German Lentil Soup is popular in super Japan. Perfect for chilly soup weather!
I traveled the Romantic Road with my friend and ate a lot of delicious German food and posted some of the German food that is very popular and famous in Japan, such as Baumkuchen.
My blog, Chopstick Chronicles’ reader introduced me to this delicious German lentil soup, which I love. So I would like to share my version of German lentil soup.

I didn’t get to try this soup anywhere during my Germany trip but I really wish I had. Luckily it is easy to make at home so I can enjoy it here even in Australia. It is getting colder here so it’s become perfect soup weather.
I like to make a big batch of soup and freeze portions into individual containers so I can eat it during the week when I don’t have time or energy to cook anything. Soup is something that tastes really good as leftovers, because the flavors become mixed more and it tastes sometimes even better than when it’s first cooked.

Plus, it is quite a healthy thing to eat and you can put a lot of veggies in there to make it even healthier. The lentils and ham give the soup lots of protein and give the soup lots of flavor.
I used ham bone to make the stock, but it was actually quite difficult to find for some reason. I had to go to many different shops and butchers until I could find ham bone, so instead you could use ham hock if that is easier to find.

This soup is really delicious to eat with some toasted bread rolls and even without to cut down on the carbs. It’s a really delicious, hearty soup with lots of flavor and healthy at the same time!
It’s perfect for colder nights and easy to pack in a soup container for lunch!

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German Lentil Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Dry Lentils
- 1/4 pound Bacon chopped
- 2 medium Onion diced
- 2 medium Carrot diced
- 1 large Potato pared
- 1 Large Ham Bone
- 2 quarts Water
- 1 cup Celery chopped
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 2 Bay Leaf
Instructions
- Wash the lentils and soak them in cold water overnight.
- Drain the lentils and set aside
- Chop bacon, onions, and carrots.
- Grate the peeled potato with a grater and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot and cook bacon till brown over medium heat.
- Add diced onions and carrots to the pot and sauté until the onions are golden brown.
- Add the drained lentils and potatoes, water, chopped celery, salt, pepper and bay leaves.
- Place the ham bone in the same pot.
- Cover the pot with a lid and simmer the soup for about 3 hours.
- Take the bay leaves and ham bone out from the pot.
- Remove all bits of meat from the ham bone and cut them into bite size chunk.
- Return the ham meat back into the soup.
- Drizzle with 1 tablespoon lemon juice to serve.
Margaret
Thursday 23rd of January 2025
should be wine vinegar to finish off at the end, not lemon juice.