Hearty Lentil Sausage Soup Recipe
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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
While you’ll find the full ingredient list in the recipe card below, I wanted to highlight a few important ingredients:
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.
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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
Equipment
Ingredients
- 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
*A coffee filter works great to drain ground meat.
Nutrition
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.
This looks so good! I love the spices in it. Also, that tip about draining your meat in a coffee filter is great. Thank you for sharing it and the yummy soup. Pinning this!
Thank you Shari! Thought about you this week when I was formulating a new recipe. I failed. Enjoy your weekend!
This is just stunning Julie!! What a hearty and delicious soup.. so healthy too!! LOVE it..Pinning!
Thanks for linking up at #SaucySaturdays
Thank you so much! The more I use lentils, the more I just love them….and Saucy Saturdays!
What a hearty, protein packed soup! I will have it without the sausage, of course!
Thank you! It would be perfectly delicious without the sausage. Have a wonderful day!
I love lentil soup, and adding sausage must just take it to another level! I WILL be making this soon 🙂
Thank you Sarah! I hope you will let me know how it comes out. I really enjoyed it.
Oooh yummy sounding soup Julie. Yes it got very cold here today and we got our first bit of snow. You pics look awesome.Thanks for joining us at Throwback Thursday. Can’t wait to see what you bring to the party this week. ~Quinn
Thank you Quinn! This was a delicious soup and did a good job of warming my bones. Thank you for the nice comments on my photos, always working on learning more. We are in a cold snap right now and I don’t intend on going anywhere if I don’t have too. Have a wonderful week!
I need some of your soup right now. The wind is hollowing and it is getting very cold.
Sorry Quinn, I think we sent that weather but not all of it. Minus 7 right now and the sun isn’t down. Not doing a very good job either! This soup would warm your bones! Throw it in the crock pot.
Yeah we are not that bad and it is supposed to warm up in a few days. Creamy Chicken Barley Stew in the crock pot right now. Stay warm. :))))
That sounds amazing Quinn!
Your Lentil Sausage Soup sounds great, Julie! I love lentil soup and like to make it during the winter months, but I’ve never added sausage to it–sounds like a great idea!
Thank you Nancy! I really enjoyed this soup and even though it took forever to try lentils, I’m very glad that I have.
IT’s getting really frosty in Vancouver so I’m totally looking for new recipes to try! I’ve never tried lentils before but I’m excited to try it out! Thanks for sharing Julie! Happy FF
I hope you will try them Cynthia! They are delicious and I think take on the flavor of the dish that you are making. Thank you and I hope you are enjoying your weekend!
What more comforting dish during cold seasons than a warm soup? This looks so delicious, Julie. I will get a bowl now and enjoy this. And oh, can I come back for a second round? 😀 Happy FF101 and enjoy your weekend. xx
Thank you Jhuls so much, I appreciate your kind words and help hosting these FF party goers!
You are so right about January being soup month! This year, we have barely experienced winter until it suddenly showed up in the last week of Dec 😀 This lentil soup looks perfect to cozy up with right now!
Thank you! Winter has definitely hit us, and this soup is helping warm those bones.
Looks delicious Julie and I’m all about the soups right now. It’s just so comforting this time of year with the cold weather and after all the indulging during the holidays. Pinned!
Thank you Lily! I am on the same page as you. Comfort food without being so heavy.
Lovely Julie, can’t ever get enough soups in me these days (although we’re expecting 60deg on Sunday again), the weather has been like a yo-yo! Back to the soup, I don’t think I’d leave out the sausage, to me that would definitely give it additional flavor, just a nice, comforting and satisfying soup all around. Going to see the girls this weekend in NYC, I’ve made minestrone soup, lasagne and banana choc chip bread for care packages :). I hope things are not too bad weather wise where you are? Enjoy the weekend, and Happy Fiesta Friday to you!
Thank you Loretta! Have a wonderful weekend with your girls, they are lucky their mama loves to cook. What a delicious care package! We have an actual -4 today with a -20 windchill. Very uncomfortable, but it does get my comfort brain working.
I’ll be honest – I’m at work and just quickly checked out FF without the time to read any of the posts at the moment, but this soup looked too good for me to not at least tell you that. I’ll try remembering to pop back later to read the post, too, but if it’s anywhere near as good as this soup looks…
Thank you so much James! I promise that it tastes even better than it looks! Happy Friday!
soup month? hmmm… well I must say that if there is indeed a month for soup yours simply must be a star! Happy Fiesta Friday 101
I agree! Happy FF to you too! What is the weather doing across the pond?
Well this morning it’s rainy.. Not too cold about 6/7 perhaps?
Great day to cook Mr Fitz!
Every day is a great day! Been making Swedish Korva sausages
I don’t know what Korva sausages are! I’ll have to hold out and wait for your post!
They are a new one on me too!
No doubt you will hit it out of the park!
Let’s see! They are poaching now
This soup sounds great Julie. .. love the flavors and lentils combo…. its just apt of the weather…. yummm
Thank you Chitra! It does warm the bones and fills the tummy!
I love lentils too, and, like you, didn’t grow up eating them much at all. Thank goodness we live and learn 😉 Beautiful pics!
I agree Susan! I wish I had known about them years ago when you are always looking for new dishes.
One of my favorite soups – I use low-fat turkey kielbasa/sausage and leave it out when I am feeding vegetarians. Actually, it is Ina’s recipe I found in a magazine some time ago.
That does sound wonderful too. They are so versatile. That or I think that maybe I am not that open minded when using other kinds of beans? Thank you Judi! Have a great weekend!
This soup looks great! Can you believe I have never had lentils? (gasp!)
Thanks Debbie! I can believe that because this only the second time I’ve tried them. I really like them and wish that I’d tried them years ago. They give me new sides and soup ideas.
I’m going to break down and try them one of these days…
Ha! You will wonder why you waited!
Who would have thought there was a month for soup. I love lentils so much and this lentil soup has so many spices that I love! Very delightful flavor I am sure! yumm
Thank you Lynz! It was so good that I ate it almost everyday with a slice of that bread. My appetite didn’t get the memo that I was supposed to start watching my diet a little bit this month.
oh boy that sounds amazing
I am loving all the flavors in this soup! I am a semi-recent convert to lentils and you’re right – they are so good! And then pairing them with sausage and all those yummy spices? Yes, please! Bring on the month of soup – this will warm me up for sure 🙂
Thank you! I’ve been eating this soup all week, and still had some for the freezer. I’ve been serving it with that bread and it’s a yummy combo.
Very flavorful soup! I’ve grown up eating lentils, love them,as you say they are much quicker to cook too 🙂 Happy New year Julie 🙂
Thank you Dear Freda! Happy New Year to you too!
Thanks Julie 🙂
This soup looks so warm, satisfying and flavorful! So perfect for a winter lunch/dinner! 🙂
Thank you Anna! It is delish!
This sounds amazing Julie! I love Lentil soup and it’s even better with sausage in it! 😀 I love green lentils over the other lentils too! We’re expecting some snow soon, so this would be perfect!
Thank you Dini! I was just thinking of you because I was contemplating Sous Vide some fish. How is your experimenting going?
Hi Julie no I did not know January was soup month either?! I just posted a soup recipe myself? LOL Stay warm and cozy! Cheryl
Well Cheryl we are sure in the know now right? Heading over to see your work of art! I know you are warm lucky girl!
Your son is even warmer in Miami/Dade than we are I would just betcha! LOL
I know! I think he was glad to get back to Miami after removing snow here for two days.
This soup looks very cozy and tasty! I want to use more lentils in my cooking, and this looks like a great way to do it. Also, I like your tip for draining meat using coffee filters! Thanks!
Thank you Jenny! I love them and want to cook more with them too! Have a wonderful day!
Yum! Happy New Year Julie!
Thank you Johanne! Happy New Year to you too!