Slow Cooker Lentil Soup With Sausage and Greens Recipe (2024)

I cooked mine on the stove top, and lentils are done in about 20 minutes, maybe a little longer. There is no need to presoak or anything like that. This soup comes together in under 45 minutes.

I had hoped to use black lentils, as I've cooked with them before, but since Whole Foods has been taken over by Amazon, they're no longer available in bulk at my store as they used to be, and I did not think to look in the packaged-food aisle, so I used green, which were fine. Found a wonderful Kentucky bourbon sausage. Used my own stock from cooking beans and added high-calcium turnip greens; the soup was hearty enough to stand up to them. Welcome dinner on a cold November day.

If you're looking to save time, you can pressure cook this soup starting at Step 3. On the Instant Pot, I did 30 minutes on the Soup setting and manually released the pressure slowly starting at about 7 minutes after it was done pressure cooking. The lentils were perfectly cooked and still intact (not mushy). I used spinach, so I just stirred the spinach into the pot at Step 4.

Followed recipe (though I did omit the onion & garlic powders...don't keep them on hand anymore). This is extra good on a cold day. Don't forget the vinegar...it adds a pleasant brightness.

Add carrotsAdd fennel

Have made this twice. Followed the recipe and made it on the stove instead of the slow cooker. Delicious! Yum yum yum....

Like many others, I made this in the Instant Pot, but 15 minutes at high pressure, with 10 minutes natural pressure release followed by manual pressure release, was plenty. I used the black Beluga lentils and the texture was perfect. Delicious soup.

Used part chicken “better than bouillon” and part mushroom BTB, and the mushroom added a lot. Suggest doing half chicken and half mushroom BTB.

This is a lentil soup to end all lentil soups - it’s so good! The flavors and textures are just miraculous together. I made mine with mild Italian sausage, regular green lentils and lacinato kale. This is a one pot meal that I already can’t wait to make again.

For those suggesting adding fennel seed, the recipe is not in error. The reference in the description is to the typical flavoring of the Italian Sausage, not a separate recipe ingredient. Certainly ok to add more fennel flavor if and as you wish. Besides, some Italian Sausage is more “fennel tasting” than others.

Just a note that I happened to find the black lentils in Whole Foods bulk section this morning...they're back! ;)

Doesn’t need slow cooker....just do stovetop. Don’t add crushed pepper, hot sausage makes it spicy enuf. Very good. Maybe use less sausage or drain fat more thoroughly to minimize grease.

Made 1/2 recipe in the IP, high pressure for 15 min, 25 min natural release. In the IP, browned sausage, sautéed onions, added other ingredients per recipe, then up to pressure. Used TJs small green lentils. They held their shape. Dish came out perfectly. No other dirty pans.

LOVE Better than Bouillon! I keep five varieties of it in my fridge.

No slow cooker or pressure cooker. Just let it bubble away on the stove till the lentils seemed about right and added the kale.Fantastic. My guess is that the success of this dish is dependant on the quality and deliciousness of the sausage.

3/20/2024 We substituted 3 different chicken sausages (sweet Italian, spicy jalapeno, chicken/apple) which I browned lightly in olive oil, along with the onions and garlic. In addition we added leftover wild boar rib meat along with Rao's marinara sauce. Served this on couscous. It was delicious.

This was just ok, I didn’t really feel like the sausage added much

Followed the recipe almost exactly, except cooked on stovetop in a Dutch oven. After adding stock, and I recommend an additional cup of stock/water, bring to a heavy simmer. Add kale, then drop to low for 25-30 minutes until lentils are tender. TONS of leftovers. Reheats great the next day and freezes well.

We ended up making this in two parts. Cooked up the sausage and onions and broth as directed (used bullion cubes, but did 6 cubes and 8 cups of water). Dumped that plus the lentils into the crockpot to sit overnight in the fridge. Slow Cooker for 6 hours while at work the next day. Spinach and red wine vinegar at the end. Would do 8 hours next time. Everything else was great, 10/10 would make again.

Made this with French Green lentils- an entire pound. Used plenty of kale. Had to cook it on high for a couple of hours. Otherwise made as instructed. Makes a lot. Very delicious.

Delicious. I used laoganma, fried chili in oil, vietnamese?, instead of red chili flakes, no onion powder, and it was still incredible. I used fresh kale for the greens.

I've made this soup more times than I can count and also agree that adding sliced carrots to the soup is very nice. You can make it then dutch oven, slow cooker, stove stop, you name it. Never been able to find black lentils and green lentils always turn out well. Also don't skimp on the kale. This soup will keep you alive in the dead of winter.

I made this in the instanpot and it was very flavorful.

Delicious on the stovetop too. Just followed the advice of the other comments (bring to boil and simmer for 45 mins once you add the 5-6 cups of broth) and it turned out great

Keep coming back to this excellent soup again and again. Full of nutrients and very satisfying

I've been cooking this for a few years and it's become a winter staple for me. I like it a bit thicker so I cook it on low for 10 hours.

Substituted low fat, raw chorizo for the italian sausage. Great one-pot meal.

Replaced the thyme and oregano with rosemary and sage. Made on the stove top as well, only 30 mins of simmering. Superb!

Just made my first batch, followed the recipe to the T, it’s delicious. Read all the steps thoroughly before starting, I went in thinking it was a “just throw stuff into crockpot and turn it on” recipe, it is not that, solid 30-45 min of prep and cook time to get everything into the crock pot. Fills a standard crock pot to the brim.

This recipe is a new staple in our house. Between the pantry and the herb garden, we often have everything but the sausage on hand. Like many, we have not made it with the black beluga lentils yet, but will at the next chance we have to buy some. I have made it twice with red lentils and it has cooked much faster than the 6-8 hours that the recipe calls for. Last night I ran the crock pot on high (recipe says low) for 3.5 hours and we were ready to go!