Sweet Potato Soup

Why We Love This Comforting Soup

I love sweet potatoes! There aren’t that many vegetables that you can use in desserts, breakfast dishes, and savory dinner dishes. While you can enjoy them in decadent desserts like Sweet Potato Cheesecake and Sweet Potato Casserole Cake, you can also plate them as a savory-adjacent side with dishes like Mashed Sweet Potatoes.

This soup is surprisingly quite savory, while still having mouthwatering hints of the natural sweetness of the sweet potato. It’s a hearty and filling soup and you get plenty of savory flavors, so don’t think it’s too sweet.

I love the fact that you can easily make it fully vegetarian or vegan with just one simple swap. Or, you can add a little protein with chicken bone broth.

My favorite flavor hack in this recipe is adding fresh ginger. If you’ve never used it in a sweet potato soup, you will be surprised just how well they go together and yet, provide a surprising flavor variation.

Sweet potatoes are also highly nutritious and a great source of fiber, vitamins A, C, and B6, and minerals like manganese and potassium. Choose orange and red sweet potatoes for a rich addition of antioxidants. And I’m sure you already know that bright orange vegetables are full of beta-carotene, which is great for vision support.

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Soup

Soffritto – this is your vegetables base of onion, carrots, and celery. It’s a classic base to many soups.

Stock or broth – You can use either vegetable stock or chicken stock, depending on your preference. You can use homemade or store-bought. When it comes to store-bought, I recommend “low sodium” or “no salt added” and if you use chicken stock, bone broth will give you a great deep flavor.

Ginger – The ginger should be fresh, not dried. The flavor it adds is truly amazing! You can grate it or shave it but make sure to peel first.

Paprika – Smoked or sweet paprika are both tasty in this soup, so use whichever you’d prefer. Smoked is my personal favorite, as it creates a more savory touch.

Cayenne – A very small pinch of cayenne will add flavor, but not spice to this soup. Be careful, cayenne can get spicy very fast, so start small.

Heavy Whipping Cream – This is what creates the rich and creamy soup. You can substitute half and half if needed, but nothing with less richness. If you’re worried about the soup being too thin with half and half, stir it about a teaspoon of cornstarch into cold half and half before adding to the pot.

How to Make this Soup Creamy – Without Heavy Cream!

If you need a dairy-free option, use full fat unsweetened coconut cream (not milk). Another option could be unsweetened oat creamer or other milk substitute creamer that are unsweetened. Silk also makes a dairy-free heavy whipping cream if you have it available.

How to Make Sweet Potato Soup

I always recommend to prepare all your ingredients before starting to cook. It’s much less hectic and everything will be ready on hand. When it comes to chopping the vegetables, don’t worry about keeping small or completely uniform since it will all be blended.

Heat up the broth with seasoning and let it stay hot before adding to the pot.

Preheat a Dutch oven with oil, sauté the onions, carrots, and celery until softened. I highly recommend sautéing until vegetables are browned because it will add more flavor to the soup.

Make a small well in the center, add the garlic and ginger, and sauté until just fragrant before mixing it in. Don’t sauté it too long or garlic will get bitter.

Add the chopped sweet potatoes, mix, and cook for a few minutes. No need to cook through, but I like to get the sear going.

Add the warmed broth and make sure all the seasoning is transferred to the soup pot. Lower the heat and cook the mixture for 30-35 minutes. The goal is to cook until the sweet potatoes are completely tender and falling apart.

Take out the bay leaf before blending the soup! It will be a very unpleasant experience if bay leaf is blended into the soup.

Transfer the soup into a heat-proof blender (it’s important that it’s heat-proof) or use an immersion blender. Pulse the soup until it is blended smooth with no chunks.

Transfer the soup back into the pot set on low heat. Stir in the heavy whipping cream, then let it cook for just a couple more minutes.

Variations To Try

Make it cheesy – if you love to make your blended soups cheesy, add 4 oz (or even 6 oz) of cheddar cheese. Use sharp cheddar or mild cheddar, based on personal taste.

Bacon – bacon will be an amazing addition to a sweet potato soup. Start by sautéing 8-10 oz of diced raw bacon until fat it all rendered and then, take out the bacon pieces and set aside. Use bacon grease left in the pot to cook the soup. Garnish the soup with cooked bacon bits.

Other root vegetables – you can also add a winter squash like butternut squash or acorn squash, as well as yuka, or parsnips to this soup.

Storing and Freezing

Storing – You can store this fall favorite soup in the refrigerator for up to 5 days – just make sure it’s in an airtight container!

Freezer – This soup freezes well too, as long as you keep one rule in mind – it’s best to freeze without the cream, and then add the cream when reheating. Make sure to cool the soup to room temperature and freeze either portioned in freezer bags or in a freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw slowly in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

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More Comforting Homemade Soups To Try!

Pumpkin soup – creamy cheesy and extremely flavorful fall soup made with roasted pumpkin!

Ham and Potato Soup – this hearty soup is full of soft potatoes, vegetables, flavorful ham, whole milk, and sharp white cheddar cheese

Instant Pot Split Pea Soup – this hearty soup is made with split peas, smoked pork, and vegetables

Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup – classic fall soup featuring butternut squash that is easy to make in the pressure cooker in just 30 minutes.

Potato Leek Soup – creamy, velvety smooth soup featuring Yukon gold tomatoes, leek, celery, chicken stock, and cream.

Butternut Squash Potato Soup – comforting creamy soup made with butternut squash and hearty potatoes, finished with cream and cheese.