A Deliciously Tasty Lentil Bacon Soup Recipe
Searching for a delicious and tasty soup to get lost in? A lentil bacon soup is not only easy to make but is also hearty. One batch can provide you with countless leftovers, too. Want a lentil bacon soup recipe? We have you covered.
A Tasty Lentil Bacon Soup Recipe You Can Prepare in About an Hour
There’s no reason why you have to go out to buy a cookbook in the hopes that it will have a winning recipe for lentil bacon soup. The reality is that there are plenty of blogs with tried and true recipes for the hearty soup like this one from She Wears Many Hats.
Virtually every recipe you find will focus on many of the same ingredients:
- Bacon
- Onion
- Carrots
- Celery
- Garlic
- Dried spices
- Chicken stock
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Dried lentils
- Bay leaf
- Salt and pepper to taste
Once you’ve collected all of your ingredients, you can focus on cooking the bacon as well as the onions, carrots, and celery. Everything will get transferred to a stock pot so that it can simmer for about an hour.
You can always allow for the simmer to go for an hour and a half to ensure that the spices really integrate into the soup.
Finish off with some salt and pepper to taste. Then, you’re able to serve into bowls and enjoy.
How Should Lentils Be Prepared?
Lentils are often intimidating to work with. They come in a large bag in your grocery store’s pantry section. They’re often found around the beans, so you’d think they need the same preparation, right?
The reality is that lentils do NOT need to be soaked like beans do. That’s good news for you because it means a faster preparation time for your soup.
The only thing you should do with lentils is rinse and drain them. Be sure that all of the dust and dirt is off the lentils so you don’t end up contaminating your soup.
Is Lentil Bacon Soup a Healthy Option?
Lentil bacon soup can be very healthy, depending on the ingredients you add to the pot.
Since you’re making the soup from scratch, you get to control how much of everything goes in. So, if you don’t want the soup to be too salty, allow the bacon to be the only salty ingredient that goes into the pot.
Harvard University says that lentils “can lower blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood glucose.” Various studies have even been performed to show that the ingredient can help to improve cholesterol levels and protect against breast cancer in women.
There are a few other benefits to eating lentils:
- It’s a source of plant protein
- It is heart healthy
- It supports the digestive system
- It can reduce the risk of various chronic diseases
When you think of all the other foods you eat, adding a bowl of lentil bacon soup to your diet once a week or so could be amazing.
As you add in other veggies, you have to consider the health benefits of those. Carrots can boost brain health and improve your vision. Onions are loaded with antioxidants. Celery reduces inflammation.
And if you want to make your soup even healthier, consider adding in even more veggies. It certainly won’t hurt – and it will make your soup even more flavorful.
How to Make Your Lentil Soup in an Instant Pot
Especially on hot days, the last thing you want to do is heat up your whole kitchen by having a stock pot on a burner for an hour or two. Instead, you can use your Instant Pot.
Delish offers a recipe for lentil soup made in an Instant Pot, and they even go bolder with the veggies by adding four cups of baby spinach to the mix.
Basically, this version is done in 18 minutes. You add everything to the pot and set it for manual/high. Once it’s done, set your valve for a quick release and serve.
Tips to Change Up a Lentil Bacon Soup Recipe
You don’t want to create a lentil bacon soup that is just like everyone else’s, do you? It’s important to change it up a bit to make it unique. And the changes you make could end up being ones that make your soup a favorite among family and friends.
Whether you’re looking to be healthy or simply add some new flavors to the soup, here are some tips to help:
Turkey bacon: Instead of using pork bacon, sub in turkey bacon. It’s healthier and will reduce the overall calorie count of the soup.
Chicken: Forget the idea of bacon altogether. Instead, use white meat chicken. Bake or pan-fry chicken breasts. Then, cut the chicken into cubes or shred it. Add to the stockpot with all the other ingredients.
Tabasco sauce: If you want to make your soup a bit spicier, add a few splashes of Tabasco sauce right before serving.
Parmesan cheese: Whether shaved or crumbled, a bit of parmesan can add flavor to your soup. Just add it right before serving.
Sour cream: Drizzle sour cream on top of the soup before serving to make it a bit creamier.
Can Lentil Bacon Soup Be Made Vegan?
There are plenty of reasons to opt for a vegan soup. Whether you want to try something new or you want to cater to a specific diet, this soup can easily be made without any kind of animal product or byproduct.
Here are a few of the things you’ll want to substitute:
- Use vegan bacon (Morningstar Farms has great bacon strips)
- Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth
That’s it! That’s all it takes to make the soup vegan. The lentils will be your primary source of protein anyway, so you can even choose to skip the bacon altogether.
Just be sure you don’t add any cheese or cream to the soup, either. If you do, be sure that it is a plant-based ingredient.
How to Make Your Lentil Soup Last
Once you’ve made a batch of lentil bacon soup, it’s important that you enjoy it right away.
Whatever doesn’t get served hot from the pot should be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Then, you have three days to eat the soup.
If you’re going to need longer than three days to enjoy all that you’ve made, be sure to store it in the freezer. After you place the soup in an air-tight container that is freezer-safe, add a date to it. From there, you have three months to enjoy the soup.
Be sure that when you’re reheating the soup, whether from a refrigerated or frozen state, it reaches at least 155 degrees. That will ensure that it’s safe to eat.
