Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup
This spicy sausage and lentil soup recipe is the perfect cozy comfort food for chilly weather. If you've never tried lentils before, this is a great way to introduce a delicious and healthy new food to your family.
Sausage lentil soup is a hearty tomato-based spicy soup that has been one of my family's favorites for many years.
This fantastic and easy recipe makes a large pot of soup that is just perfect for stocking up in your freezer for chilly nights.
Serve big bowls alongside your favorite soup crackers or fresh bread for a cozy family dinner you can make ahead.
Why This is the Best Recipe
My family is obsessed with soup season. I think this is the best sausage lentil soup recipe because:
- Big Batch: Cook once, have several easy dinners at your fingertips if you freeze the leftovers in small portions.
- Rich, Hearty, Comfort Food: That savory sausage adds so much flavor to the soup while the soaked lentils add a rich creaminess to the tomato-based broth.
- Customizable Spicy Levels: We like it spicy, but you can easily tweak it to make it more mild for your family if you need.
Ingredients
This delicious soup does require a slightly longer list of ingredients, but the prep work goes really easily, I promise!
- Bulk Sausage: You can mix and match hot sausage, mild sausage, sweet sausage, or Italian seasoned sausage.
- Dried Green Lentils
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onions
- Canned Tomato Sauce
- Canned Tomato Paste
- Chicken Stock
- Minced Garlic
- Cayenne Pepper
- Dried Basil
- Bavarian Seasoning Blend: I use this special herb blend because it is easy to just scoop up and add to dishes but if you don't want to purchase it, you can substitute dried rosemary, dried sage, dried thyme, dried mustard seeds, and a bay leaf.
Pick Your Spice Level
We love this soup SPICY. I use 2 pounds of hot bulk sausage and an extra pinch of cayenne pepper.
For a medium-spice soup, use just 1 pound of hot sausage and 1 pound of either sweet or Italian sausage.
For a mild soup, use 2 pounds of sweet or Italian sausage. I would still recommend adding the cayenne pepper because it adds depth of flavor without needing more salt but if you're very sensitive, just leave it out.
Brown the Sausage
You'll definitely want to brown the sausage before you build your soup.
Place the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble it up as it cooks.
Continue to cook the sausage until it has a slightly toasted golden-brown look to it or it will be chewy.
Then I suggest you drain the fat from the skillet so that your final soup isn't greasy.
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Rinse the Lentils
While the sausage is cooking, you'll have time to prep the other ingredients for the soup.
Add the lentils to a large strainer and rinse them really, really well. They have a powdery coating that you want to remove.
Prep the Veggies
Dice your fresh carrots, celery and onions.
The size you chop them will be how large they are in the soup. My family enjoys them small-diced.
Assemble the Soup
Choose a very large soup pot to build your soup in. Add the olive oil over medium-high heat. When it is shimmering, add the mix of chopped fresh vegetables and stir. Sprinkle some kosher salt and pepper over the top and cook until the onions are softened.
Add the remaining dry seasonings over the top and stir. Then pour in the can of tomato sauce and stir again.
Add the tomato paste on top and work it into the vegetables. The mixture will start to get much thicker. Cook the tomato paste for a minute.
Add the browned sausage and drained lentils to the pot and stir. Now your mixture will be VERY thick.
Pour in the chicken stock and water and stir.
Simmer the Soup
Bring the liquid to a boil over HIGH heat. Once it is bubbling vigourously, reduce the heat to medium-low and keep it gently simmering.
Cook the soup on the stovetop for 2 hours. You'll want to stir it every 10 - 15 minutes to ensure the lentils don't stick and burn on the bottom.
When you stir the soup, check the liquid ratio. The lentils will thicken the broth as they soften and the moisture will release as the soup simmers. You may find that you need to add another cup or so of water as it cooks.
Depending on how it cooks down, you may end up adding up to 4 cups of water over the 2 hour cooking time.
Make Ahead and Freezing Tips
This is the perfect freezer-friendly soup. It makes a huge batch that you could freeze in single-serving portions for easy lunches or in bigger portions for a quick weeknight dinner in a pinch.
The soup reheats really well but if you notice it thickened too much in storage, just add a splash of water or chicken stock to rehydrate it as needed.
Serving Suggestions
This hearty sausage soup tastes amazing with fresh bread for dipping.
We love to pair it with a simple brown and serve dinner roll and butter but my oniony celery seed bread would be a fun, unique choice.
You could go with a classic white bread like my bread machine French bread or add a touch of sweetness with a baked pan of Grandma's buttermilk cornbread.
More Soup Recipes
Looking for more soup season inspiration? Here are a few of my favorites:
📖 Recipe
Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds bulk sausage hot, mild, or sweet, or a mix
- 1 (16 - 18 oz) bag of dried green lentils
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 onions chopped
- 4 large carrots chopped
- 6 celery stalks chopped
- 3 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp Bavarian seasoning blend Or substitute 1 tsp each rosemary, sage, thyme, & 1/2 tsp dried mustard seeds and a bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried basil
- Sprinkle of cayenne pepper or more, to taste
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
- 1 (14.5 oz) can of tomato sauce
- 3 quarts of chicken stock + 2-3 cups water
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 2-4 additional cups of water as needed
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown and crumble the bulk sausage. Break it up into small pieces as it cooks. Sauté until the sausage is nicely browned and toasted. Drain the fat and set the sausage aside.
- Thoroughly rinse and drain the dried lentils in a colander and set aside.
- In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and add a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Stir to combine. Sauté the veggies until the onions are softened and translucent.
- Add the garlic and the seasonings to the veggie mix and stir to combine. Heat for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and tomato sauce, and stir to combine thoroughly with the veggies.
- Add the reserved sausage and lentils to the pot and stir to combine with the veggies. Pour in the chicken stock and water and stir. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and then reduce the heat to low.
- Let the soup simmer for 2 hours stirring every 10 minutes or so to be sure nothing is sticking or burning on the bottom of the pot. Add 2 - 4 cups of water as needed when the broth becomes too thick.
Recipe Notes
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Where I Got This Recipe
The very best recipes are the ones handed from friend to friend, don't you think?
When two guys have to spend an entire day side-by-side in a car on a work related road trip, conversation can go in crazy directions. My husband ended up chatting with a work friend about their favorite recipes their wives have made for them over the years.
Skip, a wise 70 year old who knows how to make his wife smile, described the sausage and lentil soup recipe that she has made for him frequently over the years. This recipe, we're told, is a family-wide favorite.
When they got back to the office, Skip took the time to get the recipe from his wife just to share with us. Tim forwarded it to me with a note asking if we could try it soon since it sounded so good from Skip's description. It has since become one of my family's favorites and the kids look forward to it each winter. Thanks, Skip and Skip's wife!
Hi! If I get precooked lentils, can this soup still be made the same way?
The most delicious sausage and lentil soup recipes for kids. I really like this recipe. I will save the recipe to learn how to make this soup.
Recipe for making sausage soup and lentils you share quite meticulous and easy to understand. A great dish for children. I will save the recipe and learn to make it for my children.