Slow Cooker Cream of Vegetable Soup

This slow cooker cream of vegetable soup recipe is a little bit of gentle everyday luxury, easy, hands-off and it comes with the supreme excuse of being good for you too. Don’t even try to resist!

Slow cooker cream of vegetable soup

I love my slow cooker. Slow and gentle wins the race every time, as the flavours develop so well, and being able to walk away from the kitchen makes life so much easier.

See also

• If you don’t want the cream, this low fat slow cooker vegetable soup is light but delicious.
• For a fabulously light and refreshing lunch, make green pea and mint soup
• Nourishing and full of flavour, you can enjoy this easy slow cooker tomato soup hot or cold

This slow cooker cream of vegetable soup recipe is a great example of that transformative magic, producing a creamy, luxurious soup from the most ordinary ingredients.

It is a true throw it al in recipe with no need to fry anything off.

Tougher or larger vegetables are softened and sweetened and everything infuses together in the most irresistible way.

The recipe is extremely flexible and forgiving. In fact, it’s a version of the all-purpose soup everyone’s granny used to make, a throw-in-what-you’ve-got sort of soup made fancy but soothing with the addition of a little cream and the slow development of the flavour.

The quantities are approximate, so you can adjust for what you have to hand, and a little more or less of anything won’t hurt. Make substitutions in season and according to what you have. Only the carrots and onion are really non-negotiable.

My cream of vegetable soup recipe is a great way to use up runner or green beans that have gone past their best for a regular boiling. You could add squash in place of the sweet potato and throw in odds and ends of cauliflower or broccoli. It’s all good!

By and large, though, you want to have more root vegetables than anything else. This gives a rich and slightly sweet base that pairs well with the cream and makes this slow cooker vegetable soup the perfect comfort food rainy days and lazy days.

Why make slow cooker vegetable soup

• superb flavour from simple ingredients

• easy, “dump and go” hands-off cooking

• flexible recipe

• everyday indulgence

Cream of vegetable soup – ingredients

• Onion – a medium brown onion

• Carrots

• Parsnip

• Sweet potato

• Potato – one medium potato that sits comfortably in your hand. Unlike the other roots, this is more for texture, adding body and creaminess to the soup

• Stock – vegetable or chicken, and cube, stock pot or homemade as you prefer

• Cream – single or double (heavy) according to what you have and how rich you like your soup

• Leek

• Celery – 2 ribs

• Seasoning – garlic powder, a pinch of your favourite herby seasoning blend (try my Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper

• Parsley (not shown)

How to make slow cooker vegetable soup – step by step

Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this perfectly every time.

Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.

Step One – Prepare the vegetables, peeling and chopping as appropriate. As you can see from the photograph above, I tend to leave the skin on potatoes for soup, but peel sweet potatoes and parsnips.

If your vegetables have good smooth skins then was and don’t bother to peel.

You want more or less regular sized pieces. I cut chunks of around 1.5–2 cm for a partially blended soup with identifiable vegetables. For a fully blended smooth soup, you can cut larger pieces.

Step Two – Put all the vegetables in the slow cooker pot, starting with the hardest vegetables at the bottom.

If you have liquid stock add this now, or boil the kettle and add boiling water along with the stock cube or pot so that the vegetables are almost all covered.

Add the garlic powder and herb seasoning. Put the lid on and set to cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6.

Helen’s Fuss Free Tip

Adding boiling water from the kettle means the slow cooker comes to temperature faster and the soup can be ready sooner if you want it to be.

Do not cover the vegetables completely, as this will result in a thin soup. It is better to have a soup that is too thick that you can thin down with extra liquid than one that is not thick enough. I generally add about 500–600 ml (2–2.5 cups).

Step Three – When the cooking time is over, the vegetables should be soft and tender and falling apart. They should also be more or less submerged.

If they are deeply submerged, remove a ladle or two of liquid before blending and reserve it. You can add it back in as needed.

Step Four – If you like some vegetables floating in your soup, remove and reserve some now, using a slotted spoon. You don’t need to do this if you want a completely smooth soup.

Step Five – Take a stick blender and blend the soup until smooth.

Helen’s Fuss Free Tip

A cheap stick/immersion blender is the simplest and best way to blend soup. I have had mine for years.

If you must use a jug blender with hot soup, never use the central bung. As you blend, it will generate steam which can blow the lid off and send scalding soup everywhere. Instead, cover with a folded piece of kitchen paper, then a tea towel over the top. Lift from time to time between each blend to allow the steam to escape.

Step Six – Taste and check the seasoning, adding black pepper and salt to taste. Add the cream and a handful of chopped parsley. Return any reserved vegetables to the pot.

I have successful frozen this with the cream in, if you want you can leave it out and add back in when you are ready to serve.

Step Seven – Stir until the cream is well mixed with the soup and serve hot.

Serving suggestion

Garnish your slow cooker cream of vegetable soup with extra chopped parsley and serve with fresh bread or toast.

Variations

This creamy slow cooker vegetable soup recipe can be varied to suit the vegetables that you have to hand.

I like to aim for no more than 20 % alliums for a savoury element, (anymore will be overpowering unless you fry them first), and some sweeter roots. You can use pretty much anything except beetroot, which will do odd things to the colour and is better saved for a stunning beetroot soup.

Don’t go too heavy on the more bitter vegetables (turnip can be quite bitter) and keep some colour in the mix.

Beyond that, anything goes. Aim for 5 or 6 vegetables, varying flavours and textures. You can add a clove or two of garlic in place of the powdered, but not too much as it can be quite pungent.

You can use up overgrown green beans, add pumpkin or squash wedges, turnip, swede, celeriac … whatever you like.

Storage

This recipe will serve four bread or rolls. If you are cooking for one or two, you will have leftovers for tomorrow or to freeze for later.

Fridge – Once cool, cover and store in the fridge, where it will keep for up to three days. Reheat very gently in a pan on the stove or in a Pyrex jug in the microwave on half power.

Freezer – Transfer the cooled soup to airtight containers and freeze your creamy vegetable soup for up to 3 months.

Reheating – Defrost in the fridge overnight, or alternatively on the kitchen counter for a few hours. Reheat your cream of vegetable soup in a pan on the stove top, or in a safe container in the microwave. Try not to boil it. When using the microwave, I like to use a Pyrex-style jug for ease of handling.

As this soup contains cream reheat gently so there is no chance of if curdling.

Read more on how to freeze soup here.

Hints and tips

• Cutting evenly leads to even cooking, so do try to chop the vegetables into pieces of about the same size. You don’t need to be too accurate but if you are going to keep some pieces of vegetable in the soup it is nicer if they are similar in size.

• Think about the mix of colour and texture as well as flavour when you choose your vegetables.

• Fresh herbs can really lift a soup. I have used parsley but you can vary this too.

FAQs

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