Slow Cooker Lentil Soup Recipes

SLOW COOKER LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Combine water, ham, tomatoes, lentils, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, pepper, salt, thyme, and bay leaf in a slow cooker.
• Cover and cook on LOW until lentils and vegetables are as soft as you like, 6 to 8 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving.

SLOW-COOKER MEDITERRANEAN LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Place the chicken stock, carrots, lentils, artichokes, celery, sun-dried tomatoes and tablespoon of their oil, bouillon paste, oregano and onion in a slower cooker. Cook until the lentils are tender, on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Stir in the escarole, lemon zest and juice and let sit 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve with crusty bread alongside.

SLOW-COOKER SWEET POTATO AND LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Combine the sweet potato, carrots, celery, leeks, lentils, ginger, 3/4 teaspoon curry powder and 1 teaspoon salt in a 4-to-6-quart slow cooker. Add 6 cups water and stir, then cover and cook on low, undisturbed, 8 hours.
• Stir the soup vigorously with a whisk to make a rough puree. Thin with hot water, if desired.
• Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon curry powder and cook until the curry powder is slightly toasted, about 1 minute. Stir the curry mixture into the soup and add the lemon juice, cilantro, and salt to taste. Serve with lemon wedges.

SLOW COOKER LENTIL SOUP WITH SAUSAGE AND GREENS

Steps:

• In a large, dry skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage, breaking it up with a spatula, until it is in small, coarse pieces, and starts to brown and sizzle in its own fat, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked sausage to a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker. There should be a thin layer of fat covering the bottom of the skillet. If there is much more than that, pour a bit of the fat off. If there is not enough fat to cover the bottom of the pan, add a drizzle of olive oil.
• Add the onion to the skillet, season generously with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, add garlic and cook until softened and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the onion and garlic powders, the herbs, red-pepper flakes and several generous grinds of black pepper. Stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high, pour in the wine and stir well, scraping the bottom of the pot. Let the wine bubble until the pan is almost dry, about 3 minutes.
• Scrape the skillet mixture into the slow cooker with the sausage. Add the bay leaf and the lentils. Add the tomatoes with their juice. If using whole, crush the tomatoes into pieces using your hands as you add them with their juice. Pour in the chicken stock. Season generously with pepper and add 1/2 teaspoon salt if you are using low-sodium stock or 1 teaspoon salt if using homemade unsalted stock. Do not add salt now if you are using fully salted stock. Stir well to combine all ingredients. Cover and cook on low until the lentils are tender, about 6 to 8 hours. (Taste the lentils to make sure they are firm but creamy on the inside; black lentils can vary in their cooking time depending on their age and the heat of your slow cooker.) The soup holds well on warm for 2 additional hours.
• Switch the heat to high. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs. Stir in the greens and cook until wilted and tender, about 2 minutes for baby spinach, 10 minutes for kale. Stir in the vinegar. Serve in bowls, topped with chopped basil and grated Parmesan.

SLOW-COOKER BROWN LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Spray 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. In cooker, mix ingredients.
• Cover; cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours. Stir well before serving.

SLOW COOKER LENTIL SOUP WITH BACON

Steps:

• Rinse lentils well under cold running water. Drain and transfer to a slow cooker. Pour in water until water level is twice as high as lentils. Add bay leaf and set slow cooker to High.
• Meanwhile, heat onion and bacon in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until bacon is crispy, 5 to 10 minutes. Season with garlic powder and transfer bacon-onion mixture to the slow cooker.
• Cook on High until lentils are tender, about 5 hours.

SLOW-COOKER CURRIED LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• In 3 1/2 or 4-quart slow cooker, combine all ingredients except tomatoes, spinach and yogurt; mix well.
• Cover; cook on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.
• About 5 minutes before serving, stir tomatoes into soup. Cover; cook an additional 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
• Just before serving, remove and discard bay leaves. Top individual servings with 1/4 cup spinach and 1 tablespoon yogurt.

SLOW COOKER LENTIL SOUP WITH SAUSAGE AND APPLES

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, season with salt, and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add half the diced apples and cook, stirring until softened, adjusting the heat as necessary to avoid scorching, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, garlic, sage and thyme, and stir to combine. Pour in the cider and let it come to a bubble. Scrape the mixture into a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker.
• Add the sausage, lentils, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt and a generous amount of black pepper to the slow cooker; pour in 3 cups water. Cover and cook on low until the lentils are tender and the flavors are mellowed and blended, about 8 hours. The soup holds well on the warm setting.
• Just before you are ready to eat, add the vinegar. Stir together the sour cream with the mustard, then stir the mixture into the soup. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve in bowls topped with the scallions and remaining chopped apple.

SLOW-COOKED HAM AND LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• In a large skillet, saute the celery, carrots and onion in butter for 3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender. In a 5-qt. slow cooker, combine the water, lentils, ham, salt, marjoram and pepper. Stir in the celery mixture. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until lentils are tender.