Lentil and Sausage Soup for a Cold Winter's Night
Double-checking the recipe. At first glance, it seems long and complicated, but it's actually quite straightforward.
AntoniaJames calls for green French (or Puy) lentils, which are tiny and darker green than regular green lentils. We only had the latter, but our soup turned out just fine.
Amanda smiles at the thought of lentil soup with sausages for lunch.
The sausages nestle happily in the pan. You cook them through over low heat before slicing and browning them.
Rinsing the lentils ensures you get rid of any grit.
The carrots look almost neon orange in this picture.
And the spinach looks ultra green. The fresh vegetables add vibrancy to the soup and keep it from being heavy.
The sausage is nice and browned.
Onions, garlic, red wine and bay leaves make up the fragrant base.
The spinach is the last thing to go in -- you should serve the soup as soon as possible so you don't sacrifice the lovely green color.
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Author Notes: This hearty one-dish-supper soup is in my regular fall-winter rotation, and has been a family favorite for quite a long time. That means three things: it tastes great, it’s not complicated, and I usually have on hand everything needed to make it. Once it’s served, people dig in and suddenly, the table’s quiet for a minute or two. Serve it with a hearty whole grain bread and follow it with fruit and cheese for a lovely, easy dinner at home. You'll see that the primary herb is marjoram. That's not an herb that you see often in recipes, but to my mind, it's what makes this soup so tasty. Enjoy!! - AntoniaJames
Food52 Review: The beauty of this soup is that it manages to be soul-warming but not overly heavy. The broth is light, and aromatic with wine and marjoram, and you feel like you've won the lottery each time you come across a piece of garlicky sausage. AntoniaJames has you simmer the lentils and veggies until they're just cooked through, so that they retain a bit of a bite and the soup, while filling, seems fresh rather than leaden. A sprinkle of red wine vinegar adds a bright hit of acidity. - A&M - A&M
Serves four adults with plenty of leftovers.
- 1 1/2 cup French green lentils
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoons bacon fat or olive oil, divided
- 3 or 4 sausages made with herbs and/or garlic
- 1 large yellow or white onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup sturdy red wine
- 3 stalks of celery, and their leaves if possible
- 1 tablespoon dried marjoram or an equivalent amount of fresh
- 4 or 5 carrots, depending on their size
- 4 cups chicken or beef stock (preferably homemade)
- 3 tablespoons organic ketchup
- 2 cups chopped spinach (frozen is fine, if you don't have fresh; just use 1 1/2 cups instead)
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Red wine vinegar, to taste
- Fill a tea kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil while you do the following step.
- Heat 2 T of oil or bacon fat with one of the bay leaves and gently saute the sausages, if they are not already cooked. If they are pre-cooked (or if not, once you've cooked them), slice them into ¾“ slices and brown them in the bacon fat or oil. Remove the sausage slices with a slotted spoon and set them aside.
- Rinse the lentils in cold water two or three times, pick out any stones or other debris, and put the lentils on the stove in a saucepan with at least three cups of hot water from the kettle. If it hasn’t boiled at this point, don’t worry about it. Stir the lentils and cook them over medium heat, while you chop the vegetables. Be sure to keep an eye on the cooking lentils and stir them occasionally. Add more hot water as they cook, if they start to look dry. (You don’t have to do this step if you have a lot of time to make this soup. I.e., you can put them in the soup, uncooked, with the hot water, after you have cooked the onions and garlic.)
- If time is short, heat your stock in the microwave or on the stove so it will be nice and hot when you need it, in a few minutes.
- Meanwhile, dice the onions so they are about ½” square; chop the garlic. Add the remaining oil or bacon fat, as well as the onions and garlic, to the pan in which the sausages were browned; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the onions start to look a bit translucent, push them aside with a spoon and add the wine. Cook for a minute or two to deglaze the pot.
- Stir the lentils in with the cooking water. It doesn’t matter whether they are cooked. Just add them now, and add the stock.
- Chop the celery into small dice and chop a small handful of the celery leaves, if you have them; add to the soup. Add the marjoram and stir well, continuing to cook.
- Cut the carrots into slices or chunks, depending on how thick they are. Add them to the pot, with the reserved sausages, and the salt and pepper to taste, and stir well. (I add the sausages at this point, rather than earlier, because the kind I use tends to fall apart, even after browned, if I cook them much longer. You can add them when you combine the lentils and their cooking water, if that's not a problem for you.)
- Cook for at least another ten minutes, adding more water if necessary and stirring occasionally, to prevent the lentils from sticking. At this point, you can also turn it down to simmer, if you have the time, but do keep an eye on the lentils, please, and add more water if necessary.
- Add the ketchup and stir well. Cook until the carrots are tender.
- Test and correct the seasonings. Add the spinach and the parsley. Heat until the soup is very hot.
- Pass the red wine vinegar separately, for people to add, to taste. Serve with a hearty whole grain bread and fresh butter.
- Enjoy!!!
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Tags: delicious, hearty, One-Pot Wonders, One-Pot Wonders, One-Pot Wonders, travels well
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22 days ago Chelsey1818
Delicious! I used 2 hot italian sausages and 2 mild italian sausages. Added a little spice to the soup, wonderful! I also used kale instead of spinach. I will be making this again!
about 1 month ago erskinechef
I made this this week (it was a chilly spring night in Toronto). Fantastic as usual. I found chorizo sausage gave the soup great flavor.
3 months ago Musebe
I made this last night substituting the sausage for a nice spicy merguez and added some harissa for a kick. It turned out wonderful. Definitely a keeper!
about 1 month ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thank you, Musebe. I'll have to keep those in mind for when my sons (who like spicy sausage and harissa) come home. So glad you liked it. ;o)
3 months ago sisuliz
I adore this soup. The flavors layer together beautifully - just the way a good soup should be. It makes a simple dinner taste special.
about 1 month ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
So glad you enjoyed it, sisuliz. Thanks for letting me know. ;o)
4 months ago kate.r.cochran
I loved this so much! I used kale instead of spinach (I despise cooked spinach unless it's in my grandmother in-law's spanakopita!). This was hearty, cheap, and stretched my ingredients nicely so that there wasn't a lot of waste. We (un)fortunately ate it all up and missed out on leftovers!
4 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thank you for your kind words, Kate. I've used kale, too, and particularly like how well it holds up. ;o)
4 months ago ChefJune
Oh yum! This is going to be dinner tomorrow night. And I have everything on hand!
4 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thanks, CJ! Hope you enjoyed it. ;o)
4 months ago bakeitandmakeitwithbeth
This soup definitely does sound perfect for a cold winter's night! Yum. Plan to make it very soon, because if it's cold and I can't have snow, I'll settle on soup :0)
4 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thanks so much. I hope you do try it. ;o)
4 months ago Yessica
This recipe sounds so good I cant hardly wait to go home and make it. I have everything it calls for including the bacon fat!!! So excited to have clicket on this section of the website. I am always looking for new ways of fixing the beloved lentil. Thank you SO much for this recipe.
5 months ago savvychef
what a wonderful soup...made mine with chicken bratwurst, an extra clove of garlic, organic carrots (higher flavor), chicken broth/stock...since it's only 17 degrees at 6pm, you know SOUP is the BEST dinner ever!! Thanks for this great recipe!!!
4 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Oh, goodness. That sounds delicious, and yes, at 17 degrees outdoors (brrrrrrr!), it certainly would hit the spot. Thanks so much. ;o)
4 months ago Yessica
Made this Friday night for dinner and my husband was...well curious about the change on the lentil soup. By Sunday afernoon we were eating the left overs and he just said - hun...you can make this again. AntoniaJames your recipe will forever be in my book =)
5 months ago Emily Rose Ivari
p.s. I made it with hot italian sausage. I am a glutton for punishment--so I used the whole package...if you like spicy--that is the way to go! I love the fresh grass-y-ness (is this a word?) of the parsley and the fresh spinach. Also--I used a mix of fresh chicken stock and a really beefy container of stock I had in the freezer that was quite peppery and garlicky. Added chicken stock since I didn't have enough of the beef. No matter--this is a triple delight of chicken/beef/pork flavors! I don't think you can screw up this recipe.
4 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thanks, Emily Rose! That sounds so good. And yes, you're right: this recipe is flexible and forgiving. Hope your hand/wrist surgery went well. I had hand surgery almost a year ago, so I know well what challenges lie ahead. Having soups and stews on hand is a great idea. Thanks again. ;o)
5 months ago Emily Rose Ivari
Hi! Came over from Pinterest...just made this--and it is incredible! I'm having surgery on both hands/wrists in a row--first one is Friday--so I am cooking today and thought this would be a good freezer soup so I have ready dinners while I'm one-handed! lol! I'm not sure how much will make it to the freezer. Thankfully I also have beef cubes in wine sauce and a pork tenderloin with bourbon glaze going on too...now it's just a question of what I eat first! Maybe small bits of all 3??! Anyway--this will DEFINITELY be a repeat offender on my menu! Would be great for a casual dinner party...gorgeous!
6 months ago girlwiththegreenhair
Made this last night... warming and delicious! I added a bit of crumbled bacon on top as a garnish, and a bit of chopped bacon with the onion and garlic mixture towards the beginning, which gave it a nice smokey flavor. What a great winter meal!
4 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thank you, GWTGH! Your addition of bacon sounds delish! Glad you enjoyed this. I agree, it is perfect for winter (thus the name . . . though we eat it during other seasons, but we're in a cool marine climate, so we eat soup all year). ;o)
6 months ago CentralCoastContessa
Great Recipe. And the broth-strained leftovers make a fantastic pasta sauce for Linguine, topped with Parmiggiano.
6 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Sounds delish! We had this last night for dinner; I now plan to use the leftovers just as you did (but with spaghetti, not linguine). Thanks for the great suggestion! ;o)
6 months ago em-i-lis
Emily is a trusted source on General Cooking.
AJ, I'm off to christen my new Staub by making this soup. Yum!
6 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
I'm honored! Thanks for letting me know. ;o)
6 months ago em-i-lis
Emily is a trusted source on General Cooking.
It was absolutely wonderful, a perfect way to break in my pot. :)
7 months ago rconor
Garbanzo beans instead of lentils; and can fire roasted tomatoes
7 months ago julie.richardi
here we go again...i am making this soup for the second time in two weeks!!!
My family LOVED it.....
7 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
So glad! I'll be making it again soon, too, as it's become our traditional first-night home meal when my boys travel back from college during the cool months. (It holds well, so it's there on the stove when they walk in.) It's our idea of comfort food. ;o)
8 months ago cookbookchick
Oh, sure -- now they all pop up at once! Sorry folks for the repetition -- but this recipe is THAT good -- it deserves to be repeated! ;-)
8 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thank you, CBC. You are so kind. ;o)
8 months ago cookbookchick
I have tried twice to REPLY to JoyP but my comment hasn't posted. One more time using ADD: Thanks again to AntoniaJames for this wonderful recipe! I have made it many times, sometimes with regular brown lentils, sometimes with French green lentils; with whatever sausage I happened to have in the house; and with whatever greens were hanging around -- spinach, kale, chard. Every time absolutely delicious! JoyP, you will love it, too!
8 months ago JoyP
Thanks! I'm making this tonight since its cold and rainy. I thought you could probably use brown lentils but just wasn't sure.
8 months ago JoyP
I'm not able to find French green lentils in my area. OK to use regular lentils?
8 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Yes, of course! In fact, when the recipe was tested and photographed, they used regular lentils. Enjoy! ;o)
8 months ago cookbookchick
Thanks to AntoniaJames for this recipe which I have made many times! I have made it with regular brown lentils and French green lentils, with whatever sausage I happened to have in the house, and with whatever greens were handy -- spinach, kale, chard. Every time it is delicious. JoyP, you will love it, too!
8 months ago SMSF
In my experience, regular brown lentils cook more quickly and have a softer texture in the end than the French green Puy lentils, which hold their shape better. So maybe just check them sooner. I'm sure brown lentils will be just as delicious! I want some of this soup right now ; )
8 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Good point, SMSF! I have found that the brown "masoor dal" from the Indian grocery also hold their shape really well, just like the du Puy lentils. ;o)
8 months ago JoyP
Since I am in a small town in the Midwest, is it OK to use regular lentils? There is not one store in my area that even knew what they were.
8 months ago cookbookchick
Thanks again to AntoniaJames for this wonderful recipe! I have made it many times, sometimes with regular brown lentils, sometimes with French green lentils; with whatever sausage I happened to have in the house; and with whatever greens were hanging around -- spinach, kale, chard. Every time absolutely delicious! JoyP, you will love it, too!