The weather has been pretty blustery lately. Naturally. I do live in northern New York, after all.
I also work from home. You know those days when you wake up and just feel incredibly motivated to be productive? Those days when once you’re “on a roll,” you’re not necessarily going to want to put a ton of time into your meals? This is the soup to eat on those days.
And if you work full-time, I know there are days where you want to be able to come in out of the cold to an already-prepared, piping hot meal. This is the soup to eat on those days.
Chickpea and Carrot Crockpot Soup
Serves 6-8
1 small pumpkin (1 – 1.5 pounds)
5 large carrots (approximately 1 pound)
2 cups dried chickpeas
7 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 T dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried dill seed
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried rosemary
Peel the pumpkin and chop into 2″ cubes. Slice the carrots into 1/2″ thick rounds. Mix all ingredients in a crockpot or slow cooker, and cook on High for 7-9 hours.
Savvy Tip: If you don’t have 7 1/2 cups of stock on hand, replace up to 3 1/2 cups with water.
Before serving, use an immersion blender to puree about half of the soup. Alternatively, process half the soup in a blender and return to the crockpot. This step isn’t absolutely necessary, but will thicken up the soup and help the flavors meld.
One of the best things about this recipe is its flexibility. If I don’t have a pumpkin, I can just as easily use an acorn squash. No carrots? Leave ‘em out. Extra veggies around that need to be used up? Throw them in the crockpot along with everything else. And with a simple switch of the variety of beans and the spices, I can have a whole new soup…like this Mexican Black Bean Soup!
Mexican Black Bean Variation:
1 acorn squash (1 – 2 pounds)
2 c dark red kidney beans
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 T dried coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 c water
6 c chicken or vegetable broth
Crushed tortilla chips, for topping
Follow the same process as for the Chickpea & Carrot Soup, and top each bowl with crushed tortilla chips just before serving.
I’m loving the convenience of the crock pot to make a hot meal on cold winter nights. What are your favorite crockpot recipes (feel free to leave links)?
I love crockpot soups! Thanks for the recipes, bookmarking now …
Reason #356 & #357 I need a crock pot (hey, it’s two recipes!)
I love hearty beans soups. I don’t have a crock pot but my sister makes some delicious dessert recipes in hers. Apple crisp in a crock pot – so easy!
Looks great! Very wintery =D Great blog by the way, I just found it, I’ll be reading it from now on!
Love the crock pot, but don’t use it as much as I’d like! I’ve made really delicious brisket in there, and occasionally I’ll make my chili in it. This recipe comes at the perfect time since I have an acorn squash at home just waiting to be used!
This soup looks perfect: easy, healthy, delicious, yum!
This looks awesome! Thanks for the recipe.
I love my crock pot…I have enjoyed the Slow Cooker cookbooks that have been resurfacing lately.
I have to try this! My bf loves chickpeas, he would love this! I wish I had a job that allowed me to work from home.
That looks so great, Julie. Thanks so much for sharing your great recipe with us. I will keep it in my mind forever. Cheers
wow-i’m so glad I found your blog! I want to “steal” these recipes ASAP!
These sound wonderful! I can hardly wait to try them.
Great ideas for crockpot meals! I need to remember to use mine more often. Do you think the first recipe would work with canned pumpkin?
I think so, but then you’ll have fewer “chunks” of veggies. I don’t think it would burn, but I’m not 100% sure.
On the other hand, you may not need to use the immersion blender if you use canned pumpkin, because the squash will already be blended and adding that creaminess!
I really love soups, especially during these cold winter days, so I tried the recipe and it turned out great. Thumbs up. My next try will be the pumpkin soup. I’ll Let you know how it goes…
So glad you enjoyed it!