Italian Lentil Soup with Sausage

Recipe By

South Your Mouth

"...As much as I like peas and beans I can’t believe it took me so long to try my hand at lentils. They’re super easy to cook and the kids lap them up because they’re so much smaller than beans, they don’t even realize what they’re eating. Fiber and protein, y’all! Holla!"

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour 10 minutes

Servings

12

Ingredients

1 (15.5-oz) bag [Hurst’s Garlic & Herb Lentils](/products/hursts-garlic-herb-lentils)

1.25-1.5 lbs. Italian sausage (I used hot)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups diced onion

1 1/2 cups diced carrots

1 1/2 cups diced celery

3-4 cloves garlic, diced

6 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

228 Lentil Soup 2 Pn 229 Lentil Soup 3 Pn 230 Lentil Soup Pn
228 Lentil Soup 2 Pn

"...As much as I like peas and beans I can’t believe it took me so long to try my hand at lentils. They’re super easy to cook and the kids lap them up because they’re so much smaller than beans, they don’t even realize what they’re eating. Fiber and protein, y’all! Holla!"

Ingredients

  • 1 (15.5-oz) bag Hurst’s Garlic & Herb Lentils

  • 1.25-1.5 lbs. Italian sausage (I used hot)

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 2 cups diced onion

  • 1 1/2 cups diced carrots

  • 1 1/2 cups diced celery

  • 3-4 cloves garlic, diced

  • 6 cups chicken broth

  • 2 cups water

Cooking Directions

  1. Remove casings from sausage (if applicable). Brown and crumble sausage over medium to medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or large pot until cooked through (take care not to let the pot scorch or burn). Using a slotted spoon, remove sausage from pot and set aside.

  2. Add olive oil, carrots, onion and celery to pot and sauté until onions become translucent (about 4-5 minutes). Take a picture so you can show your friends you just cooked a classic French mirepoix. Boom.

  3. Add garlic and continue cooking for 2 minutes.

  4. Add chicken broth, water, lentils (with seasoning packet) and sausage to pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 40 minutes or until lentils are tender. Turn off heat and let soup rest, covered, for 20 minutes before serving.

Tips

You can use ground beef, pork or turkey instead of the Italian sausage but you’ll need to season it liberally (suggest salt, pepper, fennel seeds, garlic and oregano).

I went with a small dice on the veggies (about 1/4 inch).

If you’re looking to recreate Carrabba’s Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup, add 2 cans petite diced tomatoes (with juice) and reduce the water to 1 cup and I think it would be a bang-on copycat recipe. Seriously.