Amazingly Quick and Healthy Sweet Potato Soup (30 mins)
- Updated on Oct 26, 2016
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This Sweet Potato Soup is so damn good that not one, but TWO people with peanut allergies couldn’t resist having a bowl after they witnessed it being cooked.
TWO. Sure, they had to take a load of anti-allergy pills afterwards, and probably felt rough for days, but they decided it was worth it.
Because it IS that good.
Before we continue however, we really do NOT recommend trying this recipe if you have any sort of peanut allergy.
Just wanted to put that out there. I repeat, if you have a peanut allergy, do not eat this dish!
Right, now that’s out of the way, let’s crack on.
So why exactly is this dish so good I hear (well, imagine) you asking? It all comes down to three reasons.
1. The list of ingredients. This is one of those dishes where the herbs and spices all compliment each other – they all add their unique spin to the dish. But the best part?
If you don’t have something, just leave it out. It’ll still be delicious.
2. You don’t have to do much. Get all the ingredients ready, chop a few things and chuck them all into a big pot together. Use a hand liquidiser or blender at the end and you’re done.
3. So little to wash up! I hate washing up and will avoid it whenever possible.
This is one of those recipes that requires very little – you’ll probably just have a pot, a knife, a blender and a chopping board at the end. Boom. More time for The Walking Dead.
This sweet potato soup is not just vegetarian, it’s a healthy sweet potato soup too.
Vegetarian Sweet Potato Soup – Health Benefits
I could write a page about pretty much all of the ingredients in this soup, but at this time of the year it would be rude not to focus on sweet potatoes.
They’re awesome and contain soooooo many essential nutrients. And the best thing?
The huge amounts of beta-carotene need a little fat to really get the best of them, so it would be worse NOT to add some delicious olive oil/peanut butter to this recipe 🙂
Some side benefits also include a reduction in blood-sugar level spiking, blood pressure and artery hardness (1). Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?
Talking of healthy eating – we’re running a 30 Day Healthy Veggie Challenge! You can find out more here (and even see us in video). Can’t wait, see you there!
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bell pepper, red (yellow or red go well but any will do)
- 2 cloves garlic (2 cloves = 1 tsp dried garlic)
- 0.7 inches ginger, fresh (0.7 inches = 2 cm = 1 tsp dried ginger)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 large sweet potato (approx 300 g/ 10 oz each; a total of 2.5 cups chopped)
- ½ cup tomato puree
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium if necessary)
- 2 tbsp vinegar (lemon juice can also be used)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ lime (juiced)
- peanuts (to garnish)
- ¼ cup cilantro/coriander, fresh (Or other fresh herbs: go a bit wild with them – make it your signature dish by throwing in any and all of the following herbs that you have: basil, parsley, coriander, oregano)
Instructions
- Dice the onions, bell pepper, garlic, ginger and sweet potatoes.
- Throw the onions into the oil in a pot on low to medium heat. Let the onions cook slowly for about five minutes – they should begin to turn clear.
- Add the bell pepper, garlic and ginger to the pot. If you’re using dried herbs, add them now. Add the cinnamon and cayenne pepper too. Cook for another two minutes and then add the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and tomato.
- Add a splash of broth and stir well.
- Chuck in the sweet potatoes and rest of the broth, and simmer on a medium heat. If you’re using fresh herbs, add them now. Stir occasionally and after 10-15 minutes check the sweet potatoes are soft (poke one with a knife and it should slide in).
- Season with salt and pepper, maple syrup and lime juice and give another stir. If you used a cinnamon stick then fish it out now.
- Using a hand liquidiser or (blender if you don’t have one), give the soup a blend. That’s it – done!
- Garnish with peanuts and serve with a side if wanted – fresh bread is an obvious choice!
NOTES
Nutrition
Comments
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43 comments
Not sure what did wrong but the soup was hardly edible…way too sweet.
Oh dear! I’m not sure what you did wrong either Sandra. Although it’s a relatively sweet soup, it sounds like yours got way overbalanced. Try with less maple syrup and more soy sauce and vinegar, perhaps? Good luck!
Hi there!
Great recipe! I wanted to report out for others who may not be fully veggie, like myself. I’ve made this twice so far, and have found that it pairs well with Jennie O lean breakfast sausage (comes in a tube-like package, looks pretty unsavory out of the package, but cooks up well). I cooked it in a different pan while I waited for the rest of the soup to simmer. Worked out perfectly timing-wise. The sweetness of the sausage brings out the sweetness of the maple syrup, sweet potatoes, and bell pepper while balancing the spice nicely. I also preferred the yellow to red bell pepper, but that’s just me.
Thanks for the amazing recipe!
You’re welcome Dani, and thank you for the feedback!
I love you guys! I love your recipes – in fact, your 30 Day Plan was instrumental in my husband converting me from a carnivore to a vegetarian. So imagine how dismayed I felt when I read your peanut comment concerning this soup. I’m sure it was unintentional, but working in the school system, we are so very cautious about food allergies… especially ones that often can be deadly, as with peanuts.
Hi April! Really glad you’ve enjoyed the site and found the plan so useful. We do understand that allergies are a very serious matter, and we do clearly say that people with a peanut allergy should stay away from the dish. The top part is true – two people with peanut allergies really did try the dish – but obviously their allergies are not severe. But thank you for the comment – at least people will pay close attention to the ingredients!
I’m afraid I’ts not healthy for me with so much salt, sugar and that you’re more intertested in flavor that in health. I wish you showed cup rather than grams.
Hi Ron, thanks for the comment. 2 large sweet potatoes is roughly 2.5 cups of chopped potato, the recipe is being updated now. With regards to sugar, most of that comes from the naturally occuring sugar in the sweet poatoes themselves. There are only two tablespoons of maple syrup in the whole recipe (that’s half a spoon per serving), and peanut butter should never have added sugar if you’re buying the right stuff or making your own. If salt is an issue then I’d recommend getting hold of a low-sodium vegetable stock and soy sauce, as that’s where the majority of it comes from. Hope that helps!
This soup is amazing, I love it! Thank you for the great recipe 🙂
You’re very welcome Feline, thank you for telling us! Sweet potatoes rock 🙂
Oh Howie,
I just had a bowl of your sweet potato soup for supper and it was indeed DELISH!
Actually, it’s one of THE best soup recipes that I’ve ever tasted. A HUGE thanks to
you guys for creating and sharing such an awesome recipe. I’ll be checking out your
other sweet potato recipes soon. Keep up the great work and all the best for the holiday season.
Ceil
Woahh, thanks for this awesome feedback, Ceil! Actually, I’ll have to give the props over to Kat, who created the dish. I’ll let her know 😀
Enjoy the Christmas Season as well! 😀
Thanks for your good wishes, Howie. 🙂 Yes, please tell Kat that her recipe rocks! I look forward to trying more of your soup recipes in
the near future and will drop you another line when I do. Until then, keep well!
I’m sure the flavor is good but I see too much salt for 1 serving and also potassium, at least for me.
Hi Ron! Thanks for the feedback. I double checked the nutrition card again. There was a mistake regarding the potassium. I picked the wrong values for sweet potatoes. Now it’s slightly less. Thanks again!
In general I think about 30% of the daily recommended potassium (or even 40%) in one serving is completely fine. You’re basically eating half a sweet potato with that serving.
Regarding the salt, I absolutely see your point. Soups often are on the very salty side of the spectrum. Check out those canned soups from the store, it’s insane! As for this soup – the broth and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce contribute the most salt. I personally think it’s alright. But you could get both in a low sodium version to make things lighter; that would change the balance sheet a lot! 🙂
You’re very helpful Howie, thank you.
Ron
You’re welcome! 🙂