Hurry up to the table everyone, I will serve the Czech lentil soup any minute! We call it čočková polévka in the Czech Republic, and this soup tastes amazingly delicious.
What Is Czech Lentil Soup
Czechs make their traditional lentil soup from green lentils. Other essential ingredients are fried smoked sausage, garlic, onions, and sometimes carrot or potatoes. The soup includes marjoram, a typical Czech spice.
We call this soup "čočková polévka" or for short "čočkovka."
Tip: If you like legume soups, be sure to try Frozen pea soup (in Czech "hrášková polévka").
Ingredients
You'll need only a few simple ingredients to cook this texture-rich soup, full of earthy flavors.
- Lentils; in the Czech, we use the green-brown lentils, which are commonly available in all stores
- Smoked sausage; this kind in the picture is a Czech style "ostravská klobása", or "polish kielbasa". Optionally, use any heavenly smelling smoked meat.
- Onions; classic yellow onions
- Cloves of garlic
- Salt and ground pepper
- Dried marjoram; a crucial spice in many Czech soups
- Lard; or vegetable oil (sunflower- or canola oil)
- Beef broth; for a rich flavor of the soup
Instructions with Photos
STEP 1: First, cook the lentils according to the producer's instructions. The fastest and easiest way to get the lentil soup ready is to get pre-cooked lentils.
STEP 2: Peel garlic, onions, and carrots. Slice garlic into thin pieces, chop onions roughly. Cut carrots lengthwise and slice into half-circles. Dice smoked sausage into ½-inch pieces.
STEP 3: In a pot with a thicker bottom, melt lard over medium heat until shimmering. Start frying the prepared ingredients in this order:
- Add carrots, fry while stirring for about 5 minutes (photo 1). Throw in smoked sausage. Fry for another 3-5 minutes (photo 2).
- Add onions, sauté for 1 minute until translucent (photo 3). As the last step, add sliced garlic and fry for 1 minute, but not longer, else garlic gets brown and will taste bitter (photo 4).
STEP 4: Add ⅔ of cooked lentils. Reserve 1 cup of broth, pour the rest in the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a minimum, let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.
STEP 5: Meantime, mix the ⅓ of remaining lentils with 1 cup of broth with an immerse mixer. Add in the pot.
Add dried marjoram (always at the end of cooking), stir well, and you're done!
Serving
Serve this lentil soup warm. Top the soup with chopped green parsley leaves while serving.
According to this recipe, lentil soup is light and not too filling, take a slice of bread if you are hungry or if this soup is supposed to be the main course.
Cook's Tips
- Especially in winter months, Czechs thicken their "čočková polévka" with a roux. It's made from flour fried with butter in the same ratio. I will post a lentil soup recipe thickened with a roux here soon.
- Creamy or chunky? Make a chunky or creamy soup simply by pureeing all the lentils or only a portion, as I described in this recipe.
Fun Fact
Czechs eat lentil soup on the first day of the new year. They believe that the amount of lentils in the soup is equal to the money they'll have in the new year.
More Czech soups:
- Kulajda - a famous Czech mushroom soup
- Cauliflover soup - easy soup made from cauliflower (květáková polévka)
- Česnečka - clear garlic soup
Tried this recipe?
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📖 Recipe
Czech Lentil Soup
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups dried lentils green / brown
- 5 ounces smoked sausage
- 1 medium carrot peeled and sliced
- 1 large onion peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
- 6 cups beef broth
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper ground
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- salt
Instructions
- First, cook 1 ¼ cups dried lentils according to the package instructions. For a quicker and easier option, use pre-cooked lentils.
- Peel 2 cloves garlic, 1 large onion, and 1 medium carrot. Slice the garlic into thin pieces and roughly chop the onions. Cut the carrots lengthwise, then slice them into half-circles. Dice the smoked sausage into ½-inch pieces. Cut 5 ounces smoked sausage into circles.
- In a pot with a thick bottom, melt the lard over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the prepared ingredients in the following order for frying:
- Add the carrots and fry while stirring for about 5 minutes. Then, add the smoked sausage and fry for another 3-5 minutes. Next, add the onions and sauté for 1 minute until they become translucent. Finally, add the sliced garlic and fry for 1 minute, but no longer, to avoid browning and bitterness.
- Add ⅔ of the cooked lentils to the pot. Set aside one cup of 6 cups beef broth and pour the rest into the pot. Season with ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- In the meantime, blend the remaining ⅓ of the lentils with 1 cup of broth using an immersion mixer. Add the mixture to the pot.
- Add 1 teaspoon dried marjoram (always at the end of cooking), stir well, and salt to taste. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- The basic recipe makes 5-6 yields.
- Serve this lentil soup warm, garnished with chopped green parsley leaves.
- According to this recipe, the resulting soup is light and not too filling, so add a slice of bread if you are hungry or if this soup is intended for lunch.
- The cooking time for the lentils is not included in the total cooking time because different types of lentils require different amounts of cooking time.
- During the winter months, Czechs often thicken their Čočková polévka with a roux made from equal parts flour and butter.
- In the Czech Republic, it is traditional to eat lentil soup on the first day of the New Year. It is believed that the more lentils in the soup, the more money one will have in the new year.
Melody says
One of my favorite soup recipes of yours! Thank you so much for sharing it! It is so perfectly yummy and I love it with some rye bread on the side.
Petra Kupská says
Thank you, Melody, for your nice words! 🙂 I am happy you enjoyed the soup.
Kristi says
My Mom always made this with braised lamb shank. Have you ever tried that?
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com says
The lamb shank certainly sounds very interesting, unfortunately I haven't had the chance to try it. In the Czech Republic, sausages (parky) or smoked meat (uzene maso) are most popularly used in lentil soup.
Irene says
I just love making this soup Following the instructions made the soup easy to make,and it was so tasty in the end, I am Scottish married to a slovak, who now loves my cooking, getting my recipes from you We live in Canada thank you. I look forward to all your other recipes.
Kim Rozwadowski says
My husband said this was just as he remembered lentil soup. I did use the instant pot and set it for 20 minutes with the sautéed vegetables, rinsed raw lentils and some smoked meat. Very good texture and flavour. Thank you!
Petra Kupská says
Yay, that’s wonderful! 😄 Looks like your Instant Pot magic brought the lentil soup just right, so glad it hit the mark!
Paul:-) says
Hi Petra,
I’ve never had this style of lentil soup before and really enjoyed it.
In the UK we usually use pork or ham stock for lentil soup so the beef stock gave an interesting flavour. I had some leftover boiled new potatoes from last night so I cut them in half and added to warm through for the last 10 minutes.
A nice crusty roll, cut in half and buttered (I slathered mine with a homemade Romanian Garlic sauce called Sarmuzac) to dip in the soup. It made a really lovely cosy meal. Just the thing when it’s cold and wet outside, as it here now!
Paul:-)