Rustic Mushroom Lentil Soup
Rustic Mushroom Lentil Soup is packed with veggies, lentils, and smoky goodness! Hearty comfort food, perfect for a winter’s day.
Servings 6
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 strips of bacon
- 2 medium carrots diced (I used a couple handfuls of baby carrots)
- ½ of a medium yellow onion roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic about six cloves
- 16 oz baby bella and/or white mushrooms roughly chopped
- 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 48 oz chicken broth
- 1 cup dried green lentils rinsed and drained
- 1.5 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon rosemary slightly crushed between your fingers
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 1 bay leaf
- Sea salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Cook bacon over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot until crispy. Remove bacon from the pot to a separate paper-towel-lined plate, but do not drain the pot.
- While the bacon is cooking, chop the carrots and onion.
- Reduce heat to medium and add the chopped carrots and onion to the pot. Saute your veggies in the bacon drippings over medium heat for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- While the carrots and onion are cooking, clean and chop the mushrooms and mince the garlic (if not using pre-minced)
- Stir the garlic and mushrooms into the pot. Continue to saute over medium heat for another 5 minutes until mushrooms begin to brown and soften, stirring occasionally.
- While the mushrooms are cooking, rinse and drain the lentils.
- Turn the heat under the pot to high. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, lentils, and spices, and crumble in the cooked bacon.
- Bring your soup to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Simmer covered for 30 minutes, or until lentils are tender.
- Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, and add a bit more sea salt & pepper to taste, if desired.
- Recommended: Serve your rustic mushroom lentil soup with a crusty bread.
Notes
I used regular bacon here. If you are using less fatty, higher quality bacon, you may need to add a little olive oil when sauteing your mushrooms. Note that it’s also fine if you are using a smaller Dutch oven and the bacon crowds the pot a a little; you’re crumbling it anyway, so don’t need beautiful straight strips.