Slow Cooker Lentil and Sausage Soup

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I am a big fan of soups and stews when it’s chilly outside. Nothing warms me up quite as well. And since the nights have been cooler I have been drawn to fixing more soups. But I have also been wanting to create some new soups. That’s what led me to create this slow cooker lentil and sausage soup.

I have to admit that I’ve never really cooked with lentils before. It wasn’t an ingredient that my Mom used either, so I had just never really been exposed to a lot of dishes that included lentils. But I’ve been pushing myself to become familiar with ingredients that I don’t normally use, so I bought a bag of organic green lentils.

A little bit about lentils

Now, I didn’t know much about lentils, but I do think that it’s important to understand more about the food you eat, so I did a little lentil learning. Lentils are a seed and part of the legume family. One of the biggest benefits of lentils is that they are high in protein. In fact, many people use lentils to replace meat. But that isn’t their only claim to fame. They are also rich in fiber, iron, folate, potassium and manganese. Lentils are the perfect addition to any soup recipe!

I used the slow cooker to cook this soup. It is one of my go to small appliances and allows me to throw in the ingredients earlier in the day and allow it to cook for hours. The day I made this that was the perfect option! I had things I needed to get done up until dinner time. But since I had fixed the soup earlier in the day the soup was ready when I was ready to eat! It would be paired perfectly with this Hawaiian banana bread.

This lentil and sausage soup is full of great vegetables. I chose to use uncured turkey smoked sausage in this recipe, but use whatever smoked sausage you like. Any color of lentils will work just fine. I used green lentils in this soup. This recipe is naturally gluten and grain-free.