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 fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground 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 ¼ 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 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.
So easy and yummy. I was skeptical about the apples but the sweetness and savoriness is a perfect balance.
So glad you loved the soup!
this was absolutely incredible. i loved the complex flavors of savory & inherently sweet. the only thing i changed was homemade chicken broth in place of vegetable broth.
we enjoyed the fresh-cilantro-garnished soup with toasted baguette with ghee & black truffle salt. amazing! this one’s definitely a keeper. thank you!
So glad you loved it!
This was delicious!!! I had exactly 1.5 lbs of baked sweet potatoes that I mashed to use on my Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole thar I was preparing in advance of the holiday on a cold November day. My daughter, home from college started talking about how nice it would be to have soup tonight. I am so glad I found this recipe! I paired it with the kale salad with the carrot ginger dressing yiu recommended and we loved that too. We will be making this again and again.
Hi Marchele, that sounds delicious, I’m so glad you all enjoyed the soup!
Loved the soup. Added white navy beans to push protein, pulverized it. Perfect for a beautiful fall day, sun shining and my thoughts are surrounded by comfort soup. It will be a great meal for my parents as they struggle with health issues. Thank you, love your site!
Hi Colleen, great idea to add white beans! So glad you enjoyed the soup.
Can this recipe be scaled up for 8 or do I just make 2 separate batches? With doup especially, scaling up by doubling quantities is frequently a poor idea.
Hi Joe, I think doubling the recipe should work fine. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
This soup is absolutely delicious. Don’t have any hesitation, just make it and delve in to the delicious bowl of decadence.
So glad you loved it!
Delicious as written, and forgiving to substitutions. I typically add a healthy teaspoon of Aleppo pepper to the onions at the start and leave the coconut milk for the very end, since I find it separates when boiled and that allows me to add to taste. When i have cilantro pesto, that is a nice fresh addition on top!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup!
Can i freeze some of this please. It is very delicious but I made a lot
I love sweet potatoes and I am always looking for a different way to use them in recipes. This soup is fantastic yet is so easy to make. This is perfect for a cold winter’s evening.
Hi Robin, I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup!
I made this fantastic soup, but didn’t end up blending it. I lightly smashed it with a potato masher and it was more like a thick stew with soft chunks of sweet potato. I served it with coconut lime jasmine rice, and my family was smitten!
Is there a nutrition breakdown,?
I am making this soup for a Soup Kitchen. We have a bajillion cans of sweet potatoes left over from a Thanksgiving project, so I will be using canned. I love just about anything with smoked paprika, so I am looking forward to this. Wish me luck. I will check in after making and distributing the soup!
Great recipe! I had to substitute a few items as I didn’t have them: used cumin instead of coriander, used heavy cream in place of coconut milk. It was still delicious! This will become a staple for me.
I’m so glad you loved the soup!
THIS IS THE BEST SOUP EVER!! Just made it it is to DIE for!!
Hi Hala, I’m so glad you loved it!
I made this last week, talk about an awesome soup.
Instead of Coriander, I used Garam Marsala.
I love this easy and wholesome recipe. I’ve not tried this with coconut milk, so that was a nice indulgence. End product was delicious! Will eat for the rest of the week. Perfect fall soup.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I had so much leftover produce from Thanksgiving so this soup was perfect to use it all up. The only substitution I made was using a
red bell pepper and about 1/2 cup of carrots in place of an apple. They added the perfect sweetness to compliment the sweet potatoes. I gave some to a friend and she said “im an incredibly picky eater but it tasted like love and friendship and thats all that matters!!!” I think that’s high praise? It tastes great, easy to make/alter, and freezes well, would definitely make again.
Suggestions:
*Use 1/2 can of coconut milk and adding 1/2 a cup of broth to replace it. Depending on the thickness of the milk, watering it down the with the veggie broth loosens it up and prevents the baby food like consistency that comes when thick coconut milk is mixed with thick sweet potatoes.
*Timing is key. Make sure nothing is over or undercooked. Overcooked and the soup will lose its vibrant color and the nutrients in the vegetables will be non-existent, undercooked and raw taste will come through in the finished product.
Is there any way to get nutrition information for this soup?
I absolutely loved this soup! Easy, delicious and nutritious, it’s a clear winner!
I’m wondering if anyone has thoughts on freezing this soup? I’m not familiar enough with coconut milk to know. Tia ?
Hi Anna, I’m glad you enjoyed it! It freezes well 🙂
I made this for the October cooking club and it was so delicious that we finished all of it before taking a photo. Highly recommend! Can’t wait to make a bunch this winter. The only change I made is I didn’t use the smoked paprika.
I don’t have smoked paprika but everything else. Did you substitute regular paprika or just skip it altogether?
regular should be fine!
This soup is delicious! I ended up adding 1.5x the spices and a lot more pepper. I love the rich, sweet, and smoky flavor of this soup. I will definitely be making it again!