This cozy and tremendous scrumptious Sluggish Cooker Lentil Soup is a simple vegetarian recipe full of hearty lentils, greens, flavorful herbs, and spinach.
At the moment I’m sharing a beautiful, comforting vegetarian soup that I’ve been making commonly for meatless Monday. Generally, all I’m craving is a bowl stuffed with veggies and nourishment, and this cozy lentil soup with hearty potatoes delivers.
You can also make this recipe in a crock pot or in a sluggish cooker, whichever one you might have helpful. This makes it good to set and neglect, solely to return to a comforting pot of home made soup brimming with taste.
Then it’s only a matter of ending it off with some greens, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, and there you might have it! Scrumptious and satisfying lentil soup, made with out lifting a finger (effectively, barely).
What Are the Greatest Lentils for Soup?
Lentils are available in many alternative colours and sizes, however nearly any kind of lentil can be utilized to make lentil soup. For this sluggish cooker recipe, I exploit inexperienced lentils, as they maintain their form over low and sluggish warmth. Brown lentils are one other good choice.
You may also make pink lentil soup, simply word that pink lentils prepare dinner sooner and will name for a shorter cooking time.
Components You’ll Want
Lentils don’t need to be boring, and this soup proves it! My lentil soup recipe is choc stuffed with filling components, from tender veggies to russet and candy potatoes, to spinach. Beneath is a fast abstract of the components, with the complete particulars obtainable within the recipe card.
Potatoes: I exploit a mix of candy potatoes and russet potatoes. Ensure you’re utilizing a kind of boiling potato that holds up effectively in soups.
Carrots and Onion: Diced veggies, together with a little bit of minced garlic, convey an fragrant taste to the soup.
Herbs and Spices: Apart out of your apparent salt and pepper, this recipe requires basil, oregano, dried thyme, and pink pepper flakes.
Lentils: I exploit inexperienced lentils for my soup. As talked about, you should utilize just about any selection or mixture of raw lentils you favor. You may also use break up peas.
Vegetable Broth: The higher the standard of your broth, the higher the soup will style. So select high quality vegetable broth or inventory, or make your personal. Should you’re not making a vegetarian soup, you should utilize hen inventory as an alternative (strive my recipe for Homemade Chicken Stock).
Olive Oil: Like your inventory, be certain the olive oil you’re utilizing is high-quality.
Spinach and Parsley: I really like including a sprinkle of child spinach and chopped recent parsley to the soup proper on the finish, for a pop of inexperienced. Kale can be utilized rather than spinach, simply take away the stems.
Purple Wine Vinegar: Additionally added on the finish, to brighten the flavors.
Parmesan Cheese: That is non-compulsory, nevertheless it does make a yummy garnish. Omit parmesan in case you’re making a vegan lentil soup.
Do Lentils Must Be Soaked Earlier than Making Soup?
Usually talking, lentils don’t should be soaked earlier than they’re added to most soup recipes. It is because they have a tendency to prepare dinner proper within the broth. You don’t must soak the inexperienced lentils in any respect for this sluggish cooker soup. The lentils soften up completely whereas contained in the pot.
Methods to Make Lentil Soup within the Sluggish Cooker
Who doesn’t love a dump-and-go crock pot recipe? As soon as this soup is within the sluggish cooker, your fingers are free to make a aspect of Perfect Garlic Knots and even French Bread for dunking. Don’t neglect to take a look at additional down on this submit for straightforward methods to show this soup right into a meal!
Mix and Cook dinner: Add the soup components, seasonings, and broth to your sluggish cooker, and set it to prepare dinner on excessive. Then, stroll away.
Mix: After 4-5 hours, the veggies and lentils needs to be tender. Scoop out 4 cups of the soup and add them to your meals processor, then mix with olive oil. That is the key to an extra-luxurious, silky lentil soup! Add the sleek puree again into the sluggish cooker.
End: Alter the soup’s seasoning to style, then stir within the spinach leaves and chopped parsley. Substitute the lid and prepare dinner on low for one more quarter-hour or so, simply sufficient time to wilt the spinach.
Serve: Lastly, stir within the pink vinegar and provides your lentil soup a closing stir. It’s able to serve! I like to high my bowls with freshly grated parmesan. See beneath for extra serving concepts.
Can I Make This Recipe On the Stovetop As an alternative?
Definitely. No sluggish cooker? Or possibly you’re craving this hearty soup in a rush (comprehensible). No problemo. Right here’s how one can simply make this lentil soup on the stovetop:
Add the soup components to a big pot on the stovetop, leaving out the spinach, parsley, and vinegar for now.
Carry the soup to a boil, then cowl and simmer for about 25 minutes, or till the lentils and potatoes are tender. Mix a portion of the soup as directed within the recipe.
Stir within the spinach and parsley, and simmer on low till the spinach wilts. End with pink vinegar as traditional, and serve!
Suggestions and Variation Concepts
Listed here are my ideas for making the perfect lentil soup, in addition to some easy methods to vary up the components:
Attempt to not overcook the lentils. The flavors will nonetheless be scrumptious, however overcooked lentils can change into mushy, and your soup may lose a few of its texture.
Use an immersion blender to mix the soup if in case you have one. You’ll be able to puree the lentils proper within the bowl of your sluggish cooker!
When mixing the new soup, make it possible for your blender or meals processor has a gap for the steam to flee. In any other case sizzling soup + sealed blender = soup explosion throughout your kitchen. Additionally, bear in mind to not fill the blender greater than midway full.
Add extra veggies. Attempt including mushrooms, or canned or recent tomatoes.
Make it meaty. Should you’re after extra protein, baked ham and cooked bacon go actually properly in lentil soup. Or, make sausage lentil soup with chopped cooked pork sausage.
Serving Ideas
This soup is fairly substantial, so a bowl (or two) is usually sufficient to fill us up! In case you needed to show it right into a meal, listed here are some tasty aspect dish recipes to strive:
Storing and Reheating Leftover Soup
Retailer any leftover sluggish cooker lentil soup hermetic within the fridge for as much as 5 days. Reheat the soup both within the microwave in increments or on the stovetop. Should you really feel that the soup has thickened, stir in extra water or broth.
Can I Freeze Lentil Soup?
Sure! This home made lentil soup could be frozen for as much as 3 months. Let the soup cool utterly, then switch it to an hermetic, freezer-safe container to retailer. Thaw the soup in a single day within the fridge, then reheat.
This satisfying Sluggish Cooker Lentil Soup is a comforting vegetarian soup recipe made with tender lentils, hearty greens, herbs, and spinach in a comfortable broth.
2 cups peeled and cubed candy potatoes
2 cups peeled and cubed russet potatoes
2 cups peeled and sliced carrots
1 small yellow onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon floor black pepper
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon pink pepper flakes
1 3/4 cups inexperienced lentils (or a mixture of lentils and break up peas)
8 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup high quality olive oil
3 cups child spinach (or kale stems eliminated)
1 cup recent parsley, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons pink wine vinegar
Non-obligatory – Parmesan cheese
Add candy potatoes, potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, thyme, pink pepper flakes, lentils, and broth into a big sluggish cooker. Cook dinner on excessive for 4 – 5 hours, till the lentils and greens are gentle.
Switch 4 cups of the soup to a meals processor or blender with the olive oil and pulse till clean. Add this again into the sluggish cooker and stir to mix. Alter seasoning now if vital.
Add within the spinach and parsley and stir. Place the lid again on the sluggish cooker and alter to low. Cook dinner for a further quarter-hour, to wilt the spinach (or kale).
Add within the vinegar and stir. Serve heat with Parmesan cheese on high if desired.
