Swede Secrets
Swede is the secret agent of the vegetable world. Wrapped in its two tone jacket it is an underrated workhorse whose flavour can sneak up and catch you by surprise. When I was a child it was served up with school dinners as a sad and soggy watery puree alongside lumpy mashed potato and undefinable green vegetables but here it comes out of the gloom to shine its light, bright and proud!
Swede has a sweet earthy flavour which complements the other root vegetables beautifully. Paired with potatoes it makes a flavourful mash and it turns up regularly in our winter stews and casseroles to add some oomph. It is also fabulous roasted alongside beetroot, parsnips, red onions and potatoes before being served up with juicy vegan sausages. In this soup it is combined with sweet carrots and celeriac and cooked slowly in a crockpot until sweet and meltingly soft. (This is an affiliate link. Buying through an affiliate link doesn’t cost you a penny more but earns me a small commission.)
Healthy Slow Cooker Soup
This vegan slow cooker root vegetable soup is virtually fat free because everything is stewed together without frying anything first. Onions and root vegetables benefit hugely from the long slow, gentle cooking which brings out their sweetness and accentuates their flavours.
The soup is thickened with protein rich red lentils to fill empty tummies and it is subtly flavoured with cinnamon and paprika. As healthy, warming and satisfying comfort food goes, it is hard to beat.
How To Make Swede Soup
Slow cooker vegetable soup is so simple that I’m almost embarrassed to describe the method but here we go!
- Peel and chop the vegetables
- Pop them into the slow cooker with all the other ingredients
- Turn it on! It takes four hours to cook on high and eight on low.
- Blend it with an immersion blender.
- Scroll down for the full, printable recipe card.
If you want it for dinner at the end of a busy day turn the slow cooker on before leaving for work and hot soup will be waiting when you return. Blend it, ladle it into bowls and sprinkle it with your favourite soup toppings. Curl up on the sofa and let this smooth, gentle soup warm you from the inside out.
Swede Soup Toppings and Variations
I topped our soup with some chopped chilli and a handful of mixed pumpkin, sunflower, linseed and sesame seeds but there are so many possibilities! Try:
- Chopped fresh herbs like parsley, chervil or chives.
- Toasted garlic croutons.
- A drizzle of chilli or herb oil.
- Chunks of roasted pumpkin.
- A spoonful of hummus or pesto.
Vegetable soups are so versatile and it is very easy to swap veg in and out to suit what is in your fridge and in season. Obviously swede soup needs swede but try adding some turnip in place of the celeriac or switching in parsnip instead of carrot. Potatoes make really good soup thickeners and will happily take the place of lentils as will a tin of butter or haricot beans while adding fresh seasonal herbs or swapping the paprika and cinnamon for curry powder and turmeric will spice up the flavour nicely.
Looking for More Vegan Soups? Try My:
- Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Soup
- Beetroot Soup with Coconut
- Celeriac Soup with Apple
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
After More Super Simple Suppers? Try:
- Roast Potato Curry with Rice
- Easy Vegan Omelette with Fresh Herbs
- Mushroom Stroganoff with Mustard Mash
- Easy Vegan Fried Rice with Tofu
Swede Soup
Equipment
- Large Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 small swede (or half a large one)
- 1 large onion
- 1/2 a celeriac
- 3 medium carrots
- 3 tbsp red lentils
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 litre vegetable stock
Instructions
- Peel and chop the vegetables into chunks.
- Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
- Blend with a hand held immersion blender until smooth. Add water to thin if needed.
- Taste and season to taste.
- Serve topped with mixed seeds and chopped chilli if liked.
Notes
Nutrition
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Really enjoyed this soup. Thank You!!!
Have not liquidised yet as love lumps and doubled the spices as well as adding a tsp of Lebanese Baharat.
It’s an excellent way to cook swede!
My pleasure! I’ma fan of a chunky soup too 🙂 Top tip to add some Bharat, I’ll certainly try that next time!