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german lentil soup with wiener sausage and potatoes in a vintage soup plate.
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4.84 from 6 votes

German Lentil Soup

Traditional German lentil soup with potatoes, vegetables, and sausages, this Linsensuppe is one of the best German soups there is.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: German
Servings: 4 -6
Calories: 409kcal
Author: Adina

Equipment

  • Large soup pot

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 4.5 oz smoked pork belly with rind or smoked bacon 125 g, Note 1
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 piece celeriac about 50 g/ 1.7 oz
  • 1 small leek
  • 1 cup brown lentils 200 g/ 7 oz
  • 6 – 8 cups stock 1.5-2 liter, Note 2
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon dry lovage
  • 10.5 oz potatoes 300 g
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2-4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar to taste
  • fine sea salt and pepper
  • 8 Vienna sausages or Frankfurters

Instructions

  • Pork belly or bacon: If you use smoked pork belly or bacon with rind, keep it in one piece. Rindless, chopped smoked bacon or pork belly can be used instead.
    4.5 oz/ 125 g pork belly or bacon
  • Heat the oil in the pot. Add the smoked pork belly with rind or the smoked bacon with rind in one piece and fry it well on both sides. If using already cubed bacon or pork belly without the rind, fry them all over as well.
    1 tablespoon oil
  • Add ingredients: In the meantime, finely chop the onion, carrots, celeriac, and leek. Add them to the pot and stir. Leave the pork belly in the pot.
    1 large onion + 2 carrots+ 1 piece celeriac or 2 celery stalks + 1 small leek
  • Add the rinsed lentils and about ¾ of the broth or stock to the pot. Add the bay leaves and the dry lovage.
    1 cup/ 200 g lentils + ¾ of 6-8 cups stock + 3 bay leaves + 1 teaspoon dried lovage
  • Simmer: Stir, bring to a boil, and let cook on low heat for about 30 minutes or until the brown lentils are quite soft but not perfectly done yet.
  • Add potatoes: In the meantime, peel and chop the potatoes into small cubes. Add them to the pot. The soup should be really thick, but if you find it too thick, you can add some or all of the remaining stock at this point.
    10.5 oz/ 300 g potatoes
  • Cook: Bring to a boil again and continue cooking the soup for about another 20 - 30 minutes or until the potatoes and lentils are soft.
  • Chop pork belly: Remove the whole piece of pork belly or bacon, if using. Remove and discard the rind. Chop the rest of the pork belly or bacon into small pieces. Return them to the soup.
  • Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, sugar, and balsamic vinegar. Add only 2 tablespoons vinegar first and add more to taste.
    salt + pepper + 2-4 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, to taste
  • Add sausages: Just before serving, heat the sausages in a large pot of water and serve 1 or 2 sausages per person. For a speedier version, slice the sausages thickly and heat the sausage pieces in the soup. Serve as suggested above.
    8 sausages

Notes

  1. Rindless chopped bacon or pork belly can be used instead.
  2. Beef broth, chicken stock or bone broth.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 of the dish | Calories: 409kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 786mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g