The lentil soup is tasty and simple to make. Even though the recipe specifies spinach, potatoes, and carrots, you can substitute any other vegetables you like.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 strips bacon, chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup salsa
- 16 ounces dried lentils, rinsed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 (10 ounce) package fresh spinach, torn
- 1 cup cubed potatoes
Instructions
- Place bacon in a large skillet or Dutch oven and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in carrot, onion, and olive oil cooking until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Cover bacon mixture with chicken broth, water, and salsa; mix in lentils, bay leaf, cumin, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, 40 to 50 minutes. Stir in spinach and potatoes; simmer until spinach is wilted and potatoes are cooked, 10 to 15 minutes longer.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 385 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 60 g |
| Cholesterol | 12 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 26 g |
| Protein | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Sodium | 1422 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
It was Fantastic, very flavorful! My family loves lentils, but lentils can be boring. Although I did substitute the bacon for sweet Italian sausage instead and used dice tomatoes with roasted garlic because I didn’t have salsa on hand; this recipe took it up a notch and it was unanimous, make it this way from now on! I will absolutely make it with the salsa next!
Came out great very nice, thought I also use celery 2 ribs and carrots and of course onions froze 7 containers awesome Nick N
I added 2 portobello mushrooms and mini bell peppers and 1 seeded minced jalapeño and it turned out excellent also veggie broth instead of water.
Wonderful soup. Entire family enjoyed and I will certainly make it again.
This is my second time to make this recipe. My husband and I both love it. He likes without spinach ; I like the spinach. I divide the soup into two pots before I put spinach in. I leave out the rosemary and bay .
I made this as it said and I did not like it all. I wish it didn’t make so much.
Yummy! Nice to have a lentil soup that is a little different. Be sure to drain the bacon (and skip the olive oil) unless you want a greasy soup. I made the soup as described except I skipped the potatoes.
Delicious!!! Used about five cups ripped spinach and turkey bacon. Oh, and replaced olive oil with avocado oil. Hubby even loved.
love this recipe as a wls protein alternative
The recipe was easy to follow and it turned out fabulously! I did not add the olive oil as the bacon fat was sufficient. My whole family loved it! Thank you!
Wonderful soup!! The salsa gives it a delicious kick. I made no changes to the original recipe.
My husband loves lentils but I really, really did NOT, so he had a long wait (decades!) for his homemade lentil soup. Well, he’s a great guy, even if he’s a lentil fan, and I already had everything this recipe requires–including the lentils he bought during a bout of wishful thinking–so I finally set about making him his heart’s desire. It was SO easy and SO good that I have changed my mind about lentils. Now, with all the zeal of the newly converted, I am telling you that this is the perfect recipe for lentil soup, perhaps even for those who think that they don’t like lentils.
It was pretty good, but nothing special. Followed the recipe, but maybe next time I’d add more bacon, or some kind of Italian sausage (but that kind of takes away from it being a healthy soup, which is why I picked this recipe!) it is a good basic recipe, but I need a bit more flavor. DH said he would eat it again, though, so that tells you something!
I really enjoyed this soup. I took the suggestion to change the ingredients. I substituted fresh chopped kale for the spinach, I left out the potatoes, I used hot salsa and substituted smoked pork neck instead of the bacon. I also did what Gina B. suggested and added cumin and a bay leaf. It turned out terrific. The kale holds up well and has a better flavor, I think, than the spinach. I don’t eat potatoes much any more and didn’t see the point in adding them. The salsa added some spiciness, and the smoked pork neck gives a lot of flavor with a little bit of meat.
Turned out GREAT! Such a nice change from the standard chili, broccoli cheddar, or baked potato soups. Light and relatively low cal. Will definitely do this again. I did add 2 tbsp. lemon juice as well as 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar to give it a bit of “tang”. Thanks for the terrific recipe!
I used lentils for the first time in this recipe. A word of caution…if you use red lentils, reduce the cooking time. Red lentils take the shortest amount of time to cook. My soup came out mushy. Next time maybe 25 minutes with red lentils in it.
I really liked this soup! I thought the bacon/salsa/rosemary combination was new and different and it used up a bag of spinach I needed to finish. I totally took out most of the bacon grease before adding the onions and carrots. That’s the only change I made. Thanks for the recipe.
Yum! I followed recipe as instructed with the following modifications and it turned out great! -Chopped bacon before frying -Used Medium Salsa, didn’t add any black pepper -After I fried bacon I drained fat, but added about half back in -Used canned lentils -3/4 tbsp Cumin 1/4 dried Bay Leaves Thanks! Hubby enjoyed too.
Super easy, nutritious and delicious!