Sweet Potato Soup

Sweet Potato Soup Recipe with Carrots and Coconut Milk that is easy to cook in one pot in just 25 minutes. It makes one of those healthy and easy dinner ideas that are also vegan, paleo, dairy-free, gluten-free, and most of all, quite delish! 

Crazy for soups? Me too!

They make a complete meal that you can make with leftovers and both evergreen and seasonal ingredients. 

This one makes a great Autumn meal, although its ingredients are available all year round and are low cost. 

Ready for a cozy dinner?

Sweet Potato Soup Recipe

There are many reasons to make this vegan sweet potato soup, among them:

• Quick and Easy: Most of the ingredients are staples and available all year round. The recipe calls for minimum prep (basically chop some of the veggies), cooking the soup for 25 minutes, and then pureeing it. 
• One Pot Meal: You will need only one pot to cook this carrot sweet potato soup and then an immersion blender to make it creamy.  It will save you time washing dishes. 
• Healthy: It comes loaded with veggies and is quite nutritious! It is also dairy-free, gluten-free, Paleo, vegan, vegetarian, and has a low to medium GI. 
• Budget-Friendly: All the ingredients on the list are low-cost! 
• Portable: If you are looking for a meal to transport to school or work, this is one of them! Place the soup in an insulated food jar that will transport it without spillage and also keep the temperature till lunchtime. 
• Freeze-Friendly:  You can make our sweet potato soup ahead, freeze it in an airtight container for up to 2 months, and then the coconut milk when reheating.    

Ingredients and Substitutions

To make this creamy sweet potato soup you will need: 

Sweet Potato Carrot Soup

• 2 lbs medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups vegetable broth (For a non-vegan version, you may use chicken broth) 
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• ¾ cup canned coconut milk, (you may replace it with drinkable full-fat coconut milk which contains less fat, but the soup won't be as creamy. If you aren't on a dairy-free/vegan diet, you may use half-and-half, heavy cream, sour cream, or Greek yogurt instead).
• Salt & ground black pepper to taste

Toppings:

• Croutons (optional)
• Coconut milk
• Microgreens (or fresh basil leaves, chopped green onions, or chives)

How to make sweet potato soup

1. Heat a large pot over medium heat and then add the olive oil.
2. Once the oil has heated, add the onion and cook until translucent. Then add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring once and a while. PIC. 1
3. Stir in the bay leaf, cumin, dried parsley, salt, and pepper to combine. PIC. 2
4. Add the sweet potatoes, carrots, and vegetable broth, and cover the pot with a lid. PIC. 3
5. Let the mixture come to a boil, then remove the lid and lower the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 25 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
6. Blend the soup until smooth using an immersion blender. Alternatively, use a kitchen blender!  PIC. 4
7. Blend or whisk in the coconut milk until homogeneous. PIC. 5
8. Serve the sweet potato and carrot soup with fresh micro greens, croutons, and an extra drizzle of coconut milk.  PIC. 6

TIPS

• When buying sweet potatoes, look for the ones with reddish peel and orange flesh, preferably medium-sized as the larger ones are starchier. Also, they must have tight and unwrinkled skins without blemishes.
• I don't recommend replacing sweet potatoes with yams because they are less nutritious and also less sweet, and more fibrous. 
• If you don't have an immersion blender, cut down the sweet potatoes a little, or try not to exceed 1 ½ pounds of sweet potatoes, otherwise, it'll exceed the maximum fill line on your blender.
• You can add a little more broth or coconut milk to achieve a thinner consistency. 
• If freezing our creamy sweet potato soup, make sure to leave the coconut milk out and add it right before reheating the soup to avoid breaking apart. 
• You can replace carrots with another veggie such as butternut squash or leek but it won't taste the same. 
• Cook all the veggies until tender-fork to blend them easily and get a creamy soup. 

Sweet Potatoes vs. Yams

There is a lot of confusion about their distinction because most of the yams and sweet potatoes sold in grocery stores are marketed as the same thing although they are not!

• Sweet Potatoes– They are root vegetables rich in carbs, fiber,  Vitamins A and C, and antioxidants, having many health benefits. The most common type commercialized in the USA has an orange or reddish peel and orange flesh with slender, pointed ends.
• Real Yams– They are not as easily available in grocery stores as sweet potatoes. Also, they are less nutritious, more fibrous, less sweet, and visually distinctive from sweet potatoes. They are long with brown, rough, bark-like skin and their flesh color varies from white or yellow to purple or pink in mature yams. 

Is this a Sweet Potato Bisque?

Yes! Bisque is a thick, creamy soup with added cream. Our sweet potato soup has these characteristics. 

What to Serve With Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

There are several options:

• Bread -- We topped ours with croutons but you can serve yours with crusty bread, no yeast bread, Portuguese corn bread, or cauliflower bread as a side for dipping.
• Added protein -- Serve the soup with added protein such as this air fryer shrimp, beef chunks, cooked sausage rounds, pulled pork, chopped bacon, cooked lentils, or cubed baked chicken breast. 

Depending on the size of the portion, you can serve our healthy soup as a main dish or as a side. 

Variations

Depending on the ingredient added or replaced, you can customize this sweet potato soup to make it different every time as follows:

• Pumpkin sweet potato soup -- replace the carrots with pumpkin.
• Butternut squash and sweet potato soup -- use butternut squash instead of carrots!
• Sweet potato kale soup -- serve thinly sliced and sauteed kale as a topping for the soup.
• Thai version -- stir in one tablespoon of red curry paste and cook a small piece of peeled, shredded ginger with the other veggies and blend the soup. It will be spicy and quite delish!

How to Store, Freeze and Reheat 

Store sweet potato soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

Creamy soups can be tricky to freeze because most of the time they contain dairy or alike that break apart once thawed and reheated. But you can freeze this soup in batches by leaving the coconut milk out. After blending it, let it cool, and freeze it in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months.

Defrost it in the fridge and reheat it in a saucepan over low heat until warm, and then whisk in the coconut milk very well until homogeneous. 

Other Creamy Soup Recipes

• Norwegian fish soup (low carb)
• Cauliflower curry soup (low carb)
• Vegan creamy pumpkin soup (gluten-free)
• Panera Autumn squash soup (gluten-free)
• Creamy ham and cabbage soup (keto)
• Corn chowder (gluten-free)
• Instant Pot potato leek soup (vegan)
• Spicy tomato soup shots (low carb)

PIN AND ENJOY!