Slow-Cooker Spiced Lentil Soup with Vegetables

This soup is awesome! I made it just the way the recipe was written. It is tasty and filling and definitely a keeper!

Made this in the crock pot on low setting over night-woke to such a lovely aroma. I did double the spices and omitted the salt-used farmers market tomatoes, peeled and diced by hand. My soup did not turn the lovely golden color shown in your film and photos but hands down this is a lovely soup. It is not the traditional thick greyish soup I am used to but it is a very tasty soup and will be made again, also was wondering if the chickpea dumplings featured in the October 2019 issue would taste in this? Just a thought- again I really enjoyed this soup!

After reading some of the reviews, I added more spices and salt. Did this in my instant pot and it turned out great. Definitely doing this again.

I made this on the stove top and did not add cilantro and lemon juice and I found it to be delicious, I did however add a bit of salt.

I made this on the stove top and did not add cilantro and lemon juice and I found it to be delicious, I did however add a bit of salt.

After reading a few reviews, I soaked the lentils, left out the water, used fresh tomatoes w/juice. I first made half batch, it was excellent.I had a bowl, froze the remainder. Second batch I added Aleppo chile pepper, and, Ikea frozen veggie balls. I invited neighbors for lunch. With a lite green salad and garlic toast. They gave this soup...10 stars!!!!! Yes, I will make it again!Thanx for sharing!raf

Looking at this recipe, it became immediately apparent that there were a few things that I'd need to adjust - first, all the spices need to be upped to about 1.5x their current level. Secondly, cumin and salt are must-have additions. Also, the lemon juice needs to be more - that small amount in 8 cups of liquid? Negligible. Once I did that, this soup turned out perfectly!

The soup was bland but my lentils were fine. Certainly you could cook the lentils in advance or soak them overnight. I agree spices need to be 1.5 to 2X the recipe amount and an addition of salt would help. Full of nutritious vegetables.

I found this soup bland. I will try to salvage it with more spices.

I followed this recipe as published but the end result was rather disappointing. I think you should remove this one from your site. I won't make this one again.

Hey guys you need to soak lentils over night. Amazing rec...

I really wanted to like this soup...it looked delicious and smelled wonderful as it was cooking. But it was just meh.... Before cooking, I re read the ingredients several times and thought it strange that salt was not listed, so I did add it. It didn't help....I won't make it again. However, if you decide to give it a go, make sure to cook the lentils ahead of time.

I loved the flavors of this soup and the vegetables were delicious. I had the same problem as Maria Tuttle...the lentils just didn't cook. I had my slower cooker on high for 9 hours and they still weren't right. I think next time I will cook the lentils separately. Otherwise, it was delish.

I did not make any changes to the recipe - it is very good, but i agree it could be a bit more flavorful; however, i had one major problem. The lentils did not cook properly! i just couldn't figure it out; i've eaten lentils a bunch as a child not so much of late. After the failure, i googled that either the lentils were old . . . or there could be a problem cooking them with the acidic tomatos. Anyway, i then cooked up a separate batch of lentils (alone); dished out lentils into my bowl and added the soup on top -- MUCH better, and I managed to save the large pot of soup! I didn't read all the review, but curious if anyone else had problem with the lentils cooking in the crockpot?

This recipe is INCREDIBLE! The most delicious soup I have made yet! I am planning on making this at least once a month, probably more times than that. I made some changes to the recipe so the texture was more curried than soup-y, but it had incredible flavors. Here's what I did: 1 cups minced carrots 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground turmeric ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground pepper 3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable stock 1.5 cups water 1.5 cups minced cauliflower 1 cups lentils 14-ounce (0.5 can) diced tomatoes 1 tablespoons tomato paste 2 cups minced fresh spinach I put everything in my crock pot for 9.5 hours and served. Before serving, I minced 1 bunch minced fresh cilantro to store and keep for later servings and mixed in a spoonful of it to mix in with my bowl. I also added some lemon juice to taste right before eating. It was heavenly. I put basically everything in my mini food processor, and it really worked for this recipe. I loved loved loved it. Thank you, Joyce!

I do understand that this is supposed to be a low fat/sodium/calorie. With that said apparently I don't enjoy low fat/sodium/calorie??. Sooo, I took heed of the advice offered by many others in this review and doubled the spice... still I found it meh at best... so I added a couple of serrano peppers, some sugar to taste, I drained some of the broth and added a can of coconut milk and some butter. Shazam I have a delicious soup with a nice mix of heat and sweet...mmmmm?? PS. I love hot spicey food so if you don't you may not want to add the heat.??

Per other reviews, I added more spices (I usually do anyway!) and a cinnamon stick and paprika. I cooked green lentils on high for 4 hours before adding the rest of the ingredients just to be sure they were done, then finished off the rest on low for about 6 hours. At the last minute I decided that the recipe would really benefit from ground lamb, and I used fresh Swiss chard and threw in somediced sweet potatoes too. I will definitely make this one again! Even the one year old ate it (I used a touch of cayenne pepper...have to tone down the heat these days). My husband loved it too!

Used red lentils. Also added a touch of cayenne and a half t smoked paprika. Only had one can of diced tomatoes and used a spoon of organic ketchup to add color since I didn't have tomato paste. Did it stove top since my crock pot was too small. Simmered covered two hours. The spinach rocks! Needs some salt in the bowl. I believe the flavor will improve overnight.

Positives: I got everything ready the night before so just put it in the crock pot and went about my day. Healthy! Negatives: It was fine...not good, not bad. I added chili paste when I served it to give it more flavor. I love trying new recipes and love lentils, but won't make this again.

Positives: I got everything ready the night before so just put it in the crock pot and went about my day. Healthy!Negatives: It was fine...not good, not bad. I added chili paste when I served it to give it more flavor. I love trying new recipes and love lentils, but won't make this again.

I will definitely make it again, all my friends loved it. My changes are to make it with kale and add cerrano choles

I absolutely loved this. I didn't make any adjustments except that I set my slow cooker for 4 hours but it needed much more time. Next time I'll set it for 8 hours but other than that, I'll definitely make this again.

It was good. Couldn't get the 7th grader to like it though.

Good base soup, needed to deviate from the recipe though.The recipe is a good base or Lentil soup, but I find that it comes out a bit bland if you follow it to the dot. To combat this, I used chopped Kale instead of Spinach, and Paprika instead of pepper. So much better! It added a little extra flavor, where the broth initially came up short. I also think that you should add the cilantro and lemon while cooking (same time as Spinach / Kale). Introducing those ingredients during cooking gives the soup so much more time to mellow out. Altogether though, I am sure I'll make this again! It came out fabulously.Pros: Easy, Aromatic, Healthy, Vegetarian/Vegan FriendlyCons: Not much flavor

Good base soup, needed to deviate from the recipe though. The recipe is a good base or Lentil soup, but I find that it comes out a bit bland if you follow it to the dot. To combat this, I used chopped Kale instead of Spinach, and Paprika instead of pepper. So much better! It added a little extra flavor, where the broth initially came up short. I also think that you should add the cilantro and lemon while cooking (same time as Spinach / Kale). Introducing those ingredients during cooking gives the soup so much more time to mellow out. Altogether though, I am sure I'll make this again! It came out fabulously. Pros: Easy, Aromatic, Healthy, Vegetarian/Vegan Friendly Cons: Not much flavor

Best Vegetarian Lentil Soup I have made I was looking for a vegetarian lentil soup with lots of flavor but no heat. This one fit the bill. I used zucchini in place of cauliflower and ended it towards the end. Also kale rather than spinach. The seasoning came through beautifully. Can't imagine why some found it bland. Pros: Lots of flavor with out being hot Cons: none

Great base to customize to your liking Made only 1/2 recipe to try it for the first time. Did it on the stove, and after heating the spices in oil at start of cooking, thought it was going to be really flavorful. After adding the rest of ingredients and simmering, found it to be pretty bland. For 1/2 recipe (4 cups liquid), ended up using: - 1.25 tsp cumin - 3/4 tsp coriander - 3/4 tsp turmeric - 3/16 tsp cinnamon - 1/2 tsp black pepper - 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper - 1/8 tsp paprika - salt to taste Added just the right amount of spice, and a few of us added a little more heat at the table. Would be great to add: chickpeas; zucchini; kale; browned ground turkey, chicken or lamb; couscous, barley or whatever grains - this is a great dish to use up odds and ends in your pantry or fridge :) Pros: great way to use up vegies, grains, beans, etc Cons: a bit bland as written - needs salt, more of the spices and some heat

Very Yummy Had all the ingredients on hand so whipped this up yesterday. did stove top, not crock pot. Really good and will be making again. Pros: easy, fast, healthy