Sweet Potato Soup

Soups are a great way of incorporating more veggies into one's diet; however, did you know most store-bought ones are considered ultra-processed food and packed with salt, sugar, and other hidden ingredients that are not good for us?

The good news is that making soup at home is very easy, especially if you follow our "bake and blend" technique.

For this sweet potato soup, we bake the sweet potato in the oven with the other ingredients (onions, carrots, garlic, salt, and pepper).

Then when the veggies are soft and caramelized, we transfer them into a dutch oven, add vegetable broth, and blend with an immersion blender until smooth and creamy.

Optionally you can add coconut milk or heavy cream (we often use a dairy-free one) to make the soup a little richer, and that's it.

With minimal effort, you'll make one of the best soups you've ever had. It's healthy, nutritious, made with whole foods, and packed with cozy fall flavors.

It's the perfect family dinner, and you can even serve it for the holidays. It works as a colorful appetizer, delicious main, or tasty side dish. And you can have sweet potato soup leftovers for lunch!

Sweet potatoes

We use orange-flesh sweet potatoes to make roasted sweet potato soup. You can find them in most supermarketse. In the US, sweet potatoes are often incorrectly called yams, and so you might find them under that name in some stores.

Carrot

We add a carrot to soften the sweet potato flavor and make the soup more interesting. You can substitute one large red apple for the carrot (peeled, cored, and chopped).

Onion and garlic

We roast onion and garlic in the oven with the sweet potatoes and the carrots. They caramelize and burst with flavor, allowing us to infuse the soup with lots of taste without frying them in the pot.

Olive oil

We need a bit of olive oil for oven-roasting the vegetables. We recommend using extra virgin olive oil because it tastes better and has a higher content of antioxidants, making it stable at high temperatures.

You can substitute avocado oil for olive oil.

Salt and pepper

Sea salt or kosher salt to bring out the taste of the veggies, and freshly ground black pepper for aroma.

Ginger and cumin

Fresh ginger, grated, and ground cumin perfectly match this roasted sweet potato soup recipe.

The ginger adds a fresh and zesty flavor; the cumin adds warmth and aroma. We add them shortly before blending the ingredients to preserve their freshness.

Vegetable broth

We use vegetable broth instead of chicken stock to keep the recipe meat-free so that your vegan or vegetarian guests or family members can enjoy this recipe too.

Switching from meat-based stocks to veg-based ones is a painless and easy way to reduce one's meat consumption without realizing it.

Coconut milk

We think this sweet potato soup needs some kind of "creamer" to get to a rich and velvety consistency that pleases the mouth.

You can use full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream for a creamier texture or a low-fat one for fewer calories. Either way, coconut milk and sweet potatoes are perfect together!

If you are not into coconut, add heavy cream, half-half, sour cream, or cream cheese.

There is a dairy-free version for all these products. However, our recommended way of keeping the soup vegan is to add coconut milk because, at the end of the day, those vegan cheese alternatives are often ultra-processed.

Garnish

You can garnish the soup with some reserved coconut milk, red pepper flakes, and pepitas or pumpkin seeds.

Alternatively, you can top the soup with homemade oven-baked croutons, air-fried croutons, and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

A final option is to use roasted chickpeas or crispy air-fried chickpeas instead of the bread croutons. This way, you'll add some healthy plant protein to this delicious soup.

Step 1: Bake

Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Peel and chop the sweet potatoes, carrots, and onion into chunks and add them to the baking sheet. Add peeled and crushed garlic, olive oil, salt, and black pepper.

Toss with your hands and arrange the veggies on a single layer.

Roast for 30 minutes, moving the veggies around at the 20-minute mark.

The veggies should be tender, brown, and slightly caramelized.

Note: The brown color makes this recipe tasty without adding much oil. It would be tough to achieve this in a pot on the stove.

Step 2: Blend

Add the baked veggies, including roasted garlic and onion, to a dutch oven. Next, add grated ginger, ground cumin, and half the vegetable broth.

Blend with an immersion blender until you reach a smooth texture.

Add more broth, based on your preference, until you reach your desired consistency.

Note: you can also blend the sweet potato soup in a regular blender, but you might have to do so in batches.

Step 3: Simmer

Bring to a boil, then light simmer on medium-low heat. Add the coconut milk, stir, and cook for 5 minutes until the milk is incorporated into the soup.

Taste the soup and adjust, adding more salt, broth, pepper, ginger, or cumin as desired.

You can serve roasted sweet potato soup in smaller portions as an appetizer or side dish, or you can serve a larger portion in a bowl and have it as a main.

You can also have leftovers for lunch, with a wrap or sandwich.

We honestly have this all the time as a main dish because it's too tasty to have a smaller portion.

Top it with our homemade croutons (also air-fried), red pepper flakes, and chopped parsley.

Or add some pepitas, red pepper flakes, and reserved coconut milk in the center and swirl it with a toothpick.

To add some extra protein, add a handful of roasted chickpeas or crispy air fryer chickpeas spiced with paprika or curry powder.

Tips for a delicious, quick, and nutritious plant-based lunch with leftover soup! Try it with:

• Easy tofu salad with creamy dressing
• Tofu cream cheese on toasted bread
• Tofu scramble with avocado, mushrooms, or spinach
• Incredible vegan egg salad on toast
• The best vegan tuna salad (also great for a sandwich)
• Air-fried tofu cubes or fried tofu cubes
• Homemade vegan ricotta crumbled on top of the soup
• Creamy-dreamy avocado spread on toasted bread

Sweet potato soup with apple

Did you know you can make sweet potato soup with an apple? I know it sounds a little strange, but it actually tastes excellent.

The recipe is the same; all you have to do is substitute one large red apple for the carrot.

Peel the apple, discard the seeds, and chop it into chunks. Add it to the baking sheet with the sweet potatoes and bake as per instructions.

Like the carrot, the apple helps bring out the sweetness in the sweet potatoes, making the soup more interesting.

This recipe is suitable to make ahead as it stores well in the fridge or the freezer without flavor or texture deteriorating.

Store sweet potato soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a saucepan, adding a dash of water if necessary. You can also reheat it in the microwave.

To freeze the soup, let it cool down completely at room temperature, transfer it into a freezer-friendly container, and freeze it for up to 6 months.

Thaw in the refrigerator over a few hours or in the microwave.

Questions

Are you looking for more sweet potato recipe ideas? Here are our favorites:

• Mashed sweet potatoes - sweet and savory recipes
• Sweet potato chips - deep-fried and oven-baked
• Easy homemade sweet potato gnocchi
• Delicious sweet potato muffins
• Air fryer sweet potato or roasted sweet potatoes
• Oven-baked sweet potato wedges
• Microwave sweet potato loaded with different toppings
• Mediterranean-inspired lentil sweet potato salad
• Sweet potato salad
• Black bean, corn, and sweet potato salad

Or maybe you are looking for some more delicious soup recipes?

• Eggplant soup
• Zucchini soup
• Tofu soup
• Lentil soup
• Tuscan soup
• Butternut squash soup

If you liked this butternut squash soup, you might also enjoy: