I know it is no secret that I *love* soup season. It is one of my secrets to getting nutrient dense, homemade chicken stock into my family on almost a daily basis during cold and flu season.
But lentil soup? I mean, come on. Can we say BOR-ING. Yep – usually it is a pretty boring soup.
I have played around with the idea of a lentil soup for a while though and have come up with a knock your socks off delicious lentil soup! My secret??? Using my sausage seasoning blend! Talk about a flavor kick!
Why have I worked so hard at figuring out how to make this soup enjoyable? It doesn’t get much cheaper than lentil beans. And when you have to watch where every penny goes – this is a great nourishing, filling, satisfying lunch or dinner! This one bag of beans for $3.83 made about 6 quarts of soup!
Try doing the sprouting of the beans to make them easier to digest and more nourishing! The process is so SIMPLE and listed below. Here is what the beans look like sprouted – aren’t they beautiful!
Give it a chance and come back to let me know how you liked it 😉
a simple real food recipe :: delicious sprouted lentil soup
Author:
Ingredients
- 1lb dry organic lentil beans
- ¼ cup friendly fat to cook in (butter, coconut oil, tallow, lard)
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 – 28oz can diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 quarts chicken stock (preferably homemade for the nutrients and taste!)
- 2-3 tsp sausage seasoning from my sausage recipe (see Kitchen Tips for a link!)
- Sea salt/pepper to taste
Instructions
- Two days before you want to make the soup you will want to sprout your beans. You can just soak them over night if you wish, but sprouting them a day or so will make them less gassy and make more of the nutrients in the bean available which makes them more nourishing! Just put the dry beans in a large bowl with water to cover a good 3 inches. Place the bowl under the light in your oven overnight and then drain. Put the beans back in your bowl WITHOUT water and place under the light in your oven until they sprout. Rinse the beans a few times during the day and keep under the warm light. They should sprout in about 24-36 hours.
- In a large stock pot sauté your onion, carrot, and celery in the friendly fat with a few pinches of sea salt to bring out their juices and sweeten and soften. Cook over medium high heat about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
- Add the sprouted or soaked beans, diced tomatoes, stock, and seasonings and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer with the lid ON and cook 30ish minutes until the beans are bite tender.
- Take out about 1/3 of the soup and puree with a stick blender or in a regular blender and then return the puree to the soup. This will give the soup a beautiful creaminess. You could skip this step entirely if you like the soup thinner.
Kitchen Tips:
- HERE is my sausage season blend!
- Hands on time on this is really so little. I know it takes some forethought to sprout the beans, but it doesn’t take a lot of physical hands on time to do this at all. Once the beans are sprouted the soup can be done super fast.
- Double up for the freezer! This batch makes enough for my family of 4 to have a bowl for lunch and then 4 quarts leftover. I love doubling it though! Perfect for quick pull out of the freezer lunches and good in the thermos for school or work!
- Change up the seasoning blend to your family’s tastes! Try a curry blend
, or all purpose seasoning
, or chipotle
! Get creative!
- You MUST get yourself one of THESE
immersion blenders for your soup making – I use this weekly and I just LOVE it!
YOUR TURN!
Let me know what you think!
This post was shared on Allergy Free Wednesdays, and Holistic Squid’s Party Wave Wednesday!
Looks yummy! I am interested in doubling the recipe, does that pose any problems with the sprouting? Will there be too many lentils in the bowl, so they won’t dry effectively? I guess I could just use two bowls…? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Hey Amy! I have definitely doubled before and yes I would split them up into two bowls to sprout under the light so it goes a little faster 🙂
And use a nice big stock pot to cook so there is plenty of room! Let me know what you think once you try it!
wow thats probably super healthy but lentils arent my #1 pick for taste!
ha ha 😉 the flavor is really kicked up with the seasoning and caramelized veggies! let me know if you try it out!
we love lentils in this house its cheap and super healthy! i have never tried sprouting it and your sausage recipe! I will try this out!
They sure are Teresa 🙂 Let me know how you like it!
i love lentils but never knew about sprouting i will def try!
Let me know what you think Joanna!
Oh that looks so good! I love lentil soup, but have never made it at home! I will have to give this one a try! YUM!
Hi Laura 🙂 Let me know how you like it!
I’ve made a Lebanese version lentil soup and it was to die for! My family could not get enough! Even my 1 year old loved it! I’d love to try your version! Sounds easier and I would have never thought of the sausage seasoning! Great idea!!
Ooo that sounds yummy too 🙂 Let me know how the family likes this one 🙂
Thanks for sharing. This looks delicious for a cold winter day.
You’re welcome Jessica!
I love lentil soup! And I like the idea of using coconut oil! Thanks for the share!
No problem Alexia!