I am giving this a 5 star rating, with the following modifications: added 3 cloves minced garlic to the oil and onions while they cooked; used 2 cans beef broth (14oz. each) and 1 cup water; used the entire 8oz. can of tomato sauce; added about a cup of sliced baby carrots. Also, I did not add the tomato sauce or the Italian seasoning until the lentils were thoroughly cooked...oftentimes lentils do not cook completely when a tomato product is used at the start. And I personally did not add any salt or pepper. Really good, hearty and healthy soup!
This is a wonderful base for lentil soup, but I upped flavor and healthy ingredients as well a the servings to 12 to adjust for the small 1 lb pkg of lentils which contains about 2 cups. I then added 6 cloves garlic with the onion when the onion was half done to avoid burning the garlic, 1 lb Italian sausage, 1 pkg dry Italian dressing seasoning mix, a dash of red wine vinegar, chopped carrots and celery, 4 cups chopped fresh spinach and used my own plain chicken stock I always save in my freezer left over from simmering chicken for other uses. As suggested I added tomatoe sauce to taste after the lentils were cooked to avoid clowing the cooking time. I served with some crusty garlic whole grain bread. Since I increased the amount I planned to freeze leftovers for future meals but the family ate every bite and clammored for more. Its now a family favorite and I have to make two batches if I want to try to freeze some for nights when I don't have the time to cook, putting it from the freezer to low in the crockpot to have it hot and simmering by dinner.
This is one of my new favorites! After reading the reviews, I made the following changes/additions to the recipe. I sauteed garlic with the onion, used basil/garlic/oregano tomato sauce, added some chili powder and also hot italian turkey sausage. The flavor is wonderful and the soup very hearty! I'll be freezing portions as future meals. Thanks so much for sharing.
OK I took great liberties with this recipe because I didn't feel like going to the store and it turned out to be ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Instead of the beef broth and onions I used a can of French onion soup and a can of water and instead of the tomato sauce I added a can of "Soup At Hand" (microwavable ready-to-eat) classic tomato soup. I also added a teaspoon of fennel seeds to the standard Italian seasonings and some red pepper flakes for a little spiciness. I also chopped up about 1/2 a cup each of celery and carrots and added it into the mix. The result was amazing--a rich thick lentil soup with more flavor than most restaurant soups!
I give this 5 stars because it's easy healthy and my 6 yr old and 13 yr old both liked it enough for "healthy" soup they eat it!! Per other suggestions I used vegy broth instead of beef I finely chopped up two carrots and added when I put the lentils in and I doubled the amount of tomato sauce and didn't add it until the very end. Thank you for the recipe - I am adding to my recipe box!!
This was a very tasty hearty soup--turned out thicker more like a stew. I didn't have the full 4 cups of beef broth so I substituted the difference (about 1/3 cup) with red wine which added a nice richness to the soup. I also added three sliced gourmet chicken sausages at the end to make the soup a little heartier. Will make again--thanks for the recipe!
This is AWESOME! I followed one of the reviewers suggestions and added one clove of garlic to it. I also threw in a little yellow mustard and used veggie broth. I think you need more broth though as the lentils soak quite a bit of it in as they cook. I bought a couple of extra cans of broth and added more as the soup thickened too much.
This recipe is great! It's a great low cal recipe as well. I added some low fat kilbasa to the soup to give it a little different flavor as leftovers.
Fabulous base recipe. Even better if you doctor it up. I usually add a couple of chopped carrots celery and garlic cloves to saute with the onions. Then add some chopped smoked sausage at the end. I omit the italian seasoning if I add sausage. This has become my new favorite soup. Hearty and delish!
Disappointing but salvageable. I used the entire 8 oz can of tomato sauce and increased the Italian seasoning significantly. I also added a couple cloves of garlic ground chicken and a couple pinches of red pepper flake. I used my immersion blender to blend about half of the mixture which thickened it nicely. It turned out pretty good but it still seemed liked it was missing something. I love lentils but I don't think this is the lentil soup recipe for me.
