French Lentil Soup with Bacon
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.
Servings 6
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon diced (about 6 ounces)
- 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
- 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. 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. Remove some of the bacon and set aside if you like for garnish.
- 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.
- Finally, stir in the red wine vinegar and parsley. Serve with crusty bread for a hearty meal.