Slow Cooker Tomato, Kale and Quinoa Soup
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Comforting, nourishing and healthy made in the crockpot. Even the quinoa gets cooked right in! 214.2 cal/serving.
It’s been pouring rain all week. And when it rains in Los Angeles, three things always happens.
1. We constantly talk about how it’s actually raining.
2. We begin to drive 20 miles below the speed limit.
3. We stay home, in our sweats, and eat soup.
I skipped out on the first two but I definitely took advantage of the third, crockpot-style, with loads of white beans, quinoa and kale in a tomato broth.
I mean, this has pretty much been my dinner all week long, with no complaints of course.
It’s pure comfort food without any of the guilt.
That’s something I can get on board with anytime.
Slow Cooker Tomato, Kale and Quinoa Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed thoroughly
- 2 14.5-ounce cans petite diced tomatoes
- 1 15-ounce can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
Instructions
- Place quinoa, tomatoes, beans, onion, garlic, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in vegetable broth and 2 cups water until well combined; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. Stir in kale until wilted.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Loved it.
I sauted the onion, Celtic sea salt, pepper and garlic, in the slow cooker. Added the rest of the ingredients, plus a can of red kidney beans, and chilli powder to our taste. My teaspoons of crushed garlic were large and my herbs were well rounded. Two additional cups of vege broth were added a few hours later, I used baby spinach instead of kale and added frozen green beans. As soon as the green beans were just ready, I served it out. It was warm and hearty on this wet and cool day. Definitely make again. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing with us! Sounds so yummy!
Hi! how would I prepare this if I do not have a slow cooker? Thanks
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I used this recipe as a base and turned it into a kind of chili! Added 1 lb ground turkey, 1 can black beans, and about 1-1.5 cups each of carrots and celery. Love it with the kale!
What a great idea!
On the stove right now, I didn’t have time to crockpot so I used my cast iron 6 quart and the aroma is amazing so far!!! I sautéed the onions and garlic first then added the rest, saving the kale for last. I am going to serve some baked buffalo ranch chicken wings with this for my athletes but this is alone is a meal for me! Thank you.
That’s great!
Tried this recipe. It was excellent!!! Thanks!
Our pleasure Suzanne! Glad you liked it.
This has been a staple in my house for a couple of years. It’s delicious…I do tweak it a bit. It was too thick for my taste, so I added another carton of broth, I also add parmesan rind (always keep them in my freezer) for extra flavor, and when it’s done, I make sure it has plenty of salt by tasting and add a few squirts of hot sauce or sriracha. My family loves it.
Thank you for the recipe. ♡
Disappointed, didn’t like it at all. Very bland. Recipe could use some work to build flavors but not sure it’s worth it.
I made this recipe and it turned out great! How long will leftovers last in the fridge?
As I am not an expert on food safety, I cannot really say with certainty – sorry, Kerrie! Methods for optimal food storage and shelf life should be based on good judgment and what you are personally comfortable with.
I made this soup after reading all the reviews. The only thing I did differently so that it wouldn’t be bland was added more seasoning beforehand. My quinoa didn’t get mushy, but could be due to the fact I had about a cup of chicken broth leftover that I wanted to use up so I added that in addition to the other liquid mentioned. It was great.
I made this for dinner tonight and followed the recipe exactly. The quinoa was so thick and over cooked so the soup was like mush. Unfortunately I had to throw it away I couldn’t stomach it. Any idea why that happened? It was on low in the crockpot for only 6 hours when I tasted it. Help!
Oh no – what a bummer! What size slow cooker did you use?
I made this last night! My husband doesn’t like kale, but he loved the taste of the soup so much that he ate it all, anyway. The kids were a mixed bag… 12 year old liked it, 11 year old didn’t, 4 year old soaked up all the broth with bread. 🙂
I made it on the stove, and the measurements I used were quite wishy-washy, as I live in Europe and was far too lazy to do the conversions. I did not find it too thick like some others mentioned. Definitely a hearty soup, but still a nice amount of broth for bread dipping. Would definitely make this again!
Yum yum. I made this soup this morning in my crockpot. I used fresh tomatoes from my garden. I blanched them first and then peeled the skin and squeezed tomatoes into the crockpot. I also used Swiss chard from the garden instead of kale and I added it right from the start. Added the spices plus a whole hot pepper and a chunk of ginger for flavour and then took them out with the bay leaves at the end. I added the liquids turned it on low and 7 hours later it was perfect. Next time though I would maybe add a chopped carrot and celery and bell pepper. Delicious healthy soup.
Could you make this with chicken breasts? If so, would you just put them raw in the crock pot?
Could you substitute couscous in place of the quinoa (not a fan :\)? Thanks! 🙂
Yes, of course!
The recipe just calls for a bunch of kale. Is that probably equivalent to one of the regular sized prewashed bags?
It’s hard to say – the bags can vary in size.
I made this, following directions verbatim except for doubling all the spices. I did not have any issues with quinoa mush or veggies not being cooked. All was cooked in about 7 hours. I think it needs some more spices added (salt and pepper at the least, maybe more) but I think it will be good!
Can this be done in an instant pot?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Very bland, too much quinoa and kale. I added half the kale and the ratio was still off.
After its cooked, could it be frozen? I’ve never tried to freeze anything after cooking. Any tips?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Hi Nicole,
I made this for lunch last week and it waa just as yummy on Fri as it was on Monday! The kale does get a little mushy, which didn’t bother me but something to consider if you freeze. Perhaps you could freeze it without the kale and add it after you heat up the frozen soup?
I accidentally put in a 1/2 t of all the seasonings but still really enjoyed the flavor. Just put it in the crockpot for this week and did the same thing – on purpose this time .
This is the perfect healthy, comfort food lunch for these dreary Michigan January days!
the quinoa is soaking up a lot of the liquid. i think i shouldve used half. still waiting for it to finish. my slow cooker sure is slow!
Unfortunately this was not a hit in our house. The onions even after 8 hours on low never lost their raw texture and flavor. It overpowered the soup.
I don’t understand what went wrong but I won’t be making this again.
I had the same problem, and it ended up hurting my stomach! Instead of throwing the soup out, I took out the onions by hand, and cooked them separately with some Italian sausage before I put them back in. I also had to add double the broth. This soup was a miss for me. Still love Damn Delicious though!