Ahh we are approaching soup season, one of my favorite times of the year. Soups can be a great side dish to serve with a meal or an excellent main dish served with a fresh side salad. This sausage lentil soup is no different. I made this sausage lentil soup for the first time early on in my marriage. My husband, who loves meat and potatoes, really enjoyed this soup. I knew he would eat the soup, but I certainly didn’t anticipate this being a meal that he would request, but boy was I wrong. This (mostly) meatless soup has become a super easy dinner that I can throw together when we are busy, I can make it ahead of time for easy lunches to take to work or even freeze it for longer storage life. The ingredients for this recipe have become staples in my pantry/fridge.
I love how easy this recipe is to make. Since this soup has to simmer for 30 minutes I wouldn’t necessarily call this a quick meal, but I would certainly consider this to be an easy recipe! Just cut the vegetables and you are good to go! I serve a lot of leftovers at my house and this soup is great for that! This recipe reheats so well and is great for a reheated lunch or dinner. I have also put this soup in the freezer in pre-portioned containers or freezer bags to freeze for a longer storage life. This is great because if you decide you want the soup for lunch tomorrow you can take the frozen pre-portioned servings out of the freeze and put it in the refrigerator overnight and it will be ready to reheat for lunch the next day.
This is a great meal full of vegetables and plant based protein. For a fully meatless meal, remove the sausage. I like to keep the sausage in the recipe because 1/4 pound of sausage adds so much flavor to this recipe. The lentils add protein and fiber to this delicious soup while the vegetables make this soup colorful and full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants!
Making this recipe is very easy. I like to multitask while making this soup. While the sausage cooks, I use that time to cut the vegetables while stirring occasionally. Next add the veggies and lentils and cook for 30secs -1 minute. Now add the remaining ingredients and simmer. I like to use this time to clean up the kitchen. This helps so the kitchen is clean by the time soup is done so you can have some time to relax after dinner. After the soup has simmered for about 30 minutes and the vegetables and lentils are soft, turn off the heat. Add the spinach and stir until it is wilted. I recommend removing the bay leaves before adding the spinach, this makes it easier to find the bay leaves.
Sausage Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- ¼-½ pound Italian Turkey Sausage
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 1 large carrot peeled and sliced
- 2 medium potatoes diced
- 1 cup dried lentils rinsed
- 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 handfuls spinach
Instructions
- Cook sausage over medium-high heat until cooked through. Cut vegetables while sausage cooks
- Once sausage is cooked, add diced onion and minced garlic and cook until onion translucent and garlic is fragrant.
- Add diced potatoes, sliced carrots and dried lentils and let cook for 30 seconds-1 minute.
- Add chicken broth, water, red pepper flakes and bay leaves
- Bring soup to a boil and reduce heat to simmering. Simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes, carrots and lentils are tender.
- Turn off heat and stir in spinach until wilted. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.
Notes
The next time you are looking for a hearty soup to serve during the cold months or an easy recipe to freeze for upcoming meals, this soup is the one for you.