Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup
This delicious Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup also has carrots, celery, garlic, spices, canned tomatoes, and cauliflower rice! And please don’t be concerned about the lentils, because this soup that can be made on the stove or in the slow cooker only has 7 net carbs per serving!
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This Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup is adapted from a slow cooker soup I made years ago on a day when my brother Rand happened to be in Utah for my dad’s 85th birthday party. Rand always likes to try out my cooking experiments when he’s visiting, and he loved that soup so much that when he went back home he asked if he could have the recipe before it was posted on the blog. And I think that original version of this soup is still something he enjoys making.
Now I’ve adapted that older recipe into this new recipe, and if you use the link above to see the original recipe, you can probably tell why I wanted to make a lower-carb soup with those same flavors! For the new soup recipe I used more sausage, replaced the brown rice with cauliflower rice, and used a bit more spinach. I also made this into a stovetop soup so it used more chicken broth than the original soup, and those changes reduced the carbs down to 7 net carbs per serving!
This is a relatively long-cooking soup for a stovetop recipe, but I encourage you to simmer the soup on low and let it make your house smell great! If you’re a fan of making soup in the crockpot, you can also use the original slow cooker instructions linked above and adapt this new lower-carb recipe to be made in the slow cooker if you prefer.
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)
- onion
- carrot
- celery
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- Dried Thyme (affiliate link)
- Spike Seasoning (affiliate link)
- chicken or turkey sausage
- petite diced tomatoes
- homemade chicken stock or canned chicken broth (affiliate link)
- brown lentils
- salt and pepper
- frozen cauliflower rice
- fresh spinach
- Balsamic Vinegar (affiliate link)
- Parmesan cheese to add at the table (optional)
What sausage did we use for Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup ?
Some turkey or chicken sausage has added sugar, so watch for that if you don’t want extra carbs. We use Jenni-O Hardwood Smoked Turkey Kielbasa with only one carb per serving.
What if you don’t have balsamic vinegar?
If you don’t have balsamic vinegar you can use red wine vinegar in this Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup. I might use slightly less and taste to see if you want the full amount.
How can you make the Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup even lower in carbs?
If you want a version of the soup that’s even lower in carbs, switch the carrots for more celery, switch the lentils for another cup of cauliflower rice, and switch the balsamic vinegar for red wine vinegar. That will still be delicious if you use a flavorful sausage!
How to Make Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup :
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- We used Jenni-O Hardwood Smoked Turkey Sausage. Cut into pieces.
- Chop up the onion, carrot, and celery into small pieces,
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy soup pot and cook the veggies about 2 minutes. Add garlic and dried spices and cook another couple of minutes.
- The add sausage pieces and cook about 3 minutes more.
- Measure out the lentils and add to the pot with canned tomatoes with juice, chicken broth, and salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
- Cook that on low heat for about 1 hours, or until the lentils are soft.
- Then add cauliflower rice) and cook 30 minutes.
- Chop the spinach if needed, baby spinach won’t need to be chopped much.
- Add Spinach and cook 20-30 more minutes.
- Then stir in 2 T balsamic vinegar, cook for about 5 minutes more and serve hot.
- This is especially good with parmesan cheese sprinkled over if desired.
More Low-Carb Soups with Sausage:
- Instant Pot Sausage and Kale Soup
- Instant Pot Sausage Soup with Pesto
- Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana Soup
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe for soup with lentils, sausage, and spinach has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup
This delicious Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup also has carrots, celery, garlic, spices, canned tomatoes, and cauliflower rice! And you can make this tasty soup on the stove or in the slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 1 small onion
- 1 carrot, diced very small
- 2 stalks celery, diced very small
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 T minced garlic (from a jar, use less if fresh garlic)
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- tsp. Spike seasoning2
- 14 oz. pre-cooked chicken or turkey sausage
- one 14.5 oz. can petite dice tomatoes
- 8 cups chicken broth (see notes)
- 1/2 cup brown lentils
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup cauliflower rice
- 5 oz. chopped fresh spinach
- 2 T balsamic vinegar
- Parmesan cheese to add at the table (optional)
Instructions
- Chop the sausage into pieces about 1/4 - 1/2 inch wide.
- Dice onion, carrot and celery into small pieces.
- Heat olive oil in heavy soup pot, add veggies and saute until starting to soften, about 2 minutes.
- Add garlic, thyme, and Spike seasoning and cook about 2 minutes.
- Then add sausage pieces and cook about 3 minutes more.
- Add lentils, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, and salt and pepper to taste to the soup pot.
- Cook over low heat until lentils are soft, about one hour.
- Add frozen cauliflower rice and cook about 30 minutes more.
- Chop spinach if needed and add to soup pot and cook 20-30 minutes more.
- Stir in balsamic vinegar and simmer about 5 minutes.
- Serve the Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup hot, with Parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
The soup would be amazing with homemade chicken stock if you have some.
Recipe created by Kalyn. New lower-carb version adapted with help from Kara.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 256Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 80mgSodium 1452mgCarbohydrates 10gFiber 3gSugar 4gProtein 24g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Switching the rice for cauliflower rice, using more sausage, and using more broth made this Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup into a soup with only 7 net carbs per serving. If it’s made with low-fat chicken or turkey sausage this could also be a great choice for phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet (or for any phase if you replace carrots with more celery).
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more tasty soups like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The original recipe for lentil sausage soup with brown rice was posted in 2010. It was updated in 2021 with suggestions for making a lower-carb version and in 2023 the recipe was adapted into a low-carb soup. Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup was last updated with more information in 2025.
51 Comments on “Lentil Sausage Spinach Soup”
Sausage lentil soup contains both sausage and lentils, which are both excellent sources of protein. Protein is essential for building and repairing tissues in the body and can also help you feel full and satisfied
Yes, I agree.
I’m not a fan of lentils. What’s a good substitute that’ll keep the carbs the same?
I wish I could think of one but I am drawing a blank on that. And when I googled it the only things I saw were beans, which would definitely have more carbs than lentils. Maybe take a look at Google and see if you find something.
The first brief ingredient list posts both red and brown lentils but not red lentils in the detailed ingredients??
Ugh, that first mention is a mistake from the original version. Only using one kind of lentils is a change I made to make it lower in carbs! Thanks for catching that; I will edit to remove it. Hope you enjoy the soup.
Comments before this were for the original slow cooker recipe for Double Lentil, Sausage, Brown Rice, and Spinach Soup. See the link at the top of the post for that recipe.
Have you tried making this in a pressure cooker? If so, how long would you recommend?
I haven’t tried it and I’m afraid I’m not enough of an expert to take a guess at it. I’d try googling Instant Pot Lentil and Brown Rice soup to get tips for cooking both those together if there are any similar recipes out there. And definitely add the spinach at the very end. Love to hear how it works if you try it!
Kale will be fine, it just takes a little longer to cook than spinach. But in a soup like this that won't be a problem.
Has anyone used kale instead of spinach in this recipe?
This is just the sort of "leftover soup" recipe I needed — I came across it on Yummly. Trying with leftover corned beef hash, chard from the CSA box, and leftover cooked white rice (so cutting down on the liquid a bit). Thank you for the inspiration and guidance on cooking times.
Glad you have enjoyed the recipe. I couldn't say for sure since I haven't tried it with kale, but in general kale will be a little more bulky after cooking and will take a little longer to cook.
if substituting kale for spinach would it be s straight out swap, time and quantity-wise? I've made this recipe with spinach many times. Some of us are vegetarians and so I use the Morningstar sausage crumbles (9oz) instead of sausage occassionally and we enjoy it equally as well.
Kelly, you would also have to skip the carrot to make it phase one. There are some other good phase one lentils soups in the recipe index (left side.)
If you took the rice out, would that make it phase 1???? I love lentil soup!
Julie, so glad you liked it.
really, really good! I wouldn't have made it if I didn't think that I would like it, but it still turned out to be a surprising amount of flavor for just a little bit of effort. I used no salt tomatoes and didn't add any salt for seasoning, and it was perfect!
Yes the rice is not cooked. (iPhone, sorry for short reply.)
Hi, just checking to make sure, you but the rice in uncooked, correct? And one hour in the crockpot is all it takes? Thanks!
So glad you liked it. My brother has become obsessed with this soup, and he's made several variations. Your blended version sounds good too.
I made the soup tonight. I used Turkey sausage as well but I pureed the lentil soup first, then added the sausage and 2 Tablespoons Gram Marsala. Wonderful on a cold winter evening!
Allison, so glad you liked it!
I put this together and let it cook in the crockpot while I was at work today – delicious! I used fresh italian goat sausage from the farmer's market and it was sooo good. Definitely making it again!
Brandon, so glad you like it. I will have to try that Harmon's sausage. And I agree, this would be good with kale.
We've made this three or four times already. Needless to say, we love it. I add some cumin and chipotle chili powder in with the spices. Try Harmon's own garlic chicken sausage. It's mild but adds great flavor. I also tried this soup with kale, and I prefer it. One of the best soups on the blog. Thanks, Kalyn!
Christeen, so glad you liked it.
I made a batch on the stovetop using some chipotle smoked sausage, and holy cow, it was just awesome! What a super recipe! I'm already looking forward to making it again.
Marc, I think your version sounds great! Spike is usually sold by health foods, but any seasoning blend you like the taste of can be substituted.
Delicious! We made this recently but had to make one change (can't find Spike, made up my own combo) and chose to use 1/2lb fresh chorizo and 1/2lb fresh chicken sausage instead of the packaged. Since I couldn't find Spike, I made up a combo of salt, fresh ground pepper, cumin, paprika, chili powder, and a little curry powder. I can't wait to make it again! Thank you.
Susan, I'm especially glad to hear it was a hit with the kids. Good to know that frozen spinach is good in this recipe too; I wondered about that.
Delicious! My whole family (kids ages 3, 6, and 8) gobbled this up for dinner. I only had brown lentils, and used frozen chopped spinach, but otherwise followed as written. It was perfect for a chilly winter evening.
Nicole, thanks for the nice feedback about the recipes. I like your variations for this (especially the hot sauce – great idea!)
I made this today, too, and it turned out great! I used Penzey's jarred broths and did 2 cups of ham broth and 3 cups of chicken. I added a tiny bit of heat with a dash of cayenne, too.
Your Moroccan lentil stew is one of my rotation meals that I always cook to freeze since it freezes so well. I love the red lentils in that, and I am always looking for them in other recipes.
My husband and I both enjoy your recipes– I can't think of one that we've tried that we didn't like.
Michele, I bet that's good. My brother Rand is at my house right now and he thinks it sounds good too. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Kayln – Faced with a large amount of stock and leftover turkey after the big day, I decided to make this soup with leftover turkey. It turned out great! I made it on the stovetop, and added the turkey about 10 min or so before the balsalmic vinegar. If I were doing it in the crockpot, would probably add it 30 min – ? Anyway, I'll probably try it with the sausage another time.
Paz, I never met a lentil soup I didn't love. It's my favorite soup ingredient by far!
Susan I agree about the brown rice. I love Uncle Bens brown rice; it's a long-grain rice and cooks more quickly than some.
This soup looks amazing! Love that you used brown rice, I love it but it often gets overlooked.
Yum! I'll have to try this recipe. Recently made some lentil soup.
Paz
If you don't have a way to brown the veggies, just put all the ingredients in together. It will still be fine, I just think sauteeing the veggies with the herbs brings out the flavors.
This looks delicious. I don't really have access to a stovetop.. any suggestions for making it delicious without frying the veggies first?
This looks delicious Kalyn. I see why Rand wanted the recipe!
I know I've really made something good when my brother requests it. This sounds delicious!
this soup looks wonderful. We don't eat processed meat so I might just use chicken or turkey here. Also, I've never used thyme in my cooking before but I see it now on all the cooking blogs I read – it must be "herb of the season" so I might just give it a try and see if I like it.
Thanks for the great recipes!
Stephanie, so glad the recipes are working for you (and for your husband too sometimes!)
This looks really good! I am on SBD, but hubby isn't (though he should be), and it's hard to find diet dieshes he likes; he's a real meat-and-potatoes man. I may have to leave out the spinach and just add it to my bowl.
However, he LOVED your double berry jello salad, enough so that he didn't eat any more of his canned jellied cranberry sauce after eating mine!
I also made your pumpkin cheesecake pie for me, as hubby wanted a pecan pie, and I used the crushed pecans crust as suggested in the comments. Scrumptious! I had enough filling for two pies, and I've brought one to work to LEAVE, as I ate the entire other pie by myself. I can't DO that anymore, but it was wonderful while it lasted.
Thanks so much for these recipes–it's making my life a little easier.
Sometimes I think I could live on lentils if I had plenty of other ingredients to flavor them! Glad people are liking the soup.
What a great way to transition into December! I love lentil soup, and my crock pot!
Brown rice and spinach in combination with the lentils are a great idea. I did a similar soup with chick peas.
We love sausage and lentils here! I'll definitely be making this soon. Thanks Kalyn!
Oh I can't hit Bookmark fast enough!!!!!