In this recipe where both dried lentils and raw sausages are baked together in the same pan, the lentils absorb the sausage juices as they cook, making the humble lentils tastier than you ever dreamed possible. Sausage and lentils for dinner? YES. Bring it on!
One-pan baked sausage and lentils
This might sound like an unusual one-pan dinner recipe (what do you mean you never thought to cook lentils in the oven with sausages on top??!!), but is exceptionally delicious and fabulously hands off.
It starts by sautéing aromatics – eschalots/shallots/French onion (🤯*), garlic and cumin seeds – on the stove right in the roasting pan. Dried lentils and stock are added, raw sausages placed on top, then you simply pop it in the oven to do its thing.
No sausage stove splatter to deal with. No bland lentils – the flavour boost it gets from the sausages is everything! And the lentils are nice and juicy so they act as the sauce for the sausages!
* Food language global standardisation. Please! Someone make it happen!
Complete transparency
Pretty much every one-pan-one-pot-dump-and-bake recipe has some compromise with the outcome, no matter how hard the enthusiastic recipe writer tries to sell a recipe to you. Stews are a great example. No matter what someone tells you, if you just dump everything in a slow cooker or instant pot, the end result will never be as good as searing the beef cubes then simmering low-and slow using the oven or stove.
For this one pan sausage & lentils? Here is where it differs from stove searing sausages and making a separate pot of lentil ragout:
The underside of the sausages don’t get browned. But there’s enough browning on the surface that you won’t feel robbed. This coming from a food-browning fiend! Colour = flavour!
The lentils don’t cook as evenly as the traditional method on the stove. The very top layer of exposed lentils has a soft crunch (the darker brown lentils in the photo below), and everything underneath is perfect (the olive green ones below).
Ironically, I love the firmer lentils, they are like nuts. I want to scoop them all off and put it in my bowl! (Oh wait, I DID. 😎)
What you need
Here’s all you need to make this one-pan baked sausage and lentils. The lentils get a massive (free!) flavour boost from the sausage juices that drip into the lentils as they cook. (PS Don’t skip the cumin seeds).
While I feel this works best with puy lentils, I literally just made this with green lentils/brown lentils and it worked great!
Sausages (I use pork) – Any sausages you want, though just bear in mind size for serving portions. I’ve used 2 sausages per serving so opted for medium size ones around 85g/3oz each. Also, if you use gigantic ones, you may struggle to fit them in! You want a bit of space around the sausages to allow for browning – if they are too snug, they will just stew. Nobody wants pale, colourless sausages!!
Puy lentils (French Lentils) – Known by several names including Puy Lentils, French Lentils, French Green Lentils or Black Lentils, these differ from other lentil varieties because they hold their shape better, have a deeper, nuttier flavour and lovely chew. See below for a close up photo.
Also works with green lentils / brown lentils. They are slightly softer – it’s how they are – but they cook just as well in the oven as puy lentils!
Canned lentils won’t work for the recipe as written because the whole point here is that dried lentils are cooked in flavoured broth so they absorb the flavour. This is what makes this dish so delicious!
Cumin seeds – Promise me you won’t skip this! Makes the lentils sing.
Eschalot – Aromatic flavour base for the dish. Also known as French onions and called “shallots” in the US. They are like baby onions, but with purple-skinned flesh. Not to be confused with what some people in Australia call “shallots”, ie. the long green onions. Substitute with ordinary brown onion.
Garlic – The other essential flavour base for this dish.
Chicken stock/broth – The braising liquid. Makes this dish much tastier than just using water.
How to make one-pan baked sausage and lentils
The recipe starts by sautéing aromatics on the stove, right in the roasting pan. It doesn’t matter if your burner is much smaller than the roasting pan – mine is! Just keep the eschallots, garlic etc in the middle of the pan over the heat.
Sauté aromatics – Cook the eschallots and garlic in a metal roasting pan on the stove until the eschallots are softened, about 3 minutes. Then add the cumin seeds and sauté for a minute until they’re nice and toasty.
Add the dried lentils straight into the roasting pan.
Add everything else – Then add the chicken stock, raw chopped carrots, salt and pepper. Stir and bring the liquid to a simmer.
Sausages – Turn the heat off and gently place the raw sausages on the surface, don’t push them in. They will be partially submerged and that’s ok.
Paper – Cover the surface with a sheet of paper with slits in it (see below). It will stick naturally to the exposed liquid.
Bake – Transfer to a 200°C/400°F (180°C fan) oven. Bake for 25 minutes covered then 20 minutes uncovered until the sausages are browned. Dinner, done in one pan. No sausage stove-splatter to deal with – how good is that???!!
What’s with the paper cover?? This method of using a paper “lid” is a cooking technique used in various cuisines (such as Persian Lamb Shanks). In classical French cooking, it’s called a cartouche. It allows foods to steam evenly and quickly, while allowing some steam to escape so you don’t have the problem of uneven condensation like you get with a cracked lid. It is the little trick in this recipe that allows the lentils to cook evenly in the oven, brought to us courtesy of Chef JB.
Serving this
As I mentioned earlier, the lentils are nice and saucy, not dried out and crumbly. So it acts as the sauce for the sausage. Kind of like a triple-duty side dish, really. It’s the starch (fills out the meal), vegetables (carrots + eschalots) and the “sauce” for the sausages.
Who ever knew lentils held such magic powers?
And who ever knew lentils could be so incredibly delicious? Because who ever thought to cook lentils with sausages*??
Really hope you try this one. Go on. I know you’ve got a packet of lentils somewhere in the dark depths of your pantry!! – Nagi x
* It was not I who thought of this. It was RecipeTin’s very own lentil-loving Frenchman, Chef JB. Thank you JB!
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
One-pan baked sausage & lentils
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 eschallots/shallots , peeled, halved, finely sliced (sub 1 large onion, Note 1)
- 3 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds (don’t skip this!)
- 1 1/2 cups puy lentils / French lentils (sub green/brown lentils, Note 3)
- 4 small carrots , peeled, quartered, diced into 8mm/ 1/3″ cubes
- 1 tsp cooking salt (kosher salt)
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 3 cups chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 8 x 85g/3oz pork sausages (Note 3)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan).
- Cooking vessel – Use a metal roasting pan ~23 x 33 cm / 9 x 13". Fold a sheet of baking/parchment paper (large enough to cover pan) in half and cut 4 x ~10cm/4" slits (steam vents! Note 4). Else, use foil – just tear steam vents.
- Sauté aromatics – Put the pan directly on the stove (really, it's ok!) and heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add eschallots and garlic, sauté for 3 minutes until soft. Add cumin seeds and stir for 1 minute.
- Lentils & stock – Add dried lentils, carrot, salt, pepper and stock. Bring to a simmer.
- Sausages & paper – Gently place the sausages on top (don't press in). Cover with the paper, gently pressing so it "sticks" to the stock.
- Bake for 25 minutes on the middle shelf. Remove paper and bake for 20 more minutes to brown the sausages.
- Rest 5 min – Remove from the oven. Rest for 5 minutes.
- Serve the sausages with lentils. The flavour-loaded lentils are saucy so they act as the sauce for the sausages! Also pictured in post – baby spinach with Everyday Dressing.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
I had an off-site team conference last week so Mr Dozer got sent to the golden retriever boarder. This is the dinnertime photo she sent me. That’s Dozer on the right – the tallest one, smacking his lips in anticipation!
Made this last night with brats instead of Italian sausage as that’s all they had at the market…DELICIOUS!!!
I’m thinking of adding diced potatoes and celery next time. I’m wondering if I should add more stock to accommodate the potatoes???
Found your recipe when googling sausage one pan oven bake. I’d thawed out beef sausages and was looking for something easy when preparing meals for the working week. It still worked, the lentils are so delicious I could eat them on their own. 😋
I told my son I was cooking this and he thought it sounded boring. He practically inhaled it and declared it delicious.
Delicious! I love Italian pork sausages and lentils, and will never again cook them any other way. Just a quick note, I find that sautéing the shallots and garlic together can lead to burnt garlic, so I add the garlic right at the end of the suateeing phase, and deglaze with some white wine. A spritz of lemon juice before serving adds a really great zing too. Grazie Nagi!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! Interesting about the garlic burning, I found with that volume of shallots the garlic doesn’t burn in my roasting pan Can I ask what type of pan you use? LOVE the lemon juice tip!! N xx
Absolutely to die for, Nagi <3 thank you for another incredible recipe 🙂
So great to hear Allegra! Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback! 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi. Made this tonight. Absolutely delicious. The cumin seeds added great flavour. Like another reviewer, I added celery and mushrooms to the aromatics in the recipe. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you.
I know right?? The cumin seeds really make it! Love the idea of celery and mushroom. YUM! N x
Certainly not the most pretty of dishes but the taste was great! will definitely cook this one again.
He he YES I am certainly known for my BROWN foods but ugly foods are the tastiest!! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it Hannah! N x
Can confirm, this is an excellent EASY recipe and very tasty. This will now be in our regular rotation.
If any Aussies have recommendations on a decent roasting pan let me know!
THANK. YOU Jess!!! I use a Scanpan. It’s non stick, heavy duty, bit of an investment but I’ve had it for 15 years and it is still like brand new (and I am pretty sure I use mine more than the average person!) N x
Nagi, Absolutely brilliant. Being in South Wales(UK) I added some leeks. 😉
We loved it.. Thank you, love to you and Dozer. XX
Leeks!! Brilliant. Possibly even better 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it Paul! N x
Thank you
Hi Nagi
Cooked the sausage and french lentil dish it was great, both me and my wife will definitely be having it again.
Cheers Mike & Joy
This sounds delicious! Would it work in a large dutch oven as well?
We made this last night in a 6qt Staub and it worked great!
Can you clarify what you mean by “pork sausage” please? I used raw mild Italian pork sausage and it was a bit dry, so wondering if I should have used something else. The lentils were delicious though! I enjoy your recipes.
I’m in hospital at the moment with an operation done to my cracked spine.
Everything looks too yummy I wish I had some now instead of the horrible food here. Will definitely try them when I get home good luck and keep us in your good and gorgeous food. I’m sure ✔️ it’s very yummy and time saving.
Oh no Lily!! 🙁 Don’t suppose you’re near me? I could send some over for you! N xx
Made this tonight, it was delicious! Will be adding this to my go-to’s for sure! Thx for the recipe
Thank you chef JB. It is an excellent recipe, and only one dish…I took a photo, exactly like yours. As of now, I make your recipe regularly and I have never been disapointed, always tasty..
Thank You….
Thanks Lyse! I do really appreciate your comment! What other recipes have you tried? I’m curious!
I am a fan of recipytin and I always taught that Nagy was THE cook, but I notice that she gave you the credit for the Lentil and sausage recipe, and also Chicken Fricassé that I will be serving tonight! You are a great collaborator to Nagy as I read…thanks to you, you make me enjoy cooking so much!
Just made this … Soooo delicious! I used lentils I had on hand – brown/green? I used a regular onion, added some chopped red bell pepper, small chopped celery and mushrooms. Sautéed all. Absolutely fabulous flavors and texture. We don’t eat lentils but we enjoyed this and I will make it again … and again. Sausage and lentils – who knew?
Well this is super simple and super delicious. Alas, I had neither shallots nor sausage, so I used a caramelized onion and a pound of bacon and totally forgot to add the better than bullion to the water, lol. It still turned out great, can’t wait to make again with sausage, but this is rustic and wonderful regardless. Great recipe, will be playing with this for a long time to come.
Nagi! You read my mind! I was thinking of cooking some lentils today. I saw your recipe this morning & have already made it. I used ground cumin, brown lentils & chicken thighs. So delicious! Super easy & very yummy! Will definitely make it again (probably this week!!) 😋
These took longer to cook the lentils than expected, I used puy lentils. The flavor is great and I liked the touch of cumin. I would make again. I used large beef kielbasa that I cut in half.
Shallots are so called in British English as well, not just American! Pet peeve aside, I have frozen Cumberland sausages that needed a dish and I was thinking about adding puy lentils and then you come out a new recipe to what I was thinking. On the make soon list 🙂