Video Soupy Spanish Lentils with Chorizo and Manchego Toast

Soupy Spanish Lentils with Chorizo and Manchego Toast will have you not minding winter! Braised lentils with spicy chorizo sausage kicked up with red wine and Spanish spices and served with crusty bread with melted Manchego cheese is the ultimate winter comfort food!

Photo of Soupy Spanish Lentils with Chorizo and Manchego Toast on dark gray background with gray napkin.

Table of Contents

The inspiration behind this recipe:

Clearly, it’s looking like I’m into lentils lately! Actually, lentils and I go way back. Back to my vegetarian days. They are one of my all-time favorite foods and I always keep a supply of them in the pantry.

Lentils are an inexpensive source of protein and offer many other nutritional benefits such as fiber and iron. Besides the nutrition, they’re a culinary blank canvas and take to almost any cuisine such as Indian, French, Greek and of course, Spanish.

Also read: Spanish Chorizo And Lentil Stew

When I started to make this dish, I was craving something with lentils and chorizo. I didn’t want a stew nor did I want soup. Something in between was called for. I give you Soupy Spanish Lentils with Chorizo and Manchego Toast.

Tips for working with lentils:

It’s always a good idea to look over lentils before you cook them as they may contain tiny stones, twigs or other impurities. You don’t want to bite down on something like that!

Simply place a handful on a white paper plate and look them over. Then, use the paper plate as a funnel to pour the lentils into whatever dish you’re using them in.

The age of the lentils you’re using has a lot to do with how fast they cook. Lentils that have been sitting a while will need more time to cook.

Photo of a jar of brown lentils with some spilled.

Types of chorizo:

Also read: Spanish Chorizo Lentil Stew Recipe – Gimme Some Oven

There are two different types of chorizo: Fresh uncooked and smoked and dried. Fresh uncooked is actually Mexican. The smoked and dried version is actually Spanish and is better on charcuterie platters or as part of tapas.

Types of Manchego cheese:

And then the Manchego, baby! You’ll generally find two types of Manchego-young and aged.

Young Manchego is aged for a short period of time while the other is aged for up to a year. Young manchego is a little less expensive, is slightly softer and is better for melting. I used young Manchego here on a rustic and hearty whole-grain loaf.

How to make Soupy Spanish Lentils with Chorizo and Manchego Toast:

First, brown the whole sausage links then slice. They won’t be cooked all the way through but that’s okay-they’ll finish cooking with the lentils.
Cook the vegetables then add 4 cups of the chicken broth. Bring it to a boil and add the lentils, spices and chorizo.
Simmer until the lentils are tender, adding more chicken broth as necessary to keep a soupy consistency.

Photo of Soupy Spanish Lentils with Chorizo cooking in pot with wooden spoon.