Slow Cooker Lentil Soup - $2.84 a serving

Name: Slow Cooker Lentil Soup
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 6 cups water; 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (or 2 tablespoons dried); 2 teaspoons beef bouillon (or 2 cubes beef bouillon); 1 1/2 cups lentils (dry); 2 carrots (medium, sliced); 1 onion (medium, chopped); 2 celery stalks (sliced)

Makes 6 servings · american · easy · USDA MyPlate Kitchen (public domain)

$17.03

basket total, in-store

$2.84

per serving (6 servings)

-$1.78

cheaper than the $4.62 median dinner

What it costs at Kroger - Kroger On the Rhine

Every non-staple ingredient matched to a real product on the shelf, priced on 2026-07-19 at Kroger - Kroger On the Rhine (ZIP 45202). 1 pantry staples excluded. Prices change without notice - this is what we paid attention to on that date, not a quote.

The recipe says	We found	Package	Uses	Costs	Left over
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (or 2 tablespoons dried)	Parsley - Italian · 1 ctSIZE UNREAD - 1 PKG ASSUMED	$1.29	15 g	$1.29	-
2 teaspoons beef bouillon (or 2 cubes beef bouillon)	Better Than Bouillon® Reduced Sodium Beef Base · 8 ozSUBSTITUTE	$5.99	10 g	$0.26	$5.73
1 1/2 cups lentils (dry)	La Preferida® Lentils Dry Beans · 16 oz	$1.69	290 g	$1.08	$0.61
2 carrots (medium, sliced)	Carrots · 1 lb	$1.69	2	$0.45	$1.24
1 onion (medium, chopped)	Jumbo Yellow Onions · 1 lb	$1.19	1	$0.29	$0.90
2 celery stalks (sliced)	Sleeved Celery · 1 ctx2	$2.59	2	$5.18	-

Where the money goes

beef bouillon drives this basket at $5.99, 35% of the total. The next biggest lines are celery ($5.18) and dry lentils ($1.69). $8.48 of the basket - 50% - is package remainder: food you buy because stores sell packages and recipes call for amounts. It does not vanish, it sits in your kitchen for the next meal.

What carries into next week

Better Than Bouillon® Reduced Sodium Beef Base · about 217 g left, $5.73 of value
Carrots · about 334 g left, $1.24 of value
Jumbo Yellow Onions · about 344 g left, $0.90 of value
La Preferida® Lentils Dry Beans · about 164 g left, $0.61 of value

Quick to make but rich and delicious flavors of carrots, onion, and celery flavor in this slow cooker lentil soup. Add your favorite spices if you want to ad...

Ingredients

6 cups water
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (or 2 tablespoons dried)
2 teaspoons beef bouillon (or 2 cubes beef bouillon)
1 1/2 cups lentils (dry)
2 carrots (medium, sliced)
1 onion (medium, chopped)
2 celery stalks (sliced)

Directions

This recipe is credited to a partner program (Montana State University Extension Service Nutrition Education Program), so we don't reprint its directions - read them on the archived original.

Montana State University Extension Service Nutrition Education Program. MyPlate took its recipe pages offline in 2026 - the original lives on at the Internet Archive. More on this: The protein math behind beans and rice.

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