Fall / Winter / Gluten Free / Vegan / Main Dish / Slow Cooker & Instant Pot / Soup

February 15, 2021

Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup

Comforting, slow cooker vegetable soup!

Serves 6

A very vegan vegetable soup! A comforting, cozy slow cooker vegetable soup recipe that’s perfect for winter. Packed with beans, veggies and tomatoes.

A very vegetable soup! The kind of soup that’s perfect for snow days, for sick days and for days when you’re craving vegetables but aren’t in the mood for a raw vegetable. A very vegan vegetable soup that’s packed with 7 different vegetables, protein-rich beans and a savory broth.

This slow cooker vegetable soup is the kind of soup that I crave this time of year. While I love a good salad, I have a hard time getting into leafy greens when it’s negative temperatures outside. My body craves warmth, especially in the form of a vegetable soup that’s brothy, filling and sip-able. A mug of this, some good crusty bread, and I’m set for whatever snowstorm mother nature throws my way.

For more slow cooker recipes, make sure to check out my slow cooker taco soup, slow cooker minestrone soup, slow cooker enchilada soup and slow cooker tomato soup.

Growing up, my mom used to make a simple cabbage soup that I loved and would request it almost weekly in the winter. I’m fairly certain it was a Weight Watcher’s recipe, adapted somewhere from the cabbage soup diet. Regardless, it was delicious and filled with so many vegetables. We of course, paired it with grilled cheese or homemade bread from our bread machine and I have such fond memories of a big vat of that soup on our stove top.

This vegan vegetable soup is kinda like that, sans cabbage and loaded with beans and potatoes instead. The best part about this soup is that it’s completely customizable to whatever veggies you like in your soup– it doesn’t need to be too perfect on the amounts. Throw it in, make sure there’s enough broth to cover, and let simmer for hours and hours.

Ingredients

Here’s a quick rundown of everything that’s included in this slow cooker vegetable soup, plus ingredient variations as noted:

Sautéed onion, garlic, celery and carrots: If your slow cooker has a sauté function, then you’ll want to use this first to soften and cook the vegetables to layer in additional flavor and aromatics. If you don’t have a sauté function on your slow cooker, then you can sauté the vegetables in a separate sauce pan before adding to the slow cooker. I know this is another step, but it makes a big difference in the overall flavor of the dish.
Diced tomatoes: I love fire roasted tomatoes, but regular works as well.
Yukon Gold potatoes: Creamy, thin skinned potatoes are best here, you can also use The Little Potato Company potatoes or sweet potatoes.
White Beans: Small navy beans are my go-to, though kidney beans or chickpeas will also work
Lemon juice: The secret to really good soup is a hit of bright acid at the end, via lemon juice. If you don’t have lemon juice, sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar will work instead.

How to make Vegan Vegetable Soup

You’ll want to ensure that your broth is nice and flavorful, as that’s the base for this soup. I rarely make homemade broth these days, and instead prefer prepared broth from Pacific foods or chicken-less bouillon from Orrington Farms or Better than Boullion.

As mentioned above, I think that sautéing the aromatics first helps to layer flavor in this soup, but I know that’s an additional pain if your slow cooker doesn’t have a separate sauté function. I ditched my slow cooker a few years ago once I got the Instant Pot that had both a slow cooker and pressure cooker option.

Once you add in the aromatics, then layer in the rest of the ingredients and allow to simmer for 5-6 hours, until potatoes and green beans are cooked through. Stir in lemon juice and fresh parsley right before serving and ta-da! Simple vegetable soup is served.

Can you make this on the stovetop?

Yes. Sauté the onion and other vegetables as directed, then add in the rest of the ingredients except for the lemon juice and parsley. Simmer over medium-low heat for 45-60 minutes, until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Add in the lemon juice and parsley right before serving.

Can you make this in the Instant Pot?

I don’t recommend this in the Instant Pot as it will turn to the potatoes to mush as it cooks.