This hearty winter vegetable soup is super simple to make and full of warming wintery flavours. Celeriac, potatoes and carrots are slow cooked in a gently spiced tomato stock with red lentils and kale. It’s a real family favourite!
Hearty Winter Vegetable Soup With Lentils
Nothing quite beats the comforting feel of a bowl or mug of hot soup on a cold day. I don’t think a wintery week goes past in this house without a big pot of soup on the menu, whether we are all sitting at the table on a Saturday afternoon, curled up in front of the fire on a chilly evening or stomping about the countryside with welly boots and flasks!
This one is an adaptable beast, it always contains carrots and potatoes but I swap the celeriac with whichever winter vegetables I have in my fridge or to suit which offspring are joining us – they don’t all like celeriac, strange creatures!
How To Make a Hearty Winter Vegetable Soup
This is a chop, fry, add stock and leave to bubble soup. You don’t need any special equipment, just a big pan, a knife and a spoon.
You’ll find the full printable recipe card at the end of this post but read on if you want extra tips and tricks.
Step 1 – Gently fry chopped onion in a little olive oil until just beginning to soften. Add roughly chopped winter vegetables and fry gently for a further five minutes before adding finely chopped garlic and ginger for a minute.
Step 2 – Add the cinnamon, turmeric, paprika and tomato puree and stir through the vegetable mixture.
Step 3 – Add the lentils and the tinned tomatoes. Fill the tomato can with water, give it a stir to collect any leftover tomatoey goodness. Pour the water into the pan.
Step 4 – Add the stock, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, pop the lid on and leave it to bubble away for 30 minutes. Stir it every now and again to prevent anything sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Step 5 – Add shredded kale and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the kale is cooked. Serve and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- This soup really will feed a crowd, offering up 8 generous bowls full of deliciousness. If you want to make less it is easy to halve the ingredients but I would encourage you not to! Winter vegetable soup tastes even better on day two and, if you are anything like us, you will be looking forward to eating it again!
- Like most tomato based dishes winter vegetable soup really benefits from good quality tinned tomatoes so buy the best you can.
- Use whatever winter veg you have available. Swede and turnip make great alternatives to celeriac.
- Kale is brilliant in soup. It is the only brassica which doesn’t take on that school dinner flavour when it is cooked for a long time. This means that you can leave my winter vegetable soup to bubble away quite happily or reheat it without any adverse effects (just check your water levels).
- Do use a firm waxy potato for this soup, they are cooked for a long time and you don’t want a bowl of starchy mush!
Can I Make This Winter Vegetable Soup In A Soup Maker?
Yes, you can! This is an easy soup maker soup. If you have a soup maker which includes a sauté function you can make the whole thing in your machine without visiting your hob.
If yours is a chuck everything in and press go model I would advise cooking your onions on the hob first because they benefit from a gentle fry to bring out their sweetness.
Add the stock to the soup maker first and then add your veg, this helps stop anything sticking to the bottom and burning.
Is This A Slow Cooker Soup?
It certainly is! Fry your onions, garlic and ginger before spooning them into your slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients and your stock and cook on low for 8 hours. Come home in the evening to a delicious smell and instant dinner!
Do I Need A Blender To Make Soup?
You don’t need a blender to make this chunky vegetable soup but, if you want to make it thicker, you can take out a cupful or two of the finished soup, blend it and add it back to your pan if you wish.
You can also bend the whole lot to make a smooth winter vegetable soup if the mood takes you or you have lumpy soup haters in your family.
More Winter Soup Recipes
I make no secret of my love for soup, checkout my curated collection of 14+ Cosy Winter Soups.
Here are a few suggestions to tempt your tastebuds!
- Simple Chestnut Soup with Mushrooms and Sherry
- Swede Soup
- Celeriac and Apple Soup
- Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Curried Parsnip Soup
- Creamy Onion Soup
More Winter Comfort Food
Soup is hard to beat when you want a quick, comforting meal in a bowl. If you need a heftier comfort kick try these:
- Vegan Sausage Casserole with Cider and Apples
- Butter Bean Stew with Pumpkin
- Vegan Ale and Mushroom Pie
- Easy Vegan Roast Potato Curry
Easy Winter Vegetable Soup
Equipment
- A large soup pan or stock pot
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 250 g celeriac peeled and chopped into chunks
- 250 g carrots peeled and chopped into chunks
- 250 g waxy potatoes peeled and chopped into chunks
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
- 2.5 cm fresh ginger root peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 175 g red lentils
- 400 g can chopped tomatoes
- 400 ml water
- 1.5 litres vegetable stock
- 75 g cavolo nero kale (lacinato kale) stalk removed, finely shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large soup pan or stock pot gently fry the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes or until just beginning to soften.
- Add your roughly chopped winter vegetables and fry gently for a further five minutes before adding finely chopped garlic and ginger for a minute.
- Add the cinnamon, turmeric, paprika and tomato puree and stir through the vegetable mixture.
- Add the lentils and the tinned tomatoes. Fill the tomato can with the 400ml water, give it a stir to collect any leftover tomatoey goodness. Pour the water into the pan.
- Add the stock, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, pop the lid on and leave it to bubble away for 30 minutes. Stir it every now and again to prevent anything sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Add shredded kale and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the kale is cooked. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
