Winter Detox Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup (Slow Cooker)
A soul-warming Moroccan sweet potato lentil soup recipe. This soup is made in the slow cooker and requires hardly any work at all. Plus, it makes the whole house smell warm and cozy!
It about that time again!
SOUP TIME. Which, in my very humble opinion is the best kind of time there is. Unless it’s chocolate chip cookie time, which, goes without saying, is obviously better. And which obviously this is NOT. Ahem, what? Where were we? Detoxing. That’s right. Bringing you this moroccan-style detox lentil soup loaded with all the goodness straight from your refrigerator plus pantry with tons of soul-warming spices to brighten up these cold, cold winter days.
Now that’s what i’m talkin’ about.
So January. We’re already half a week into 2017 guys. How? But also – I don’t know if it’s just me – but is anyone else just now officially starting the detox from all the holiday eats and treats? Anees’ birthday is the day after New Years Day so we tend to get a slow start with the whole January cleanse thing.
But with all of the birthdays and parties finally out of the way, i’m just itching to get another pot of this warm lentil soup on and am ready to hit the clean-eating reset button now.
Of course, lentil soup isn’t just limited to those of us that are desperate for a reset either. In fact, it’s even more delicious if you decide to serve it with pan-fried pita wedges and a healthy dollop of whipped greek yogurt or sour cream to just mellow out all those glorious spices.
I kept this lentil soup completely vegan/vegetarian friendly so everyone can enjoy this. Know that it’s easy to make this a more protein packed meal though. Just sauté ground turkey, chicken, beef or lamb or any other kind of ground protein you like and add it straight into the crockpot with all the other ingredients. You’ve instantly got the perfect bagged lunch for the week. This lentil soup would also work well over a mound of fragrant basmati rice incase you like the whole Indian ‘daal’ scene. Lentil-anything was made to be paired with rice.
One of the best things about having a blog is getting to name all the recipes. I say that now. If you rewind back to a few years ago, you’d see this definitely was not the case. I realize it’s important to be clear and precise when naming a recipe. With that said, this is a detox lentil soup recipe that comes loaded with all those wonderful cleansing ingredients that are like a toothbrush for our insides. And, yeah that’s totally weird, but go with it, will ya?
Added bonus : under 250 calories per serving.
It all starts with the trinity – onions, carrots, celery. Then of course, tons of pressed garlic, which is a completely normal thing around here and it totally caught me by surprise that garlic has all these detoxing properties which NO BIG DEAL – but only it is. It’s HUGE. Love these kinds of happy coincidences. But, HOLD THE PHONE there’s more, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon. We all know about that turmeric trend of 2016 right? Let’s carry all the good things into ’17 with us now. Loaded with anti-inflammatory properties and perfect for when you’re a leeetle under-the-weather to boost your immune system.
Now here’s how simple this lentil soup recipe is. Grab all your ingredients, add them to a slow cooker and let them hang out of low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. One the lentils has softened all the way through, puree ½ of the soup in your blender and pop it back into the slow cooker along with tons of chopped baby spinach and just let it wilt. Pro tip: make this one day ahead for even more flavor. So pop it into the slow cooker when you get home from work tonight and into the fridge before you head to bed. Puree it when you get home from work tomorrow, add the spinach and just heat it through. Squeeze ¼ cup of lemon juice right into the slow cooker or serve lemon wedges on the side. It’s seriously the perfect spicy, tangy, veggieful soup ever.
The hardest part about the whole thing is that it requires a bit of prepping, but if you buy store-bought mirepoix mix (ze onions, carrots, and ze celery) then all that really requires your attention is the sweet potatoes. And let me just say when it comes to customizing this lentil soup, you can easily swap the sweet potatoes for pre-diced butternut squash chunks and swap the brown lentils for greens or even use chickpeas along with all the other good stuff in this soup.
But here’s the thing – even with all it’s simplicity, it’s a warm, FEEL GOOD food. Kinda perfect for those of us that have decided to pack more lunches this year and make smarter choices.
It’s quick to throw together, completely straightforward, and easily adaptable to your dietary preferences.
It’s gotta go with you to lunch this week!
Winter Detox Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup (Slow Cooker)
A soul-warming Moroccan sweet potato lentil soup recipe. This soup is made in the slow cooker and requires hardly any work at all. Plus, it makes the whole house smell warm and cozy!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into small pieces
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- 1 cup onions, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 ½ cups green or brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
- 1 ½ teaspoon EACH coriander AND cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon curry powder (or more to taste)
- ½ teaspoon EACH smoked paprika, ground cinnamon, AND turmeric
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6-7 cups low sodium broth (vegetable or chicken)
- 2 ½ cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup lemon juice or lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
- Place the sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, red bell pepper, garlic, lentils, spices, and 6 cups of broth into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on the low setting for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Check the lentils for doneness. If you're lentils have been in the pantry for a while, note that they'll take a bit longer to cook through.
- Place half the soup into a blender along with a little additional broth (½ cup or so) and blend till smoothish. Alternately, you can use an immersion blender directly in the slow cooker but be sure to not blend all of the soup if you want it to have a chunkier texture. Add the puree back into the slow cooker. Stir in the baby spinach and lemon juice. Cover the slow cooker, unplug it, and allow the ingredients to just hang out for 30 minutes or so until the spinach wilts down.
- Season with salt, pepper and curry powder to taste as desired. Thin with additional broth to desired consistency. Serve warm with whipped greek yogurt, fried pita bread, and tons of fresh herbs (parsley or cilantro) on top!
Notes
- MORE PROTEIN: You can sauté 1 pound of ground lamb, beef, chicken, or turkey and add it in with all the other ingredients to the slow cooker for a more protein-filled meal - note that you may need a little bit more of each of the seasonings to balance flavors when adding protein.
Is this a good choice for you?
Based on 8 servings.
Marzia, it reads d e l i c i o u s. Question: Would it work as well without the slow cooker? We just moved into a new place and our slow cooker arrived broken.
I bet you could do this on the stove-top in a heavy bottom pot like a dutch oven. I’m unsure about the cooking times so you may need to play around with it a little.
Any thoughts on how the flavor of the soup would be altered if Coriander was not added? I’m totally out of coriander and was wondering how crucial coriander was for getting the flavor right. Thanks!
Coriander does lend quite a bit of flavor to this recipe. If you’re out at the moment, I’d suggest doubling the curry powder or upping all the other spices by a little bit to make up for the flavor. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Marzia, what size slow cooker do you use here?
I used my 7-quart crock pot for this recipe. 🙂
Do you think this would work in the Pressure Cooker? If so, guesstamate on broth and time? Just long enough for lentils to cook? Would think this would be excellent as the PC holds flavor and nutrients!
Hi Lisa! I’d say anywhere from 15-20 minutes in the pressure cooker (depends on how long your lentils have been around). I’d start with just enough broth to cover the ingredients (that should be about 5-6 cups). If it ends up being a little thick, you can always adjust with a little more broth at the end.
A few notes… 1) The hardest part is getting everything chopped but the food processor became my best friend after I was done chopping up the sweet potatoes and celery. Work smarter, not harder! 2) I sauteed ground chicken with the onion, garlic, and pepper. I added it to the Crockpot and flicked a little bay leaf in there too. 3) I added a chicken bouillon cube for an extra oomph instead of salting the soup.
After 8 hours of cooking, my lentils were still surprisingly hard so I had to let the whole thing cool down, stuck it in the fridge, and will finish it up on the stove when I get home from work tonight. However – I did taste it (duh) and it tasted so, so good. I used madras curry since that’s what I have from overseas and I loved the combo of all the spices. I am certain it’s going to be delish once the lentils are soft. I will be making another batch for my colleagues tomorrow evening and I plan to soak the lentils beforehand and maybe omit the bay leaf and use ground beef instead. A wonderful recipe, thanks for sharing!!!
LOVE this soup and happy I found the recipe. Thanks for sharing. What serving size is the nutritional information based on? A cup of the soup?
OMG this was AMAZING!!!! We are traveling and didn’t have a slow cooker, so we did some of it our own way, BUT we used your recipe. And it was wonderful! Thanks so much for this healthy, light soup! Usually lentil soup is heavy!
I’m super excited about this recipe and I’m getting ready to make it this week. I’m hoping to use some lentils I batch cooked and froze. I’m going to put them in near the end so they aren’t overcooked but any suggestions how much I should adjust the broth? Just enough to cover the veggies?
Hmm, I’d think you’d need about 4 1/2-5 1/2 cups of broth if you’re using cooked lentils but you may end up needing a little bit more or less depending on your preference of soup thickness. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Made this soup yesterday! The flavors were good, but I think I added too many lentils (I have a 4 quart crock pot- didnt think to reduce the lentil measurement haha) And I added waaaay to much lemon juice so it was really acidic. I will make it again. I’m sure if I get the ratios right it will taste waaay better
When looking at the photo is see something red that looks like a sliced red jalapeño. It can’t be the red bell pepper because it’s too small for that. I just wanted to find out what it was incase there was an error.
It’s just a red pepper used as a garnish for pictures!
I made this in my Instant Pot tonight by throwing everything but the lemon and spinach in for 20 minutes on manual. Then let steam natural release, blended 1/2 with immersion blender, added the spinach and lemon and served over brown rice. Definitely one of the best things I’ve ever tasted ? and it’s WFPB!
Great taste – added, as one already mentioned earlier the spinach at the table, more chili and I didn’t blend it on my second try. I prefer that ?. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
I had to sub butternut for sweet potato and didn’t have celery and one of the spices. In fact, I used split peas (I guess I thought they were lentils. lol). In spite of this, it was very good. I would make it again – maybe next time for my friends. It tasted complex and I like the small calorie count. This is the 4th recipe that I have tried from your site and like them all. Beef & Broccoli, enchiladas, and chicken wild rice soup (not the instant pot kind). Good stuff!!!
I have made this twice now on the stove top because I am not patient enough for a crock pot. I use a 3 quart soup pot and start by adding the onions and garlic with 1 tsp olive oil and cook 3-4 min until onions are translucent. Then I add everything else–chopped veggies, veggie broth, and spices. Once it starts boiling, I turn the temperature from high to med-low so it still simmers but doesn’t full on boil. I check the lentils at around 40 minutes, and if they are done, I remove 1.5 cups of the soup and put it in my blender. Once blended smooth (30 sec), I return that to the pot and stir. I have tried the recipe both with and without the spinach and lemon. Honestly, I am fine with or without it, but I think I lean a little more toward leaving it out unless you really want the pop of green color with spinach and want to cut the sweetness with lemon. This soup is so hearty and really appeals to this vegan for a satisfying meal. Thank you! 😀
P.S. If any of you are on Weight Watchers Freestyle, this soup makes 8 servings and is 1 smart point per serving (I use 2 medium sweet potatoes in the recipe).
I grew up on lentil soups, they are literally my favorite type of soup, BUT this one, oh my goodness it is hands down the best lentil soup and soup EVER! We have made it over 10 times already and it never gets old! I’ve made it with ground turkey and that adds a little extra protein as noted!
Also noting for instant pot users, I cook this in the IP for 21 minutes
Thanks for the note for how to convert the recipe in an Instant Pot!
I followed the recipe and all my vegetables were mush. I plan to try again but cut the cooking time in half to maybe 2 hours on high. 4 was to much.
Do you have to put half of the soup in the blender or can you just eat it the way it is?
You don’t have to blend it if you prefer a chunkier soup, totally your call!
I used red lentils and a Moroccan spice mix I bought at the health food store. The flavors are very complex, but I’ll be making this often. May be the best lentil soup I’ve had.
Loved this! Will definitely be making again. I added tbsp chia seed and will add a little more + hemp seed next time for extra plant based protein! Thank you!!
I just made this tonight for dinner – SO GOOD. I was actually missing a couple ingredients and it was still great. A perfect first day of October soup. Thanks for the recipe
Ive been wanting to try this recipe out for ages, and today I finally did. I’m so glad, because it’s absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe. Only small variation I tried was I roasted the sweet potato and added it at the end with the spinach, and I cooked the lentil mixture for 20 minutes in the pressure cooker to save time.
Such a great vegan recipe perfect for batch cooking, I’ll definitely be doing this one again! Thank you!
I am struggling to omit meat and dairy from my diet. This recipe made my day go so much easier! I did not miss either, and actually found this soup indulgent. I will be trying more of your recipes!
Sooo good. I loved this recipe, I will definitely be making it again. I made it just as described except I heated my spices in a dry frying pan first, prior to adding them to the crockpot. An Indian friend once told me it makes the dish more fragrant…
I started using your recipe over a year ago and have made it quite a few times now. I wouldn’t change a thing about it! Although I once completely spaced out the lemon and it still tasted really good. I do add sliced jalapeños to my own bowl because I like the heat they provide. I work a lot of overtime and come home exhausted every day. This recipe helps ensure that my daughter and I have something healthy and tasty to eat throughout the week (regardless of the time of year). Thank you very much for such an awesome recipe!
This looks amazing!!! I’m buying ingredients tomorrow. I cook for someone who doesn’t like cinnamon in savory food 🙁 I know it’s a critical flavor in this soup but I’m curious if anyone has made it with the cinnamon left out?
Yes, for the same reason, no cinnamon in my version, but some ground clove instead, in the same quantity.
It worked great, and the soup was delicious.
I added a splash of coconut cream before serving to offset all the spices, we loved it.
This soup is definitely a keeper, thank you.
We love to cook, but over the last year we’ve found ourselves spending less and less time in the kitchen and more time absently shoving down takeout in front of the TV (usually watching something we’ve already seen a hundred times). I wanted to change that in 2019, and I’m so glad we picked this recipe to kick things off. We made a few minor modifications by increasing all of the spices and sauteeing them with the diced veggies and a little olive oil before adding to the pot. Between the two of us, the morning prep was light work, and after a long first day back at work it was so comforting to come home to a hearty bowl of flavorful goodness. We served with diced jalapeno, fresh cilantro, and a cucumber yogurt sauce we mixed up just before serving, and it was an instant favorite. Even better, the leftovers packed up nicely for lunch. Thanks so much for sharing!
Sooo delicious! This detox Moroccan soup is a keeper.
I want to make this recipe so badly but I don’t own a crockpot. What would my times be if I placed it on the stovetop? Would I still just add everything together like the recipe says and just let it stew?
Hi Rachel, if you’re doing this on the stove top, I suggest sauteing the onions, celery, carrots in a swish of oil for about 5-7 minutes then add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding the remaining ingredients (except the spinach and lemon juice) and simmering! This should elevate the flavors even more!
This was wonderful! Warming and delicious.