Make a delicious lentil soup for a hearty soup recipe that the most amazing flavor for an easy weeknight meal filled with plant-based protein.
Everything to make this slow cooker recipe can be found at the grocery store since it is made with simple ingredients that you throw together for the perfect weeknight meal during the cold fall and winter months.
Even though this is a vegan lentil soup recipe, it is a hearty meal with the additional vegetables added into this cozy soup recipe. Make this recipe for the whole family and serve the best lentil soup with some crusty bread for dipping and enjoy!
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make our lentil soup recipe, you need the following ingredients:
- Oil: use the olive oil you have on hand
- Vegetables: you will need diced shallots, celery sliced into half-moons, sliced carrots, and spinach
- Seasoning: be sure to have salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, bay leaves, and herbs de provence
- Tomatoes: grab a can of crushed tomatoes
- Liquid: vegetable stock will be the base of the soup
- Protein: use French green lentils to provide plant-based protein
- Cheese: use a parmesan rind or freshly grated parmesan
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Slow Cooker Lentil Soup
- Sauté. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the shallots, celery, and carrots. Season with salt and sauté until the veggies have softened. Turn off the heat.
- Load the slow cooker. Transfer the sautéed veggies to the slow cooker along with the pepper, garlic powder, bay leaves, herbs de provence, crushed tomatoes, vegetable stock, lentils, and parmesan rind.
- Cook. Close the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours.
- Finishing touches. At the end of the cooking time, remove the lid from the slow cooker. Remove the parmesan rind and stir in the spinach. Stir until the spinach has melted.
- Season. Taste the soup and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Variations
- For those meat lovers, you can add additional flavor by cooking up and adding Italian sausage to this crockpot lentil soup recipe.
- Adding more vegetables is a great option. Diced bell peppers and sweet potato would be perfect for cozy soups like this.
- Switch out the green lentils for red lentils and create a red lentil soup.
- Replace some of the vegetable broth with some coconut milk to turn this into a creamy slow cooker version, but be sure to add it at the end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Be sure to rinse the lentils beforehand, taking out any of the dirt or little rocks that may have been mixed up into the bag.
We generally like to make this hearty vegetarian soup with either brown lentils or green lentils
If you are finding that your lentils are still hard after cooking, there might not have been enough liquid in the slow cooker compared to how many lentils were put in it. Return the lentils to the heat until they are tender.
Freezing and Reheating Instructions:
To freeze, put the leftover lentil soup from the crock pot into an airtight container or a freezer-safe ziplock bag and store it in the freezer for 4-6 months.
To reheat, pour your soup into a large pot and reheat the soup over medium heat for a few minutes or place the leftover soup recipe in a microwave-safe bowl a microwave it in 30 second increments until it reaches your desired temperature.
Explore More Delicious Soup Recipes
Explore our collection of soup recipes made in the stovetop, slow cooker or Instant Pot. For more soup inspiration, check out our full list of soups.
- Acorn Squash Soup
- Black Bean Taco Soup
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Easy Cabbage Soup
- Tomato Tortellini Soup
- Three Cheese Broccoli Soup
- Wild Rice Soup
Lentil Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots, diced
- 4 stalks celery, sliced into half-moons
- 4 medium carrots, sliced into rounds
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tablespoon herbs de provence
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes, (1 can)
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1⅔ cups French green lentils
- 2 inch parmesan rind
- 2 handfuls spinach
- Additional salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Saute. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the shallots, celery, and carrots. Season with salt and saute until the veggies have softened. Turn off the heat.
- Load the slow cooker. Transfer the sauteed veggies to the slow cooker along with the pepper, garlic powder, bay leaves, herbs de province, crushed tomatoes, vegetable stock, lentils, and parmesan rind.
- Cook. Close the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours.
- Finishing touches. At the end of the cooking time, remove the lid from the slow cooker. Remove the parmesan rind and stir in the spinach. Stir until the spinach has melted.
- Season. Taste the soup and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- For those meat lovers, you can add additional flavor by cooking up and adding Italian sausage to this crockpot lentil soup recipe.
- Adding more vegetables is a great option. Diced bell peppers and sweet potato would be perfect for cozy soups like this.
- Switch out the green lentils for red lentils and create a red lentil soup.
- Replace some of the vegetable broth with some coconut milk to turn this into a creamy slow cooker version, but be sure to add it at the end.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
How long would it take to make this in the instant pot instead of the slow cooker?
I would try cooking it on high for 15 minutes in the instant pot
Does this recipe use dry lentils or canned? Does the cook time change if I’m using canned lentils? Thank you!
We use dry lentils in this recipe – we haven’t tested it with canned and drained lentils. The fear with canned is they may get mushy before the other veggies are cooked. You can try adding them half way through the cook time. Let us know how it turns out!
I loved this recipe! But, what is the serving size? Thank you!
This recipe has a serving size of 1/6 of the complete recipe. The exact serving size depends on a lot of factors like what size of carrots you use, or how big a “handful” of spinach is etc. Sorry I wish I could be of more help!
This soup was so easy to make, very hearty, and great flavors. The perfect cozy dish!