A flavorful Creamy Sweet Potato Soup made with roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, onion, ginger, coconut milk, and warm, aromatic spices. This vegan sweet potato soup is so comforting and perfect for a chilly day!
Serve sweet potato soup at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner for an unexpected comforting and healthy vegan first course. This creamy, savory soup is a non-traditional way to serve the classic sweet potato and the warm spices add so much depth and flavor.
For more cozy fall recipes, check out our Creamy Pumpkin Risotto and Authentic Chicken and Sausage Gumbo recipes next!
Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe
- Extra virgin oil. To cook the onion, carrots, garlic, and ginger.
- Purple onion. For added flavor. Yello onion can also be used.
- Sweet potatoes. These are the base for the soup.
- Carrots. For added sweetness and earthiness.
- Fresh garlic. For added flavor.
- Fresh ginger. For subtle spicy, sweet notes.
- Vegetable stock. To thin the soup and bring it to the perfect consistency.
- Ground cinnamon, smoked paprika, nutmeg, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. To season the soup and add warmth and complexity.
- Coconut milk. For creaminess.
How To Make This Recipe
- Scrub the sweet potatoes and pierce them all over with a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven at 450°F for 1 hour, or until very tender easily pieced with a fork.
- Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon, paprika, nutmeg, cumin, and cayenne pepper, and cook for another minute. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Once the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skins, break the sweet potatoes into large chunks, and transfer them to a countertop blender with at least a 6-cup capacity. Add the carrot mixture and 2 cups of vegetable broth to the blender. Puree the mixture until smooth.
- Transfer the sweet potato soup to a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add the remaining 2 cups of vegetable stock and the coconut milk. Cook the soup until creamy and heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and enjoy!
Variations and Substitutions
- Boil the sweet potatoes instead of baking them to save time. Wash, peel, and chop the sweet potatoes, add them to a pot, cover with water, and boil until tender.
- This method does add extra water to the sweet potatoes, diluting their flavor a bit.
- Make sweet potato soup with heavy cream or half and half for a richer flavor and consistency. This sweet potato soup is made with full-fat coconut milk, making it a creamy vegan soup.
- Add curried powder to make a curried sweet potato soup.
- Add more vegetables. Throw in some baby spinach, tomatoes, or chopped broccoli!
- Make this soup chunky by only pureeing half of the sweet potatoes and leaving the other half and the carrots in chunks.
Do I Need To Cook Sweet Potatoes Before Adding Them To Soup?
Unless you are slow-cooking sweet potatoes with other vegetables for a soup or stew, you do need to cook them before adding them to soup.
Sweet potatoes are very firm and require baking or boiling to make them tender.
Is It Better To Boil or Bake Sweet Potatoes For Soup?
This is totally up to you! Baking the sweet potatoes for this soup caramelizes the sugars and concentrates the flavors, making for a more robust flavor.
If you choose to boil the sweet potatoes, the soup will still taste delicious but will have more water added and less of a caramel-like flavor.
What Are The Best Toppings For Sweet Potato Soup?
There are so many options when it comes to garnishing and topping creamy soups. I love to garnish this creamy sweet potato soup with toppings that add color contrast and texture. Some of my favorites are:
- Frothed milk or cream.
- To create swirls or patterns on soup with milk or cream you want to add a little air to it by whisking vigorously or frothing with a handheld milk frother.
- Pumpkin seeds
- Chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts
- A sprinkle of some type of spice, such as paprika, cinnamon, or nutmeg
- Chopped parsley or cilantro
- Fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, or basil
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
This soup is the perfect make-ahead recipe and can be made up to two days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Reheat sweet potato soup on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Leftover sweet potato soup can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.
What To Serve With Sweet Potato Soup
This creamy sweet potato soup tastes amazing served as a main course with crusty bread or crackers. You can also serve this soup as a side dish or appetizer alongside some of the following:
- Roasted turkey
- Grilled spatchcock chicken
- Pot roast
- Brown sugar chicken thighs
- Cajun dirty rice with smoked sausage
- Pork tenderloin
- Steak
- Salmon
Recommended Tools For This Recipe
More Sweet Potato Recipes You Will Love!
- Southern Candied Yams
- Southern Sweet Potato Pie
- Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
- Cajun Herb Butter Sweet Potato Fries
Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
Equipment
- Countertop blender
- 10-inch skillet
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes about 4 medium sweet potatoes
- 2 tablespoons oilve oil extra virgin
- 1 medium purple onion or yellow onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots scrubbed clean and sliced into thin rounds
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger peeled and minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable stock divided
- Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- ½ - 1 cup full-fat coconut milk or heavy cream or half and half
Instructions
- Scrub the sweet potatoes and pierce them all over with a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven at 450°F for 40 to 50 minutes, or until very tender and easily pierced with a fork. Cooking time depends on the size of your sweet potatoes.
- Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon, paprika, nutmeg, cumin, and cayenne pepper and cook for another minute. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Once the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skins, break the sweet potatoes into large chunks, and transfer them to a countertop blender with at least a 6-cup capacity. Add the carrot mixture and 2 cups of vegetable broth to the blender. Puree the mixture until smooth.
- Transfer the sweet potato soup to a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add the remaining 2 cups of vegetable stock and the coconut milk. Cook the soup until creamy and heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and enjoy!
Notes
- You can also puree the soup in a pot with an immersion blender.
- Start with ½ cup of coconut milk and add more if needed until the desired consistency is reached. Heavy cream or half and half can be used instead of coconut milk.
- Garnish bowls of sweet potato soup with frothed coconut milk, chopped nuts or seeds, red pepper flakes, and parsley if desired.
- Leftover sweet potato soup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Marlon Boyd
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try This recipe in the fall!
Ashley Boyd
I hope you love it!