Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Lentil Soup
Updated Aug. 8, 2025
- Total Time
- 4 hours 10 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 4 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pound 12 ounces tomatoes, roughly chopped, divided (see Tip)
- 1½cups red lentils, rinsed
- 4garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
- 1large basil sprig plus 1 cup roughly chopped basil
- ¼cup tomato paste
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1tablespoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 1½teaspoons sugar
- 1teaspoon dried oregano
- Black pepper
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ¾cup heavy cream
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
357 calories; 16 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 15 grams protein; 576 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker, combine 5 cups water, about 1 pound of the tomatoes (no need to be exact) along with any juices, the lentils, garlic, basil sprig, tomato paste, olive oil, salt, sugar, oregano and several generous grinds of black pepper. Cook on high for 4 hours.
- Step 2
Remove and discard the basil sprig. (It’s OK if it falls apart.) Whisk the soup vigorously to help the tomatoes and lentils fall apart and become smooth.
- Step 3
Stir in the remaining tomatoes and chopped basil, plus the lemon juice and the cream. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary. The soup will thicken as it cools; add more water as necessary for the texture you like.
- Feel free to use any kind of tomato that you have on hand: Almost-falling apart beefsteaks would be lovely, as would cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes. (If you use all cherry tomatoes, just be aware that there will be more tomato skin in the soup, so choose thinner skinned varieties, like Sungold, if you can.) Outside of tomato season, use a 15-ounce can of tomatoes to start, and finish with chopped cherry or grape tomatoes, which tend to be better than other varieties out of season.
Private Notes
Comments
I made this with Thai basil and coconut milk instead of cream. Really good.
Baking SODA. The idea is to provide a little bit of alkaline to neutralize the acid when mixing with the dairy. You don’t need a lot. Baking powder is slightly acidic. It will not do the same job.
@Olga - absolutely not! It's ready in about an hour on the stove (keep a lid on it to keep the heat in and encourage the lentils to cook all the way through!). For those who have had trouble with tomatoes and dairy "breaking" and getting grainy, add a healthy spoonful of baking powder to the pot! It will foam like crazy but stir well until the foam subsides and then add the dairy. Thanks to cookbook author Helen Myhre of the Norske Nook for that tip - game-changer!!! This soup is a favorite!!!
After 5 hours in a slow cooker on high (soup was simmering briskly) red lentils were hard. Using an immersion blender did not provide the texture I was hoping for. What did I do wrong?
Very simple to make. and very flavorful. As long as I was adding the juice of an entire lemon, I zested it as well, a technique I learned from Abra Berens that has become a habit. This soup would really be the most flavorful, I believe, with the bags of falling-apart, super-ripe, peak tomatoes I used to love getting from the farmstsnd firet thing in the morning when they opened before others snatched them up: the quality of your tomatoes makes all the difference in this soup. I stirred in chopped basil, but arugula might have been good, too, depending on the flavor profile you're after. I made this soup on a cold, snowy day in winter.
Roasted the tomatoes and garlic, and added an onion. Added a little less broth and used coconut milk. Simmered on the stove top.