I don't know about you, but my reality of weeknight cooking is that, with everybody's packed schedules, it's so difficult to sit down for a quiet meal. It's almost impossible. That's why I love my slow cooker. It's the ultimate survival tool for busy families.

I love the payoff and the feeling when you walk through the door at 5:00 at night, exhausted, and you just want dinner, and you know that it's ready. The smell is the first thing that hits you. It helps bring down your stress levels immediately.

This roundup of 17 slow cooker soups gives you a great variety of choices for using your slow cooker to make dinner. Think of soups that are thick and filling and sure to satisfy.

Don't think of using the slow cooker as being lazy. I like to think of it as a great strategy to prioritize eating good food without burning yourself out. You are bound to find something you like in these 17 recipes.

Soup Type	Quick Pairing Idea
Creamy or Cheese-Based Soups	Crusty French bread or a crisp green salad with vinaigrette
Chilis and Taco Soups	Sweet skillet cornbread or tortilla chips with guacamole
Tomato-Based Soups	Classic grilled cheese sandwiches or garlic toast
Beef and Vegetable Stews	Warm buttermilk biscuits or buttered saltine crackers

1) Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This creamy chicken and wild rice soup is perfect for when the weather starts to turn colder, and you really need something that feels like a warm hug in a bowl. Chicken and wild rice soup is a staple in my house for that reason. I always think of it as a typical stick-to-your-ribs style dinner.

The wild rice is ideal as it is much chewier and has a more substantial texture. It will hold up well in this slow cooker and doesn't turn to mush, which white rice can when it's cooked for such a long time.

Using a creamy soup base and chicken as the base of the soup and throwing it in the crockpot in the morning means you end up with something deeply satisfying and hearty with very little effort.

2) Creamy Cheeseburger Soup

Think of this creamy cheeseburger soup as your ultimate Trojan horse for dinner. It gives you everything you want from your dinner. You get savory, meaty, and cheesy flavors, which will be a hit with adults and kids too. The cream base means it is incredibly rich but also filling.

This is another great example of a dump-and-go slow cooker meal, and it will even feel like a treat for your kids. It's so good they will start to ask for it regularly.

3) Classic Southern Chili

When I cook for my family, there's always somebody who complains that it's too spicy. That's why I like to cook this classic Southern chili. It has such a great, deep flavor profile as opposed to being super spicy. Its mild heat level is perfect for all ages, and because it bubbles away in the slow cooker all day, the flavors really develop. You don't have to worry about it being too spicy.

This is way easier than trying to make two different versions of the same meal, which adds to your stress levels. Set your slow cooker to low, and it will be ready by dinnertime. You'll have a gorgeous, thick, comforting pot of chili.

4) Loaded Baked Potato Soup

When looking for something that is going to be a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, try this loaded baked potato soup. It tastes exactly like a loaded baked potato, which is perfect for those picky eaters who might not think of soup as a true dinner.

The big trick here is to make sure you don't overblend the soup, as it can turn gooey. It's also handy to keep some of those potato chunks, which gives a super great texture.

The toppings are where this makes it such a great option for weeknight cooking. Your kids can add their own cheese or bacon bits, or even sour cream. You give them a bit of control over what they're having for dinner. This always tends to go down well.

It's rich and creamy and ideal for the nights when people are exhausted and just want food. The quicker, the better.

5) Sausage, White Bean, and Kale Soup

This sausage, white bean, and kale soup is perfect when you're trying to get your kids to eat leafy greens. It's almost like a parenting cheat code using the slow cooker.

The kale cooks down for hours, which helps to make it lovely and soft and to take away any bitterness. The sausage helps to give the entire soup a deep flavor profile and helps to mask all the vegetables you have added.

Don't forget the white beans. They give you a mild, creamy taste but also extra protein so that everyone will stay full. This is a great, healthier option to make sure you can create a nutritious meal with very little effort.

6) Chicken Tortilla Soup

This chicken tortilla soup is ideal for dinnertime, especially if you have kids. It allows them to participate, and by using a topping bar, you can get your kids to build their own food. I find that this way they are much more likely to eat it.

Put out little bowls of cheese, tortilla chips, avocado, and sour cream, and let them customize it themselves. It's fun, and it might create a little bit more mess, but I'm happy with that trade-off. I'd much rather have a peaceful dinner where everyone finishes their food.

7) Beefy Tomato Macaroni Soup

Beefy tomato macaroni soup is something that I grew up eating, and I love how it's budget-friendly but also a little bit nostalgic. It's practical and a great way to stretch some ground beef to feed a large number of people.

All you need is some cheap pasta from your pantry and some good canned tomatoes. This is the type of meal that is perfect for when you are totally exhausted and you don't need to feel like you are being some amazing chef or creating Instagram-worthy food.

Using ground beef and pasta also makes this soup a filling dinner and will genuinely please everyone.

8) Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Cheese Tortellini

Tomato soup is great if you want it for a light lunch, but when you're making it for dinner, you need to make it more substantial. Try making this creamy tomato basil soup with cheese tortellini.

You can use a bag of store-bought tortellini, and tossing that into the slow cooker turns this from a white soup into a substantial meal. It's one of those great kitchen shortcuts.

I like to throw in some fresh basil at the end to give a bright and fresh flavor. It helps to cut through the creaminess of the soup but also makes it look like you have put in a lot of effort. Think of this as elevated comfort food, just more effortless.

9) Slow Cooker Corn Chowder

When I'm looking for something reliable at the end of a hard day, this corn chowder is one of my go-tos. It's thick and comforting, and I love the combo of sweet corn and bacon.

It's a classic, and both kids and adults love it. It's another one of those dump-style meals where you make full use of your slow cooker. You'll love how creamy this is, and cooking with the bacon helps to give a great depth of flavor.

You will be able to smell what's cooking when you come home, which is always a great thing.

10) Split Pea and Ham Soup

Split pea and ham soup is one of those things I like to make after having made roast ham the previous night. That's one of the best things about making a roast: you have all the leftovers to come to make another meal. I love being able to prep in advance.

This soup is really cheap to make, but the split peas cook down into something naturally hearty and filling. The leftover ham also gives a lot of deep savory flavor to the broth.

This is definitely comfort food, and you will end up with a lovely pot of thick, stick-to-your-ribs-style soup.

11) Chicken and Dumplings Soup

This chicken and dumplings soup is great when you have a Southern chicken and dumplings craving but don't have the time or the energy to make it for a weeknight dinner.

Using refrigerated biscuit dough is a great weeknight shortcut, so don't feel guilty about it. I definitely don't. Cutting up the dough and adding it to the slow cooker gives you great fluffy dumplings, and you end up with something that is usually kept for the weekends as part of a project.

Try this one when you're looking for something comforting and deeply satisfying.

12) Old-Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup

This old-fashioned vegetable beef soup is a classic and feels so wholesome. It's so easy to make, and this style of soup is perfect for the slow cooker.

Cooking slow and low is a great way to cook the beef so that it ends up lovely and tender. The vegetables soften up also, and you end up with something deeply flavored and hearty.

The good thing about this kind of soup is you can throw whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. It will all still taste good. This is one of those reliable slow cooker recipes that helps give everyone a nourishing meal without draining your energy.

13) Creamy Taco Soup

Taco night is a big deal in our house, but sometimes you just want all those gorgeous flavors without too much effort. This creamy taco soup is ideal for that.

The big trick with this one is to drop an entire block of cream cheese into the slow cooker. This will melt down and turn the broth so velvety and decadent. You can also get everyone to customize their soup by picking their own toppings.

It almost feels like a treat, but it's actually a great way of getting a well-loved favorite on the table with little stress.

14) French Onion Soup with Thick Gruyere Toast

If anyone's ever told you that caramelizing onions only takes 10 minutes, they're definitely lying to you. To do it properly takes attention and a lot of patience. That's why you love this slow cooker French onion soup with Gruyère toast.

All you need to do is slice the onions, chuck them in, and then let the slow cooker do its thing. When they cook over several hours, they get a beautiful caramelization and give such a deep flavor with so little effort.

Serve this up with a nice piece of toast topped with melted Gruyère cheese, and you will be amazed that this was made in the slow cooker.

15) Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

Trying to create a meal that doesn't contain meat but still fills everyone up can be a huge challenge, but this black bean and sweet potato chili is so satisfying. It's a great combo of the sweetness of the sweet potatoes balancing the earthy flavor of the black beans.

Black beans give you extra protein and help keep you feeling full. You won't miss the ground beef. The warm chili spices help to create that deep flavor without the need for meat.

This is also a great budget-friendly recipe to keep in your back pocket.

16) Slow Cooker Minestrone

This slow cooker minestrone is for those moments when you're at the end of the week, and your fridge is full of half-used vegetables that are starting to turn bad. This is a great recipe for cleaning out your crisper drawer.

This soup is based around vegetables, so you can use whatever you like, and it's really very forgiving. Using the slow cooker helps to deepen the flavor over time, and you end up with a soup that's packed with not only veg but beans and pasta. It strikes a great balance between being light and substantial enough to be a filling dinner.

17) Hearty Beef and Barley Stew

It can be really difficult trying to feed a family, especially getting something that everybody likes. This hearty beef and barley stew is what I like to cook when everyone is super hungry and just needs something tasty but not any old regular dinner. I like cooking with barley as it swells up and helps to thicken the soup, making the whole stew seem really substantial.

Because you're cooking the beef for so long in the slow cooker, you can expect to get an amazing tender result. Just let the slow cooker do its thing, and you'll be amazed at how the slow cooker eases the pressure of cooking. Everyone loves this one in my house.

Keep reading

• 25 Dump-and-Go Slow Cooker Soups for Chilly Nights
• 26 Cozy Crockpot Soup Recipes
• Slow Cooker Pasta Dinners That Do Not Turn Mushy