Vegan, gluten-free and low fat – this healthy slow cooker lentil soup recipe is delicious and easy to make. The baked sweet potato is a delightful addition.
We’ve been enduring frigid temperatures in the North East. It was 10 degrees this morning and I was assaulted by a biting wind when I was pumping gas. If today wasn’t the kind of day to fill the house with the cozy smell of slow cooker lentil soup, I don’t know when is.
As I mentioned in my previous post, using a slow cooker is a great way to bring peace and harmony to the dinner hour. You prepare the bulk of the meal in the morning and it’s nearly ready when you are tired at the end of the workday.
I bake the sweet potatoes separately in this recipe for two reasons:
- I absolutely love the sweet taste and texture of baked sweet potatoes.
- My husband doesn’t care for sweet potatoes, so he is able to enjoy the lentil soup with a crusty piece of whole-grain bread in their place.
You can bake the sweet potatoes ahead of time (I always like to keep some baked sweet potatoes on hand to add to different recipes) and simply warm them in the microwave, or you can bake them approximately one hour before you plan to serve the soup.
Slow Cooker Lentil Soup with Baked Sweet Potato
Ingredients
Slow Cooker Lentil Soup
- 1 cup dry brown or green lentils
- 1 cup chopped Vidalia or Spanish onion
- 2 stalks of celery chopped
- 1 cup carrots chopped
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth – or water (add an extra ½ tsp salt if using water)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
- 2 cups packed baby spinach (or other chopped dark leafy greens)
- 1/8 tsp. Himalayan cooking salt (or to taste*)
Baked Sweet Potatoes
- 2 large sweet potatoes or yams
Instructions
Slow Cooker Lentil Soup
- Rinse and sort lentils and place in slow cooker.
- Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, vegetable broth and bay leaves.
- Cook on high** for approximately 5 hours or low for 8 hours.
- Remove bay leaves and add thyme, pepper and baby spinach and continue to cook on low for approximately 30 minutes.
Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Preheat toaster oven*** to 400 degrees.
- Scrub sweet potatoes and pat dry.
- Prick the top of each potato several times with a fork.
- Place potatoes on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
- Bake approximately 1 hour (convection setting) or until potatoes feel soft when squeezed gently with tongs or oven mitt.
Serving
- Slice sweet potatoes in half and then run the knife lengthwise and crosswise to dice the potato in the skin.
- Scoop out each half into a pasta or soup bowl.
- Ladle approximately ¼ of the slow cooker lentil soup over each portion of sweet potato.
- Add salt to taste and serve.
Notes
**I make this soup in my 25 year-old Crock Pot. A newer slow cooker would likely require less time or a lower setting.
***I found baking potatoes in our toaster oven on the convection setting is quicker, more economical and yields better results. Of course a conventional oven can also be used, but it may require a little more time.
Recipe Options
If you don’t want to take the time to bake the sweet potatoes, you can dice them (leave the skin on) and add them to the slow cooker with the other ingredients. You can also add frozen chopped greens – such as kale or collard greens – at the start of cook time instead of fresh chopped greens at the end.Note: I do not include nutrition information with my recipes because I subscribe to the theories presented in the book Whole and believe we should focus on eating a variety of whole foods instead of counting calories or keeping track of individual nutrients.
Hi Margaret, I’m pleased to tell you that this was our dinner tonight! It was delicious! My hubby looked a little worried at first glance but really enjoyed it and pronounced it a “keeper”. The sweet potatoes really go very nicely with the soup. Thanks again for another winner.
What a coincidence – I made it for dinner tonight too! Glad you and your husband enjoyed it! 🙂
I am making it for tonight. It is windy and cold where I live today, signs of winter are in the sky. A perfect day to warm up my house with the aroma of this soup. Thanks so much for posting =)
You are very welcome! Enjoy! 🙂
This was delicious! I hope you don’t mind but I linked your recipe to my blog page for others to enjoy this delicious dish! Thanks for the dinner idea!
Thanks! So glad you enjoyed it and pleased to have you share the recipe link. 🙂
I’m making this soup this evening for tomorrow; was wondering if I could peel and cut up the sweet potatoes and cook them all together???
I think that would probably work – it’s certainly worth a try. I just love the flavor and texture of baked sweet potatoes and I hate peeling and chopping hard raw potatoes. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Will this soup freeze well?
Hi Jenny – I haven’t tried freezing it – but I don’t see why it wouldn’t…
This is delicious (despite having cooked it too long HeHe)! I decided to cook my sweet potatoes with it & I added a smoked turkey leg to the pot for seasoning. This will be a new regular! Simple, tasty & healthy!
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Tried to make this for dinner tonight but after having it on high for 5 hrs, lentils were still too firm. Put on stove to boil for a while and they aren’t budging. Guess I failed us for dinner tonight :/
Sorry it didn’t go well for you… Sounds like your lentils may have been on the older side and required longer cooking…
Just made this for dinner and it was fantastic. I’m not much of a soup eater, but with all of these clean and wholesome ingredients, I will definitely make this again. It is popping with flavor and I feel great about eating it
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Has anyone made this on the stove? How long did you cook it for?