This sweet potato soup recipe is one of my favorite healthy comfort foods. Made with veggies, coconut milk, and spices, it's rich, creamy, and delicious.
Jack and I spent the first official week of fall eating bowl after bowl of this sweet potato soup. I don’t know what it is about creamy orange soup, but for some reason, it just seems like the perfect meal on a chilly day. Its vibrant color brightens up gray, dreary weather, and its velvety broth warms you from the inside out.
Most years, I make my butternut squash soup or pumpkin soup on repeat at the start of fall, but right now, I’m still stuck on this sweet potato soup. It has a rich, sweet, and smoky flavor, with a tangy finish from apple cider vinegar. The texture is wonderfully smooth and creamy, which makes a single bowl feel really substantial.
If you find yourself craving cozy comfort food in the next couple of weeks, this sweet potato soup recipe is exactly what you should make. It’s simple, nourishing, and deliciously unexpected. Crusty bread for serving is optional, but highly recommended.
Sweet Potato Soup Recipe Ingredients
Another thing I love about this sweet potato soup recipe? To make it, you only need a handful of ingredients:
- Sweet potatoes, of course! They give the soup its sweet flavor, vibrant color, and luscious texture.
- An apple – It brings out the sweetness of the sweet potatoes.
- Onion and garlic – For savory depth of flavor.
- Coriander and ginger – They add warm, aromatic flavor to the soup.
- Smoked paprika – It gives the soup its delicious smokiness.
- Extra-virgin olive oil and coconut milk – For richness.
- Vegetable broth – Use store-bought, or make your own.
- Apple cider vinegar – For tang.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make This Sweet Potato Soup
This sweet potato soup recipe is soup-er (I had to!) simple to make. Here’s how it goes:
First, sauté the veggies. In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the onion until it softens, for about 5 minutes. Then, add the sweet potatoes and apple and cook until they start to soften, for another 8 to 10 minutes.
Next, stir in the seasonings. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, and smoked paprika and stir until they’re fragrant. Then, mix in the apple cider vinegar, followed by the broth and the coconut milk. (Tip: I like to reserve 1/4 cup of my coconut milk for garnish. It creates such a pretty white swirl on the orange soup!)
Then, simmer. Bring the soup to a boil, cover the pot, and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender.
Finally, puree the soup! Allow the soup to cool slightly before transferring it to a large blender and pureeing until smooth. (Alternatively, you could use an immersion blender for this step.) If the soup is too thick, blend in a little more broth. When it reaches your desired consistency, season to taste and serve.
That’s it!
Sweet Potato Soup Serving Suggestions
When you’re ready to eat, portion the creamy sweet potato soup into bowls. Garnish it with a swirl of coconut milk, fresh cilantro, Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes, and pepitas for crunch.
I often eat the soup as a meal on its own (with a thick slice of crusty bread, of course!), but it’s also fantastic with a salad or roasted vegetables on the side. Try pairing it with any of these recipes:
- Kale Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing
- Pear Salad with Balsamic and Walnuts
- Roasted Vegetables
- Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
- Roasted Beets with Citrus
Enjoy!
More Favorite Soup Recipes
If you love this sweet potato soup recipe, try one of these delicious soups next:
- Potato Leek Soup
- Cauliflower Soup
- Carrot Ginger Soup
- Black Bean Soup
- Best Lentil Soup
- Wild Rice Soup
- Creamy Tomato Soup
- Or any of these 33 Best Soup Recipes!
Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 heaping teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 medium sweet potatoes (1½ pounds), peeled and cubed
- 1 apple, peeled and chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 to 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 (14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk, reserve 1/4 cup for garnish
Serving Options
- Pepitas, for garnish
- Fresh cilantro, for garnish
- Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes, for garnish
- Crusty bread, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper and sauté until soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and the apple and cook until they begin to soften, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, and smoked paprika, and stir. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and then 3 cups of the broth and the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Let cool slightly and pour the soup into a blender, working in batches if necessary, and blend until smooth. If your soup is too thick, add up to 1 cup more broth and blend. Season to taste and top with a swirl of coconut milk, pepitas, cilantro, and Aleppo pepper, if desired. Serve with crusty bread.
This is a great soup! I added fresh pumpkin chunks and removed one sweet potato. Garnish with EVOO, as I do with all soups. I roasted my own pumpkin seeds and make them Spicy with cayenne to add a spice.
I just don’t love puréed soups and felt like something was missing. I added pickled red onions and pepitas- but kept feeling like something else was missing. It may just be me. We ate the whole thing and calories wise it’s super healthy. Enjoy !
Delicious soup! The recipe was easy to follow and so well balanced. The perfect Fall soup.
I loved this! Warming in a rainy day. Served with cumin roasted chickpeas for a little extra protein!
So easy, perfect for a crisp fall day with a slice of that no knead bread!! Yum!
This was really easy to make and not too sweet.
Sweet, hearty, healthy, and perfect for fall. It makes a lot so I froze half to enjoy again later.
The sweet potato soup is so delicious!!! Definitely my new go-to fall soup recipe! Thank you so much for another great recipe!
This soup was absolutely yummy! Love the different flavors and the vinegar did indeed give it a bright tang. Thanks for sharing!
My local Whole Foods was out of full-fat coconut milk, so I used light coconut milk. The soup was still delicious. I added pepitas, crushed red pepper, and cilantro for a garnish. It added a nice crunch and spicy heat to this yummy soup.
Delicious fall soup. I used chicken broth and topped it with bacon, toasted bread crumbs and cilantro.
Yummy! Added some orange lentils and it tasted delish.
It was raining when I woke up and your Sweet Potato Soup was calling my name! It hit the spot! So creamy and wonderful depth of flavor. I added some farro for some extra grains. Will make it again and again!
This was an easy and delicious recipe. I loved adding the apple. Definitely a keeper! And I love the idea of the Cooking Club!
Delish! Good hearty soup. Not too sweet.
Simple and delicious. A perfect fall soup!
We’re not vegetarian around here, but I try and keep our household as veggie forward as possible without a revolt :]
When I went to make it I realized I didn’t have coriander, but I did have ras el hanout which contains it (as well as ginger, clove, turmeric…) and it turned out delish!
I have every intention of making this soup over and over again. It’s so simple, so fall, and so delicious!
Super silky and delicious! It was a little sweet for me tasting it right out of the pot, but adding the red pepper flakes, pepitas and cilantro to my bowl balanced it out nicely. The swirl of coconut milk looked pretty but I’m not sure I noticed it flavor wise. My husband loved it sans toppings though, and he’s not usually one to go for pureed soups, go figure!
I’m not vegan and I don’t have any vegetable broth. I’d rather not use water just to keep it vegan. For the sake of the contest, must I stay vegan, or am I allowed to use the delicious chicken bone broth I just made?
You can absolutely use any broth you’d like 🙂
Hi! This recipe looks like the perfect fall treat.
Unfortunately, I can’t tolerate coconut products. Do you have any recommended substitutions? Thank you!
Hi Madelyn, I’d make this butternut squash soup which is great for fall but doesn’t use coconut: https://www.loveandlemons.com/butternut-squash-soup/
Hi Madelyn, unless cashews are a problem, I make a lot of my creamy soups with veggie broth and stir in a scoop of “cashew cream” at the end for that creamy effect.
(I soak raw unsalted cashews in very hot water for about an hour or so and process them in my magic bullet blender until very smooth and thick, adding a bit of water to help move things along.)
The soup won’t have that coconut taste, so you might want to up the spices a bit, but you do have that nice creaminess, and some additional protein as a bonus.
Hope that helps. It’s a great recipe worth making!