Slow cooker soups are an easy way to prepare a nutritious, healthy meal. What could be better on a cold winter evening than coming home to a savory soup or stew that’s hot, ready and waiting for you? And, with little preparation time, you won’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

When you’re using your slow cooker for soup, these tips will help in the preparation, especially if you’re adapting your own regular soup recipe to a slow cooker.

Some vegetables handle longer cooking times better than others. You can add onions, root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, winter squashes, tomatoes, celery, cauliflower and broccoli at the beginning. Most spices should also be added at the beginning.

Softer vegetables like peas, corn, bell peppers and spinach are better added toward the end. Likewise you’ll want to add rice, pasta or grains near the end of the process.

When you’re slicing your ingredients, do your best to cut them all to the same size. That aids them in cooking at the same rate as well as making the soup easier to consume.

Taking time to brown or sear the meat before you put it in the soup will yield richer, more intense flavors.

Remember that there’s little evaporation in a slow cooker. If you appear to have excess liquid, remove the lid for the last third or so minutes of cooking time so that some of it can evaporate.

Those simple tips will help make your soups more enjoyable.

Here are three great recipes you can try in your slow cooker:

Hearty Potato Soup

Ingredients: 6 potatoes, peeled and cut in to 1/2 inch cubes (about 2 1/2 pounds), 2 medium onions, diced, 2 carrots, thinly sliced, 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced, 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans low-sodium fat-free chicken broth, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper,