Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe·Leave a Review

This German inspired recipe is easy and delicious.

One of my favorite dishes from our time living in Germany was Lentils and Sausage. I paired this with sauerkraut for a zing of freshness, too! If you are looking for a hearty lentil recipe, this one fabulous.  It’s also easy to make this a completely vegetarian meal, too!

raw lentils in a bowl

Easy Lentil Recipe with Sausage and Sauerkraut

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

I have to be honest, I didn’t have much experience with lentils before we moved to Germany.

It wasn’t a dish that my family ate when growing up so I didn’t have a frame of reference for the taste and texture and deliciousness that lentils deliver until our first Christmas Market in Stuttgart in 2016.

Let me set the scene.

Imagine a magical Chrismas themed open air market set against a backdrop of German villages and cities.

Music, food, gluhwein, schnapps and hundreds of stalls filled with trinkets, ornaments, hand-made gifts, you name it…it’s there.

There are also carnival rides, games and lots of beer gardens.

There’s truly nothing like it. 

german christmas market

It’s so magical that you don’t even realize it’s cold out. Or maybe that has to do more with the frequent schnapps, beer and gluhwein??

Anyway….

We bellied up to one of the food tents for a bite to eat and I’m not even sure what drew me to the lentils but that’s what I ordered. They were served with a simple sausage link and a side of sauerkraut.

From the first bite, I was in love. Such simple food that tasted so delicous. I made it my mission to recreate the lentils and this recipe for Easy Lentils and Sausage is pretty close to the German version we had at our first Christmas Market.

Short on time? Ready to get cookin’? Click below to go straight to the recipe.

↓ Jump to Recipe ↓

easy-lentils-sausage

Lentils are easy.

Water or stock combined with seasonings and vegetables and voila! you have lentils.

What makes this version of lentils so delicious is a combination of onion, garlic and carrots that are slow cooked to provide the most flavor possible.

What you’ll need to make this recipe:

  • Carrots
  • Onion
  • Celery
  • Garlic
  • Bay leaf
  • Lentils — brown lentils work best
  • Stock — beef, chicken or vegetable
  • Salt and Pepper
  • White vinegar
  • Parsely

I served the lentils with sausage and sauerkraut and that’s an amazing combo so pick up some sausage and yummy sauerkraut to finish off the meal.

Wine Pairing:

White wines all day long with this dish.

A nice German Riesling would be delish with this. German Rieslings can vary from dry to sweet. I tend to enjoy the Trocken (dry) or Halbtrocken (semi-dry) versions as opposed to the süß or Süss (sweet) ones.

You could also drink a nice non-oaked Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

A good German Pils would also be delicious!

Try this recipe and let me know what you think.
Hop over to Instagram, share your photo and tag @vineandplate and don’t forget to add the #vineandplate.

Products I Love

I made the lentils in my Lodge pan and it worked out perfectly.

blue lodge brand enamel saute pan with lid

Lodge 3.6 Quart Enamel Cast Iron Casserole Dish with Lid

Lentils and Sausage ingredients

Ready to make
Easy Lentils and Sausage with Sauerkraut?

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Easy Lentil Recipe with Sausage and Sauerkraut

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Print Recipe

Description

This easy lentil recipe was inspired by the German lentils I ate while I lived in Germany. I served it with sausage and a traditional sauerkraut to round out the meal.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

Scale

Oils/Broth:

  • 2 ½ cups of chicken or beef stock. I used chicken stock. To make this a vegetarian lentil dish (use vegetable stock.)
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil to saute the veggies in.

Veggies, Herbs, Spices:

  • 2 peeled and chopped carrots — I like mine in discs
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 garlic clove peeled and minced
  • 3 stalks of celery chopped

Legumes:

  • 8 oz. of brown lentils

Other:

  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of white vinegar
  • Sauerkraut — found in your international section of your market or refrigerated deli section

Meat:

  • 1–2 sausage links per person. I used a chicken based smoked sausage.

Seasonings:

  • ½ tsp. Salt
  • ½ tsp. Pepper
  • Extra vinegar to taste

Instructions

  1. Prep — do this first. 
  2. By prepping your food before you begin to cook you can save time in the long run. Plus, you won’t forget anything. 
  3. For each of the items below, after the prep stage, just set aside until the fun begins. 
  4. So you don’t have a million dishes to wash, take a large plate or even a paper plate and make neat piles of the ingredients after they have been prepped.
  5. It’s important to keep the ingredients separate unless noted. They are added at different times during the cooking process.
  6. Don’t combine the liquids into one container. They will be used at different times.
  7. Feel free to get your chef on and use separate ramekins if you would like.
  8. Measure out your oil and stock
  9. Dice the onions
  10. Dice the celery
  11. Dice the carrots
  12. Set aside a bay leaf
  13. Mince the garlic
  14. Chop the fresh herbs
  15. Rinse the lentils and drain
  16. Cook the sausages and set aside
  17. Warm up the sauerkraut

Saute onions, celery and carrots:

  1. Heat the olive oil to a shimmer then and add salt, onions, celery and carrots.
  2. Saute until the onions are translucent and the carrots start to soften.

Add the garlic:

  1. Add the garlic to the onion/carrot mixture and saute for about 2 minutes.

Add the lentils and stock:

  1. Add the lentils, bay leaf and stock to the sauteed veggie mixture. 
  2. Bring the pot to a boil, lower to a low to medium simmer and cover. Cook the lentils for about 30 minutes, until tender.
  3. Once finished, add the sugar and the vinegar to the lentils and stir.

Add the cooked sausage to the pan:

  1. Add the sausage to the lentils and cook for about 5-6 minutes to heat all the way through.

Notes

Serve with a side of warmed sauerkraut and a sprinkle of fresh parsley.

White wines all day long with this dish.

A nice German Riesling would be delish with this. German Rieslings can vary from dry to sweet. I tend to enjoy the Trocken (dry) or Halbtrocken (semi-dry) versions as opposed to the süß or Süss (sweet) ones.

You could also drink a nice non-oaked Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

And Beer…this is so good with a nice German Pils .

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Cuisine: German
Recipe Card powered byTasty Recipes

Hey, I’m Lisa and I’m glad you stopped by. I love food and wine and making things that people love. Speaking of love, that’s my hubby with me in this photo. We were in one of the many tulip fields in Holland in 2018.  Such beautiful colors and these fields stretched for miles and miles. Anyway, thanks for checking out the recipe. I’d love to hear how it goes when you make it so come back to the recipe and leave a comment and rating. Also, don’t forget to share your photo on Instagram and tag #vineandplate so I can brag about you 😉 …. Read More