Chilean lentil soup with rice and chorizo is a traditional Chilean winter dish. Like many old dishes, each family has its own version, so feel free to adapt this recipe as you like best. In my family, it has always been with potatoes and rice, lentils, and chorizo. Sometimes, they also add chard or spinach, and I know of families where they add tomato.
The sofrito is essential. Hopefully, you do the sofrito with Chilean Color (lard and sweet paprika), and there you brown the onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper, and garlic.
Two popular Chilean lentil soup options are Parmesan cheese and mashed hard-boiled eggs. And if you have leftovers, you can quickly transform them into a cream of lentils using the blender. Serve with croutons.
Tips for delicious lentils:
What do I do if I only have old lentils from previous years?
Lentils from previous years’ crops take longer to cook, and it is best to cook them before adding them to the final dish. To cook the lentils the night before, leave them in a bowl covered with cold water. The next day, remove any pebbles that are floating. Strain the lentils and cook them in a pot with cold water, salt, and a bay leaf. Once it boils, lower the heat and try after 20 minutes. Cook until cooked.
Can I speed up the cooking of the lentils?
Do not try to speed up the cooking by raising the heat. That makes the lentils cook unevenly, lose texture, look like porridge, and explode. Not good.
Can I freeze lentils?
Yes, you can freeze plain cooked lentils for up to three months. Lentils with rice can also be frozen if you take the potatoes out. Potatoes cannot be frozen.
How do I store cooked lentils or soup?
Store your soup always refrigerated. In summer, lentils turn sour very quickly.
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Lentejas con Arroz Chilean Lentil Soup
A traditional Chilean soup.
- Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
- Yield: 4
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Chilean color or vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 celery sticks finely chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped into small cubes
- 1/2 bell pepper, any color, chopped into small cubes
- 2 sausages cut into 1 cm slices.
- 1/2 cup raw rice, ideally short grain
- 1 large or 2 medium potato, peeled, cubed
- 1 cup raw green or brown lentils
- 1/2 bundle of chard about 8 leaves cut stems and leaves or a bundle of spinach without stems, optional
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Soak the lentils in plenty of cold water the night before, and discard stones or damaged lentils. Strain.
- Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the carrot, celery, bell pepper, and garlic, brown for 1 minute. Season with cumin, salt and pepper.
- Add the sausages and rice and stir for 1 minute.
- Add the lentils and potatoes, stir well. Add 2-3 cups of cold water, season with salt and pepper.
- Cook over low heat, simmering for 20 minutes. Test that the lentils and rice are cooked.
- Add the chopped chard or spinach and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Add more water as many times as necessary. You want it always to be covered by a thin layer of water, like 1 cm or 1/2 inch.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Serve hot.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Soups
- Cuisine: Chilean
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 483
- Sugar: 5.7 g
- Sodium: 766.2 mg
- Fat: 15.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 62.4 g
- Fiber: 15.3 g
- Protein: 24.3 g
When should the cumin be added? I didn’t see it in the instructions.
Thanks for calling this to my attention. I fixed it. It goes with the salt and pepper.
I tried it, and it’s truly authentic Chilean-style food. As someone who is Chilean but was raised in the U.S., I can confidently say this recipe is fantastic. Thank you so much!
Your review makes me so happy! Thank you.