ISO help making veggie soup in crock-pot

[gulab jamun]

Hello,

I have a basic cheapo crock pot at home. I'd like to make a vegetarian soup. I was planning to use a variety of things, such as potatoes, celery, corn or peas, pasta shells, maybe cabbage, pepper, seasoning...

I can combine these ingredients with water into the slow cooker and let it cook for like 8 hours. However, I don't really understand how to make the soup liquid thick. I don't want it to be a thin, watery soup. Can someone fill me in on the "trick to thick" soup in a slow cooker?

Thanks!

 

[Katie H]

I did a quick "Google" for crock-pot veg soup and came up with tons of possibilities. Check out this recipe. It might give you some idea about ingredients and cooking time. Sounds good, too.

 

[kitchenelf]

Well, vegetable soup is not a thick soup to begin with. But if you really want to thicken it I guess you could add a small amount of instant mashed potatoes at the end of the cooking time. Not sure how long it would need to cook for - stir until it thickens up set on high.

Or, if you have one of those electric wand mixers you could "hit" a few cooked potatoes to thicken the soup.

 

[Katie H]

Sometimes I grind up some tapioca and put into my soups to thicken.

 

[letscook]

another way to thicken is if you add cannelli bean. kidney, northern or your favorite -- take some of the beans and mash them up and then add them back to the pot.

 

[Dave Hutchins]

I take barley and grind it in my spice grinder and add it to to my soups and some sauces for thickner. and then I get the benifit of the fiber

 

[keltin]

I’d suggest putting all your veggies in the crock first, and then add just enough water (or vegetable stock) to come up to just below the top of the veggies, but not covering them. The veggies will wilt down into the liquid, and if it still isn’t thick enough, use the other fine suggestions, or add a slurry of cornstarch and water or flour and water.

If you’re adding uncooked pasta at the start of this, then increase the water to cover the mix since the pasta will absorb quite a bit and will swell.

The thing about pasta in a soup is you need a good quality pasta, don’t buy cheap as it can literally disintegrate as it sits in the liquid when you store it in the fridge. Plus, the pasta can continue to absorb water from the soup once you store it.

I made a chicken noodle soup once with large spiral noodles. It was great and I stored the left overs. The next day I looked at the soup in the fridge, and there was very little liquid left, and the spiral pasta was about the size of a hot dog. HUGE! And mushy to boot.

Since then, I cook my pasta on the side, and only add enough to the bowls for serving. This makes storing the large amounts of leftovers easy, and you can add extra flavor to the noodles in the bowl before spooning the soup over it.

 

[Michelemarie]

I cook my pasta on the side too - and store it separately too.

 

[lyndalou]

Good idea, you two.

 

[gulab jamun]

Thank you for the tips. Cooking the pasta on the side sounds like a good idea. You may have saved me from a disaster.

I also like the barley idea for thickening.