This sweet potato lentil stew is packed with lentils, vegetables, and amazing flavor! There is nothing better than a soup recipe that is ready in 1 hour. Make a batch of this sweet potato lentil stew for the week!
There are so many amazing vegetarian soup recipes on Fit Foodie Finds! This healthy broccoli cheese soup and vegetarian beer chili are recipes you MUST add to your weekly roster!
Benefits of Batch Cooking
Have you ever made a big batch of chili or stew and thought, what the heck am I going to do with all these leftovers? ME TOO. Guess what? There are so many different things you can do with a big batch of stew!
There is no need to waste any food if you have leftovers. This sweet potato lentil stew can feed ten people. Let’s be real, most of us aren’t cooking for ten people on the regular. So, here are some benefits of batch cooking and ways to meal prep!
Freeze it. If you don’t want to have lentil stew every day for 7 days, freeze it! Make this stew one night and then freeze the rest in small batches for a rainy day or for a meal prep lunch later in the month!
Check out our How to Freeze Soup post for all the nitty-gritty details to make soup prep easy!
Gift it. Who doesn’t love receiving a delicious meal? Whether you have a friend in need or just a friend who would appreciate a healthy meal! Make a batch of this stew, distribute it into these meal prep containers, and deliver it to your people!
What You Need for this Recipe
Whether you practice a vegetarian lifestyle or not, you will love this sweet potato lentil stew recipe! The lentils offer a delicious base that is packed with protein and fiber. Here are some of the other main ingredients for this stew along with their benefits!
Red Lentils- Red lentils are split and cook faster than any other lentils! They are a great source of protein. Lentils are also packed with iron, vitamin B, magnesium, and zinc!
Sweet potato- Sweet potatoes are a versatile and nutrient-packed vegetable that are delicious in many different dishes! It is a great vegetable in soup because it holds its form and shape after a long cook time.
Sweet potatoes are packed with fiber, antioxidants, and are creamy and delicious.
Carrots- Carrots (like sweet potatoes) are a perfect vegetable to incorporate in soups because they hold their crunch and form in dishes like soup. They are also a great source of vitamin A!
Mushrooms- Mushrooms are a great addition to any dish, but especially vegetarian meals! They have a meaty texture that goes well in stews and chili. They are a great source of vitamin b, potassium, fiber, and protein!
Onions- Onions are a great base for any soup! They are nutrient-dense, packed with vitamin C!
Apple Cider Vinegar- We love adding apple cider vinegar to our soups, stews, and chili. It adds a delicious tartness that is a great substitute for salt. It is also great for digestion!
White Northern Beans- White northern beans are rich in iron, fiber, and packed with protein. Be sure to add the beans towards the end of preparing any soup, chili, or stew or else the beans may overcook!
Kale- Kale is one of the most nutrient-dense foods that is perfect in soup and stew! We love it in this sweet potato lentil stew because it adds color and vitamin K to the stew!
The DL on Lentil Stew
Do I need to soak lentils before making stew?
You do not need to soak red lentils for this lentil stew. They are already split and the cook time for this stew is enough to cook the lentils perfectly!
Does it matter what kind of lentils I use?
Yes, it does matter what type of lentils you use in this sweet potato lentil stew! You can interchange yellow lentils with red lentils, but any other lentil will need a much longer cook time.
Can I substitute sweet potatoes with other vegetables?
Yes, you can substitute the sweet potatoes with any other dense vegetable. Try white potatoes, cauliflower, parsnips, or any other root vegetable.
Can I freeze this stew?
Yes, you can freeze this stew! Check out how to freeze this stew in this post on how to freeze soup!
Healthy Soup Recipes
Sweet Potato Lentil Stew
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large sweet potatoes cut into 1/2 cubes
- 2 large carrots cut into coins
- 4 medium stalks celery sliced
- 2 cups mushrooms roughly chopped
- 1/2 large yellow onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano or dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup red lentils
- 4 oz. canned green chiles
- 15 oz. canned tomato sauce
- 15 oz can diced tomatoesned
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 15 oz. canned white northern beans drained and rinsed
- 4 cups chopped kale
Instructions
- Place olive oil in a large stockpot or dutch oven and heat over medium/high heat.
- When olive oil is fragrant, add sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and salt.
- Saute for around 10 minutes. Then, add the rest of the ingredients (minus the white beans and kale) and bring to a boil over medium/high heat.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Then, add in the white beans and kale and mix. Cover and bring to a boil again over medium/high heat.
- Once boiling, turn down to low and let simmer for another 20 minutes or until the lentils are fully cooked.
Tips & Notes
- This recipe was updated on 9/23/19.
This had a lot of ingredients but was worth every second of preparation! Delicious! I substituted spinach for the kale and bought sweet potatoes already cubed. Even my kids loved it!
This was a great recipe. My grocery store was out of kale so I used spinach. I’m not a fan of cumin so I used half the amounts of cumin and chili powder. I will make this again for sure! Very tasty!
Tonight was the second time I’ve made this recipe. So so delicious!!! The only substitute was celery for celery seed. Thank you for this amazing recipe
This was awesome, I substituted spinach for the kale and white kidney beans. But it was a great recipe that I will make again!
Lentils, carrots, and sweet potato ALL belong together. Seriously. They do. My mother used to make a delicious stew with brown lentils, onions, sweet potato, carrots, red bell peppers, and garlic with vegetable broth–SO GOOD! Have to try using red lentils now since I LOVE them in curry!
Delicious!! Smells and tastes fantastic. Plenty of leftovers. A new fall favorite. Love the crunchy veggies, the kale at the end. Mmm!!!
Yay! Glad you loved this!
I’m interested in making this in the crock pot. Looks like this was once an option. How would you modify recipe for slow cooker?
Place everything into your slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8!
This sweet potato lentil soup looks amazing! So healthy and so full of flavor. My daughter is trying to eat meatless as much as possible so this vegetarian recipe will be fun to try.
I made this for on of my meal preps for the week and it was absolutely delicious! I cooked on the stove and it came out perfect.
I was confused by the comments so assuming this recipe was updated to be a stove top recipe. I’m on the last 20 minutes of cooking – excited to try it!
Confused… comments mention slow cooking???
I got all the ingredients after returning from store realize this recipe calls for cooking in crock pot. I don’t have one……….can this be cooked on stove top if so for how long? Thank you
It can! I’ve never made it on the stove, but I would let it simmer for an hour to hour and a half so that the lentils and sweet potatoes can cook all the way through.
On stove now made a few changes…….chopped onion and garlic browned in coconut oil. Only half of pepper and light on spices as I want to bring some to dad. Lots and lots of garlic also a few shakers of Turmeric. Thinking about a veggie other than Zucchini as I live in CA and that’s a Summer Veggie. I did get one but kinda not the best…..maybe Kale next time. Its been simmering for about hour and a half thinking keep for another half. Looks yum and tastes yum……….Thank you for answering back. Love all your recipes look forward to making more!
Thanks for letting us know about all of your modifications! I hope you loved it 🙂
I had my family over for dinner last night and made this for them! It was a huge hit! I was so glad as my mom and brother do not and will not EVER eat vegetables, and they both loved it! thank you much!
I was lying in bed on Sunday and I was like hmm… what should I make in the crockpot today? Then I saw your post…. decision made! Its really good! 🙂
Made this last night after I saw your recipe- it was delicious!!!
Delicious! I’ve baked tortillas before, but adding lime too them- genius!! They’d make the perfect salad topper too for some extra crunch 🙂
Those tortilla toppings would be so good as chips dipped in salsa!! YUM!!
Ive been following your blog for a while now but have never commented – I love this recipe! Im a huge fan of lentil stew and have this variation on my agenda to try! So delicious and warming for winter!
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this looks so good! Comfort food, and it’s healthy!
YUM! Looks delicious!! I’ve got a pumpkin lentil soup on the agenda to make today. I’ve been putting it off for over a week now so it’s time to finally buckle down because it make tons of leftovers for my week!