Easy Slow Cooker Sausage and Lentil Soup Recipe

There’s nothing better than coming home to the comforting aroma of Easy Slow Cooker Sausage and Lentil Soup Recipe simmering away. This hearty, flavorful soup is packed with smoky sausage, tender lentils, and plenty of vegetables—perfect for chilly days or easy weeknight dinners. With just a few minutes of prep in the morning, you’ll have a wholesome, satisfying meal ready to warm you up by dinnertime!

It's soup season! 

And what's better than a warm, cozy bowl of comforting soup on a cold day? 

I used to not be such a big fan of soup, but over the years I've really come around. I LOVE a good bowl of homemade soup and really, homemade is the way to go when you are talking soup. This simple, hearty soup recipe is so easy to make using your slow cooker, you'll be making it on repeat all season long! 

What makes this Easy Slow Cooker Sausage and Lentil Soup recipe work

Lentils are a wonderful, wholesome ingredient full of fiber and folate, vitamin B1 and iron. They are a legume which requires no soaking, making them the perfect choice for this easy sausage and lentil soup recipe made in the slow cooker. 

There is very little prep work for this lentil soup recipe. Everything gets dumped into the crock of a slow cooker and cooks until tender. 

Since we are using fully-cooked sausage, not raw sausage, in this recipe; it makes prep a snap! 

Garnished with a little grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley, this lentil and sausage soup makes a delicious and wholesome dinner or lunch.

Variations and Substitutions

This crockpot lentil and sausage soup recipe is a fairly basic recipe that can easily be adapted to your preferences. Some suggestions for variations and substitutions are below:

• Turn this soup into a spicy sausage lentil soup recipe by adding a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. 
• Substitute the fully-cooked smoked sausage with cooked mild Italian sausage and add a cup of chopped zucchini and a tablespoon of Italian seasoning before cooking for an Italian sausage and lentil soup. 
• Add other chopped vegetables to the carrot, celery and onions such as cubed butternut squash or a can of chopped tomatoes. 
• Replace the fully-cooked smoked sausage with cubed ham or Canadian bacon.
• Replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth or beef broth.  
• Swap the green lentils for red lentils. (Cook time might shorten for red lentils)
• Add a handful of fresh spinach when you add the smoked sausage. 

How to make Easy Slow Cooker Sausage and Lentil Soup

This soup with lentils and sausage made in your slow cooker is an easy, hands-off type of recipe that anyone can make. 

The ingredients are simply dumped into the slow cooker, mixed and then the slow cooker does it's thing while you do yours. There is also very little prep work for this easy soup recipe. 

You start off by gathering all your ingredients (full measurements and directions provided in recipe card below)

• chopped carrots
• chopped celery
• chopped onions
• minced garlic
• lentils
• bay leaves
• dried thyme
• salt
• pepper
• chicken broth
• fully-cooked smoked sausage
• Parmesan cheese
• chopped fresh parsley

Add everything except the smoked sausage, Parmesan cheese, and chopped fresh parsley to the crock of a 4 to 5 quart slow cooker and stir. 

Put the lid on and cook on LOW for 6 hours or until the vegetables and the lentils are tender. 

Add the fully-cooked smoked sausage, replace cover and cook another 30 minutes to warm sausage. 

Serve garnished with grated Parmesan cheese and parsley, if desired. 

Storage and Freezing

Store cooled to room temperature soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 - 4 days. 

Lentil and sausage soup can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Easy Slow cooker recipes are perfect for those busy weeknights and this slow cooker sausage and lentil soup makes the prefect meal! 

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soup, main course

American

Yield: 10

Author: Renee Paj

Easy Slow Cooker Sausage and Lentil Soup Recipe

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 6 H & 30 MTotal time: 6 H & 40 M

A hearty, flavorful soup packed with smoky sausage, tender lentils, and plenty of vegetables made in the slow cooker (crockpot).

Ingredients

• 8 medium carrots, peeled, and cut into 1" pieces
• 3 medium celery ribs, sliced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups dry, green lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 1 - 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. of dried thyme
• 1 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper, or to taste
• 10 cups low sodium fat free chicken broth
• 14 oz. fully-cooked smoked sausage (such as Hillshire Farms brand), sliced
• Fresh grated Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley, for garnish, optional

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients except the sausage in a 4-5 quart slow cooker. Stir.
2. Cook on LOW for 6 hours or until the vegetables and lentils are tender. Uncover, stir in sliced sausage and heat for 30 minutes more. Remove bay leaves and discard.
3. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust to your liking.
4. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley, if desired. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Calories

257

Fat (grams)

11 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

4 g

Carbs (grams)

25 g

Fiber (grams)

10 g

Net carbs

14 g

Sugar (grams)

4 g

Protein (grams)

14 g

Sodium (milligrams)

1534 mg

Cholesterol (grams)

28 mg

Nutritional Information provided is an estimate.

https://www.reneeskitchenadventures.com/2010/11/crockpot-lentil-and-sausage-soup.html

Copyright © 2011 Renee's Kitchen Adventures

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This recipe was originally posted in 2011 and has been updated with new images and with a printable recipe card. The recipe is the same as the original.

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