RECIPE: Insanely Delicious Lentil & Sausage Soup
Here is a super simple soup recipe that is so tasty you'll want to make it over and over.
Updated note: This is one of StyleBlueprint’s most popular recipes, and I just added a new variation to the recipe below. No worries — the recipe is still the same, but now there is an option to add substantially more protein. How? Well, I substituted half of the chicken stock for chicken bone broth. Then, I also added a pound of ground chicken to this soup (which you cook before adding), and a can of cannellini beans. I still used fresh Parmesan to garnish, and I added some crushed red pepper as well.
Whether you make the original or this higher-protein version, this soup makes a lot (enough to freeze), is hearty, and delicious.
It’s cold outside, and we can’t get warm. If you were a fly on the wall in the SB offices, we have our thermostat set at 72 degrees, and blankets and space heaters are available. It makes no sense, we know that, but when the mercury dips below freezing and gets into the teens, we just can’t get warm!
One solution is soup — specifically, this lentil soup recipe. After a hearty bowl of warm soup, blankets are shed, space heaters are turned down, and everyone is generally happier.
Here is a recipe I made for our office and a local PR firm, as we hosted a lunch this past week. Whether you are inviting over your book group or extended family, planning a non-chili soup for the Super Bowl, or simply wanting a “basically-dump-it-and-leave-it” soup, this one is tasty enough for guests but easy enough for a weeknight meal.
From our constantly cold SB family to yours!
As Kroger helps us with our recipes, and their in-house selections are affordably priced, most ingredients today are readily available at Kroger under a variety of their house brands, which include Private Selection, Kroger, and Simple Truth.
One last note: If you are a vegetarian, leave out the meat and make this with vegetable broth. You’ll likely need a heavier dose of spices as well. If you’re avoiding ham, consider using chicken sausage or adding some chicken instead. This lentil soup recipe is so forgiving that it adapts well to your dietary needs, as well as whatever you happen to be in the mood for on any given day.
Lentil & Sausage, Kale Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 pound Aidells Italian-Style chicken sausage
- 1 pound Simple Truth uncured cubed ham
- 1 large onion sliced and diced
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 12 cups chicken stock
- 12 oz package of frozen Kroger baby lima beans
- 1 pound dried Kroger green lentils
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes i prefer the Cento brand
- 10 oz of baby kale two Simple Truth Organic clamshell containers or sub as much kale as you like
- Large pinch of dried oregano
- Large pinch of dried thyme
- Large pinch of black pepper
- Large pinch of dried parsley or use fresh
- If needed salt at the very end
- Fresh Parmesan cheese to garnish
Variation for higher protein
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 6 cups chicken bone broth (substitute for 6 cups of the stock above)
- 1 can cannellini beans
Instructions
- In a large stockpot, add olive oil and heat over medium heat. Cook the sausage, ham, onions, celery, and carrots until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for approx 45-60 minutes.
- That’s it! If you taste it and it needs salt, add it. This will typically be true if your stock and tomatoes are low- or no-sodium. Otherwise, salt may not be needed.
- Serve and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.
Variation for higher protein
- Cook the ground chicken in a separate skillet (really – it won't cook well with the vegetables, sausage, and ham. You want to cook and brown this separately.) Once cooked and browned, add the chicken to the skillet with the cooked sausage, ham, and vegetables.
- Substitute 6 cups of bone broth for 6 cups of stock).
- Add one can of cannellini beans when you are adding "the rest of the ingredients."
Nutrition
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Want another vegetable-heavy soup with a bit of meat? This minestrone soup is an oldie but goodie from the early days of StyleBlueprint.
Liza Graves
As CEO of StyleBlueprint, Liza also regularly writes for SB. Most of her writing is now found in the recipe archives as cooking is her stress relief!