Slow Cooker Hearty Vegetable and Bean Soup

4.47 from 30 votes

This soup is great for dinner, and also lunch the next day!

One of our top-rated plant-based recipes is this slow cooker hearty vegetable and bean soup.

There’s nothing better than coming home after a long day at work and dinner is waiting in the slow cooker! That’s why we love this Slow Cooker Hearty Vegetable and Bean Soup recipe. It’s super simple to make: It’s as easy as dumping the ingredients in the slow cooker before you go to work. When you get home, it’ll be ready to eat. It has such an incredibly robust flavor, too. You won’t believe all the ingredients are plant-based and vegan-friendly!

It’s so easy to prepare, and most of the ingredients can be substituted with whatever you have on hand. Feel free to swap in black, navy, or pinto beans for the cannellini beans. Similarly, the vegetables can be customized based on what’s in season. And while this is a fully vegan dish filled with delicious plant-based ingredients, you can also customize it to amp up the protein.

If you’re a meat-eater, you can add 1 pound of chicken fillets (cut into 1″ cubes) to the slow cooker along with the other ingredients. Once it simmers on low for 8 to 10 hours, the chicken will be melt-in-your-mouth tender. You could also add a package of extra-firm tofu (cut into 1/2-inch cubes and pressed to remove excess moisture) to keep things vegetarian.

A Quick Note about the Slow Cooker Settings

We created this recipe to cook while you’re at work. That means it takes 8 to 10 hours on the low setting on your slow cooker. If you’re in a rush, you could also cook it for 4 to 6 hours on high. Similarly, you could cook it over low heat on the stovetop and finish the soup in a matter of hours. Basically, you’re looking for the carrots to be tender, so use that as an indicator as to whether the soup is ready to eat.

Check out the video for how to make this delicious Slow Cooker Hearty Vegetable and Bean Soup!

4.47 from 30 votes

Slow Cooker Hearty Vegetable and Bean Soup

This low carb vegetarian soup is the perfect meal after a long day at work or school.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 hours
Total Time 10 hours 5 minutes
Yield 6 people
Serving Size 1.5 cups
Course Dinner, Soup
Cuisine Universal
Author SkinnyMs.

Ingredients

  • 1 sweet onion diced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 sweet potato medium, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (white or red potato optional)
  • 2 carrots peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 celery stalks diced
  • 1 cup whole kernel corn optional
  • kosher or sea salt to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon allspice
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes more or less to taste (can be substituted with cayenne pepper)
  • 2 cups green beans frozen or fresh
  • 4 cups vegetable broth low sodium (chicken broth can be substituted)
  • 1/4 cup parsley freshly chopped
  • 14 1/2 ounce  diced tomatoes can
  • 31 ounce cannellini beans cans - drained (navy, black, or pinto can be substituted)

Instructions

  • Add all the above ingredients to the slow cooker, stir to combine, cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or until carrots are tender.

Notes

To make this a meat dish, simply add 1 pound chicken fillets (cut into 1 inch cubes) to slow cooker along with the other ingredients.
Tip: If you prefer a thicker soup, near the end of cooking time, remove 1/2 cup of soup (liquid and veggies) and combine with 1-2 tablespoons flour or corn starch, puree and return to the slow cooker. A fork works well to mash the ingredients along with the flour or cornstarch. Be careful not to allow the hot mixture to spin out. Continue cooking until soup thickens, about 15 minutes.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1.5cups | Calories: 183kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 253mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g |
SmartPoints (Freestyle): 6
Keywords Gluten-Free, Low-Carb, Slow Cooker, Vegetarian

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SkinnyMs.

The SkinnyMs. team believes that all people, regardless of age, size, and fitness level, have the power to transform their lives — they just need the resources to do so. The SkinnyMs. method promotes healthy living through a combination of clean eating and regular exercise. We offer everything you need to be successful.

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53 Comments

    1. Vickie, I recalculated the #'s and it comes out the same. The cholesterol comes from the chicken. For example, 1 cup of diced, roasted, skinless chicken breasts has over 100 mg of cholesterol. This does not distinguish between HDL(Good) and LDL(Bad) choleserol. Hope this helps!

      1. So are the nutritional stats with chicken or without? Because the recipe doesn't call for chicken, but the nutritional facts seem to include it.

  1. I have made this a few times and love it! I love coming home to something that smells and tastes so great and is so great for you too!

    1. Melissa,

      Have you ever done it on the stove and not in the slow-cooker? It's 2pm and would love to have this done for 3:30 4pmish??

        1. I made mine this morning on the stove. I put it in my Dutch oven, brought it to a boil, put on the lid and turned it down to simmer. After about an hour the vegetables were done.

        1. I brought it to a boil, put the lid on my dutch oven, and turned it down too low and simmered it for an hour. The vegetables were done at that time.

  2. For an extra kick I used canned diced fire roasted salsa style tomatoes that have a bit of chili peppers in it.

  3. I'm about to try making this, but I just wanted to say that it's great that you have substitution possibilities listed! I wish more people did that. I just started cooking recently, so a lot of these are things I don't know.

  4. Hi,
    Sounds delish! Only wish the amounts were given in oz. or grams since I weigh all my ingredient on a kitchen scale. Great Recipe Thanks

    1. Thanks for the feedback, granpappy0! If you Google "online food calculator", you should see several websites that will help you convert our measurements to weights.

    1. If you plan to add chicken, here’s my recommendation for cooking on high:
      Cube raw chicken breast filets, about 1″ cubes, add to the slow cooker at the beginning.
      Cook as instructed but on high for 4-6 hours, or until chicken and carrots are done. 🙂

  5. Can cook this on high setting to shorten the cook time I will be adding chicken. And if so what is the recommended time?

    1. Sharon, Yes, you can cook this recipe in the slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours or until the carrots are tender. 🙂

  6. Absolutely delicious! Made this last night in a normal pot and it worked wonderfully. Will definitely be making this again. mmmmmmm

    1. What flour? There is no flour listed in this recipe nor is there chicken listed. Yet the stats imply there are. Confused here.

      1. Hi Debbie, in the recipe directions there is a note for those you might want to add chicken or prefer a thicker soup (thickened with flour). They are both an optional addition, therefore not in the recipe ingredients. Sorry for the confusion!

  7. This looks so good I can’t wait to try it! Do you think canned kidney beans could be used fine in this recipe? Thanks!

  8. I LOVE this soup and am so happy I found this recipe. I make it most weeks in my slow cooker and eat it for my lunch throughout the week. I tend to reduce to the red pepper flakes otherwise it’s too hot for my kids to enjoy, and I also add a few tablespoons of tomato puree to it which makes it a bit thicker with a fuller tomato flavor. It also works great if you had some elbow macaroni (cooked separately) to make it into a minestrone. There’s so many ways to switch it up so you can just eat it on repeat! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.

  9. I just made this last week!! so stinking good!! I did add a few tablespoons of tomato paste, extra broth, and 1 cup of red lentils. We also froze left overs in individual bags and those have turned out super convenient and tasty!!

    1. Hi Cynthia, there is no need to add water to this recipe. The vegetable broth listed will be plenty of liquid!

    1. There is no need to add water to this recipe. The vegetable broth listed will be plenty of liquid!

    1. Hi Mary. To use dried beans you will need to rinse them and then soak the beans in water overnight. Drain the beans and rinse them again. Last, lightly simmer the beans on medium eat until tender before adding them to this recipe. You will need about 1 cup of dried beans for this recipe.

    1. Hi Mandy, we use a trusted nutrition calculator for calculate the nutritional information for all our recipes. To the best of our knowledge they are accurate.

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