This no fat slow cooker vegetable soup is hearty, delicious and so simple to make. The slow cooked root vegetables are meltingly soft, and almost sweet. Vegan, Whole 30, Gluten Free and Paleo Friendly.
Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup
We really enjoy a bowl of soup; it’s one of our favourite lunches, accompanied by a slice or two of homemade bread. We rely on our freezer a lot, making large batches and freezing it in portion-sized helpings ready for defrosting, so we’re always looking for ideas for tasty, hearty and healthy soups. Here’s another to add to the list: a comforting no fat slow cooker vegetable soup that’s so easy to prepare. A big bowl of vegetable soup is a simple way to get you towards your 5-a-day, and root veggies are so cheap this is a really frugal meal.
The great advantage of using the slow cooker is that it’s a real fire-up-and-forget way of cooking. It doesn’t require close monitoring and nothing will ever burn, so we can start it doing its thing and then use the cooking time to go and do something else. And there are so many recipes that really benefit from long, slow cooking times, particularly dishes that use cheaper cuts of meat.
This recipe, however, is root vegetable based. The long slow gentle cooking magically transforms them to being velvet smooth almost sweet. We used a vegetable stock here, but for a richer stock use chicken. (Making stock is another great use for the slow cooker: simply add your usual stock ingredients to the pot, cover with water and leave for 8-10 hours or overnight on a low setting before straining).
This soup doesn’t take nearly as long – 5 hours on low, or 3 on high on our 160-190 watt model. Once cooked, simply blitz with a stick blender until smooth, and it’s ready to serve straight away. Leftovers can be frozen. A hot weather alternative to this is my leftover salad soup – that is perfect for using up wilting salad vegetables that are are past their best.
- 3 Carrots
- 2 Parsnips
- 2 sticks Celery
- 1/2 Onion
- 1/2 Celeriac
- 1 small turnip (or wedge of swede)
- 4 cups Stock
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Peel and roughly chop the vegetables
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Add to slow cooker, and cover with stock. Season with salt and pepper.
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Switch onto high until simmering, then either leave to cook for a total of 3 hours, or then switch onto low and cook for 5 hours.
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Once the vegetables are soft blitz with a stick blender, adding a little more stock if needed.
- To make a heartier version add a handful of red lentils
- Do not add the dollop of sour cream as shown in the image if you want to keep it vegan
- This recipe is 5 Weight Watchers Smart Points per portion
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For more healthy slow cooker ideas you may also like my fat free slow cooker tomato sauce.
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Helen at Casa Costello
Love a good hearty soup – Great way to use up the veg that lies awaiting in the bottom of the fridge. We tend to just eat double to use up soup as forget that we can freeze it. Never made it in my slow cooker before – will have to explore.
Helen @ family-friends-food.com
That soup looks great – really thick and nourishing. Yum.
Rachel
HI! I’d love to make this soup but I’m based in the UK – could you tell me how much 4 cups of stock is in ml? Also, I assume I could use bone broth instead of stock?
Thanks very much!
Helen
2 cups is just a bit under a litre. Bone broth is just another name for homemade stock.
Mellissa Williams
I love my slow cooker and this recipe looks so delicious and simple to make. Bookmarked!
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry
This looks super healthy. I think slow cookers are magic, as you can just chuck everything in and it comes out amazing
Helen
I think you need to have a bit of refinement, but they are pretty much fool proof.
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche
Great idea to use the slow cooker for this so you don’t need to add any oil – will definitely be trying that trick myself. Looks perfectly hearty, especially with a nice slice of toasted homemade bread and butter :)
Helen
I really like that there is no need for oil. I often feel there is little need for any fats in this kind of soup.
Choclette
We’re big fans of soup too. I’ve never thought to try making it in a slow cooker. Thank to you I have a slow cooker so I ought to give it a try. Love the colour contrast between the bowl and soup.
Helen
Slow cookiers are ideal for soup, so I certainly recommend using.
Vikki Holness
I’ve never thought to use the slow cooker for making soup – what a brilliant idea! This looks so hearty and yummy! xx
Helen
Slow cookers are ideal; I love the method of adding ingredients and letting it do its thing.
Jennifer Helen
I love the look of this soup – one of my favourite lunches!
Helen
We are a big fan of soup lunches here.
Julia @ HappyFoods Tube
Love your photos! The colors of this soup are amazing. I rarely buy parsnips & turnip but looking at this delicious soup I think I will reconsider :)
Helen
Thank you Julia. The great thing about soup is that vegetables you may not like on their own, become delicious when make in to soup.
Erren
This seems absolutely perfect for me! It looks so good and I bet it tastes amazing! Great flavors, the perfect comfort soup!
Helen
Something very satifying about a soup like this, and comfort food does come to mind.
Sara Rowlands
Hi Helen, can you add chicken and blitz still? Thanks :-)
Helen
I think I would throw in the chicken and cook with the vegetables, then fish it out and shred, blitz the soup then add the chicken back in.
Rhian Westbury
I’d never think about doing soup in a slow cooker, such a good idea x
Helen
Slow cookers are perfect for soup as you can switch them on and forget them.
Rachelanne_bee
This looks so good! I’m obsessed with my slow cooker! And those bowls are beautiful!!!
Helen
It is so easy too. I love those bowls, I hardly every use them though as I am scared they might get broken.
Sarah
Nothing beats an easy to make soup…especially when 12″ of snow is in today’s forecast! Perfect timing to give it a try!
Helen
I hope the snow is not too awful. It is a lovely spring day here in London.
Sarahjane Wood
This soup looks so delicious! Perfect for lunchtime :)
Helen
Ideal for lunch! Put it on first thing and it will be ready!
Rachel
This does sound lovely and at least now I know what else to do with some celeriac, the colour is really quite something x
Helen
It is a great way of using celeriac, having that lovely flavour is wonderful.
Yaya
Slow cooker recipes are some of my favourite and are always handy to have, especially when they sound as simple and delicious as this one! x
Helen
I love using the slow cooker, the great feeling of adding ingredients, walking away and letting the good stuff happen while you do something else.
Claire
This sounds lovely, I must try to make it
thankyou for sharing with us
Helen
Barely any hands on time, but so delicious.
Michelle Topham
This looks delicious and vegan, which is perfect for me :)
I’m also into soups and always looking for new recipes, as they’re easy to make and very very healthy.
Thanks for this. Will be trying it out soon!!
Helen
It is such a quick and delicious soup. Do enjoy it!
Jan Bennett
Oooh now that soup looks good! Love that you made it in a slow cooker.
Helen
I love making soup in the slow cooker, even the oldest, toughest root vegetables become soft and sweet.
cookilicious
Very nice recipe and amazing photography. Love the idea of adding red lentils to increase the health quotient!
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy
Slow cookers and soup are a match made in heaven. The cold weather has landed, and bowls of goodness will be flying out of the kitchen over the next several months. This sounds delicious.
Helen
I love this soup so much, so filling, but frugal on the calories.
Denise Wright
I think root vegetables have so much more flavor then others and I love that they give your soup such creaminess! I can’t wait to give this a try. Anything you can throw into the slow cooker and turn into a healthy, hearty dish is my kind of recipe.
Helen
I love root veggies, they are also so frugal too!
Denise Wright
I meant to ask you, is there a substitute for the celeriac? Sometimes it’s hard for me to find. Thanks!
Helen
Probably some celery and maybe throw in a leek too?
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
We love our soups — this one sounds perfect for a chilly day. I haven’t done a whole lot with root vegetables – I don’t know why. This certainly is an inspiration to get off my duff and make some. My slow cooker is waiting.
Helen
Perfect for a chilly day. I’m in the habit of a late lunch after a dog walk these days.
Arlene Mobley
This soup looks amazing and so easy to make!
Helen
So easy, healthy and delicious.
Veena Azmanov
I love using my slow cooker for soups too! This looks so hearty and nutritious. A bowl on this on a cold evening would make perfect comfort food.
Helen
the slow cooker is amazing for soups. Mine lives on the countertop in the winter.
Brenda
I make soup every week, freezing what we don’t eat for the days afterwards. Cannot fault it. Lovely sounding soup, root veg have such a good flavour.
Poppy Millen
Soup is such a good thing to have to take to work for lunch. Great idea to use a slow cooker.
Linda Holland
I love using my slow cooker. Always makes great soup.
Gareth T
My parents have a soup ritual every lunchtime. My Mother regularly is found making batches of soups to freeze. I bet she would like this, sounds really tasty and simple.
Sally Potter
A perfect kind of soup for me. Tasty, easy to make, and veggie. Great for all the family.
Casey
Hi, would this work if I added a head of broccoli?
Helen
It probably would, but you would need to add it in about 10 mins before the end of the cooking time. I’m not convinced that it would be an improvement though – I’d probably steam it and serve it on the side.
jacqueline aisbitt
should the water be hot to begin with ?
Helen
It doesn’t make that a much of a difference – I’d use hot as some slow cookers can take a while to come to temperature
Julianne
I have this cooking away right now and it smells SO good. I cook for a months worth (1 per week) so made quadruple and will freeze three meals worth.