Heartyslow cooker winter vegetable soupwith split red lentils. This healthy crock potrecipe is packed with vegetables, red split lentils,and finished with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped parsley, and parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
Today marks a big day! This slow cooker winter vegetable soupwith split red lentils is the first crock pot souprecipe to evergrace the blog.Healthy vegetable soupsare my jam.Cue the confetti and break out the crock pots!
A bunch of you have been asking (for some time now)that Ishare slow cooker recipes and while Ialwayswant to oblige any recipe requeststhat you throw my way, I didn’tactually own a slow cooker machine until about six months ago.
It is probably the one kitchenappliance that I’ve held out on over the years.
Can I confess something? For a long time, I didn’t quite getwhat all of the fuss was about.Feel free to hate me a little bit.
I’m an adamant believer insauteingand browning (hello flavor!) andfelt like I would be betraying my favorite Dutch oven, because I’m weird like that.
On the other hand, the idea of throwing everything into a slow cooker in the morning, leaving the house if need be, and coming back to a fully prepared dinner was incredibly appealing. Who wouldn’t love that?! The good news?You can get slow cookers with stovetop-safe inserts, which allow you to enjoy the best of both worlds.
This soup can be prepared two ways: you can either choose to saute the onions beforehand(which will help maximize their flavor) or you can just throw them into the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients, turn the machine on, and walk away. I’ve tried it both ways andthe soup stillcomes out great.
This soup is all about the vegetables and it ispacked with them.
Onions, celery, carrot, zucchini, chopped canned tomatoes, and finely thinly sliced savoy cabbage. Yukon gold potatoes are added as well (no peeling required) to help bulk it up just a bit.My mom actually made a very similar soup for us when we were growing up, and I always loved it.
Hearty and extremelyfilling, yet you don’t feel weighed down at all. It’s the perfect soup to enjoy on a cold and dreary winter day – especially if you have access to good crusty loaf of bread.
One important tip that I realized after testing this recipe a few times was the importance of fresh (or at least, as fresh as possible!) split red lentils.
Yes, all lentils at the store are dried.But if you’ve been hanging onto a mason jar full of split red lentils for, um, maybe a year – I blame the move – please don’t use thosefor this.
Older lentilstend to dry out even further and will take significantly longer to cook and become tender. Try to find a fresh bag of them at the grocery store or choose them from a bulk bin that gets refreshed often (i.e. not the bag of lentils that has been sitting in your convenience store for three years on the top shelf).
I love split red lentils, because they are delicate and small, yet break down in the cooking process and help thicken the soup. They also are incredibly good for you and contain lots of fiber and protein.
Don’t forget to finish the soup by drizzling it with a touch of olive oil, sprinkled parsley, and a generous pile of freshlygrated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
It’s the final important touch.
Yield: 4 - 6 Servings
Prep: 20 minutes minutes
Cook: 6 hours hours
Total: 6 hours hours 20 minutes minutes
Hearty slow cooker winter vegetable soup with split red lentils. This healthy slow cooker soup recipe is packed with vegetables, red split lentils, and finished with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped parsley, and parmigiano-reggiano cheese! Naturally gluten free (and vegetarian friendly: substitute vegetable broth in place of regular chicken broth).
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 3 celery stalks diced
- 3 medium carrots trimmed, peeled, and diced
- 2 medium zucchini ends trimmed and chopped into ¾-inch chunks
- 3 small Yukon gold potatoes scrubbed and chopped into ¾-inch cubes
- ¾ cup split red lentils
- 1 cup (240 mL) canned chopped tomatoes with their juices
- 2 pieces of parmigiano-reggiano rind
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 5 cups low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2-3 cups finely sliced savoy cabbage reserved for later
For Serving:
- extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley or basil, for garnishing
- freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Instructions
If you own a stovetop-safe slow cooker insert: Heat the olive oil in the insert over medium heat on the stove. Add the onion and celery andsaute until tender, 5 to 7minutes, before transferring to the slow cooker and continuing with the instructions below.
If you do not own a slow cooker with a stovetop-safe insert (or wish to skip step one): Place the insert on the slow-cooker base (this recipe will fit a 4-quart capacity slow cooker). Add the olive oil, onion, celery,carrot, zucchini, potatoes, split red lentils, chopped tomatoes, parmigiano rind, bay leaves, thyme, chicken stock,kosher salt, and black pepper. Stir together. Cook on the high heat setting for 4 to 6 hours, or until the red lentils are tender (or alternatively, cook on the low heat setting for 8-10 hours).
In the last hour of cook time (or 2 hours, if you are cooking over the low heat setting), addthe thinly sliced cabbage. Remove and discard the dried bay leaves, parmesan rinds, and any tough thyme sprigs. Adjust the seasoning to taste salt and pepper – you will most likely need to be liberal on the salt for this soup.
Serve the soup and top each serving with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley, and freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
Tips for Success:
- Older lentilstend to dry out and might takesignificantly longer to cook.Try to find a bagat the grocery store or choose them from a bulk bin that gets refreshed often (i.e. not the bag of lentils that has been sitting in your convenience store for three years on the top shelf).
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 308kcal, Carbohydrates: 43g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 8mg, Sodium: 819mg, Fiber: 10g, Sugar: 9g
Author: Laura / A Beautiful Plate
Course: Slow Cooker Soups
Cuisine: American
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