Crock Pot Lentil Vegetable Soup

I love lentils. I love soup. Therefore, I love lentils in soup. I also love lentils buttered. But then again, I love anything buttered. Bread. Muffins. Veggies. Dirt. Babies. Etc. Butter makes things better. And as Pioneer Woman says, “If some is good, more is better.” Amen.

Anyway, this is a good, cheap meal. Lentils are excellent for replacing the meat in recipes. They’re high in fiber and they still give you the protein you need to be full. They also give you something else…buy Beano. Ahem.

If you’re trying to replace ground meat in a recipe with lentils, you’ll need about 1 cup of dry lentils to equal 1 pound of ground meat. It’s an excellent substitute for Meatless Monday.

Lentils are a rare type of bean – they don’t require soaking before you cook them. It makes them quick and easy. I love quick and easy things around here…with butter. But alas, there is no butter in this recipe. Wonder why I keep talking about butter? Yeah…I don’t know either.

You should always wash and look through your beans before you cook them. Otherwise you might end up with dirt like this in your soup bowl…and then your husband might give you a weird look. Dirt for dinner, honey? God made dirt and dirt won’t hurt. Or something like that. Just add butter.

Throw everything together in your crock pot and turn that puppy on low. You’ll cook it for about 8-9 hours or until the lentils are nice and tender.

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by Beano. I’m just warnin’ ya.

Crock Pot Lentil Vegetable Soup

2 cups dried lentils, rinsed and looked over
2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces each)
1 cup chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup chopped carrot
1 can chilies (4 ounce size)
5 cups chicken broth (or replace with vegetable stock)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients in a 4-5 quart crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until lentils are tender.

THM Compliant: This is an E soup. Serve with sourdough bread.

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About Stacy

Stacy is the author of Crock On: A Semi-Whole Foods Slow Cooker Cookbook and a stay-at-home mom to her two children, Annie (3) and Andy (newborn). After an “awakening” in March 2011, her family switched to a more natural, whole foods diet. She likes to blog about how to live on less than you make and how to eat good food while doing it. Her passion is teaching others how to save money and she tag teams with her husband in this endeavor. At Stacy Makes Cents you’ll find information on how to save money in the kitchen, how to have fun with your kids, and how to be thrifty in all areas of life. Her passion is teaching others how to live debt free. Make sure to follow her on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with her daily antics.

http://getalonghome.com Cindy

I don’t even bookmark your recipes anymore. I just send them straight to the printer.
- Stacy
  
  That’s a huge compliment.
Janet

Thanks for the recipe I love veggie soup and lentils, well, I am getting used to them. I will be making this for my family soon, well, as soon as I buy a crockpot. Mine was broken on a Boy Scout camping trip
- Stacy
  
  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! That’s an emergency!!!
http://www.satisfiedbyhislove.blogspot.com emily

What a great recipe for when we bring home baby #2 next week! And maybe when we put it in a bowl we’ll top it with a pad butter (the soup that is, not the baby)! Yep, we feel the same about butter round here
- Stacy
  
  Butter is better than icing. It’s like FOOD ICING!
Cynthia

Yummy!!! This sounds so good. I think I will make cornbread with lots and lots of butter on it to go with this.
- Stacy
  
  BUTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Trish

You should read this: http://www.karenhurd.com/pages/healthtopics/specifichealthconcerns/ht-shc-whybeansdontcausegas.html

From a fellow lentil lover.
- Stacy
  
  Interesting…thanks for sharing! But still, I will always make the beans joke.
Kerry

My family is not a big fan of chiles. I am wondering if they have a strong flavor in the soup. Sounds like a great soup for cold days.
Thanks!
- Stacy
  
  Nah, not too strong. You could easily leave them out.
wendy Briscoe

Mrs. Stacy, This is a recipe I’m going to try! I made recently 2 Step Taco Soup and it was delish. Even my almost 4 year old ate it, and the ingredients were everything I had on hand. You can find that recipe on Allrecipes.com.

Question for you. This is 2013, and due to tax law changes our one income will be reduced by $50 a month or so. Do you have any foods that you buy that are meal stretchers, or that can last a long time? You might already have a post on this, if so, please direct me. We are having to stretch our income even further now. I am making my own laundry soap to boot. Any hints or tips would be appreciated. Thank you so much, Wendy
- Stacy
  
  I don’t really have any posts on it…but lentils are a great substitute for meat. You could even just use them as half meat – stretching one pound of ground meat into two meals.
  Also, you might see if you have any hunter friends where you could get some very cost effective ground venison.
  Make friends with the meat department and ask them when they mark down meat.
  Meatless is always a friend to the budget. I find great recipes on the Meatless Monday website!
  I hope that’s a little help. And you can always holler at me with specific questions.
Melissa

If you soak your lentils for 24 hours, rinse them and let them sprout for another 24-48 hours, rinsing a few times in there (I just let them sit in a colander with a plate on top), the composition of the bean changes and causes way less gas. Makes them more nutritious, too. Doesn’t change the taste at all!
- Stacy
  
  I have some friends that soak. I just don’t do it. Plus, I like making gas jokes. lol
Melissa

I’ve never had lentils before but I just bought some and I am going to try this recipe. It looks really good.
- Stacy
  
  You will love them! So yummy and versatile.
http://Heathfamily7.wordpress.com Tara H

This looks great! I pinned it!
I also wanted to tell you that my sister just text me (I gave her one of your cookbooks for Christmas) and this is what the text said, “I’ve made 100 more things from Stacy’s book…ALL were yummy!”
- Stacy
  
  That just makes me smile all over my face!
AmberDawn

I laughed, I snorted, and then read parts of this article aloud for my husband, who kept asking “What? What’s funny?”. I haven’t cooked with lentils in a while cuz, well… you know… But this sounds too good. Just might be worth it lol! Thanks for the laughs, always love your posts!
- Stacy
  
  Dude…he’s a man – I thought he would get it. Weird.
Stacey

Trying this today. Will let you know if the Manlings locked me out of the house in protest….when I find a way back in…. LOL
- Stacy
  
  LOL Oh goodness.
  - Stacey
    
    They liked it! Turned out a little spicy though, which was weird. I didn’t put anything else in it. Does yours get that way?
    - Stacy
      
      What’s weird is that sometimes I find that the heat of chilies can vary from can to can. Ours wasn’t too spicy. I’m glad they liked it.
http://livinbetter.blogspot.com/ Karina

I love lentils. I keep miss judging how many to keep on hand and every time I make meatloaf I’m always out. I think I’m going to make this next week (I need to make a lentil run).
- Stacy
  
  Lentils are just an amazing bean!
Amy

So, this weekend I was home from church with my 4 year old since he had the sniffles. Was reading this post and remembered the bag of lentils in my pantry that had been there forever – my only reminder that they were there has been my almost 2 year old daughter dragging that bag out of the pantry about 2-3 times a week for some reason. Figured this might be the right time to just cook them up. But, the “use by” date on the bag was 2010! Ack! I wasn’t sure they’d even get tender cooking in the crock pot, so I cooked them on their own first just so I wouldn’t waste any of my homemade broth. They cooked up great, so added them to everything else & ended up with a HUGE batch of lentil soup! I had to switch over to my 7 qt crock pot as anything smaller just wasn’t going to work. Plenty of soup for the freezer. Thanks for the idea – the soup is great and actually tastes like it has meat in it (bonus for my meat-loving hubby).
- Stacy
  
  What’s funny is that I didn’t even know beans had an expiration date. LOL So glad it turned out well! Lentils are great as a meat substitute.
Kerry

Just loaded it in the crockpot I hope I don’t regret this…a few years back I made navy bean soup….all I have to say is P.U. I guess I like gas jokes too! If I’m not choked out by the thick air, I’ll let you know how my deer-hunting hubby like meatless.
- Stacy
  
  Barry is a deer-hunting meat man too – and he liked it. So, there’s hope! Even if one of you has to sleep on the couch. LOL
Kerry

We all survived and the soup was yummy! We have a couple servings left that I will freeze. Onto the vegetable beef in the crock. Have some parsnips and rutabagas in the freezer from the garden that I’m going to throw in with other veggies. If nothing else, your posts are getting me to try more cooking Thanks!
- Stacy
  
  You know – I’ve NVER had a rutabaga. I think I’m gonna have to get some now.
Kerry

We grow them in the garden ….hubby loves them with ham.
- Stacy
  
  Who wouldn’t? Even dirt would be good with ham. lol
Lori

My aunt makes rutabaga sauteed in butter. Oh. Yum. You’d like it, Stacy, yes, you would….
- Stacy
  
  I will have to get some to try!

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