With warm, vivid colors like the afternoon light on a fall day, this Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup Recipe is vegan, gluten free and totally delicious!

Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup

Fall is officially upon us!

There’s nothing more refreshing than the first brisk breeze of autumn. It’s an invigorating change from the dog days of summer – and it gets me excited about the changing of in-season veggies at our local shop.

I look forward to long walks on the tree-lined Brooklyn streets – to see first hand the fiery colors the new season brings. But, along with the changing colors on the trees, autumn marks another important seasonal change…

Yep, it’s squash season!

Aside from being loaded with health benefits, acorn squash is a versatile autumn ingredient that lends its trademark nuttiness and soft bite to everything it touches, as in the case of this easy vegetable soup recipe – or something a little more decadent, like this roasted acorn squash stuffed with creamy kale and mushrooms.

The colors of this hearty and healthy slow cooker vegetable soup are much like the quality of the late afternoon light filtering through colorful leaves on a fall day. Oh yeah, it’s delicious too!

An easy vegetarian slow cooker recipe

This warming slow cooker soup recipe just happens to be one of my favorite easy soup recipes of all time.

With this soup you get the rustic, savory essence of fall vegetables. But, also, there’s just nothing better than tossing a bunch of ingredients in a slow cooker or crockpot, turning it on, and leaving it to do its thing.

I mean, we all love an easy crockpot soup, right!? What else can you forget about for half the day – that also happens to fill your kitchen with a wonderful aroma… and then feeds you and your family later on?

Rarely does minimal effort reap maximum reward in the kitchen – but in the case of this slow cooker vegetable soup, the tables are turned!

And, not only is this rustic fall vegetable soup vegetarian – it’s a full on vegan soup recipe! As long as you stick with vegetable broth as your base, herbivores have nothing to fear from this veggie soup.

That said, you can use chicken broth to kick up the home cooked flavor factor when you make your own autumn vegetable soup in your home kitchen. To each their own!

But – no matter which broth you use – it doesn’t get any easier than this slow cooker vegetable soup recipe!

How to make vegetable soup in a slow cooker

First off: there are no tough to find spices in this slow cooker soup recipe. In fact, you’ll find almost everything you’ll need to prepare this autumn vegetable soup in the veggie aisle.

And the easy just keeps on coming…

You see, to make this hearty vegan soup, just place all your cut veggies (garlic, acorn squash, tomatoes, celery, onion, carrots, etc) – except for the zucchini and cannellini beans – in the slow cooker and start it up.

You’ll add the beans and zucchini when there’s about an hour left to cook before serving. This will result in a better overall texture, as those two items take less time to cook than everything else in this vegetable soup recipe.

Now, the amount of overall time you will need for cooking will depend on what you’re using as your slow cooker. If you’re using a typical crockpot, it should take around 6 hours on low. However if you’re using something more high powered (like the higher temperature slow-cook function on a multicooker), this soup can be ready in as little as 2-3 hours.

Test your veggies a couple times throughout the cooking process – and when they’re done, dinner is served!

The vibrant yellow-orange acorn squash really soaks up the natural, clean sweetness the fresh tomato adds to this soup.  Cannellini beans really bring a hearty element to the table. It’s not often that a soup is filling enough to stand on it’s own without a more substantial side dish or two!

A big bowl was enough to completely satisfy.

So, what is acorn squash?

The star of this vegetarian soup also happens to be one of the most healthy ingredients: acorn squash.

Sometimes called Des Moines squash or pepper squash, this winter squash is dark green on the outside, and has a yellow-orange interior that is loaded with stuff your body needs. Stuff like potassium and dietary fiber – and a decent amount of vitamins B and C.

But, aside from being nutrient dense, acorn squash also happens to be low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.

It’s a super versatile veggie – and can be steamed, microwaved, baked, sautéed, roasted, stuffed – or used in stews and vegetable soups like this one!

Fun fact: even though acorn squash is technically a winter squash, it belongs to the same species as zucchini – which is a summer squash 🙂

However, facts aside, this lovely ingredient lends a delicate balance of nuttiness and sweetness to this savory slow cooker vegetable soup. It’s a wonder food as far as I’m concerned!

A warming, hearty vegetarian soup recipe for autumn or winter

As the seasons change, our bodies start to crave comfort foods. This vegan vegetable soup is full of the slow cooked, homey flavors we crave when there is a chill in the air – but also happens to be low in calories and fat. Always a plus in my book!

Sure, autumn has only just begun…

So, I may be jumping the gun a little bit here. But I can totally picture myself prepping this slow cooker autumn vegetable soup, then lacing up the skates and hitting the ice rink while the slow cooker works it’s magic.

Ben and I have already made a pact to skate as much as possible this fall and winter. There’s nothing better on a chilly day than returning from the ice rink to a warming bowl of hearty goodness.

This slow cooker vegetable soup will warm you from the inside out!

How about you? What’s your favorite food to eat on a cool fall day? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Other delicious, easy and healthy soup recipes:

• Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
• Vegan Lentil Soup Recipe
• Slow Cooker Chicken Soup
• Green Detox Soup (Vegan, Gluten Free)
• Light Spring Minestrone Soup

Did you like this Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!

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