I Tried Joni Mitchell’s Favorite Soup, and It’s So Good I’d Eat It for Breakfast

It turns out that I have something in common with Joni Mitchell. It’s that I could eat soup for breakfast, too.

Granted, her breakfast in her younger years of musician fame usually came around lunch time. Mine is 6 a.m., but that’s beside the point. According to a story in The Guardian, Mitchell used to be a regular at the Daily Grill in Los Angeles. And she often enjoyed a late breakfast that began with lentil soup.

This all sounds delicious to me, so I was eager to make the dish.

How To Make Joni Mitchell’s Favorite Lentil Soup

In the story, The Guardian provided a recipe similar to the soup that Mitchell would have ordered. This particular soup is made by sautéing onion and garlic in some butter. Once both are soft, a bit of tomato purée and paprika is added—followed by red lentils, some bulgur, and chicken stock. The soup is left to simmer until the lentils are completely soft, then the soup is puréed until creamy and smooth. It’s served with chili flakes, a bit of dried mint, and fresh lemon juice. 

I decided to cook the tomato purée a bit longer than the two minutes suggested in the recipe. I knew that doing so would add a sweeter tomato flavor and a nice balance to the earthy lentils. I used chicken broth instead of stock because that’s what I had on hand and when the lentils were completely soft, I used my immersion blender to process everything until it was smooth. I also had some fresh mint so I used that in place of the dried and finished the soup with a healthy squeeze of lemon juice.

The results were delicious. Even though the soup only simmers for 30 minutes, it’s enough to develop plenty of flavor. I enjoyed the warm undertones, created from cooking the paprika and tomato purée in butter. The lemon juice and mint were the perfect finishing touches, adding bright acidity and a touch of fresh sweetness to what could’ve been a rather earthy soup.

Bottom line: I’d absolutely make this dish again. In fact, there’s a similar soup already on our site that I’m sure will be just as tasty and I’m going to try next.