Lebanese Lemon Lentil Soup (Adas Bi Hamod)
A warming Lebanese lemon lentil soup (adas bi hamod) made with lentils and silverbeet in a lemony broth. This is a vegan and gluten-free soup.
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Lebanese lemon lentil soup is known as “adas bi hamod” or “3adas bi hamod” which translates to ‘lentils in lemon’ or ‘lentils in sour’.
Adas bi hamod is pronounced as ah·dass bee·ha·mod in English.
It is naturally a vegan soup and is super popular during Lent. It contains brown (green) lentils, potatoes, silverbeet (swiss chard), onions, and ample coriander (cilantro) all chopped up and cooked in a lemony broth.
- It’s warming, wholesome, and filled with whole foods (minus the oil)
- Easy to cook using easy ingredients
- Can be made ahead and reheated as needed
- A vegan and gluten-free soup, can be easily adapted to be oil-free
- Adults and kids love it
- Great for Ramadan and Lent (the perfect lenten soup!)
Notes on some of the ingredients, the full list of ingredients and their measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Lentils either dry (affiliate link) or canned can be used, you can use brown or green lentils. Be sure to drain them before adding them to this soup.
If using dry, you will need to sort them out first, rinse and then cook them prior to adding to the soup or cook the soup for longer until they are tender. It’s fairly easy.
If using canned, use organic lentils where possible.
Potatoes - help to thicken this vegan lemon lentil soup. Dice potatoes evenly.
Got excess potatoes? Try making my vegan potato and leek soup.
Silverbeet, aka, swiss chard can be any type - large or rainbow. I’ve used both, they are equally delicious.
Slice silverbeet into bite-sized pieces. Use both the stalk and the leaves.
N.B., rainbow chard will turn this adas bi hamod soup a lightish deep pink.
Onion with white or brown onion will work well. Dice up small.
Garlic is a key flavor, you can add more if you’re a garlic lover. Garlic can be crushed or thinly sliced.
Coriander aka cilantro is another key flavoring, feel free to add more if you like. Finely chop up the coriander leaves and stalks.
Olive oil can be swapped out with avocado oil if you prefer, or leave it out completely and use water to sweat onions.
Lemon juice should be freshly squeezed it is one of the main flavorings of this.
Salt my go-to is Himalayan salt (affiliate link) as a little goes a long way and it has many health benefits too.
Step 1 Over medium heat, in a stockpot, add olive and onion and sweat until softened. Add in garlic and lentils, and stir for about a minute.
Step 2 Add potatoes, water and salt, and stir through. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes to allow the potatoes to soften.
Step 3 Add silverbeet (swiss chard) and coriander (cilantro), turn heat to a low-medium and cook for about 20 minutes.
Step 4 Turn off heat and stir through lemon juice. Serve warm.
Using canned lentils speeds up the cooking process, which in turn helps the vegetables to retain more nutrients as they are cooked for less.
Bunches of silverbeet (chard) can vary in size, hence you may need to adjust the amount of water by ½ a cup or so at a time. If adjusting, do a taste test and adjust the salt and lemon too.
It is also worth noting that once cooked, silverbeet will wilt to a fraction of what it used to be in its fresh form.
Storage - once the soup is completely cooled, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. Or, freeze it in an airtight container for up to three months.
Silverbeet (Swiss chard) can be replaced with spinach if you can’t obtain silverbeet.
Sometimes I like to add a pinch of Lebanese 7 spice to my adas bi hamod.
If you are using canned lentils, the answer is no. If you are using dried brown/green lentils, it is optional to soak the lentils once you have sorted them out - this will quicken the soup cooking process.
Sele2 or selek is the Arabic word for the leafy green vegetable known as swiss Chard or silverbeet. When cooked sele2 takes on the flavors of the ingredients it is generally cooked in, it is a mildly sweet subtle flavor.
This Lebanese lemon lentil soup can be enjoyed as a meal in itself or with freshly made dinner rolls or damper or as a starter.
Either way, serve it with extra lemon wedges for allowing people to add extra lemon.
Lentils are a highly prized food within the Lebanese diet. We have so many lentil recipes try my Super popular Lebanese lentil soup a completely different flavor profile using red lentils.
Also, it’s worth noting that silverbeet (selek or sele2) in Arabic, is also a widely used vegetable, check out my vegan Lebanese stuffed silverbeet leaves or black-eyed beans with silverbeet.
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Lebanese Lemon Lentil Soup (Adas Bi Hamod)
Recipe details
- 8 servings
- Prep time: 15 Minutes Cook time: 30 Minutes Total time: 45 min
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