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Fast and tasty
Fish soup with red lentils from canned sardines

Fish Soup with Red Lentils and Canned Sardines

A tasty, fast, and filling first course! This quick soup made with canned sardines is a great everyday lunch — and very economical. A can of fish plus a few vegetables, and the soup is done.

Julia M.

Recipe author

Fish soup with red lentils from canned sardines

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Canned sardines

150

Water

Onion

Carrot

Potatoes

Red lentils

Salt

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 25 % 2 g

Fats 25 % 2 g

Carbohydrates 50 % 4 g

38 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 30 min

Step 1:

Pour the water into a pot and bring it to a boil. Open the sardines and turn them out onto a plate; if there are any large bones, it's best to pick them out. Mash the fish a bit with a fork and add it to the boiling water — or leave it in chunks, if you prefer.
Step 2:

Peel and rinse the potatoes and cut them into small pieces. Drop them into the soup.
Step 3:

While the potatoes cook, make the sauté. Peel and rinse the onion and carrot. Finely chop the onion and grate the carrot on the medium holes. Add them to a hot skillet with a little vegetable oil and cook for 2–3 minutes, then stir the sautéed vegetables into the soup.
Step 4:

Last, add the red lentils. They cook very fast, so add them once the potatoes are already soft.
Step 5:

Simmer everything together for another 5–7 minutes, add salt to taste, and turn off the heat. Let the soup rest under the lid for a few minutes, then ladle it into bowls and serve. Enjoy!

You don't have to use sardines for this soup — saury, salmon, pink salmon, or sardinella all work. I also like to add lentils, rice, or pearl barley; a grain makes the soup even more filling. Serve it with fresh white bread, and it goes beautifully with green onion — offer it on the side or chop it finely and sprinkle it over each bowl. This is the kind of recipe that always saves the day when there's no time to cook — a real lifesaver. It actually goes back to leaner times when there wasn't much to choose from at the store, and back in the '80s these kinds of pantry-pull soups were very popular.