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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!
One of our favorite recipes! I’m always curious— given the nutrition information, how much is a serving?
I love this recipe! This is my go-to feel good, super healthy recipe. When I get enough lemons, I make preserved lemons (Moroccan lemons), and have them with this stew. It’s an amazing combination! My 12-year old son specifically asked me to make it for a holiday recently!
Only difference for me is that I make it in the Instant Pot. I just use the lower amount of liquid and cook for about 18-20 minutes. Fast, easy and delicious!
I added some red chili flakes to spice this soup up and really enjoyed it.
A friend posted this recipe on Facebook in 2019 and I have been making it ever since! It is incredibly nourishing, flavorful, and such a great go to recipe! I always add ground hot Italian sausage for extra heartiness. I love this recipe and am thankful to have come across it!
This is one of our favourite soup recipes (and I make a lot of soup!). It is I’m high rotation I’m our house, and I have shared it with many friends and colleagues! We had a cool cloudy day yesterday in Vancouver, and this was the first recipe I ran to. Delicious as always. Thanks so much!
Hi! I can my lentil beans so they’re always ready to go. Should I reduce the amount of broth in the recipe since they are not dry when I add them?
Thank you!
I’ve been making this recipe for years and years. Family favorite and a go to meal to send to sick friends or friends that just had a baby. Toss in the crock pot and then send the crock pot to their house!
Hello do I need to soak the lentil beans first?
I would like to make this for a large church group. They are asking for 5 gallons of soup. If this recipe makes 6-8 servings, what is the amount per serving? How many cups or ounces does this make?
Delicious as written. All these, “modified blah, blah, blah, then changed this-and-that”, be clear, you DID NOT MAKE THIS RECIPE. My only modification was sturdy kale instead wimpy spinach. I made this as a test run for when my vegetarian son comes to visit. YUM!
I have been making this soup for years! It is a winter staple. Thank you for this unique recipe
Absolutely delicious! The whole family loved it! It’s our new comfort food for cold days.
This was amazing! Put it all together in the crock pot after a night shift and when I woke up my house smelled so good! Great flavors. It will be my meal prep for a weekend of work.
I made this today. My oven has a slow cook setting and I cooked it for 4 hours and blended much of it. The addition of salt, pepper and lemon juice are crucial. I used cayenne. The curry gives a nice flavor, but there seems to be something spice-wise that is just too heavy in this soup. I looked up curry powder to find that some of the spices added to the soup are also in curry powder. I will see what tomorrow brings after it has a chance to settle. Sour cream on top will be a must. Perhaps a bit of heavy cream in the soup…..
Hello,
Can you tell me how long I should cook this on the stovetop of instant pot?
Thanks.
Hi there, is this recipe 6 servings? I couldn’t find the serving size. Thanks!!!
I’ve made this soup again and again. It’s absolutely craveworthy. My daughter doesn’t like the spinach so I add frozen okra instead.
This was one of the most delicious soups! I doubled the coriander, curry and cinnamon, and I absolutely loved it. It made a lot for one (LOL) so I am going to try to freeze some of it. I think this would be a delicious appetizer soup for a dinner party. Thank you for sharing!
This soup is AMAZING!!!! I will be making it over and over. Thanks so much!!
This is one of my favorite soups! I make it on the stovetop, and it turns out perfect every time. Thank you for the incredibly delicious recipe.