Lentil Soup- An Easy Meatless (or not) Recipe

Happy Saturday, again, friends! We are getting ready for our second shop from home grocery pick up and I'm hoping this one is as smooth as the first one with more items making their way to the cart instead of the "completely out" list.

All of our local stores have been sold out of meat products each time we've attempted a trip (ie sending Matt or online ordering), so I'm trying to figure out as many meatless recipes as I can.

If you've followed the blog for long enough, you'll probably know that Lentil Soup is a household favorite. I usually add pepperoni to it, but we've definitely enjoyed lentils without the pepperoni as well. It's a delicious and filling dinner, especially when served over elbow macaroni.

You Will Need:

10 cups of water

8 beef bouillon cubes

1 (16 oz) bag of lentil beans
1 box elbow macaroni (or other small pasta)
Carrots (optional)

Celery (optional)

Directions:

Fill a large pot with 10 cups of water and 8 bouillon cubes. You can also use any ready-made broth you already have, I just always happen to have cubes.

Place on a burner over medium heat and let it turn into a nice broth. Open the bag of lentils and pour them into a colander. You want to rinse and pick them over.

Once they have been rinsed, add them to the pot with the broth and stir. Let the water boil and then lower the heat.

You'll want to let the soup cook for at least two hours (stirring often), but we typically let it cook for 2-3 because we like how the soup thickens over that amount of time.

If you choose to add the carrots and/or celery to your soup, I suggest adding them both about 30-45 minutes before the soup is done. Small slices are best so that they aren't too crunchy for the soup.

You can make the elbows during the last 30 minutes or so of the soup cooking. This way the water has time to boil and the pasta has time to cook.

This is a pretty versatile meal, so if you are lucky to find a stick or two of pepperoni or have some extra ham on hand, you can add either in when you are adding the lentils. This recipe also makes quite a bit of soup, so you'll have a few days worth of leftovers for the week or to add to your freezer!

Hope you'll give this delicious recipe a try. It would be pretty nice served with a slice of the Pantry Bread Taylor shared the recipe for on Thursday.

Have a splendid Saturday!