Lentil Soup With Smoked Sausage and Apples
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1large yellow or red onion, finely chopped
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2tart-firm apples, such as Honeycrisp, peeled and diced
- 3celery stalks, chopped into ½-inch pieces
- 6garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1fresh sage sprig, leaves chopped, or ½ teaspoon dried sage
- 1fresh thyme sprig, leaves chopped, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1½cups/12 ounces dry hard cider
- ¾pound smoked sausage, such as kielbasa or Andouille, sliced into ½-inch-thick coins
- 1½cups/10 ounces dried small green lentils (also called French lentils or lentils du Puy)
- ¼teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2teaspoons cider vinegar
- ¼cup sour cream
- 2teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 4 to 6scallions, thinly sliced for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
478 calories; 22 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 48 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 20 grams protein; 691 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, season with salt, and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the half the chopped apples, and cook, stirring until softened, adjusting the heat as necessary to avoid scorching, about 5 minutes.
- Step 2
Add the celery, garlic, sage and thyme, and stir to combine. Pour in the cider and let it come to a bubble. Add the sausage, lentils, nutmeg and 4 cups water to the pot. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and a generous amount of pepper. Let the soup come to a boil, then decrease the heat to maintain a low simmer. Cover the pot and cook until the lentils are tender, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Step 3
Just before you are ready to eat, add the vinegar. Stir together the sour cream and mustard, then stir the mixture into the soup. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve in bowls topped with the scallions and remaining chopped apples.
Tip
- Any sparkling or still dry hard cider works well in this recipe. In a pinch, you can substitute dry white wine and mix in a few spoonfuls of apple juice, if you have it. For a nonalcoholic option, use chicken or vegetable stock, but increase the vinegar a bit at the end for tartness.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Chris Orense
Followed the recipe exactly, and wouldn’t change a thing. A new winter favorite! Perfect for a weeknight (or weekend) after a long day of working or skiing! Just make it already! ⛷ 🎿 ❄️
chris
imo wine is always better than cider in a fall/winter stew, though I like the mustard/sour cream additions. also would prefer roasted parsnip to apples.
Lisa Conn
We don't eat meat, so to make it more complex I added cubed carrots with the onions and added cooked wild rice and cooked chickpeas at the end. I stirred in some butter before serving. Everyone loved it!
Robyn
I thought this was delicious! A combination of flavors I would not have thought to put together that get even more complex and interesting the next day. Next time I might reserve some of the sausage to fry separately and add in at the end just to maintain its flavor and texture a little more.
Juliet Jones
Any suggestions for a brand of “dry hard cider” or where to buy it? At the grocery store we only have “Angry Orchard” which is definitely sweet.
Emily K
Used red lentils since it was all that was in the cupboard, with half leftover turkey broth and half water. Added a bit extra vinegar as recommended for tang! Also subbed whole grain mustard for Dijon, didn’t bother stirring together beforehand. All in all very flavorful and the perfect fall comfort dish
Luciana Barbosa
Made this today with no substitutions. Used a pressure cooker for 15 minutes. Came out perfect. Such a great dish for our first day of snow in NC.
Sam
Goat's milk kefir is a great substitute for sour cream and buttermilk when cooking for lactose intolerant folks.
Tom
Excellent soup! No hard cider so I used dry red wine and red wine vinegar & added some carrots that I sautéed with the sausage when browning. Can't really taste the nutmeg so I may amp that up a bit.
Brittany
Yum! This was a great post-Thanksgiving dish as I used homemade turkey stock for the broth instead of water. Also added some carrots because I had some on hand, and fried some of the sausage for topping. I also added additional fresh thyme and sage. I did not think it was too sweet like some other commenters; perhaps they used a cider that is overly sweet - mine was quite dry. Would definitely make again!
Sandy Camargo
Outstanding (and I don't usually like lentil soup)! I made it in the Instant Pot: did the sauteing, including the cider; then added all the rest of the stuff in step 2, and cooked it on Manual for 15 minutes, with a 10-minute natural release. Used plain yogurt instead of sour cream with the mustard sauce, which was a great addition.
GECioffi
I made this with chicken and apple sausage which worked very well. Also substituted vegetable broth for the water and Fage 2% yogurt for the sour cream. Delicious!
EllaBella
There’s a great vegan yogurt made with coconut milk that has the perfect tang called Anita’s. If not available at your health food store maybe they’ll have CoYo - also very good.
Barbara J
This was delicious. The garnishes, especially the apple, were great and added a texture and sweet contrast with the Kielbasa. I added a few red pepper flakes with the other spices. Really yummy.
Gale S
Excellent soup. I made this exactly as the recipe called for using standard lentils. It took closer to 50 minutes for the lentils to get tender.
clay
So what happens to the other half of chopped apples?
MTK
Added cubes carrots. Used wine instead of cider. One laurel. Fries vegetarian sausage in a pan before sliping and adding at the end. You can make ahead the first half (onions etc.) the evening before to shortsen the time to make a weekday dinner. Leftovers can also be added to a vegetarian lasagne or a tomatpuré soup.
meredith
Is there anyway to make the lentils separate? I have people in my house that don’t like lentils, but I would love to use sausage and apples.
Piotr
Used Old Town Cider Added carrots, chicken stock (instead of water), and red flakes
Piotr
Added carrots, chicken stock (instead of water), and folded in spinach at end Remember — smoked sausage (already cooked)! Reserve some smoked sausage for crisping & adding at end
Stan V.
Made this per the recipe but added 2 cups hot water to the slow cooker after 4 hours for more broth. Also baked fresh corn muffins and crumbled one in each bowl then ladled the soup over it. Outstanding!
MF
My dupuy lentils weren't tender after like two hours, I later realized due to the acidic broth. Maybe this was a side effect of my particular (downeast original) less dry cider? Had to add a scant 1/8 tsp baking soda at hour 2, reduced the tanginess but didn't make it disgusting. Bummed because it smelled amazing the whole time it's been cooking! Next time I'll add the cider (and the sausage tbh, they got a little washed out) later.
Erin
Very hearty and delicious winter soup. The cider and mustard/sour cream mixture gave it a really nice depth, and the Dijon created a great little back of the throat spice. Took some advice from others and crisped up the sausage in a pan prior to adding it to the soup, along with the drippings, which I think made it much better.
Me
Very good-not necessarily better than my regular lentil soup but different Brown sausage on griddle and add to soup when serving (retains flavor better) Sweat celery with onions Used Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Hard Cider Added mustard/sour cream as a garnish—didn’t add to pot of soup
Rachel
Was intrigued by this recipe after seeing the ingredient list and I’m so happy I tried it! Perfect for these cold days. For those of you in the PNW, the Olympia Provisions kielbasa is an awesome add. Used 3 cups water/1 cup chicken broth and added a little extra dried thyme while cooking. Didn’t bother with the extra chopped apple garnish at the end, but am sure that is a nice touch.
Stephen
I sauteed the sliced sausage to crisp it up and then cooked the onion in the sausage fat! I also reserved a little of the sour cream/mustard mix to put a little dollop on the top of each serving (or make extra), it was a nice touch and I think it could have used a little more sage and nutmeg.
Dana
This is one of our favorites of 2023. The only mod I made was to double the sausage and fry half of it in a pan to add at the end. This creates more texture.
mert
As others have said- I like to fry up the sausage instead. Delicious!
HC
Makes a great make ahead WFH lunch. Be ready for flavor notes of ale and mustard and a pleasantly sour broth. Used field roast veggie smoked apple and sage sausage. I think next time I would crisp the sausage on the side and add to the stew when I serve it as it got mushy (probably because it is vegan). Also added some potato and carrot for heartiness and better than bouillon for flavor. Will make again.
MarkL
Really curious why it's called a "soup" because there wasn't even enough liquid to cover the lentils. I re-read the recipe multiple times to make sure I wasn't missing something. I ended up having to add probably 8 oz of liquid just to cook the lentils. Taste is good, but came out more like a bowl than a soup.
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