Slow cooker vegetable soup
A simple and versatile slow cooker vegetable soup that鈥檚 perfect for an easy lunch or supper. Any leftovers will keep very well in the fridge for a couple of days, or can be frozen.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 1 celery stick, cut into roughly 1cm/陆in slices
- 2鈥3 carrots (around 250g/9oz), peeled and cut into roughly 1cm/陆in chunks
- 陆 small swede (around 275g/9戮oz), peeled and cut into roughly 1cm/陆in chunks
- 3 potatoes (around 375g/13oz), peeled and cut into roughly 15mm/戮in chunks
- 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
- 600ml/20fl oz hot vegetable stock, made with 2 vegetable stock cubes
- 1鈦8 tsp ground turmeric (optional)
- 100ml/3陆fl oz milk or water
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- chopped fresh flatleaf parsley, to serve (optional)
Method
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and fry the onion, celery and carrots for 4鈥5 minutes, stirring regularly until beginning to soften. Tip into a slow cooker and add the swede, potatoes, mixed herbs, stock and turmeric, if using. Season with lots of pepper and stir well.
Cover and cook on High for 3陆鈥4 hours or Low for 5鈥7 hours, until the vegetables are just tender.
Take 3 ladlefuls of the cooked soup (around 450g/1lb) and transfer to a large bowl or jug. Using a stick blender, blitz to a pur茅e then return to the slow cooker pot and mix thoroughly to thicken the soup.
Stir in enough milk or water to reach the preferred consistency then cover and cook on High for a further 10鈥15 minutes, or until hot. Season with salt and pepper and scatter over the parsely, if using. Serve with warm crusty bread, if you like.
Recipe Tips
Add a couple of diced parsnips or extra carrots instead of the swede, if you like.
A spoonful of curry paste will add some extra spiced flavour.
If you don鈥檛 have a stick blender, use a food processor to blitz the vegetables and milk together before returning to the slow cooker.
For an extra colourful soup, add 100g/3陆oz frozen peas (thawed) to the soup at the same time as the milk. You can also add any other chopped cooked vegetables at this point.
To stretch the soup to serve 6, add a can of drained beans at the same time as the milk.
If the soup cooks a little too long and the vegetables soften too much, simply blitz the whole soup until smooth and serve topped with a drizzle of cream and a sprinkling of fresh herbs.
You will need a slow cooker that holds at least 4 litres/7 pints for this recipe.
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