I’ve never written a recipe before, so please be forgiving as I share these instructions. I make this lentil stew dish about once per week and it takes no time at all. I have served it to all three sets of grandparents and they all (claimed to) like it. Plus, I started giving it to my daughter when she was about 10 months old and she loved it. It’s packed with nutrition, so while eating a tomato soup-based lentil stew with one’s chubby little fingers is disgusting and messy, I can’t complain.
All of my ingredients are from Trader Joe’s. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s, you might have to cook your own lentils in which case, 90% of the convenience of this recipe is gone. But, for you Trader Joe’s shoppers, here are the details for my favorite Easy Lentil Stew:
Ingredients:
+ Half a box of Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup
+ One package of pre-cooked steamed lentils (found in the refrigerated section near the pre-cut veggies)
+ 1 tsp cumin
+ sweet potato chunks (optional)
Excuse the appearance of the sweet potato. I guess I only washed half of it.
If you are adding sweet potato, dice about 3/4 cupful and place in a microwavable container such as a pyrex measuring cup. Cover with water and microwave for 4 minutes. Drain and set aside. (I leave the skin on but I am kinda crunchy that way.)
Empty contents of lentil package into a medium-sized pot. Shake container of soup and pour over lentils until covered. Heat with medium fire, stirring occasionally.
Add cumin. Add sweet potato (or don’t). Cook until heated all the way through.
Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan and some seeded crackers.
This simple lentil stew stores easily in the fridge and is a great way to entertain a friend for lunch or to feed yourself a dinner more nutritious than cereal for two nights when your partner is out of town.
Kid-friendly? You tell me. I have one who will eat a man-sized portion and another who wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.
I’m all for TJ’s recipes. And lentils. And that looks like a yummy quick meal. Thanks for sharing!
This is exactly the kind of recipe I need for actually “making” soup (a task always on my mental list). And I was just wondering what to do with leftover Easter ham and my mom suggested lentil soup, which sounded too hard to me. Who knew TJs had pre-cooked lentils??? (Have you considered writing a book of recipes using prepared ingredients like this?)
Making it right now!!
@Kerry, There is already a great cookbook about easy peasy Trader Joe’s recipes called Cooking with All Things Trader Joes. We also made a Rookie Mom’s Tastebook including recipes that only take one hand.
@Whitney I made it and ate it up. Holden made me strain out the lentils and Milo wouldn’t touch it. Oh well. I have a few lunches ready to go.
Yum!!! I made this for lunch today, and it’s so good…and my 20 month old loved it as well. She ate one serving (we just ate it like soup), and then held up her bowl saying “More! More!”
The only thing I did differently from your recipe is that I threw a bunch of tofu into it as I cooked it just because I had it on hand and figured it would give it even more yummy, nutritious wonderfulness.
Thanks for the recipe!
This looks great. A couple of notes: Cooking dry lentils usually doesn’t take more than 20-30 minutes or so (mostly simmering), and don’t need to be pre-soaked like most other beans (http://homecooking.about.com/od/howtocookvegetables/a/lentiltips.htm). I was wondering if this might make a quick & easy crockpot recipe, with some tomato chunks, and adding the potato & maybe some other veg uncooked….. Might have to try that (I love my crockpot!). 🙂
I going to try this. I didn’t know TJs had precooked lentils!
Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils are definitely one of my very favorite TJ’s items. I am on the hunt to learn how to make these “steamed” lentils as I’d like to not have to rely on running to TJ’s each time I need them. Have you tried it?
This is such a great recipe! I make it often, and occasionally add more of the cumin and tomato soup, as well as butternut squash and kale. Thanks for the inspiration!
This sounds great. I am pretty obsessed with TJ’s tomato and roasted red pepper soup – yum! I was so excited to find what looks to be the same thing at Aldi and I can’t wait to try it out. I’ve never seen the pre-cooked lentils at TJs but I have a bunch in my freezer because I always seem to make too much for a recipe. This looks delicious, thanks!
OMG! I just looked in my cupboard and saw the soup, knew I had the lentils, and wished for a recipe. Googled, and voila! there you were with this recipe. I don’t have the sweet potatoes, so I’m going to throw in some carrots…
OK, I’m done, and along with the carrots, I sauteed a rib of celery, added the whole container of soup, and along with the cumin, About a TBL of Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning, and about ½ packet of Goya ham flavor seasoning. Thanks for getting me started, and this is so easy!! Believe me, I am NO cook.