French Lentil Soup with Bacon is a rich and hearty soup packed with flavor. Makes a delicious, nutritious, and satisfying meal. Serve with some crusty bread and enjoy.
My French lentil soup is made with Le Puy lentils which have a dark green color with hints of blue. They hold their shape beautifully when cooked unlike brown lentils which tend to turn mushy.
That doesn’t mean that brown lentils are bad. Brown lentils are perfect for lentils with rice and tomato onion dressing.
POTATOES ARE A NATURAL THICKENER
The thickness of this soup comes from the potatoes that are cooked along with everything else instead of being added towards the end. I count on some breaking up creating a natural thickener.
The addition of red wine vinegar brightens the soup and is added at the end along with some chopped parsley.
The seasonings for this French lentil soup take it to another level. It’s seasoned liberally with kosher salt to bring out the sweetness of the vegetables. A tablespoon may sound like too much, but realize that since it’s kosher salt, the crystals are larger than table salt. After all, you’re seasoning six cups of liquid along with potatoes that need salt when cooked.
DID SOMEONE SAY "BACON"?
Bacon is diced and cooked until crisp. The bacon is then removed and set aside to add in the end. We want that bacon fat to cook the vegetables.
Then the onions are added and sautéed in the bacon fat until they're nice and soft. The garlic is added and cooked until fragrant which only takes less than a minute.
The remaining vegetables are added along with the lentils, water, and stock. The soup simmers until the lentils are tender which takes about 30 minutes.
To thicken the soup, I take the back of a wooden spoon and smush the potatoes against the pot. I leave some whole as well.
The red wine vinegar and parsley are added at the end. The red wine vinegar brightens the soup.
Stir in the bacon, leaving some for garnish, if desired.
This makes a great meal and goes perfectly with a good chunk of bread.
Life is too short for mediocre food.
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FRENCH LENTIL SOUP WITH BACON
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Ingredients
- ½ pound bacon diced
- 1 large sweet onion diced
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 3 carrots diced
- 3 celery stalks diced
- 1 cup French Le Puy lentils a.k.a French lentils, rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups chicken stock low sodium
- 2 cups water
- 2 russet potatoes peeled and chopped
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a stock pot over medium high heat, add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside in a bowl. There should be about ¼ cup of fat rendered from the bacon. You can eyeball it. If there’s more, pour off and reserved for another use. Just store it in the fridge until needed.
- Add the onions and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds or so.
- Add the carrots, celery, lentils, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and bay leaves. Give it a stir to wake up the seasonings.
- Pour in the stock, water, and add the potatoes. Stir, bring to a boil, then cover and lower heat to medium low. Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Remove cover and using the back of your spoon, smash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot then stir it back in. This thickens the soup beautifully. I try and smash all of the potatoes.
- Stir in the red wine vinegar and parsley. Add in the bacon, reserving a bit for garnish, if desired. Give it a good stir. Serve with crusty bread for a hearty meal.
Nutritional Information
I don't post the nutritional value because I don't trust the accuracy of the nutritional apps. I’m not a nutritionist and don't want to post misinformation.
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