The easiest way to make lentil soup with hot dogs
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Every now and then, when I am feeling inclusive, I will ask The Team if they have any dinner requests. When Mr. Wonderful first suggested I try making lentil soup with hot dogs, I thought he was joking.
Lentil soup to me is a warm and filling meal worthy of a snowy day. Hot dogs are something you eat at the ballpark in the summer. In my mind, they were completely incompatible and I sort of laughed him off. However, he was pretty insistent that this was a combo worthy of trying.
So, I did some research, tried some different combinations, and ultimately came up with a recipe that won the approval of the team. The hot dogs actually add a really interesting flavor and texture to the soup. I am sold! And, of course, the recipe below is the absolute easiest way to make lentil soup with hot dogs. A win-win for sure!
Lazy Lentil Hot Dog Soup Hacks:
- Lentils are inexpensive and easy to find in most markets. Make sure that prior to placing them in your pot, you rinse them thoroughly. Sometimes rocks can sneak into your package of lentils during the harvesting process. No one wants to eat rocks! I use a colander to sort and rinse the beans prior to cooking,
- I am a fan of Hebrew National all-beef hot dogs and I feel they mesh really well with this recipe.
- Due to various team member preferences, I generally don’t make anything overly spicy. (However, at least one member of the team is always adding hot sauce to whatever I put on the table.) This recipe calls for some hot pepper sauce during the cooking process. My favorite is Tabasco's green sauce. It give the flavor of pepper sauce without over doing it. As I regularly remind my spice-loving Number One: you can always add spice, but you can't take it away.
- To keep this as lazy as possible, I used a bag of frozen mirepoix. I almost always keep at least one of these in my freezer. They are readily available in the frozen veggie section at the market. I also often make my own by cutting up fresh, but older, veggies and freezing them rather than letting them go bad. In the recipe below, I include this info as well as the fresh equivalent if you prefer that route.
- I am a huge fan of buying garlic that has already been minced. My favorite is Spice World
- As always, I suggest using a slow cooker liner for easiest clean up.
- Love the dishes pictured? I do and the best part is they are melamine. Great for indoor/outdoor entertaining! If you are interested in learning more about them, you can contact my friends at The Tempting Table.
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📖 Recipe
Lazy Lentil Hot-Dog Soup
Equipment
- 6 quart slow cooker
Ingredients
- 2 cups lentils Use strainer to rinse, sort and remove any stones
- 6 cups chicken stock or broth
- 1 14 oz can diced tomato
- 1 12 oz bag frozen mierpoix fresh equivalent= 1 small onion, 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoon salt optional
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce I like Tabasco green sauce. Not too hot.
- 1 Bay leaf
- 4 jumbo Hot dogs, sliced I am a fan of Hebrew National, all beef dogs
Instructions
- I always recommend using a slow cooker liner for easiest clean up!
- Add all ingredients into slow cooker and stir lightly to mix
- Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until all lentils are soft.
- Be sure to remove bay leaf before serving.
Nutrition
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Stacy says
I don’t care for spicy so delete that, add dill instead. My preference is Nathan’s hot dogs. Much tastier and give that deli hot dog taste I know quite well. The frozen mirepoix is a nice, easy touch. I should try that!
admin says
Awesome! Hope you love it!
Mel says
These are brown lentils you use? Hard to tell from picture. All my local stores only seem to carry red and green lentil which to my knowledge provide a different flavor? Thank you!
The Lazy Slow Cooker says
Hi Mel,
So funny - I usually use brown lentils because they are generally the most readily available near me. I have only used brown in this recipe - so I guess you have given me a reason to try it different ways and post an update!! I would recommend going with green since red lentils seem to have a shorter cooking time and can get mushier. Based on my experience, green should work for the given cooking times. It may just be a little creamier since green lentils can occasionally split during cooking (which I think is a good thing!).
Enjoy the soup - I would love to hear which lentils you choose and how it turns out!
Thanks for reach out and asking!!
Susan
Jose Armando Paniagua says
Can I slow cooker in high for 2 hours?
admin says
Hi Jose,
On high, the lentils should take 3-4 hours to become soft enough.
I hope this helps and that you enjoy the soup!
Thanks for asking!
Jose Armando Paniagua says
I did 6 cups and it looks more Lentil than soup.
The Lazy Slow Cooker says
It is a very thick, stew-like soup. I haven’t tried it, but I would think you could add some additional broth if you want to thin it out a bit.