A simple, hearty lentil soup with spicy Italian sausage, garlic and herbs much like Carrabba’s Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup copycat recipe.
JUMP TO RECIPEWhen I went to hock my first cookbook on QVC I decided to take Mama with me since I’d have a few days to kill in Philly. I figured it would be a fun way for us to spend some time together.
If you didn’t know (I didn’t), Philadelphia has an awesome food culture (beyond cheesesteaks – though they’re worth the trip all on their own). If you’re ever there, you have to scratch out some time to go to the Reading Terminal Market downtown.
It’s an indoor market that takes up an entire city block that's filled with food venders (think food trucks meet farmers market) with every cuisine and culture you can imagine and then some (from Ethiopian to Amish).
You can sit down to a bowl of pho while admiring a wall of peking ducks at one stall then turn around to buy a bag of freshly baked chocolate French croissants at another. IT WAS HEAVEN!
One of the things I ate on my trip that really made an impression was a bowl of spicy sausage and lentil soup. I’m not even sure if I’d ever even eaten lentils before but one spoonful of that soup and I was hooked!
So when I spotted the Garlic & Herb Lentils from Hurst’s Beans, I pounced on them. You can make this soup with any lentils but the spice packet in the Hurst's lentils was almost exactly like the soup I tasted in Philly.
When I first made this, several people told me it tasted very much like Carrabba’s Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup. I'd never had it so when we were looking for somewhere to get an early supper one afternoon while we were out shopping, I suggested Carrabba's so I could taste their soup.
I was shocked how similar my soup and Carrabba's was! The only difference I could tell is that theirs has tomatoes and mine doesn't.
The next time I made mine, I added a can of petite diced tomatoes and it was a dead-ringer! So, if you love Carrabba's soup or just like tomatoes, definitely add a can!
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!
If you haven’t tried them yet, this soup is the perfect way to introduce yourself!
Recipe for Italian Lentil Soup with Sausage
Italian Lentil Soup with Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 15-oz bag Hurst’s Garlic & Herb Lentils
- 1.25 lbs Italian sausage (I use 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, minced
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- 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. Using a slotted spoon, remove sausage from pot and set aside.
- Add olive oil, carrots, onion and celery to pot then sauté 5 minutes.
- Add garlic then continue cooking 2 minutes longer.
- Add chicken broth, water, lentils (with seasoning packet) and sausage to pot then bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, then cook for 30-40 minutes or until lentils are tender.
- Turn off heat and let soup rest 20 minutes before serving.
Notes
- If you can’t find Hurst's Garlic & Herb Lentils in your market, you can order them online or season 2 cups plain dried lentils yourself. Start with these amounts then add more to taste: 1 teaspoon each: salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and coriander plus 1/2 teaspoon each: dried basil and rep pepper flakes.
- If you’re looking to recreate Carrabba’s Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup, add a can of petite diced tomatoes (with juice) and reduce the water to 1 1/2 cups.
This is almost exactly how I make my lentil soup except that when it is done I have always used my immersion blender to make it thicken and smooth out. I would guess with your version though you would have to add browned sausage as a stir in at the end so it would not end up pureed baby meat. Ham is a great seasoning for this also.
ReplyDeleteOkay. You've convinced me to buy some Hurst's Lentils. I think I could live on soups alone during the cool months ! My husband makes the best cream soups I've ever eaten. Any cream soup you can name, he has made for us--even cream of Romaine soup ! Thank you for the beautiful photos and the recipe.
ReplyDeleteCould dive right into that bowl Mancy! Let me know when you're coming back to the area again!! Would love to see you again! ( :
ReplyDeleteYummm!!!
ReplyDeleteMade this on the week-end and it is delicious! I live in Canada so didn't really try to find the recommended lentils.
ReplyDeleteUsed 1 cup of dried lentils, rinsed, and soaked overnight in cold water. Followed the rest of the recipe exactly as you wrote. I did use the canned tomatoes and added extra garlic power, onion powder, celery salt and Italian seasoning to substitute the seasoning packet in the Hurt's package.
Thanks for another great recipe!
This soup is to-die-for deliciousness ‼️ And if you want to get a wicked-comfy zone meal, just add johnnie cakes...or jalapeño, cheddar & chive corn muffins. Followed by a snuggy and dessert-in-a-cup of hot chocolate with grated cinnamon, a dash of vanilla extract, topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top. The TV may be watching you. Lol
ReplyDeleteWe have never had lentils so anxious to give this a try. I think my Hubby would like it kicked up a notch
ReplyDeleteIm a vegetarian cooking for me and my boyfriend who loves meat...I was wondering if I made this recipe with vegetable broth and added the sausage at the end after I separated some for myself would it still work? Or does the sausage have to cook in the soup as well?
ReplyDeleteYou can cook the sausage separately in a pan while the main meal is cooking and set aside for the "non-veggie" portion of the dish. After you're ready to serve, add the sausage as needed. It should be cooked and ready to eat by then. Sausage only needs to get up to 140* or so to be done and you'll know when it's browned.
ReplyDeleteThe sausage does impart a bit of spices however, so you may need to add something to your veggie portion (before eating) if you wish to spice it up.
I recipe I've used for many years (25) has one little addition at the end. Add about a tablespoon of vinegar (red wine, apple, or balsamic) at the end.
ReplyDeletei add about half a cup of defrosted chopped spinach..its delicious
ReplyDeletemy experience is that adding anything fresh works.
ReplyDeleteWe made this last night. She to shortage of Italian sausage, we used bacon (prepAred the saMe as for catfish stew) and maple breakfast sausage. Also added tomatoes. This is another great recipe and you are now my goto site for recipes. Due to covid-19, we are feeding 15+ and it was enough for two full days. Thank you. Ann
ReplyDelete