This German Lentil Soup Will Certainly Keep You Full!
Craving something warm, hearty, and all-around delicious? Our German lentil soup – called Linsensuppe in German- is the recipe for you!
This easy-to-make German lentil soup recipe is full of fresh ingredients that simmer down to become this wonderful creation that suits lots of different flavor palates.
This soup is made with potatoes, carrots, celery, leek as well as pieces of pancetta bacon and European Wiener sausages. It’s a soup that serves well with a slice of fresh bread!
Recipe Tips/Substitutions
If you are making this soup recipe in North America, you might have to make a few substitutions compared to those who make it in Germany.
- Sausage: We were able to find European-style wiener sausage so that’s what we used for this soup and would recommend you to use it as well. However, if you can’t get a hold of European wieners or bockwurst, then you can definitely also use normal hotdogs.
- Bacon: We were unable to find Schinkenspeck – a type of German bacon usually used for this soup – so we settled for using Italian pancetta. This is typically easier to find in North American grocery stores, works well, and provides the soup with as traditional a flavor as we could create!
- Celery: In Germany, soups are often made with celery roots (the brown/tan balls) instead of green celery sticks since they were just more easy to get a hold of in the past. However, we know that it is the opposite in North America. So, if you can get a hold of a small celery root, feel free to use it. If not, just use a couple of celery sticks.
How to Make German Lentil Soup – Step by Step Instructions
If you want to make German lentil soup, you can find the recipe card with the exact measurement at the bottom of this post.
For those wanting to see the recipe process photos, you can follow along with the recipe photos below!
First, peel the potatoes and carrots. You could also leave the skin on if you prefer – but then wash them well so there is no dirt left.
Cut the potatoes into small cubes and the carrots into slices or cubes depending on their size.
Also, wash the celery, then cut it into slices.
Peel the onion and chop it into fine cubes. Also cut the pancetta bacon into small cubes if you didn’t buy pancetta that was pre-cut. Try buying pancetta that is not too fatty if you can.
Alternatively, you can cut some of the overly fatty pieces very small (or discard them completely) so that they’ll fry up in the pan.
At this time, also wash and cut the leek into rings. It’s really important to wash leek well since it can be quite dirty in between layers and you don’t want that to be in the soup.
Heat some oil in a large pot, then add the pancetta bacon and fry it for a few minutes until the fatty pieces appear translucent or lightly cooked. Stir regularly.
Then add the onions and sauté them until they are translucent and the pancetta bacon is lightly browned.
Now add the vegetables, give everything a stir, and then sauté them for a couple of minutes as well.
In the meantime, wash the lentils under running water…
… then add them to the vegetables in the pot.
Now pour in enough vegetable broth into the pot so that it just covers all of its contents.
We usually need about 6 cups of broth, but this might vary for you depending on your pot and the size of the vegetables you used.
At this stage, also add the chopped parsley and give everything a stir.
Now bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling, cover the pot with its lid and turn down the heat.
Let the soup simmer on low heat for around 30 minutes until the lentils are cooked and the vegetables are soft. Make sure to stir occasionally.
When the soup is almost done cut-up the wiener sausages. You could also leave them whole if you prefer – we just like cutting them up so that they are more evenly distributed throughout the soup.
After around 30 minutes, when the soup is basically done, add salt and pepper to taste.
Also, add the cut-up wiener sausages, stir everything, and then let them sit in the pot of soup for a few minutes until hot.
Serve hot and enjoy!
Storage Tips
You can store any leftovers in a container with a lid in the fridge for 2-3 days. Make sure to only reheat the portions you want to consume and not all the leftovers at once.
You can reheat the soup either in a small pot on the stove or in the microwave.
Keep in mind that the soup might get mushier over time – but it will still taste delicious.
Related Recipes
Want more German soups? How about soups in general? Then try out some of our other recipes:
- Creamy Potato Soup – A nicely blended potato soup packed with flavor
- German Green Bean Soup – A green bean soup with a light but tasty broth
- Classic Potato Soup – A simple potato soup with Wiener and vegetables
- Cabbage Potato Soup – Cabbage and potatoes can make a filling soup, too!
German Lentil Soup (Linsensuppe)
Ingredients
- 1 pound potatoes, approximately 4 medium-sized potatoes
- 1 leek
- 2 celery sticks
- 2 medium-sized carrots
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion
- 5 ounces pancetta bacon, more or less to taste
- 1 1/2 cups brown lentils
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 6 cups vegetable broth, approximately
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 4 European wieners
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and carrots. Wash the celery. Cut the potatoes into small cubes and the celery and carrots into slices.
- Peel the onion and finely chop it. Also, cut the pancetta bacon into fine cubes if you didn’t buy pancetta which is pre-cut.
- Wash the leek really well (it can be quite dirty) and cut it into rings.
- Heat some oil in a large pot. Add the pancetta bacon and fry it on medium-high heat for a few minutes until the fatty pieces appear cooked. Stir regularly. Then add the onions and sauté them until the onions are clear and the pancetta bacon is lightly browned.
- Add the carrots, potatoes, celery, and leek. Give everything a stir, then sauté them for around 2 minutes as well.
- In the meantime, wash your lentils under running water. Then add them to the vegetables in the pot.
- Add enough vegetable broth to the pot so that it just covers its contents. In our case, this is usually around 6 cups of vegetable broth for lentil soup. However, it might be slightly more or less for you depending on the size of your pot and your vegetables.
- Add the chopped parsley and give everything a stir. Then bring the vegetable broth to a boil. Once boiling, cover the pot with a lid and turn down the heat. Let the soup simmer on low heat for around 30 minutes until the lentils are cooked and the vegetables are soft. Stir occasionally.
- When the soup is almost done, cut up the European wiener sausages.
- After around 30 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste. Also, add the cut-up wieners and let them sit in the pot of soup for a few minutes until hot. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- To give this soup its true flavor, make sure to add European wieners. In our opinion, they taste quite a bit different than North American hot dogs and give the soup the taste you’d also get if you made it in Germany. We can buy them in our local grocery store (in Canada). If you can’t find European wieners, you can of course add other sausages as well.
- We use "Schinkenspeck" when making this recipe in Germany – it’s a form of bacon. The closest equivalent that we can easily get a hold of in North America is pancetta bacon. That’s why we use it for this German soup recipe. Try buying pancetta that is not just fat if you can.
- German soups are traditionally made using celery root. This is because the green celery stalks North Americans are used to weren’t widely available in Germany until about a decade ago. So, if you can find celery root, that’s great – but if you can’t, two sticks of classic green celery will do just fine.
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.
I learn to make lentil soup in Germany and we always added ‘Maggie’ seasoning About 2 tablespoons. Cub foods has it (It is a lot like Bragg liquid amino’s) I also add vinegar to my own bowl of soup because I like a little tang!
That’s true, Maggi is a staple in many German kitchens – we always had it at home. Thankfully I can get it quite easily where I live now so I might pick up a bottle again. Thanks for reminding me Mary! /Lisa
My mother is from Berlin! I loved her lentil soup. Before serving, she would add half tsp sugar and a tbsp of lemon juice to our bowl! ❤️
My mother would add sugar and vinegar. I still eat it that way. I’m from Berlin too.
Absolutely delicious! Just like Oma’s! Very simple to make too!
Thank you. This took me back to my childhood and my moms lentil soup. I modified the recipe slightly and added hungarian smoked sausage.
I’m so glad to hear that, Michelle! Adding Hungarian smoked sausage sounds delicious (if my husband reads this, he’ll want to try it next time)! /Lisa
This was the best German soupons I have had since I was a child I have tried to get that authentic taste and I never succeeded. Adding the knack wurst was the trick. I loved this soup. Thankyou for bringing back a small part of my childhood back.