Lovers Sausage Soup

Time :1 hour 30 minutes
Yield :6 servings

Recipe Background

A hearty, comforting soup featuring chicken-apple sausage, lentils, barley, and spinach in a flavorful broth.
Cheers to the chef for this chef's kiss of a creation! Lovers Sausage Soup is a hearty combination that will hug you from the inside out! Tender barley, sweet carrots, and bountiful lentils are joined with fire-roasted tomatoes, chicken-apple sausage, and wilted spinach in a flavorful broth for a forever match made in soup heaven. We have only heart-eyes for Lovers Sausage Soup, and we aren't afraid to shout it from the bowl rims! We love it!

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup pearl barley
  • 1 cup onion chopped
  • 3/4 cup carrots chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup lentils rinsed and drained
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced fire-roasted tomatoes
  • 6 ounces chicken-apple sausage links cooked, halved lengthwise and sliced
  • 4 cups fresh baby spinach

Directions

  • In a 3-4-quart saucepan with the stovetop over medium heat, add the olive oil.
  • Add the barley to the heated olive oil and cook, while stirring constantly, until the barley is golden, about 3-4 minutes.
  • Add the onions, the carrots, and the garlic to the barley and cook, while stirring occasionally, just until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
  • Add the cumin to the vegetable mixture and cook, while stirring constantly, until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  • Add the chicken broth, the water, the lentils, and the bay leaf to the vegetable mixture and bring the mixture to a boil, while stirring frequently.
  • Reduce the stovetop heat to medium-low and cover the pot.
  • Let the soup mixture simmer until the barley and the lentils are tender, about 55 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes and their juices and the sausage to the soup mixture and cook, while stirring frequently, until heated through.
  • Remove and discard the bay leaf.
  • Add the spinach to the soup mixture and cook, while stirring constantly, until the spinach beings to wilt.
  • Ladle the soup into bowls and serve immediately.
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