9 Vegetarian Crockpot Dinners for Weeknights

These vegetarian crockpot dinners for weeknights are the meatless meals I make when I want the slow cooker doing the work and nobody at the table noticing what’s missing.

From a three bean chili to a butternut squash soup, a chickpea curry, a minestrone, and a vegetarian lasagna, they’re hearty enough that the meat eaters in my house go back for seconds.

Here are the nine I make most!

Beans, lentils, and squash are what make a vegetarian slow cooker dinner filling, and most of these lean on at least one.

They also cost about half of what a chicken or beef version does, which is a bonus I didn’t plan on when I started making them.

1. Three Bean Chili

Black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, tomatoes, peppers, onion, and a generous hand with chili powder and cumin, and it cooks all day on low.

It has all of the depth of a meat chili because the beans and spices are what carry chili anyway.

Cheese, sour cream, and cornbread on the side, and nobody asks where the beef went.

It’s the one pot I always double for the freezer!

2. Butternut Squash Soup

Cubed butternut squash, onion, a pear, a little fennel, and broth cook until the squash is soft, and it gets blended right in the crock.

The pear makes it sweet without any sugar, and the fennel gives it something a plain squash soup doesn’t have.

Use pre-cut squash from the produce section to skip the hardest part of the recipe.

A swirl of cream and toasted seeds on top, and a grilled cheese next to it for the kids.

3. Minestrone

Beans, tomatoes, carrots, celery, zucchini, and green beans in a garlicky broth, with small pasta stirred in near the end.

It’s a whole crisper drawer in one pot, and it’s the dinner I make when the vegetables are on their last day.

The pasta goes in for the final thirty minutes, and the spinach or kale right before serving.

Parmesan on top and crusty bread for the table.

4. Black Bean Soup

Dried black beans, onion, peppers, garlic, cumin, and smoked paprika cook all day into a thick, smoky soup with no soaking required.

Blend half of it at the end for a creamy texture and leave the rest whole.

Lime juice at the finish is what makes it taste right.

Avocado, cilantro, and a handful of tortilla chips on top, and it’s one of the cheapest dinners I make.

5. Vegetarian Lasagna

Uncooked noodles, marinara, ricotta, spinach, mushrooms, and mozzarella layered in the crock, and it cooks in about four hours.

The noodles soften in the sauce and the layers hold together enough to cut, and it feeds a crowd.

Squeeze the spinach dry if it’s frozen, or the lasagna gets watery.

It’s the dish I bring to a potluck when I don’t know who’s vegetarian and who isn’t.

6. Chickpea Curry

Canned chickpeas, coconut milk, tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, and curry powder, and it’s the simplest curry I make and one of the most popular.

The chickpeas soften over the cook and the sauce thickens on its own.

Spinach stirred in at the end adds the green, and a squeeze of lime finishes it.

Basmati rice or naan alongside, and the leftovers are better the next day.

7. Lentil Soup

Brown or green lentils, carrots, celery, onion, tomatoes, and broth with cumin and a bay leaf, and it goes eight hours on low without any attention.

Lentils don’t need soaking and hold their shape in a long cook, which makes this the easiest soup on the list.

A splash of vinegar or lemon at the end wakes it up.

It’s the soup I make on Sunday and eat for lunch until Wednesday.

8. Crockpot Mac and Cheese

Uncooked macaroni goes in with milk, evaporated milk, butter, and sharp cheddar, and a couple of hours later it’s done with no pot of water boiled.

It’s vegetarian by accident and a full dinner on purpose, with roasted broccoli or a green salad on the side.

Give it a stir partway through so the edges stay creamy.

9. Veggie Egg Casserole

Whisked eggs poured over peppers, spinach, onion, and a little feta, and it’s breakfast for dinner from the crock in about two hours.

Eggs are the fastest vegetarian protein there is, and this feels like a meal in a way scrambled eggs on a plate don’t.

Any vegetable in the fridge works, chopped small, with the watery ones cooked first.

Toast alongside, and it’s a Tuesday dinner that takes ten minutes of work.

Notes on Vegetarian Cooking in a Slow Cooker

Dried beans and lentils go in without soaking and cook all day on low, and canned beans go in during the last hour so they don’t turn to mush.

Soft vegetables like zucchini, spinach, and peas go in at the end, and hard ones like squash, carrots, and potatoes go in at the start.

Vegetarian dishes need more salt and acid than meat ones to taste finished, so keep lemon, vinegar, and a good kosher salt by the crock.

An immersion blender turns the squash and black bean soups smooth right in the crock with no transferring hot soup to a blender.

A 6-quart slow cooker fits the chili and the soups with room for doubling.

The soups, chili, curry, and lentils all freeze well in freezer trays, and the lasagna and mac and cheese are for eating the same week.

Vegetable broth from a bouillon base is cheaper than cartons and tastes better in the long cooks.

More Crockpot Dinners on the Site

The quick crockpot dinners with ten minutes of prep post has the same low-effort approach with meat in the mix.

My hearty crockpot beef stew with root vegetables is what I make on the nights the vegetarians are away.

And the slow cooker chicken and dumplings is the comfort food equivalent of the lentil soup above.