Carrabba’s Sausage Lentil Soup is a delicious, hearty soup perfect for a cold day. One bite, and you will fall in love with this simple soup. This soup has a great flavor and makes for the perfect dinner with a side salad.
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Why Carrabbas Lentil Soup with Sausage is so good!
Sometimes, all you need for an incredible meal is hot soup and a hunk of crusty bread. Carrabba’s Sausage Lentil Soup is simple to make, easy to store, inexpensive, and delicious.
It’s the perfect lunch to take to work or enjoy as a light supper at home during those colder months.
Why This is the Best Recipe For Sausage Lentil Soup
This dish proves you don’t need a pantry full of exotic spices, spend a lot of money, or be a great cook to make soul-satisfying food. It’s also an ideal recipe for anyone who wants to save time by prepping meals in advance.
Not only does lentil sausage soup get better over time in the fridge, but it freezes amazingly well. So, make a double or even triple batch, and you can eat well all winter.
Recipe Ingredients
The ingredients for this sausage and lentil soup are:
- White onion
- Carrot
- Celery
- Garlic
- Salt
- Butter or olive oil
- Italian sausage
- Chicken broth
- Italian seasoning
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Brown lentils
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
If you prefer, you can use bouillon cubes or Better Than Bouillon instead of chicken broth.
You can use bulk or sausage in the casing. If you go with sausage in the casing, cut into quarter-inch cubes before cooking. The type with a thick fennel flavor is the best one to get. Or you can make your own Italian sausage.
For a lighter version, try using Italian-style turkey sausage instead.
Spicy sausage lentil soup – you can use hot Italian sausage
Vegetarians can substitute a vegetable broth and swap out the pork sausage for a plant-based alternative, like, Vejje’s Meat-Free Italian Sausage or Field Roast’s Vegetarian Grain Meat Sausages.
How to Make Lentil Soup With Sausage
Here are the steps for making this copycat Carrabba’s sausage lentil soup recipe:
- Heat a heavy-bottom soup pot, Dutch oven, or large saucepan on the stove over medium heat.
- While the pot warms up, cut the onions, carrots, and celery into small dice.
- Put the butter or vegetable oil into the pot and add the diced vegetables.
- Cook the vegetables, occasionally stirring until the onions turn transparent.
- Dice the sausage into small pieces and add it to the pot.
- Saute the sausage until browned.
- Dump out any grease before stirring in the diced tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Let the tomatoes caramelize slightly.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, rinse off the dry lentils and let them drain in a colander in the sink.
- Pour in the chicken stock and allow the soup to boil.
- Stir in the brown lentils and reduce the heat. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for about an hour. Stir the soup from time to time and add water as needed.
- Turn off the heat and let the soup sit for about 10 minutes before serving.
You can garnish the soup with chopped fresh herbs such as basil, oregano, parsley, or thyme.
Carrabba’s Lentil Soup Recipe Variations
Who doesn’t like to come home to a nice bowl of warm soup? With a few changes, you can easily convert this lentil sausage soup recipe from the stovetop to a slow cooker.
- Sauté the sausage in a pan on the stove in oil.
- Transfer the cooked sausage to the slow cooker.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients.
- Cook on the low setting for 6 to 8 hours or until the lentils are tender.
Want to have a creamy, thick soup? Here’s what you can do:
Try pureeing some or all of the soup for a thicker consistency. Use an immersion blender if you have one. Remember, never fill the top of a blender more than a third when blending hot ingredients, and be careful of splattering.
How to Serve Sausage and Lentil Soup
Serve the soup in a small cup for the starter or a big bowl for the main course.
What Goes Well With This Dish?
This soup goes perfectly with a slice of good bread or breadsticks, a little grated parmesan cheese, and some lightly sauteed spinach or Swiss chard as a garnish.
How to Store Carrabba’s Sausage Lentil Soup
Cool the soup thoroughly before storing it in the refrigerator or freezer. Cool the soup as quickly as possible by removing it from the pot and putting it in a metal mixing bowl. Float the mixing bowl in a larger bowl half full of ice water. Stir constantly.
Once cool, transfer the soup to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Can I Freeze Lentil Soup With Sausage?
Yes. You can freeze in a freezer-safe container or bag for 3 to 4 months.
How Can I Reheat Lentil Soup?
It is best to reheat the soup on the stovetop, but you can also reheat it in the microwave.
To reheat on the stove:
- Thaw the soup overnight in the fridge or use the quick defrost option in the microwave.
- Pour the thawed soup into a pan and stir in some water or chicken stock if the soup is thick.
- Slowly warm the soup on medium-low heat.
To reheat in the microwave:
- Thaw the soup overnight in the fridge or use the quick defrost option in the microwave.
- Pour the thawed soup into a microwave-safe bowl and stir in water or chicken stock if necessary.
- Cover and microwave for a minute. Give the soup a stir and heat for another 30 seconds. Check the temperature of the soup and continue heating in 30-second increments until hot.
Love restaurant-style soups? Try these recipes!
- 4B’s Tomato Soup
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup Panera Bread Recipe
- Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Creamy Onion Soup
- Minestrone Soup Olive Garden
- Olive Garden Tuscan Soup
- Panera Squash Soup
- Southwest Chicken Soup Recipe
- Pasta e Fagioli Soup Olive Garden
More Italian Restaurant Copycat Recipes
And there’s more! Look at my easy soup recipes and the best homemade Italian food.
Carrabba’s Sausage and Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 1/2 cup diced carrot
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 48 ounces low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 14.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 1 cup brown lentils
Instructions
- In a large pot, sauté the onions, carrots, garlic, and celery with the salt in either butter or olive oil until the onions are translucent.
- Add the sausage and cook until browned, breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain any excess oil from the pot.
- Add the chicken broth, Italian seasoning, diced tomatoes, and brown lentils.
- Cover with a lid and simmer for about 1 hour. You may want to add some additional water if too much evaporates during the cooking process.
joanne anderson
I’m Italian and have made this soup several times I absolutely love this recipe and will only use it from now on. Very easy to make and relatively inexpensive. I added fresh thyme and red pepper flakes but it’s not necessary. Had them on hand so why not. You won’t be disappointed.
Bertha
There are lots of food logger like this but the best food blog “Carrabba’s Sausage Lentil Soup” is yours. I will try to make it like you. Much thanks for giving me a smart blog.
Doug Little
Thanks and a tip of the hat to you Stephanie for this stellar recreation. It was a truly delicious addition to our family table this Christmas.
The only thing I’ll do differently when preparing it the next time will be to make a triple batch!
Nancy Strathearn
I want to make your Carravva Sausage Lentil Soup. I do the cooking for y 95 young Mom, and she is restricted in her salt and fat. 1. I would like to swap out 95% Lean Sirloin, 2. I would like to also use Red Lentils, as that is what I have on hand. Have you tried the soup with any of these swap outs?
Thank you.
Stephanie Manley
I haven’t tried those swap outs, but the red lentils should be no problem, neither should the sirloin, it may not taste like the original though.
Susan
I used to order this at Carrabba’s all the time! I wanted some yesterday and decided to look for a Copycat recipe and I made this one! Oh goodness, it is SO good – perfect, maybe even better than Carrabba’s ha! I added a little Worchestershire and a little dry red wine, 2 bay leaves, and I wanted more lentils so I added 3/4 cup more than the recipe called for… I added them late b/c I was not sure if the original amount would swell up enough… so I let it sit overnight with burner off and it is perfect today! I am in the middle of moving so my Italian seasoning is packed – I used dried basil, dried oregano and some red pepper flakes. I would give this recipe more star if possible ha! Thanks for this!
Stephanie
Aww, I am glad this recipe worked for you.
Kerry Baidin
I have a cooking challenge as my friend has pancreatitis and cannot have fat. This soup was one of his favorites —–I can make it exactly like the recipe but I need to add something besides the sausage and still great a great favor? Any ideas?
Stephanie
To make up for the sausage not being there, I would consider some liquid smoke, maybe you could use some soy texture protein as well.
L E Payne
Hi, sorry for your friend. You could replace with tofu. Tofu has NO flavor it’s self so it absorbs the flavor of the sauce. Or, you could replace with that veggie meat. The only problem I have with the plant based is I absolutely can not taste the difference. So, why pay more if i can’t tell; the difference anyway. But, it may be better for him; and in the future when the price comes down I will will probably switch to the plant based as it will be actually better for my particular health, also.
Sidney
I ended up with too much liquid at the end and had to boil some of it off. Also needed far more spices than called for—maybe the sausage I bought wasn’t flavorful enough. I used more Italian spices plus some sage. I like the idea of bay leaf others have used. Overall good, but needed tweaking this time..
Stephanie
I am sorry I missed the mark for you. You could have cooked the soup for longer and allowed some of the liquid to evaporate from the soup.
Rose
Thank you!!!! This is absolutely delicious can’t wait to make it myself!!
Joyce
Does anyone know how long to cook in the crock pot? Thank you,
Stephanie
I would do 4 to 6 hours on low in a crockpot after you brown the sausage.
Sandi
Have you used the Crockpot yet? I am really interested. I believe the flavor would be delicious.
Stephanie Manley
If you did that, I would cook the sausage first, so you can drain the grease.
Diane
I add bay leaf, a splash of red wine and some red pepper to this recipe as well
Bubba Mustafa
I love bay in a soup. The red wine sounds good too (but hard to part with it 🙂 )
I didn’t use them, but added a fat shot of L&P Worcestershire.
Even still color was off from the restaurant version, very light.
Susan
I’ve seen references to bacon (regular and Italian) including by yourself Stephanie, but there’s no mention of it in the recipe ingredients. I think it sounds like it would be a nice addition to the soup but where should it be used. When the sausage is cooked?
PS- my husband loves the Carrabba version so I’m looking forward to trying this.
Daisy
Can I use beef smoked sausage as I do not have Italian