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You're going to love this Chard, Lentil, & Potato Slow Cooker Soup. It's filling, easy to make, and totally healthy!
I own a ton of cookbooks, but if I had to choose the one I use the most often in my kitchen, it's Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. This is my book that has notes scrawled all over the pages and food spatters on the most frequently used recipes. If you're a vegetarian and you own a slow cooker, you should really buy this book!
This recipe is adapted from a kale and lentil soup that's in Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. It's not super fancy, it's not a show-stopper, but it's a delicious, hearty soup for a chilly fall evening. I replaced the kale with chard—and used a lot more than the original recipe calls for. We love Swiss chard, and if I was buying a whole bunch anyway, why not use it? I even threw in the stems, so nothing goes to waste! I also added some Yukon potatoes to make this soup even more filling, but sweet potatoes or butternut squash would probably be just as tasty.
How to Make Chard, Lentil, & Potato Slow Cooker Soup
Heat oil in a skillet.
Add veggies and cook until softened.
Add veggies and ingredients to slow cooker.
Cook on low for 8 hours.
Season with salt, pepper, and boiled chard leaves.
Full directions for how to make Chard, Lentil, & Potato Slow Cooker Soup are in the printable recipe card below.
Chard, Lentil, & Potato Slow Cooker Soup FAQs
Why do you love this cookbook?
The thing I love about Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker is that the recipes are mostly unfussy. You might have to sauté some ingredients before putting them in the crockpot. But other than that, things are pretty uncomplicated—which is what I like in a cookbook. I want realistic, everyday meals. I want a cookbook I can use, not one with lots of pretty pictures of recipes that are a such pain to assemble that I'll probably never make.
When I was working full-time and going to library school full-time (yeah, that happened), I worked my way through a good half of the recipes in this cookbook. They were so easy to put together! I could let them cook in the crockpot all day and dinner would be ready when we got home. Without fail, they were all winners. The best part was that there were always leftovers, so we could have them for dinner the next day or freeze them. The only thing easier than a slow cooker meal is a leftover meal! Or stopping at Chipotle on the way home from work. (Yeah, that happened too.)
You can easily freeze this soup. Simply let it cool down a bit, pour it into freezer-friendly containers or ziplock bags, and pop it in the freezer until you're ready to eat it again! I recommend separating the soup into serving-size portions so you don't have to thaw all of your frozen soup when you only want to eat one cup.
Add onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and stems from Swiss chard.
Cover and cook until softened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add cooked vegetable mixture, lentils, potatoes, broth, and soy sauce in a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker.
Stir to combine, cover, and cook on low heat for 8 hours.
Just before soup is finished cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place reserved chard leaves in boiling water and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
Drain leaves well and stir into soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Craving more veg-friendly recipes? Shop our collection of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including our new Vegan Thanksgiving and Vegan Christmas cookbooks!
There are affiliate links in this post, so if you click through and buy Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, I'll get a few cents out of the deal. I promise not to spend it all in one place!
Rinse. On occasion, you'll find small rocks or debris mixed in with dried lentils. To avoid eating them, rinse the lentils in a fine mesh sieve and pick them over before you cook them.
Yes, you can overcook lentils; they will become mushy. Much depends on the type of lentil you're using. Some cook quicker and hold their shape better than others. To avoid overcooking them, always follow the cooking directions in your recipe and use the type of lentils called for in the ingredient list.
Sometimes soup just needs to simmer longer to reach the perfect consistency. Check to see if the vegetables are tender, and then taste the broth. If the soup tastes a bit watery, give it more time.
On the positive side, a slow cooker is a sealed environment. This means there's very little evaporation and your food cooks with the help of moist heat. Technically, this means you're actually cooking your food with flavored steam, which helps to seal in flavor while the soup cooks.
Soaking dried beans and lentils before cooking is not always necessary, but it can help reduce cooking time and improve their digestibility. Here's what happens if you don't soak them: 1> Longer Cooking Time: Beans and lentils that haven't been soaked will generally take longer to cook compared to soaked ones.
And while you could make it with any kind of lentil—brown, green, red, you name it—I think it's the most delicious version of itself when made with French green lentils. IMHO, they're just about the best kind of lentils for soup that exist.
Think more like you're cooking pasta- you just need significantly more water than lentils. You can also use broth instead of adding an extra layer of flavor. I like adding a bay leaf, an onion cut in half, and a clove of garlic to add flavor to the lentils.
Lentils are frequently cooked with strong spices, which can cause indigestion in some people. Lentils are a good source of potassium, however, too many lentils in the diet can cause hyperkalemia (symptoms may include vomiting, fatigue, irregular heartbeat and difficulty breathing) in people with poor kidney function.
the color change you've observed is from oxidation. If you want to prevent this, lay some plastic wrap over the surface of your lentils to prevent air from getting to them, or add some acid, like lime juice, to the recipe.
If they taste sour, and they were left out for three days, they probably have some bacterial growth. Whether or not they are “bad” (pathogenic) bacteria you'll only know with a lab test or by eating them and seeing if you get sick. Unless they are the most delicious / expensive lentils in the world, I wouldn't risk it.
That means the foam will typically appear when making meat-based broths and, to a lesser degree, soups made from high-protein vegetables such as chickpeas and lentils. When those coagulated proteins cluster together, they can create air pockets, which is what causes the “sudsy bubbles,” says Trout.
In this lentil recipe, I start with onions and garlic cooked in good extra virgin olive oil, adding in Mediterranean spices like cumin, coriander, and sumac. The spicy kick comes from a dash of crushed red pepper flakes, which you can adjust to your taste if you don't want the soup to be too spice.
Due to the nature of a slow cooker, there is no need to stir the food unless it specifically says to in your recipe. In fact, taking the lid off to stir food causes the slow cooker to lose a significant amount of heat, extending the cooking time required. Therefore, it is best not to remove the lid for stirring.
If you're cooking for yourself or for only two people, a 2 1/2 to 3 1/2-quart slow cooker might be large enough. It's great for smaller amounts of soups and stews. Many slow cooker recipes are written for 6-quart models and can simply be halved for this size.
A slurry is a mixture of flour and water, whisked together until smooth and added towards the end of cooking; it's a super-simple way to thicken any soup. For slow cooker soups, add your slurry with at least 30 minutes of cook time left so that the raw flour can cook and thicken the soup.
While it seems like an unnecessary step, don't skip rinsing your lentils and sifting through them before cooking to remove any stones or debris. It is rare to find stones, but it does happen.
Do you rinse canned lentils? It is not necessary to rinse canned lentils before cooking, but you can rinse them by emptying them into a strainer and under cold water. This can help to remove some of the sodium content from the liquid around the beans.
Keep tasting your lentils as they cook to see if they're the consistency you want—more firm if you're eating them on their own or in a salad, and softer if they're going into a soup or stew. Never miss an opportunity to add more flavor to your lentils—they can take a LOT. Add a halved onion to your water/stock.
Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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by Robin Robertson. This is my book that has notes scrawled all over the pages and food spatters on the most frequently used recipes. If you're a vegetarian and you own a slow cooker, you should really buy this book!
