Hearty Lentil Sausage Soup Recipe

This hearty lentil sausage soup simmers humble ingredients into something extraordinary. Smoky sausage, earthy lentils, and fresh vegetables meld together in a savory broth that’s both satisfying and simple to prepare on your stovetop.

Did you know that lentils are a great source of protein and fiber? That combination guarantees that one bowl will keep you full for hours. Lentils are also budget-friendly so making up a big pot of soup won’t break the bank. Best of all, our stovetop lentil sausage soup recipe is so adaptable. We’ll give you some options so you can make it your own.

I didn’t grow up eating lentils but we sure enjoy them now. Besides being nutritious, it’s easy enough to make for a beginner cook. Our sausage and lentil soup is a one-pot recipe making cleanup a breeze too. This soup strikes that perfect balance between being nourishing, delicious, and practical for everyday cooking.

What are lentils?

Lentils are small, lens-shaped legumes that come in various colors including brown, green, red, yellow, and black. They’re packed with protein, fiber, and nutrients, making them a staple food in many cuisines around the world. For more information consult A Comprehensive Guide to Lentils.

Ingredients, Variations, and Substitutions

All of the ingredients are listed on the recipe, but I wanted to share a couple of important notes here.

We chose green lentils. Like the brown lentils, they have a mild earthy flavor that take on the flavors of what they’re cooked with. They maintain their shape better, making them perfect for dishes where you want the lentils to remain distinct. Red, yellow, and orange lentils have a sweet nuttier flavor and tend to break down more.

Stock or broth is what flavors our soup. We recommend vegetable or chicken stock. Purchased or homemade.

Ground sausage added a delicious savory element to our soup. You can get it mild, or spicy. You could also use chorizo or Italian sausage but we don’t recommend breakfast sausage. It is spiced differently and isn’t our choice for lentil and sausage soup. Ground hamburger or lamb would be great options too.

Using fresh spices is key for making a delicious lentil soup with sausage. We chose to roast our own fennel, cumin, and coriander seeds and then ground them in a spice or coffee grinder. You can use ground spices for convenience. Other recommendations include smoked paprika, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and rosemary. For heat crushed red pepper is delicious.

How to Make Sausage Lentil Soup

The lentils in this recipe don’t need to be soaked or pre-cooked. It’s important to rinse and sort them, however. Lentils can have pebbles or debris mixed with them. Rinsing and sorting them will prevent any of this from getting into your soup.

We usually use two pots to get everything done quickly. However, you could do everything in one pot.

Skillet

Cook your sausage in a skillet. Remove from the pan and drain it on a paper towel or coffee filter. You want to leave enough grease in the pan to cover the bottom. If you don’t have enough, add olive or vegetable oil. Add the lentils, saute them for a couple of minutes, and then remove them from the skillet.

Saute the vegetables in the skillet after removing the lentils.

Soup Pot

Add the broth, spices, bay leaf, and the lentils to a stock pot or Dutch oven. Bring it to a boil and then turn it to a simmer. When cooked, lightly mash the lentils to thicken the soup. Add the vegetables and the sausage. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish if desired. Our suggestions would be cilantro or parsley, a dollop of sour cream or yogurt is delicious too.

How to Serve

A good loaf of crusty bread to soak up that broth and a light salad are our recommendations. A red wine such as a syrah would pair nicely as well.

Hostess Tips

There are a couple of steps that I took that are optional.

I roasted and ground my own spices. You can use pre-ground.

I used an immersion blender to lightly blend the lentils before combining the vegetables and spices. It thickens the soup. You can also do this with a potato masher or skip it altogether. See the spoon picture.

You can use a spicier sausage or crushed red pepper to kick it up a notch.

You can drain ground meat in a doubled layer of coffee filters set in a bowl. Then just pick up the edges and dump the meat into the pot.

Related Recipes

If you’re a lentil fan or want to try them, check out our Lentil Chili recipe too. If you’re searching for the classic, take a look at our 13 Bean Soup with Ham, Beef Vegetable Soup (no tomatoes), and this Hamburger Soup. They’re our most popular soup recipes.

I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe as much as we do. Drop me a comment below, and don’t forget to give it a star rating. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Your comments and ratings help others decide if this recipe is for them too.

Lentil Sausage Soup

Author: Hostess At Heart

This Savory Lentil Sausage Soup is a tasty, high-protein recipe. It takes less than an hour to make but tastes like it cooked all day.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword: Lentil Sausage Soup, Lentil Soup

Servings: 12

Equipment

• 6 Qt Dutch Oven
• 12″ Skillet

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 1 1/2 cups lentils I used organic green
• 6 to 8 cups of stock vegetable, turkey, chicken.
• 1 lb ground sausage I used medium spice
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 4 carrots sliced thinly
• 4 stalks of celery sliced thinly
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 tbsp cumin seed*
• 1 tsp coriander seed*
• 1 tsp fennel seed*
• 1 bay leaf
• Crushed red pepper optional
• Olive or Canola oil
• salt and pepper
• Garnishes chopped cilantro yogurt, diced avocado, fresh tomatoes as desired

Instructions

 

• Rinse lentils in a fine mesh strainer and drain.
• Brown sausage in a skillet drizzled with olive or canola oil. Remove sausage to a **paper towel to drain, but leave drippings in the pan.
• Saute lentils in the sausage drippings for a couple of minutes. Remove them to a 6-quart saucepan.
• Combine lentils with 6 cups of stock and add bay leaf. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Cover and allow reduce to a simmer for 40 minutes.
• While lentils cook, In the skillet that sausage cooked in, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of olive or canola oil if no drippings remain. Add Carrots, celery, and onion. Salt and pepper. Saute until they begin to soften.
• In a small pan, roast fennel, cumin, and coriander seed until fragrant. Grind in a spice or coffee grinder.
• Add spices, crushed red pepper, if using, and garlic to sauteed vegetables. Cook for another minute.
• Using an immersion blender, blend lentils lightly. You still want whole lentils visible. Blending thickens the soup.
• Combine sausage and vegetables with lentils. Cover with additional stock to get the desired thickness. Salt and pepper to taste. Heat through. Remove bay leaf.
• Serve with chopped cilantro and a dollop of yogurt and other garnishes as desired.

Notes

Ground spices can be used instead of roasting and grinding your own seeds.
*A coffee filter works great to drain ground meat.

Nutrition

Calories: 217kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 12gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 268mgPotassium: 444mgFiber: 8gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 3500IUVitamin C: 3.8mgCalcium: 40mgIron: 2.7mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.

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This Lentil Sausage recipe was first released on January 7, 2016. It has been updated to improve our readers’ experience. We added simple details and new images. No changes were made to the actual recipe.