Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup

This is a little embarrassing, but I’ve been meaning to share this recipe for over three years now! Crazy, right?! Somehow every time I make it, I never manage to take pictures of it. That all changed the other night. I was finally able to dig out the old post and upload a few shots. Hooray, soup for everyone!!!

I’ve probably mentioned this a million times, but my husband isn’t a big fan of soup. Looking at my recipe index you’d never be able to tell, because I LOVE soup. I kind of force it on him, but that’s ok, he usually ends up really liking it. This soup though, it’s one of his favorites. It’s a copycat version of the spicy sausage lentil soup that he gets when we go to Carrabba’s. It’s loaded with hot Italian sausage, lentils, ham and veggies.

I’ll be honest with you, the first time I made this for him I was pretty darn nervous. He had high expectations and I didn’t want to disappoint. Since then, I’ve changed a few things here and there and this is the “husband approved” version. He loves it, I love it and our 2 year old gobbles it up like there’s no tomorrow. It’s definitely a family favorite!

The best thing about this soup is how easy it is to prep/make and how quickly it comes together. Sure you need a handful of ingredients, but they’re relatively inexpensive and easy to find. I like to pick up the lentils in the bulk section of our grocery store and I buy a thick slice of ham at the deli counter (that is if we don’t have leftover ham in the freezer from the holidays). The rest are items we have stocked in our pantry with the exception of the sausage.

To make the soup you’ll need a large pot or Dutch oven. When you’ve got your ingredients prepped, add the olive oil and get it nice and hot. Saute the veggies until tender and then brown the sausage. Add the ham & tomato, then pour in the liquid ingredients. Bring to a boil, add the lentils & seasonings, simmer for 40-45 minutes. That’s it! If you’re ify on spicy, you can always use regular sausage and add a pinch of Italian seasoning or herbes de Provence to it. If you want to keep things extra lean add some turkey sausage instead of pork!

I guarantee everyone will love this soup! Serve it up with some crusty Italian bread and a side salad and dinner is served!

5.0 from 11 reviews

Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup

 

Save Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

This hearty one-pot spicy sausage and lentil soup is packed full of veggies, protein and a ton of flavor. It's ready to go in just 1 hour!

Author: Natalie

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1½ tbsp. olive oil
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, finely grated
• 1 stalk celery, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ lb. hot Italian sausage (uncooked)
• ⅓ c. ham, cubed
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 2 c. water
• 4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 c. dry lentils
• 1 tbsp. fresh basil, minced
• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp. paprika
• ¼ tsp. thyme (heaping)
• ¼ tsp. oregano (heaping)
• ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions

1. In a large stockpot or Dutch oven set over medium-low heat, saute the onion in the olive oil until tender. Add the carrot, celery and garlic, cook for 1-2 more minutes. Add the sausage and brown, braking it into bits as it cooks.
2. Add the chopped ham, tomatoes, water, chicken broth, vinegar and bring the soup to a boil. Pour in the lentils along woth the remaining seasonings/spices and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the lentils are tender and the liquid reduces, about 40-45 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and serve immediately.

Notes

-You can use thick cut slices of ham and cube them in about ¼" cubes, I prefer getting one thick slice from the deli counter or using up leftover ham from holidays.


Recipe source: Life Made Simple

3.3.3077