Welcome to a brand new year—a fresh opportunity for us to set intentions that guide us for the next 365 days (I suppose it’s 364 days now). Like most people, my new year’s intention is to live healthier: to eat better, move around more and declutter my life. One of the first steps to healthy living is to feed my body with nourishing food, and this carrot and sweet potato soup is exactly what I need to kick off the new year.
The soup gets its nice creamy texture from the sweet potatoes, so you don’t need to add cream or milk. The beauty of this recipe is that the list of ingredients is short and sweet. There’s nothing in there that you can’t find at a regular supermarket. I wanted this soup to be quite zingy, so I added a 1 1/2-inch piece of ginger. Feel free to reduce it to a 1-inch piece if you prefer less ginger flavor. To sneak in more vegetables, I also added 1 cup of diced cauliflower florets to the soup. If you don’t happen to have the cauliflower around, leave it out. It won’t affect the flavor at all.
TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE SWEET POTATO SOUP
- Dicing the sweet potatoes: To speed up the cooking time, I chopped the sweet potatoes into small chunks, at about a 1/2-inch dice.
- To thin the soup: This recipe yields a thick and creamy soup. If you want the soup to be thinner, add 1 cup of water. Note that you may need to adjust the seasonings.
- Variations: This soup works wonderfully with butternut squash. Substitute the sweet potatoes for 1 pound of cubed butternut squash.
LOOKING FOR MORE SOUP RECIPES?
- Thai-Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
- Vegan Tomato Soup (A READER FAVORITE!)
- Slow Cooker Corn and Potato Soup
- Coconut Red Lentil Soup with Quinoa
TOOLS USED FOR SWEET POTATO SOUP
- Le Crueset Dutch Oven: I know they are expensive, but they are the best pots I’ve ever used. They are so durable and clean rather easily.
- Vitamix Blender: This is one of the best blenders to use if you want silky smooth soups.
Vegan Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 to 1 1/2- inch piece of ginger, minced
- 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
- 3/4 pound carrots, sliced
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander, optional
- 1 cup chopped cauliflower florets, see note 1
- salt, to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
Instructions
- Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot with the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and let them cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Next, add the garlic and ginger and sauté for another minute.
- Add the sweet potatoes, carrots, broth, and coriander (if using), cover the pot and bring everything to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the soup for another 5 to 7 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
- Turn off the heat, remove the lid and add the chopped cauliflower florets to the pot. Let the soup sit for about 10 minutes.
- Transfer everything to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. You may need to do this in batches.
- Return the soup to the pot. Season with salt to taste (I added about 1 teaspoon of kosher salt). Add 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you want a hint of spice. I like eating the soup at about this temperature. If you want it hotter, warm the soup at medium heat for a few minutes.
- Serve the soup in bowls and top with coconut milk, sliced scallions, and red pepper flakes, if you desire.
Notes
- You want the cauliflower to be chopped finely (roughly 1/4-inch chunks).
- I added cauliflower to the soup because I wanted more vegetables in it. You can leave it out and it won’t affect the flavor of the soup.
Diane Wilkins says
This looks great and the perfect meal to remind you how amazingly delicious healthy homemade food tastes. it contains everything i love and is so healthy and delicious!
JohnnyG says
Amazing.
I kept every ingredient except the cauliflower, and made it exactly according to the directions.
Sooo good.
Lisa Lin says
Thanks for trying the recipe, Johnny! Glad you enjoyed it!
Monica Allgaier says
Can you freeze?
Lisa Lin says
Yes! I often freeze soups in ice cube noodles and reheat in a saucepan.
Joe Johnstone says
Amazing amazing amazing.
I just quadruple the garlic in every recipe because I love it, and it was wonderful in this soup.
Lisa Lin says
Joe, thank you so much for trying this recipe! Glad you enjoyed it.
Abigail Rios says
LOVE IT! I DIDN’T USE THE CAULIFLOWER BUT THE SOUP WAS GREAT!
David Grice says
Thanks, super easy & quick & delicious.. family loved it. And I’m not a cook. so thanks!
teresa perrine says
Perfect and delicious! Love the ginger idea
Marilyn says
Very Tasty and so easy! Thank you for this recipe.
Lisa Lin says
Marilyn, thank you so much for trying the recipe!!
Keisha Taylor says
Thank you for the recipe it looks great ! I’ve made my own sweet potato soup before but added sweet chilli sauce !! Tastes great !!!
Monique says
Came out delicious! Thanks
Fred Lang says
Made it and will do so again,
Lisa Lin says
Thanks, Fred!
Dana says
This soup is Delicious! I added a pinch of red pepper flakes. Served with a small splash of unsweetened coconut milk, and a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds . Paired with simple arugula and red leaf salad. Beat meal of the season!
Jean Miller says
I used this with some purple sweet potatoes from a local grower. It was delicious. I think I might add some cashews next time to add protein. Cashews could also be a thickener.
Anne Klassen says
Passed my husband’s taste test (not an easy thing to achieve!!). I swapped curry powder for the ground coriander and it we loved it. Thanks for the recipe Lisa!
Julie Dawkins says
Beautiful soup. So creamy and sweet. Used organic carrots that my daughter had grown
Lisa Lin says
Thanks, Julie!