Healthy Lentil Soup in the Slow Cooker (Cheap & Easy)
If you’re looking for a nutritious dinner that won’t break the bank, this healthy slow cooker lentil soup is the answer. It’s packed with protein-rich lentils, hearty vegetables, and warming spices, all simmered low and slow until perfectly tender. The best part? It’s a cheap and easy crockpot recipe you can set and forget while you go about your day.
Simple Ingredients, Big Flavor
This soup is made mostly with pantry staples like dried lentils, canned tomatoes, broth, and fresh vegetables. The lentils cook down beautifully in the slow cooker, becoming soft and tender while soaking up all the savory flavors. The result is a thick and hearty soup that feels like comfort food but is also wholesome and nourishing.
Versatile and Customizable
One of the best things about this recipe is how flexible it is. Keep it vegetarian by using vegetable broth, or add bone broth for extra protein. You can toss in extra vegetables such as spinach, zucchini, or bell peppers to boost the nutrition even more. It’s naturally gluten-free, freezer-friendly, and the leftovers taste even better the next day.
Perfect for Busy Nights
This slow cooker lentil soup is ideal for weeknights when you need something simple yet satisfying. The slow cooker handles the cooking, leaving you free to focus on work, family, or just relaxing. It’s also great for Sunday dinner when you want a cozy, nourishing meal that doesn’t require much effort.
Serve and Enjoy
Pair this hearty lentil soup with my homemade sourdough bread or a crisp side salad, and you’ve got a complete, affordable meal the whole family will love. Healthy eating doesn’t need to be complicated, sometimes the simplest recipes are the ones you’ll come back to again and again.
Healthy Slow Cooker Lentil Soup
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Sauté the veggies – Use the sauté function on your slow cooker (or a pan on the stove). Heat olive oil, beef marrow, or bacon fat. Add mushrooms and cook until browned.
- Add vegetables – Stir in onion, carrots, celery, and sweet potato. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt, cover, and cook for 5–8 minutes to build flavor.
- Season – Mix in tomato paste, garlic, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and pepper. Cook until fragrant.
- Add lentils and broth – Stir in diced tomatoes, broth, and rinsed lentils. Add extra water if needed to cover everything.
- Cook low and slow – Set the slow cooker on High for 6 hours or Low for 8 hours. Check occasionally and add more liquid if necessary.
- Thicken the soup – Once lentils are soft, mash some of the sweet potatoes with the back of a spoon for a creamier texture.
- Finish & serve – Stir in apple cider vinegar for brightness. Taste and adjust seasoning. Top with Parmesan or parsley and serve with bread
Notes
- Make it vegan by using vegetable broth and skip the Parmesan topping.
- Try adding greens like fresh spinach or kale in the last 10 minutes for extra nutrition.
- Boost protein content by adding chickpeas or shredded chicken.
- Cool completely and store in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.
This recipe looks great! Can I make it stove-top?
yes definitely! Simmer until lentils and sweet potatoes are soft : )
I loved your lentil soup, and since there are only two of us, I had a lot of leftovers. To use them to up, I made a shepherd’s pie and chicken pot pie. So easy this way; all I had to do was add the toppings for each!
So easy, nutritious, and filling! Really delicious! This will be in our rotation going forward for sure! Thank you! 🙂
I love your YouTube channel sometimes your videos even make me tear up bc your family is just so wholesome and beautiful and you really inspire me in the kitchen so thank you! Made this recipe but changed to Indian spices and then added coconut milk at the end it came out great!
Oh that sounds yummy, I will have to try that! Thanks for the kind words!
Hubby and I loved it as well as the kids very healthy and filling I made some of my own bread. Also changed the beans to black beans as I had no lentils And enjoyed it with Herbs as the topping it was so good I did use two teaspoons of cornstarch to thicken and I did slow cook it but my slow cooker is old so I did transfer it to the stove and was perfect still. We will be having this as a regular. Watched your recent YouTube and got me craving this soup so glad I made it I loved it 🙂
That sounds so yummy, we will need to try that next time!