Slow Cooker Root Vegetable Stew
Last week when I asked our GSO Facebook followers what recipes you all would like to see on the blog this fall, two top requests quickly emerged: vegetarian recipes and slow cooker recipes.
So your wish is my command — I made you some Slow Cooker Root Vegetable Stew!
I prepped everything this morning, and could hardly wait for the slow cooker to do its work for dinner tonight. This stew turned out to be absolutely delicious, and is a fantastic way to use up some of those seasonal root veggies. You can substitute in whatever your favorite root veggies may be, but I used some butternut squash, sweet potatoes, Yukon potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and onions from my farmers’ market. Then seasoned the stew with some bay leaf, lots of garlic and sage, and finished it off by wilting in some fresh kale. Spectacular! It was all of the goodness of sweet and savory together, and wonderfully hearty and filling without any meat or grains. And if you make it with vegetable stock, this stew is vegetarian and vegan. And the best part is that it was totally simple to throw together. The main work is just chopping up all of your veggies, then your slow cooker will take over and do the rest of the work.
Definitely a simple, comforting and delicious stew that your friends and family will love.
Slow Cooker Root Vegetable Stew
This hearty vegetable (and vegan) stew is a breeze to prepare, and is packed with wonderfully comforting flavors.
Ingredients:
- 1 large white onion OR 2 leeks (white portion only), chopped
- 1 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 1 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 lb. parsnips, peeled and chopped
- 1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 2 celery ribs, stems removed and chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 Tbsp. fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp. freshly-cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 2 cups chopped fresh kale
- optional: fried sage leaves for garnish (see note below)
Directions:
- Add first eleven ingredients to a slow-cooker, and carefully stir to combine. Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf, and carefully stir in the kale. Let the stew continue cooking for 10 minutes or so until the kale is wilted. Season with additional salt and pepper if need be.
- Serve immediately, with the option to garnish with fried sage leaves or Parmesan cheese.
To make the fried sage leaves, heat 1/4 cup of vegetable or canola oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles on the surface. Add your sage leaves and let them cook for about 10 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt if desired.
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and hashtag it #gimmesomeoven. I'd love to see what you cook!
Why peel and seed the squash?
Hi Elicia! We don’t care for the skin (as it’s a bit tough) and you typically don’t want to eat the stringy, seedy middle.
I just realized I had no idea what butternut squash was. I had used just… regular squash? Anyway, it was really, REALLY good! Thanks for the recipe!
We’re so glad you enjoyed this!
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Hey there,
I’m really looking forward to trying this out throughout the week as a lovely heart warmer. I just got my slow cooker yesterday and I had no clue what to make (until I found this)… This may be a very silly question but do I add water or vegetable stock whilst it’s cooking?
Thank you :’)
Whoops, so sorry! That recipe had a big typo. You should add in the veggie stock right at the beginning with the first eleven ingredients. Sorry for the confusion, and hope you have a blast with your new slow cooker! :)
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I’ve made this twice now and it has a really really amazing flavor. Thanks for the recipe. I added Italian sausage to it the 2nd time which was really good too!
We’re so happy you’re a fan, Rachel! :)
I am really sorry to report that this was very bland for us as well. I am such a fan and have great success with your recipes usually. Not this one. Very bland and disappointing. Even I, a big fan of root veggies, didn’t care for it.
We’re very sorry to hear that, Kristin! :(
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Can you freeze this? :)
Yes, you can freeze this — we hope you enjoy!
I’m really not sure what I did wrong, but I’m so disappointed. I have the big costco crockpot and I could not fit all of these veggies. It is packed full and I didn’t even put in the sweet potatoes. :(
Oh no, we’re sorry to hear that, Melissa! What size is your slow cooker? We used a 6-qt for this.
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Hi there I am just making this for the 1st time and it is my very 1st attempt at using my new Crockpot 3.5l slow cooker. I am rubbish at cooking and live on my own so I don’t tend to make a lot of effort around my meals. I decided I need to lose some weight and wanted to start eating a little better. Ive just had a sneak taste test of the root vegetables after 5 hrs of cooking and it is absolutely amazing!!!! I normally end up throwing a lot of veggies out each week as I can never eat the amount in the bag sizes and I can see already this recipe is going to stop me being so wasteful and help my bank balance along the way. Thank you. It is incredibly tasty!!! I am very impressed!!!
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I have a question? Can you cook this on high heat for half the time? Thanks!
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My husband and I really enjoyed this. A great soup for a cold day. Most of the veggies are on the sweet side, so the soup is fairly sweet. I would also say is that this is a LOT of soup, more like 6-8 servings. For our family of three, half a recipe would have been ample. I made it on the stove as it would not fit in my crockpot and I needed 8 cups of broth to cover the veggies. And there is no way I can chop and peel that many veggies in 1/2 an hour (especially the butternut squash). I added portobella mushrooms and that made a nice addition. I didn’t have kale, but that would’ve been good.
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Is this something that can be prepped ahead and frozen? I’m not the world’s greatest cook, (or even the best cook in my house, but I am THE cook) and I don’t know what things are okay to freeze ahead and what is a bad idea to freeze.
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