other ingredients were vegetable broth, spices, onion, garlic, and celery.

Good to know!

The only other ingredients were chicken broth, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, a pepper, an onion and spices (and some feta, for fun!)

It was the writing on the lentil pack itself that startled me. It said 340 calories for 1.5 cups of lentils. But, your response helped!

Thank you It was so delicious...you would have broken my heart if you'd said otherwise!! :P

My soup was so delicious, too. Funny that we both made our first lentil soups this week! LOL I'm on a kick to try out a lot of the different beans in the bulk bins...

I think a cup of dried lentils has about 600 calories. But 1 cup dried goes a long way. If you used pre-cooked lentils than the 230 calories a cup is correct.

I love lentils and beans and eat them regularly. Try some of the different colors! Red lentils make a great soup with carrots and sweet potatoes, although, alas, they lose their color when cooked.

Newleaf - if you are working your way through the bulk bean bins, google Becky and the Beanstock. She has not updated the recipes in years, but has loads of recipes exploring all sorts of beans.

This one is my favorite: Hutterite Bean Soup. I had Hutterite beans from a lady at the farmer's market, but I think it would work with any white bean.

Mm. In fact, I think I know what I'm making for lunch next week!

I've been meaning to try lentils again, but I had a bad experience putting them in chili. And yes, I felt like they were from ****! They sure made me feel like it! lol

Lentils have lots of fiber and are pretty filling. You'd rarely be eating 1 cup of cooked lentils but if you did, it'd be a pretty hearty meal.

They're dense - unless you're a die-hard clean plate club member, as long as you make a reasonably sized bowl of the soup, you'll probably feel full for a while!

Thank you! And @newleaf, haha to the week of lentil soup! And @mnemosyne, that's a great website! Thank you!

I have to be careful with lentils, dried beans and split peas, because I can overeat them (just as I can overeat just about any starchy veggie, even one so high in fiber and protein).

That doesn't mean they're the devil, it just means I can't see them as an "all-I-want-to-eat" food (but there aren't many foods other than iceberg lettuce that fits that description anyway).

I have learned to make my soups thinner though (my grandmother's split pea soup recipe was so thick it almost looked like green mashed potatoes).

My absolute favorite lentil to use is the tiny orange variety. I also love using yellow split peas. I actually like that the lentils fall apart into mush (but this also makes them higher glycemic, which is probably why I find them so addictive). If you don't cook the lentils that long, they're actually lower glycemic and therefore filling longer.

Lentils -- a mix of protein and carbs, "high" calorie? yes but full of fiber too. Just like any food youll need to watch the amounts. Personally I can pack away a full cup of dal easily, so just be careful with lentils (and beans). In soup its not so bad. Id be more worried about the feta.

if you can find the little green french lentils, they make a lovely lentil salad - they don't turn to mush as easily as the brown or yellow lentils. also, if you have an Indian grocery store near you, go check it out - the widest variety of lentils and other legumes I've ever seen, and the best prices, too