Oven-Cooked Lentil Soup Recipe ♥

Oven-Cooked Lentil Soup, meaty and hearty, cooked in the oven on low heat. For Weight Watchers, #PP6.
graphic button small size size 10 Hearty lentil soup, slow cooked right in the oven at a low heat. A great option for anyone who doesn't have a slow cooker or isn't happy with the results of a slow cooker. (That would be me, too often.) graphic button small size size 10

~recipe & photo updated 2015~
~more recently updated recipes~

2007 Original: Does this soup look worth trading, say, for apple pie? That was the deal, a piece of American Apple Pie for the recipe for this oven-cooked lentil soup, all in fun, of course, since the recipe holder (hi, Rass!) was getting pie anyway and the pie-maker (me) often swaps recipes with Rass and his wife, dear family friends for more than 50 years.

And Rass' lentil soup is excellent! It's meaty and full of rich flavors. And it cooks by itself in the oven, no worries, for a perfect five hours. What comes out is perfectly cooked, hot and hearty, steamy and spicy, utterly delicious. It's perfect for cold winter days, a definite keeper.

2015 Update: Wow. So yeah, this is great lentil soup. I made several substitutes (roast pork for ham, the pork braising liquid for stock, chard stems for celery, a poblano chile for green pepper, skipped the wine, added some cumin by accident but then loved it, etc.) so think this recipe is flexible to your own changes. Back in 2007, slow cooking in the oven was a new concept to me, now it's a technique I use all the time! I just have better luck with the oven than with slow cookers.

COMPLIMENTS!
"... it was delicious!" ~ Libby
"Delicious!" ~ kaeotica
"I gave it a B- [the first night] but today it's definitely an A!" ~ Anonymous
"amazingly yummy and easy" ~ Anonymous

OVEN-COOKED LENTIL SOUP

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 5 1/2 hours
Makes 10 cups

1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, cut in small cubes
1 large onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 green pepper or poblano pepper, diced
2 carrots, sliced thin in 'coins'
4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 pound smoked ham, cubed
14 ounces canned diced tomato
14 ounces canned tomato sauce
4 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine
1 cup lentils
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon curry
Salt & pepper to taste

Turn oven to 250F/120C.

In a large oven-safe pot such as a Dutch oven, cook the bacon until crisp, then set aside. Drain off all but a tablespoon of bacon fat, add the onion, celery, green pepper, carrots and garlic as they're prepped, stirring often to distribute the fat. Then, as Rass says, "Chuck the rest into the kettle, stir it up and put into the oven (covered) for five hours." Don't forget the bacon.

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
graphic button small size size 10 SAUTÉING THE ONIONS ETC Hmmm. As I re-read Rass' instructions carefully now, I realize that he doesn't cook the onion-celery-etc with the bacon but instead cooks the bacon on its own, then "chucks the rest in". Rass makes a mean lentil soup, you won't go wrong with his method! That said, I've also learned how important it is to develop flavors by cooking deeply at this stage. So I just keeping cooking the vegetables as I chop them, there's no time lost. Also, I should note that Rass cooks his bacon in olive oil but to my taste, the extra fat just isn't necessary.
graphic button small size size 10 HAM SUBSTITUTE The last batch, I "pulled" a pound of leftover pork roast, twas fabulous. I also used leftover juices from cooking the pork instead of wine and beef stock.
graphic button small size size 10 LENTILS Use any kind of lentils, brown, green, black, any kind except red lentils – red lentils are too soft, they'd cook to mush.
graphic button small size size 10 MEASURING THE WINE Don't get out a measuring cup, just fill one of the empty tomato cans halfway, splosh it around to grab the last bits of tomato. Save a dish!



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MORE FAVORITE LENTIL RECIPES

~ Lentil, Pepper & Spinach Supper ~
~ Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Sloppy Joes ~
~ Julia Child's Lentil Salad ~
~ more recipes with beans & lentils ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Simple Lentil Salad with Seasonal Vegetables ~
~ Homemade Lentil Soup ~
~ Two-Way Lentil Skillet ~
~ more lentil recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2007, 2015
Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Yum! For those like me who don't eat pork, I recommend a plop of barbecue sauce in lentil soup -- it adds the smoky flavor, and a bit of tomato. Or, use smoked paprika (pimenton) to get that smoked bacon flavor into the soup.

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  2. That's a great suggestion, Lydia! I'm a little off pork myself right now, not sure why.

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  3. Mmmm, I printed this out to fix for tomorrow night's supper... I absolutely love how you printed 3 versions of the nutrition information - if only all recipes were so thoughtful!
    - Astra Libris
    http://foodforlaughter.blogspot.com

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  4. Oven soup, sounds novel but a lovely idea. Would seem to do wonders for house aroma just like bread.
    And I'm always up for lentil soup!

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  5. And, since Santa hasn't seen fit to bring me my dutch oven yet, I imagine a crock pot would work as well. Looks good Rass.

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  6. I love, love, love, adore lentil soup. And I am loving Lydia's suggestion of smoked paprika. Now, if it would only get really cold...

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  7. Alanna this looks wonderful! And it cooks in the oven!? I cannot think of a better way to spend a cold winter day than waiting for the oven to spit out a delectable lentil soup. (It's 12 degrees outside right now...brrr!)

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  8. Hi. I made this last weekend and it was delicious! I used leeks instead of onions (I precooked them a little bit with the bacon) and a large can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes instead of the two smaller cans. It turned out great, thanks for the lovely recipe.

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  9. Delicious! I made this for dinner tonight to compliment the famous "No-Knead" bread; they went well together and the soup--amazing! But definitely do render the bacon before putting the veggies in; otherwise I imagine the veggies will brown too much while you try to render the bacon, or worse-you'll end up with globs of fat floating in your finished soup. Let that fat get going before tossing in the veggies into the hot pot :) I didn't add the marjoram as I never use it, so I didn't have any on hand. I topped the finished product with fresh parsley instead of adding the dried while it cooked. Lastly, I upped the cumin because I'm a fiend for it. Wonderful recipe, please pass my thanks on to your friend!

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  10. Can I seriously come over for dinner soon? ...... your recipe sounds so yummy.....

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  11. This is great. I used 2 cans diced tomatoes (didn't have a can of tomato sauce) and 5 stalks of celery since it was about to go bad. I used 4 strips of bacon (my calculations called for 9 and that seemed like a lot.) I gave it a B- that night, but today it's definitely an A! I paired it with Cauliflower Cream. 1/2 cup of each made a hearty, satisfying and surprisingly low-cal dinner.

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  12. amazingly yummy and easy

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna