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
This recipe is adapted from a kale and lentil soup that's in Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.
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.)
Can I freeze this soup?
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.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 1 stalk celery sliced
- 1 large carrot sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large bunch Swiss chard leaves torn into bite-sized pieces and stems sliced
- 1 cup dried brown lentils picked over and rinsed
- 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- 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.
Nutrition
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!
Michelle says
That cookbook pretty much stays on my kitchen counter all fall/winter. I cook something from it at least once a week. I've made the recipes so many times that I wish she'd put out another one so I could make something new!
Kiersten says
It is great, isn't it? It's definitely my most-used cookbook!
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
I'm so up for slow cooker soups right now! Yum!
New South Food Company says
Looks amazing! Cooking it this weekend.
Kiersten says
I hope you like it!
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective says
SOUP!! This looks lovely--I'm sharing it on my FB page for unofficial Soup Week! 😉
Kiersten says
Thank you for sharing this, Sommer! 😀
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
Oh yes, that does look darn hearty and good!
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
It's homey and comforting! I love it.
Jackie @ The Beeroness says
My fav cookbook is the vintage copy of The Joy of Cooking I took from my Grandmother place after she passed. It still has her notes in the margins. Love it so much.
ANd I'm a huge soup fan, this looks glorious.
Kiersten says
My mom has that one too. I think she must have gotten it when she got married, because I remember it being completely yellowed and covered with food spatters. That's how you know it's a good cookbook.
Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking says
I just told my husband a few weeks ago that I wanted to get another slow cooker. This recipe has gotten me in gear to go get one!
Kiersten says
We just got a new one last year. Our old slow cooker burned everything! I waited for a good sale and then pounced. 😉
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com says
I love, love the idea of Swiss chard in a soup! Would definitely try this recipe. Gorgeous photos!
Kiersten says
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it if you make it! 🙂
Katherine says
This looks sooo good!
[email protected] says
Looks great, Kiersten!
I need to buy a slow cooker! My girlfriends say it's a great thing.
Kiersten says
You will love it! You can make so many things in it and it's so nice to just throw everything in there and have it do the work.
debra @strangedazeindeed says
I never had a slow cooker but I would love one for the upcoming winter. That soup looks so warm and delicious.
Kiersten says
You should get one--they really come in handy! You'd be surprised at how many things you can make in them too. My Thanksgiving dessert is made in the slow cooker!
Ashley - Baker by Nature says
I never can get enough soup recipes - this looks fantastic, and I love using my slow cooker!
Genevieve says
This sounds like just the kind of hearty and healthy soup you would need after a long day of work! I've never owned or used a slow cooker - to me, it's just one more thing to have to do in the morning before leaving the house, but I guess the trade-off would be worth it if you don't have time to cook when you get home!
Kiersten says
If you're an early riser, it works well, but if you're the type that's always running late, it's a little bit harder. 🙂
Peggy says
I'm thumbing through Mastering the Art of French Cooking at the moment and love every bit of it that I've seen so far! I love slow cooker soups like this - and they're definitely perfect for the fall/winter season =)
Kiersten says
French cooking is really intimidating to me! It seems so precise and fussy. Perhaps I should read that book too. 🙂
Peggy says
It shouldn't scare you! Once you get the basic technique down, you realize that it's like riding a bike =)
The Healthy Apple says
This looks great, Jenny! Hope you are well; sending you huge hugs! xo
Kiersten says
I think you have the wrong blogger! I'm Kiersten. 🙂
Notorious Spinks says
This looks good. I don't recall ever eating chard. I'll have to try this out.
Kiersten says
I like it more than spinach because it has a little more flavor. It can be on the bitter side, but if you parboil it first, it mellows out some.
revi says
i already bought cooked lentils. i wonder if i could use those. maybe cook it on low for a shorter time?
Kiersten says
With cooked lentils, I would probably just make this on the stovetop. I think in a slow cooker, the lentils might get mushy.
Jenna says
Do you think it would be okay to cook the veggies the night before and then start the slow cooker in the morning?
Kiersten says
I haven't done it with this particular soup, but I've done that with a lot of other slow cooker recipes and I've never had any issues with it!
Anita says
Ok so I just put this together and there is no way that all those ingredients fit in a 4 - 6 cup slow cooker. I am new to the slow cooker and I have a lot to learn and maybe I'm missing something here.......8 hours......time will tell. I could only fit 2 cups of broth and had to reduce the veggies.
Kiersten says
I made a mistake in the recipe--it should be 4-6 quart, not cup. (I didn't even know a 4-6 cup slow cooker exists?!) I am so sorry for the confusion! The recipe should still taste good, although it may be more of a stew than a soup with less broth.
Sky says
I just got off work and its time to taste this! It still tastes great with the cups, tho you likely can edit the original recipe text?
Kiersten says
I already corrected the recipe. 🙂 I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Jeanine says
Do you leave the skin on the potatoes? : )
Kiersten says
I like to leave the skin on, but if you prefer to peel your potatoes, you can!
Jeanine says
Thank you Kiersten! I made it, skin on the potatoes, and it was a hit! I had my in-laws over and we all enjoyed the soup! My sister-in-law asked for the recipe. : ) I will try it skin off the potatoes just for fun next time...lol.
Kiersten says
I'm glad it was a winner! I always leave the skin on because my mom drilled into my head that that's where all the nutrition is. 😉
Jessica says
This looks amazing, I am making it today!! But I couldn't find Swiss chard at my store, the closest I could get was kale, which I love and have used in soups before. Do you think this will work OK in this recipe, and should I also sauté the stems?
Kiersten says
Sorry for the delay--I was out of town for the holidays and had limited internet access! Kale would work just fine in this soup, but you'll want to discard the stems.
Sarah says
How should i make this without a slow cooker?
Kiersten says
Instead of making the veggies in a skillet, make them in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Once they've softened, add the broth, potatoes, lentils, and soy sauce/tamari; bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. I haven't made it myself this way so I can't give you an exact time, but I'd check after 15 minutes--the soup will be done when both the potatoes and lentils are tender. Prepare the chard leaves separately like the original instructions say and stir those in at the end of the cooking time. Hope this helps!
The Omnivore says
This was fantastic and has inspired me to add that cookbook to my wishlist. I don't use my slow cooker nearly often enough but every time I do, it reminds me how much I love it. I also really appreciated that you use the chard stems -- it always seems so wasteful to me that most recipes instruct us to throw them out.
Kiersten Frase says
I feel the same way about chard stems. 🙂 Usually I'll just sauté them separately and have them with another meal because I actually like the stems more than the leaves!
Jacintha says
Looks delicious! I have a question: how come we don't we put the chard leaves into the slow cooker with the other vegetables? Why do we boil and add it at the end? Will it get too soft?
Kiersten Frase says
It's because the chard leaves can add a bitterness to the soup if they're cooked with it.