Bacon and Lentil Soup

This comforting bacon and lentil soup is full of smoky bacon flavors, soft protein-rich lentils, carrots, celery, and a selection of aromatic herbs. A perfect one-pot hearty evening meal for a family.

If you are looking for more soups to make this fall, do not skip this staple lentil and bacon soup.

It is a satisfying and super healthy, easy, almost dump-and-go recipe, with a short 20-minute prep time, and it makes a delicious soul-warming bowl of soup!

Besides, if you ask me…I love lentil soup for those chilly days during fall and winter.

The best part? It stores and freezes well so in just 1 hour you can have a whole batch of meal prep and healthy nutritious soups for months!

Why This Bacon Lentil Soup Is Good For You?

This simple soup recipe is packed with healthy goodness.

Lentils are rich in iron folate, plant-based protein (can substitute meat protein), and they also are a great source of fiber helping our digestion.

Veggies add loads of vitamins and nutrients to the dish too. 

Using bacon fat for cooking is also quite healthy, as rendered fat appears to be better for health than some processed vegetable oils.

Bacon Lentil Soup Ingredients Notes

Although the list of ingredients is rather long, they are all simple, affordable, and healthy, and some of them are well-familiar pantry staples you already have.

• Crispy bacon, chopped. Bacon pieces add texture, flavor, and smokiness and just make this hearty soup more than ordinary bland soup! You can use regular bacon or turkey bacon which has lower fat content.
• Green or brown lentils, rinsed and dried. They add this deep earthy flavor to the soup. If you don’t have enough brown lentils you can always use some red lentils too. A nice variety of green lentils to use for this soup is French green lentils. Lentils don’t have to be soaked before cooking but you need to rinse them. As a last resort, you can use canned lentils for this soup recipe too, you will still have to rinse them and reduce simmering time by half.
• Vegetables: diced onions (One medium onion will be enough for the 6-serving recipe), diced carrots, diced celery stalks, and canned diced tomatoes with chiles. The juicy tomatoes help bulk up the soup base and add flavors, chiles add a little heat surprise to the soup.
• Herbs and aromatics: dried thyme (fresh thyme is amazing too!), smoked paprika, bay leaves (I actually only use one bay leaf in this recipe), minced garlic (or garlic powder).
• Chicken broth or vegetable broth to make the soup base. Homemade stock will be the best for more flavor, but store-bought is ok. For a vegan recipe, use vegetable stock concentrate or broth.
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste. Freshly ground black pepper works best for homemade soups.
• Fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish if desired)
• Serving options: sour cream, chopped fresh cilantro or mint, crusty bread, or garlic toast, or a piece of baguette.

Detailed instructions and exact measurements I used are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Kitchen Equipment

• Large pot or a Dutch oven.
• Optional, an immersion blender if you want to make cream soup. Red split lentils will be better to use in that case.
• Optional, paper towel to let the bacon drain the grease. 

How To Make Bacon And Lentil Soup On Stovetop

On busy weeknights, we can’t spen more than 15-20 minutes on prep work and we need to get the food out of the kitchen for the whole family fast and ideally without a big clean-up afterwards. 

This hearty lentil soup is exactly that: simply cook the bacon, and the veggies, and let it all cook together in a stock pot with some broth. 

1: Cook The Bacon

1. Use a large pot, like a Dutch oven, to cook over medium to medium-high heat until the bacon becomes crispy, usually 5 minutes. 
2. You can also bake it in the oven until crispy, but you will need to transfer the drippings into a large pot then to use for the remainder of the recipe.
3. Remove the bacon from the pot and drain it. You can use a plate lined with paper towels or place it on a wire rack.
4. When removing the bacon, keep the bacon fat drippings to be used in the soup. You want to keep as much fat as you can as it will make the best olive oil substitute to cook vegetables.

2: Add Veggies & Herbs

1. Carefully add the diced onion, carrots, and celery to the drippings. The bacon grease will still be hot, so use caution.
2. Cook the veggies over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the minced garlic cloves, dried thyme, smoked paprika, and bay leaf – continue cooking for another couple of minutes.

3: Add The Broth And Lentils

1. Add the broth, diced tomatoes with their juice, and lentils, and give the soup a good stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.
2. Simmer uncovered for 30-35 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. French lentils may take up to 45 minutes to cook down.

4: Add Back The Bacon

1. While the soup is simmering, rough chop the cooled bacon into 1-inch cubes.
2. After 35 minutes, remove the bay leaf. 
3. Stir in the chopped bacon, and season with salt and pepper if desired before serving.

Lentil Bacon Soup In A Slow Cooker

This great recipe is easy to adapt for a slow cooker or an instant pot. Here are quick steps to finish cooking the lentil soup with bacon in a crock pot:

1. Cook the bacon and vegetables as the recipe suggests, in a skillet or a pan.
2. Then load all the ingredients, cooked bacon, and veggies in the slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours.

Red lentils won’t be good for slow cooking if you want them to keep some texture. Use green lentils instead. However, if you will puree the soup, red and brown lentils are great. 

Lentil Bacon Soup In An Instant Pot

Using an instant pot cuts the cooking time almost in half!  

1. Cook the bacon and veggies, and cook all the ingredients in the pressure cooker using sauté function.
2. Add broth and lentils. Pressure cook on high pressure for 10-12 minutes.
3. Allow the pressure to be released naturally first for 13 minutes.
4. Then release the remaining pressure and serve.

How To Store Lentil & Bacon Soup?

This recipe is great to make in a large batch and eat during the week. It actually tastes better the next day!!

Storing: The bacon and lentil soup leftovers are stored well in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Simply reheat in a pot on the stovetop over medium heat, if it is too thick, add a little bit of water or broth.

Freezing: The leftover soup also freezes well, I recommend freezing individual servings once the soup is completely cool for up to 3-4 months. To eat again, thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat as usual until it is piping hot.

Delicious Variations & Substitutions

• Add meat. Chicken or turkey would be the best lean meat options. Chorizo, Pancetta, ham hock, or any smoked sausage (we want that deep smoky taste) are also great bacon substitutes.
• Add jalapenos, chili, and cayenne to make the soup more spicy.
• You can puree cooked lentils before you add the cooked bacon back. Use a stick blender and blend until desired consistency. Then bring the mix back to the pot and add bacon bits.
• For color, add roasted red bell peppers. Blended they will give nice warm orange colors. It feels so cozy, it screams fall!
• Add leafy greens right before this soup is cooked, for ex., spinach, kale, or collard greens.
• Lentil substitutes are split green peas and beans.
• I wouldn’t substitute smoked paprika with sweet paprika. Sweet paprika is amazing for lighter dishes, but smoked is best for hearty rich recipes, especially with beans or lentils.
• Optional seasoning and aromatics: cumin, a splash of dry wine, and curry powder.
• Vegetarian lentil soup. Without bacon, brown or red lentil soup is an amazing source of protein for vegans. You can add different vegetables too to bulk it up, for ex., roasted butternut squash would make a nice creamy add-on, especially if you blend the soup. 

Tips To Make The Best Lentil Soup With Bacon

• To perfectly cook veggies you need to keep stirring frequently until they are soft. It also helps them release all the juices and flavors in the pot.
• If using canned tomatoes and/or canned broth, taste first before you add salt as both can have salt in the ingredients already.
• To lower the salt intake, use low-sodium broth or make your own.
• I really urge you to skip olive oil and use bacon fat to sautee veggies. The richness of flavors is irresistible.
• If the bacon is challenging to cut, put it in a freezer for 10 minutes. It will become super easy to chop. You can also use kitchen scissors to quickly chop the bacon.

Popular Questions

Can I Use A Different Type Of Lentils?

Different lentils have a different texture. Brown and red lentils are quite soft when cooked down and are better for blending.

Red lentils are traditional for Scottish lentil soup and also are the quickest to cook down and become mushy.

French lentils hold shape better even when cooked if you want a more rustic look.

How Do I Thicken Or Thin The Lentil Soup?

To thin the bacon lentil soup add 1-2 tablespoons of water or broth, and to thicken the soup cook it a bit longer uncovered. 

If you love this soup recipe, you’re going to love these other hearty fall dinners too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!

More Great Soups

Cabbage Roll Soup

Beer Cheese Soup

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Creamy Taco Soup

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