Nourishing and delicious, this Sausage and Lentil Soup is made with simple pantry ingredients and infused with a little Italian charm.
A few weeks ago it was gloomy and cold outside (as things go in the winter here in Boston), and I was craving something warm and comforting. With little in my refrigerator, I threw together a Sausage and Lentil Soup completely expecting both kids to hate it (but fully knowing they'd pick the sausages out and eat those if that was in fact the case). Well, never was I more shocked to be wrong that the kids ate, and liked, the soup!
Of course, the soup is delicious, so that makes sense. But they're also typical picky kids and lentils aren't something I serve all the time so I just assumed the reception would be less than stellar. And then of course I did what moms do and I made this soup several more times in the ensuing weeks, and to my delight, they enjoyed it even more.
Over the last few weeks, I spent time developing it with more of an Italian-American bend, adding in Italian seasoning, some diced tomatoes and peppers, and a bit of red wine vinegar added at the end (to brighten things up).
The resulting Italian Sausage Lentil Soup is well-balanced, super flavorful, and an easy-to-make weeknight dinner option. Meaning it's a win-win-win!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here is a brief overview of the ingredients needed for this recipe. The full recipe with quantities is listed below this text in the recipe card. If substitutions are available for this recipe, they'll be listed here. If you don't see a substitution you are looking for, please leave a comment below.
- olive oil
- sweet italian sausage (I buy bulk sausage, but if you have sausage links just remove them from the casing)
- onion + garlic
- carrots + red bell peppers
- Italian seasoning
- canned diced tomatoes (note in the recipe that the tomatoes are drained, and just the actual tomatoes are used and not the liquid)
- green or brown lentils
- chicken broth (or water!)
- red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper (I use Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt in my recipes, if you use Morton's kosher salt or fine salt you will likely need to decrease the amount of salt called for)
Overview of Steps
This is a pretty simple soup to make:
- cook the sausage and drain any excess fat
- add in the "sofrito" aromatics and cook until tender
- add in the seasoning, lentils, tomatoes, and broth, and cook until tender
- season the soup with the red wine vinegar and additional salt and pepper if needed
Sometimes lentil soups can be partially pureed to give it a fuller body, but I find leaving this as is gives the soup a lighter feel. I do, however, like to cook the lentils just to the point where some of them break down a bit, adding some heft to the broth. If desired, the lentils can be cooked even further to break down more. Basically, cook the lentils to your liking!
Serving and Storing
This soup is a meal in itself and needs no additional components. However, I sometimes serve this with rice and a reduced amount of broth for more of a "rice and lentils" vibe than a soup vibe, because that's how my Colombian husband eats lentils. So we do a mix of both in our home.
This soup keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator. And while I personally haven't tried freezing it (because it always disappears in our house within a few days) it likely will freeze well for about 3 months.
More Comfort Food Recipes:
PrintFull Recipe
Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:45
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Soup
Description
Nourishing and delicious, this Sausage and Lentil Soup is made with simple pantry ingredient and infused with a little Italian charm.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 lb. sweet italian sausage (if links, casing removed)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 1 medium red pepper, seeded and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, (more to taste)
- 1 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained (see note)
- 1-½ cups green or brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
- 6 cups chicken broth/water, more as desired
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot with olive oil. Add sausage and cook until no longer pink, about 8 minutes. If the sausage has rendered a lot of fat (more than a tablespoon), shut off the heat, push the sausage to one side and drain it. Turn back on the heat to medium.
- Add the onion, carrots, and pepper to the sausage and cook until beginning to soften, about 6-8 minutes. The sausage may begin to brown and stick to the pan (which is ok, it means more flavor).
- Add the garlic, salt, and Italian seasoning and cook for 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the drained tomatoes, lentils, and broth and stir.
- Bring the soup up to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the lentils are tender and just starting to show signs of breaking apart about 20-30 minutes.
- Add the red wine vinegar and season to taste, adding black pepper and additional salt as desired.
Notes
Draining the canned tomatoes ensures you are only using the actual diced tomatoes and not any of the accompanying sauce. This prevents the broth from feeling more like a tomato sauce, which is not the intention of this recipe. You can save the drained tomato liquid for another purpose.
I use Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt in my recipes, if you use Morton's kosher salt or fine salt you will likely need to decrease the amount of salt called for
Serina
This was delicious! reminds me of pea soup but not as thick. YUMM!
Kelli Avila
Agree! It defintely has that vibe!
Lew Austin
A great recipe. More like a chili than a soup.
Mary
I made this today. DELICIOUS!!