Greek lentil soup — or "fakes" in Greek (pronounced fah-khes) — is a traditional Greek vegan soup served with red wine vinegar.

It's simple to prepare and makes a perfect quick lunch. Serve it with some salty olives and make sure you have plenty of bread to make it a complete Greek meal.

Recipe Features

Once you get over the pronunciation 😲 (a bi-lingual joke that one!) Greek lentil soup is as simple as it gets.

It's a humble offering borne from times of poverty when meat was hard to come by. Lentils are a perfect substitute, providing energy and sustenance.

Adding red wine vinegar is optional; however, it does provide a tangy hit of extra flavour.

Traditionally, this soup is served with olives and sometimes cured herring and slices of raw onion. These simple side dishes add to the whole experience.

Trust me on this!

Related: Try my lentil and chickpea soup for something different

Ingredients

These are the ingredients for the basic recipe:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

250 grams brown lentils, rinsed and washed off any debris

250 ml tomatoes (puréed/grated/canned)

1-litre water (can substitute with stock)

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

red wine vinegar, to serve

olives, to serve

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions, carrot and celery and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and stir again. Add the lentils, stir, followed by the water, tomatoes and bay leaves. Let the lentil soup come to a boil on medium-high heat — skim off any impurities that rise to the top — and then bring it down to a simmer. Allow the soup to cook for 45 mins. Serve the fakes with red wine vinegar sprinkled on each serving, a side of olives and bread.

Tips and Variations

Consider this recipe as a base. You can add a variety of extra flavours as follows.

Use brown lentils. Don't use the red variety as they will get mushy. If you're short on time, canned lentils work a treat too! Cook for 15-20 mins.

Replace the water with vegetable or chicken stock. Will add a deeper flavour to the fakes.

Herbs and spices — add a teaspoon of cumin for extra "oomph" — it pairs beautifully with this soup. Likewise, consider adding some chilli for spice. Rosemary and Greek oregano also work wonders.

If you want to get "extra fancy", drizzle a little truffle oil over the soup, just as you serve it.

Related Recipes

If you love your lentils here are a few other recipes I have on my recipe site :

Video - watch how to make it

📋 Recipe