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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!
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.
Today, I’m 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 talking about.
This Moroccan-inspired sweet potato and lentil soup is WARMING. Warming in a very pleasant way. We aren’t talking spicy – I mean spiced. To perfection. Along with an abundance of vegetables, we’ve got ground coriander, cumin, curry powder, paprika, cinnamon, turmeric, and nutmeg in the mix. So there’s plenty of flavor that the lentils and sweet potatoes will soak up.
Did I mention it also happens to be freezer-friendly since we don’t have a noodle situation here. It’s also budget-friendly because lentils are a great way to pack in fiber and protein without breaking the bank.
And it just happens to be around 250 calories a serving. So the leftovers can go into portions in the freezer for meal prep when you need a quick lunch with tons of veggies.
Ingredients for Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
- Sweet Potatoes: we’ll use about 1 pound of sweet potatoes to the ¾-1 pound of lentils in this recipe. Peel and cube the potatoes into small pieces so that they cook up in roughly the same amount of time as the brown lentils.
- Carrots, Onions, and Celery: The trinity for a good bowl of soup! Feel free to use a store-bought mirepoix mix if you’d like as this recipe calls for equal parts of each.
- Red Bell Pepper: Adds natural sweetness to the pot of soup along with the ground cinnamon.
- Garlic: you’ll need a handful of cloves for this recipe. I opt to add fresh pressed garlic as it has a more potent flavor. Jar-lic works too but you’ll probably need a little over 2 tablespoons to give it that same taste.
- Lentils: You’ll need brown or green lentils for this recipe. I typically use red lentils for my Turkish Red Lentil Soup recipe or my Indian Style Red Lentil Dal Soup along with some coconut milk, but since we’re loading this into the slow cooker and letting it simmer away, the texture would become too mushy. With the longer cooking time, brown or green lentils work better for this particular recipe.
- Spices: You’ll need some ground coriander, cumin, curry powder, smoked paprika, ground cinnamon, ground turmeric, and nutmeg. Feel free to swap the paprika or chili powder, or add both if you want the smoke and the heat.
- Broth: feel free to use vegetable broth or chicken broth depending on whether you need this recipe to be vegan-friendly or not.
- Baby Spinach: I personally love baby spinach for this recipe, but feel free to swap it with kale if that’s what you like or if that’s what you have on hand.
- Lemons: Fresh lemon wedges really brighten up the soup. Finish he soup with the lemon or squeeze into individual bowls if you’d like.
I made this tonight and it turned out fantastic! I will definitely be putting this in my soup rotation.
Making Sweet Potato Soup
- Load it all up. Seriously, add everything but the baby spinach and lemon juice to the slow cooker. You can cook tis on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Keep in mind that all slow cookers are different, so yours may take more or less time than what is listed. Check for doneness after the first 2-3 hours and then adjust as needed.
- Blend it up. Check to see if the soup is done my piercing the sweet potatoes with a sharp knife. The knife should go through easily without needing much force. Press the lentils down using a spoon to see if they mash easily. When done, transfer half of the soup mixture to a blend and pulse until smooth-ish. Stir this backing the soup pot and then add the baby spinach and lemon juice. Cover and let the soup hand out for 30 minutes or until the spinach wilts down.
- Adjust and serve. Taste and adjust the soup to your liking. You might need additional salt, black pepper, or more curry powder to your liking. You might also need another splash of broth depending on how much liquid the ingredient absorbed while cooking. Serve with whipped yogurt, fried bread, and fresh herbs on top. Enjoy!
Other vegetarian-friendly soup recipes
- Secret Ingredient Tomato Basil Soup
- Luxurious Turkish Lentil Soup
- Cheesy Rice and Black Bean Soup
- Roasted Honeynut Squash Soup
- Roasted Garlic Potato Soup
- Chipotle Butternut Squash Chili
Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup (Slow Cooker)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound 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 ground coriander
- 1 ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon curry powder or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6-7 cups low sodium stock 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
- Add 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
This was wonderful! Warming and delicious.
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!
Sooo delicious! This detox Moroccan soup is a keeper.
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!
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.
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!
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 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!
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 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
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 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.
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 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.
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!
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 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! 😀
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!!!
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 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!