This recipe for sweet potato soup is rich, creamy, and silky smooth. Enhanced with the warm flavors of ginger, garlic, and some optional heat from cayenne pepper, sweet potato soup is flavorful and amazing.
The thing that I love most about soup making is that you can create a delicious soup using just about anything! Blended vegetable soups are a recent obsession of mine, and I’ve been testing different recipes to create the best root vegetable soups. You can see all of my soup recipes here, and choose your favorites.
Sweet potato soup is very similar to my Acorn Squash Soup, Roasted Carrot Soup and Butternut Squash Soup. All of these delicious fall soups are creamy and amazing without any need for added dairy, making them vegan as well.
Sweet potatoes are such a versatile recipe ingredient. Buy a big bag, and use the extras to make a Sweet Potato Curry or Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries.
Why You’ll Love This Soup Recipe
- Vegan and Gluten Free. No meat, dairy, or flour is needed to make this flavorful soup creamy and silky smooth. Everyone, regardless of their dietary needs, will enjoy this sweet potato soup.
- Packed with Veggies. Picky kids or even picky adults will enjoy this soup that is full of the healthy nutrition of sweet potatoes.
- Sweet and Spicy. The warm spices added to this soup bring out the absolute best flavors in the sweet potato.
- Easy to Make. Just 20 minutes on the stove and a whiz through the blender and you’ll be enjoying a warm bowl of creamy sweet potato soup.
Sweet Potato Soup Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Sweet Potatoes: The main ingredient in this soup is creamy, luscious sweet potatoes. Peel them and cut them into chunks.
- Carrot: The second orange veggie we need is a carrot. This adds a bit more sweetness and really enhances the flavor of the sweet potatoes.
- Onion and Garlic: Like most delicious soups, this one starts with sauteéing these aromatic vegetables.
- Spices: Ginger, cumin, cayenne (optional), salt, and pepper are added to season the soup and add a warm, spicy flavor.
- Vegetable Stock: Using vegetable stock or vegetable broth makes this soup vegetarian and vegan. Chicken stock can be used if you prefer.
How to Make Sweet Potato Soup
- Sauté: In a dutch oven or large saucepan, heat olive oil, add the onion and carrot, and sauté for a few minutes until the onion is translucent and the carrot has softened a little. Add garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds, then add the spices and continue to cook for 30 more seconds.
- Simmer: Pour in the broth quickly to avoid burning the garlic or spices. Add the sweet potatoes. Over medium high heat, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the soup, covered, until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
- Blend: Remove from the heat and blend until smooth. You can use an immersion blender, but a high powered blender will give the best results.
Tip!
Be Careful! Blending hot soup can be a dangerous game. Ladle the soup into the vitamix and fill the pitcher only half way. Work in batches. Allow steam to escape from the lid vent as you’re blending, and cover the blender top with a towel to avoid splatters.
- Serve: Serve sweet potato soup warm with garlic bread!
Recipe Tips
- You Need Good Soup Making Tools. If you’re interested in using the tools that I use in my kitchen daily, I’m happy to show you them! First, my Silicone Red Spatula Spoon is by far my favorite kitchen tool. It stirs and scoops and is safe on all types of pans. Le Creuset also makes my red 5.5 qt. Dutch Oven. I love making soups in it! I also recommend the 5.5 qt. Lodge Enamelled Dutch Oven for a cheaper but high quality option. For serving or moving the soup from the pot to the blender, this stainless steel soup ladle is key.
- Cook Until Tender. Make sure your sweet potatoes are fork tender before blending the soup. Fork tender means that if you try to pick up a piece with a fork, you won’t be able to, because it will fall right off.
- Blend Well. I love my Vitamix high speed blender for lots of things, but it is particularly great at blending soups like this one. If you don’t have a high speed blender, a handheld immersion blender is your best second choice.
- Play with Garnishes. A creamy dollop of yogurt, sour cream, coconut cream, or heavy cream will add a beautiful and delicious extra creaminess to sweet potato soup. Chopped fresh herbs, chives, or toasted nuts can also add interest and flavor.
- Make it Creamier. To add extra creaminess and even more flavor to the soup, add coconut milk.
What to Serve with Sweet Potato Soup
This silky smooth soup is simple enough to pair with almost anything, but flavorful enough to stand on its own too.
With Bread: Savory Garlic Bread, croutons, or some warm homemade bread, like these Texas Roadhouse Rolls.
With Salad: Soup and salad, the ultimate pair! Try a healthy and tangy Kale Salad or a delicious Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad.
For Dinner: Add a protein packed main dish to this hearty veggie soup to create a filling dinner. Try Garlic Butter Chicken Tenders or Instant Pot Cube Steak for a meal the whole family will love.
FAQs
You definitely can freeze this sweet potato soup, and I encourage you to do so, particularly if you enjoy taking soups to work or having a variety of soups in the freezer to choose from! Store in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months. For easy re-heating, freeze in individual serving sizes.
For shorter storage, sweet potato soup will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
I’m not going to stop you! Roasting the sweet potatoes, similarly to how I made this Roasted Carrot Soup, will add a whole additional level of sweet, and smoky caramel flavor.
I find this soup to be a very pleasing thickness, but I can understand if you want it to be thicker. Thickening sweet potato soup is simple.
Reduce the amount of broth in the recipe by a half cup or so. You can also just remove some of the broth before blending, and add it back in a bit at a time until the soup is your desired consistency.
Buying sweet potatoes can get confusing. Sometimes they’re called yams, sometimes there are multiple colors available Here’s what you need to know:
Buy orange sweet potatoes, with firm, unwrinkled skins. In American grocery stores these are sometimes labeled as yams (even though they aren’t). That’s ok, go with it.
Avoid white or purple sweet potatoes for this recipe. Those varieties are more starchy and less sweet and won’t give you the same result.
If you’re faced with different varieties of orange sweet potatoes, look for Beauregard, Garnet, and Jewel.
Get to the store and pick up some sweet potatoes! I have a feeling you’ll be making this soup more than once this season. Pin it to make again later.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Sweet Potato Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne powder only add if you like heat
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 (1 liter) cups vegetable stock
- 4 sweet potatoes 1 ½ pounds in total, 700g, peeled and cut into chunks, Note 1
Instructions
- In a dutch oven or saucepan, heat olive oil, add the onion and carrot and sauté for a few minutes until the onion is translucent and the carrot has softened a little.
- Add garlic, and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the spices, and cook for 30 more seconds.
- Pour the stock to avoid the garlic from getting burnt. Add the sweet potatoes.
- Over medium high heat, bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer the soup covered until the sweet potatoes are fork tender (mine took 15 minutes but it depends on the size of the sweet potato chunks).
- Remove from heat, and blend until smooth (you can use an immersion blender, but I prefer a high powered blender and just ladle the soup into the blender jug and blend for 45 seconds).
- Serve warm with garlic bread.
Notes:
- Buy orange sweet potatoes, with firm, unwrinkled skins. In American grocery stores these are sometimes labeled as yams (even though they aren’t). That’s ok, go with it. Avoid white or purple sweet potatoes for this recipe. Those varieties are more starchy and less sweet and won’t give you the same result. If you’re faced with different varieties of orange sweet potatoes, look for Beauregard, Garnet, and Jewel.
- Blending hot soup can be a dangerous game. Ladle the soup into the vitamix and fill the pitcher only half way. Work in batches. Allow steam to escape from the lid vent as you’re blending, and cover the blender top with a towel to avoid splatters.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Adair W. says
An interesting combination of spicy and sweet. I used cayenne.
Diana says
Glad you enjoyed the balance of flavors!
luis miguel says
soy del peru donde tenemos muy buena variedad de sweet potatoes, que usamos como complento en una variedad de platos, pero me parece muy interesante tu receta que la probare y te hare mi comentario
felicitaciones