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.

What is Lebanese Lemon Lentil Soup?

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 or Ramadan. It contains brown (green) lentils, potatoes, silverbeet (swiss chard), onions, and ample coriander (cilantro) all chopped up and cooked in a lemony broth.

😋Why you’ll love this recipe

• 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!)

🥘 Ingredient Notes

Lentils either dry 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, rinse and drain prior to using. You should also check out my rishta bil adas soup, which also features lentils.

Potatoes - help to thicken this vegan lemon lentil soup. Dice potatoes evenly. 

Got excess potatoes to use? Try making my potato 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. You might also be interested in these Swiss chard vegan gluten free recipes.

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 as a little goes a long way.

🔪Step-By-Step Guide 

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.

🍳Variations

Silverbeet (Swiss chard) can be replaced with spinach if you can’t obtain silverbeet.

Sometimes I like to add a pinch of baharat which is made of 7 spices to my adas bi hamod.

❓FAQ

🍴Serving suggestions

This Lebanese lemon lentil soup can be enjoyed as a meal in itself or with freshly made bread.

Either way, serve it with extra lemon wedges for allowing people to add extra lemon.

🥘Related recipes

Lentils are a highly prized food and there is another Lebanese soup with them however the flavor profile is different using red lentils.

Other Lebanese lentil recipes worth checking out include; mujadarat riz (lentils and rice), lentils and burghul, or green lentil porridge.

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.