Slow Cooker Lentil and Sausage Soup with cucumber and spinach salad
My fall & winter motto really is: let my slow cooker feed me. This time we let dried lentils get infused with deep flavor. Pick your favorite sausage (meat or vegan) and enjoy this easy rustic soup. And best of all, it gets turned into a filling for stuffed tomatoes later in the week.
Ingredients
- Onion - 1, diced
- Celery - 1 stalk, diced
- Carrots - 2/3 lb, diced
- Sausage - 3 links, cooked and chopped
- French or green lentils - 3/4 cup, uncooked
- Beef stock - 1 quart
- Tomato paste - 3 Tbsp
- Water - 1 cup
- Cumin - 1 tsp
- Salt - 1/4 tsp
- Bay leaves - 2
- Hot sauce (opt) - for serving
- Crusty bread - 1/2 loaf
- Shallots - 1/2 bulb, diced
- Cucumbers - 1/2 lb, sliced
- Dijon mustard - 1 tsp
- Red wine vinegar - 1 1/2 Tbsp
- Olive oil - 3 Tbsp
- Baby spinach - 4 oz
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Onions / Celery / Carrots / Sausage - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Start slow cooking (at least 5 hours before) - Place onions, celery, carrots, sausage, lentils, beef stock, tomato paste, water, cumin, salt, and bay leaves into slow cooker. Stir. Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 5. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Shallots / Cucumbers - Prep as directed.
Make
- Whisk together shallots, Dijon, vinegar, and olive oil. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and / or a sweetener. Set aside.
- Fish out bay leaves from soup and season to taste with salt, pepper, cumin, or hot sauce. Keep warm until ready to serve - the flavors will continue to develop. If not serving within the day, cool and store.
- Toss cucumbers and spinach with vinaigrette.
- Toast bread. Enjoy with soup and salad. And if you're making Thursday's stuffed tomatoes, remember to set aside some soup.
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Reviews
This meal has 14 reviews
I thought it was a little bland, even after adding more spices. Maybe my sausage choice wasn't flavorful enough.
Tasty. Made this with ground pork. Browned the meat and red onions first. It cooked in about half the time on low. Side salad is fine, but I would skip it next time. This is enough food without the side salad.
I used hot italian sausage and topped it with parm cheese. The house smelled amazing all day and it was very tasty for dinner!
This was delicious! I cooked on low for 10 hours and the flavors were really developed. I used chicken sausage and added extra salt and pepper- otherwise made the recipe exactly as written. Outstanding! Can't wait to make again this fall or winter!
I added some garlic powder, oregano, thyme, and extra cumin, Turned out really well!
Good. Could of just used 2 sausages. Use 1 spicy and 1 regular. Didn't make the salad.