Lentils and Sausage Stew with Crispy GF Skillet Cornbread

Serves 6

Cost per serving: $2.14

I’ve been wanting to share a series of extremely delicious, super healthy, budget-friendly meals that you can cook during the week. Knowing how to cook a large variety of foods from scratch gives you a certain amount of freedom and comfort. Our “Food Is Gold!” GF Recipe Video Collection is growing to include inexpensive dishes that will be a hit in your home.

My Lentil and Sausage Stew with Crispy Skillet Cornbread is a naturally GF, complete meal that is satisfying, comforting, and addictively delicious. Just the perfect amount of hot Italian sausage, lentils, vegetables, and a genius combination of spices all slowly simmered together in a well-seasoned broth creates a dish that is humble yet exalted. I make many different types of cornbread, but for this dish I opted for my old-fashioned, lightly sweet, thin skillet cornbread. Baking it at high heat in a generously greased cast iron pan gives this skillet cornbread a rustic, golden crust with outrageously delicious crispy edges. The juxtaposition of the soft lentils and savory sausage against the tender, crispy cornbread will have everyone coming back for seconds.

The entire meal works out to approximately $2.14 per serving. The opportunity to get filled with this much deliciousness for only $4.28 is almost too hard to pass up. That’s for sure!

In the video, you’ll notice that I cooked the entire meal in cast iron. I can’t emphasize how much of a difference that makes in the flavors and textures in this dish. Tiger got me into cast iron. And we both have a “buy once, cry once” approach when it comes to our cooking equipment. If you take care of cast iron properly, it will last you forever. When it comes to cast iron, there’s a something for every budget. But remember. You get what you pay for. You’ll see links at the bottom for the dutch oven and skillet I used in the video. We don’t regret buying any of the cast iron we have.

For all the bread bakers in the house: A set of cast iron loaf pans will change your GF bread baking forever. Nothing bakes bread like cast iron. Do you think I like cast iron?!

You can find some great deals on cast iron cookware on Amazon. Here are links for the items I used in the video:

Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Signature Oval Dutch Oven, 9.5 qt., Marseille

Lodge 10.25 Inch Cast Iron Pre-Seasoned Skillet

All-Clad Specialty Stainless Steel Kitchen Gadgets Pie Server

And here is that cast iron loaf pan I just talked about!