Okay, you’re really going to have to try not to judge a book by it’s cover here. I know this Lentil & Sausage Stew isn’t the prettiest thing to look at but, OMG, it will knock the socks right off your taste buds! No joke. We’re talking insanely delicious here… like “at the end of the week I’ll be sad that there isn’t any left” delicious. But worry not, it makes a huge batch so you can always stash a few servings in the freezer for later.
The recipe posted below is adapted from this Lentil Sausage Soup over on dlynz.com. I still have half of a huge bag of lentils to use up and I’m trying to fiber pack my diet so this Lentil & Sausage Stew really fit the bill. And, as always, I made some changes to the recipe to accommodate what was available to me at a good price.
Can I Use Fresh Spinach?
Yes, fresh spinach works great in this recipe. Simply add about 8 oz. fresh baby spinach to the pot after everything is done cooking and stir until the spinach wilts into the broth.
Freeze Some for Later
The recipe makes a ton but luckily it freezes well. Of course, you could always cut it in half if you prefer. Sausage usually doesn’t come in smaller quantities than one pound, but luckily sausage also freezes well, so you can use half for this recipe and save half for later.
Lentil and Sausage Stew
Servings 8 about 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1/2 lb. Italian sausage ($1.75)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 3 carrots ($0.30)
- 4 ribs celery ($0.74)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 2 cups brown lentils ($1.27)
- 6 cups chicken broth* ($0.78)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne ($0.05)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 10 oz. frozen spinach ($1.00)
Instructions
- Brown the sausage in a large pot over medium heat, breaking it up into pieces as it cooks.
- While the sausage is cooking, prepare your vegetables: wash, peel and slice the carrots, slice the celery, dice the onion, and mince the garlic. Once the sausage is cooked, add the vegetables to the pot and continue to sauté until the onions are soft and transparent (about 5 min).
- Add the lentils to the pot along with the cayenne, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and chicken broth.
- Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow it to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Add more water if it gets too dry.
- Stir in the frozen spinach and cook for about 15 minutes more. Serve with a thick slice of crusty bread!
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Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Lentil and Sausage Stew – Step By Step Photos
Brown 1/2 lb. Italian sausage in a large pot over medium heat, breaking it up into pieces as it cooks. Depending on the fat content of your sausage, you may need to add a splash of oil to the pot to get it going in the beginning and you may want to drain off the excess fat if there is a lot (mine did not need to be drained).
While the sausage is cooking, Peel and slice three carrots, slice 4 stalks celery, dice one onion, and mince two cloves of garlic. Add them to the pot once the sausage has browned and continue to sauté until the onions are soft and transparent.
Add 2 cups brown lentils to the pot along with 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano, and 1 tsp smoked paprika.
Add 6 cups of chicken broth to the pot. Place a lid on top, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow it to come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. Add more water if it gets too dry.
Once the lentils are tender, you can add the spinach. Spinach is a delicate green so I add it at the end to prevent over cooking and total disintegration.
Stir in 10 oz. frozen spinach and cook for another 15 minutes or until heated through.
And then the Lentil & Sausage Stew is done and ready to eat!
It’s hard to tell but it is BURSTING with flavor, I swear. You’re going to LOVE this one.
How would cook rice if you wanted to add some to the soup? Would you let it simmer with the lentils?
I’m not sure. I just tried to make a soup the other day and added some rice but it disintegrated as it simmered (I didn’t post that recipe for obvious reasons!), so I need to look into that. I think maybe if you add it towards the end and just make sure not to let it simmer too long it might be okay.
I ended up adding the rice towards the last 15 minutes and it came out great! Thanks for the tip!
Good to know! Now I need to try that with the recipe that I was attempting to add rice to :)
I’ve had great luck adding rice to cooking soups if I add uncooked brown rice. No disintegration! And it reheats much better the next day than regular white rice.
It’s a little soft if you cook it for 8 hours in the crock pot, but it’s still not bad.
Just made this for the first time. Love it. Thanks for the recipe your recipes are awesome
Just made this for the first time — so good! This is why I visit your blog so often!
This too was delish, but am I surprised? Not at all because all your recipes so far have been foolproof!
I made this one evening two weeks ago and was glad to have leftovers the next day to offer my neighbor a hot bowlful after he snow blowed my path.
Perfect dish for this super cold winter.
This soup is incredible!! Just, wow. I was really blown away at how the combination of spices was just right; they make this so savory and warm, true comfort food.
I added tomato and beans for more fiber and veggies, inspired by this newer BB recipe: https://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/01/chunky-lentil-vegetable-soup/
My girlfriend and I will be finishing this batch off in just a few days, and we’ll have to make more once it’s gone!
Your stew looks amazing!
In Germany we love the lentil stew with some vinegar (plus a little sugar) and sometimes a little bit of mustard stirred in. All of that gets added at the end right before serving.
Excellent. I cooked the sausage (mild Italian) along with garlic, onion and fennel. Then through everything into the crock pot and cooked for about 4 hours on high. Really good.
Made this for myself for lunch while I have your chicken dumpling soup in my crock pot. Used brats and kale as substitutions. Served deliciously with marble rye!
I’ve been planning on making this all day and now I realize I don’t have any chicken bouillon cubes or stock. Can u think of any substations? Thanks!
Well, there is quite a bit of flavor between the sausage, vegetables, and spices anyway, so I bet if you just add some salt to make up for the salt in the broth it will still taste pretty good!
I was searching for a lentil sausage stew recipe and looking at the thumb nail images on my Google search page. Yours was the only one I found that looked at all like what I think delicious lentil soup should look like. It doesn’t look awful, it looks tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
I have this simmering and it smells fabulous. I know this is an oldie, but the bite I just tasted tells me it is a goodie.
Hmm I meant Crock pot, please excuse the typo.
Okay,I am making this today and will go ahead and cook it in a medium pot as the recipe says. But I was thinking maybe I could just throw everything into the cock pot. But then I was thinking some more (I’m not an airhead, promise) and maybe the lentils would act more like split peas and turn to mush? Has anyone tried this or have any ideas? Thanks.
They may get extra mushy, but I don’t think that would be an entirely bad thing! :) If you do use a crock pot, I would brown the sausage in a skillet and add that at the end. I’ve added ground sausage to a crock pot recipe in the beginning before and the texture just didn’t work right. It over cooked and got all pellet-like.
I made this last night and loved it. I had to use bratwurst because Germany seems to discriminate against delicious foreign sausage, but it was still fantastic. Definitely making it again!
I made this last month for myself and my husband exactly per the recipe. It was SO SO yummy! And it lasted for almost an entire week for us! Thanks for the great recipe! This one is definitely a keeper and going to be made again this year before winter is over. I’m going to try with either a homemade or natural/organic chicken stock next time for less additives/preservatives or whatever all those oddly named things are from the bouillon cubes ingredients.
im cooking this right now, I added half a pound of Italian spicy sausage that was on sale and half a pound of regular sausage I think its gonna be great! way to make lentils more appetizing! thanks!