Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup
This slow cooker vegetable soup is one of my most frequently made recipes. It's easily customizable based on what you have on hand, and just takes a few hours in the slow cooker.
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Cook Time8 hours hrs
Total Time8 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Course: Soup
Keyword: vegetable, vegetarian
Servings: 8 servings
Author: April
- 1 quart or enough vegetable stock to completely cover contents of crockpot
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ medium onion diced small
- 1 russet or Yukon potato diced small, peeled if desired
- 2-4 ribs celery diced small
- 2-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes, 15 oz.
- 2-3 cups frozen mixed vegetables or any combo of frozen/fresh that includes peas, corn, carrots, lima beans, green beans
- ½ cup pearled barley
- 1 cup or so Parmesan or other hard cheese rinds cut into bite sized chunks (I save rinds in a bag in the freezer especially for this soup- Earth Fare also sells Parm rinds under the name “soup bones” or something like that. Cut off any printing or wax before adding.)
- 1 Edwards & Sons Not Beef bouillon cube
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp dried basil
- salt to taste (add a little to start, more at end of soup’s cooking)
- ground black pepper to taste
- shake of caynne to taste
- optional extras: dried lima beans, frozen shelled edamame, fresh tomatoes, ½ cup small lentils (red, green, brown)
Heat the slow cooker on high with the lid on while chopping the vegetables. Add the tablespoon of oil.
Add the diced onion, celery and garlic. Stir to coat with the oil and keep preparing the remainder of the ingredients. Keep lid on.
Add the rest of the ingredients, making sure to leave adequate room in the slow cooker (about an inch below the edge of the cooker).
Add extra stock or water to cover the vegetables and cheese.
Stir well and cook for four hours on high or eight hours on low.
Remove bay leaf before serving.