This creamy sweet potato soup recipe is simple to make, silky, comforting, and delicious! It's great for making ahead/leftovers.
Love sweet potatoes in soup? Try my Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup, Instant Pot Sweet Potato Soup, or this Spicy Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup!
Why you'll love it
I'm all about cozy soups during the winter, and it's even better if they're hassle free to throw together. As well as being extremely tasty, this sweet potato soup is easily adaptable. You can make it vegan, vegetarian, or dairy free with a few simple tweaks.
This soup really is the ideal fall and winter soup. Sweet potatoes might just be my favorite seasonal vegetable. This soup is nice and thick, nourishing, and its sunny color will brighten up a chilly day! It's an easy to make soup that is sure to find a spot in your rotation.
Everything you'll need for this soup
- Olive oil and butter - to sauté the onion and celery
- Celery and onion - a flavorful classic base to many soups
- Garlic - I can't resist tossing some garlic into basically every soup of mine!
- Chicken broth - it adds another layer of flavor to the broth
- Sweet potatoes - the star of this soup. Choose firm and smooth sweet potatoes with no bruises.
- Smoked paprika - my secret ingredient to make this soup better than all the rest! It lends a delightfully smoky, warm element.
- Sour cream and heavy cream - we're using both in this soup to add a little tang and creamy richness to round out this silky soup!
How to make sweet potato soup
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
In a large pot sauté the onion and celery, then stir in the garlic, followed by the broth, sweet potatoes, and smoked paprika. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender.
Blend the soup using an immersion or regular blender, and then stir in the heavy cream and sour cream. Season with salt & pepper as needed.
Recipe notes and tips
- Feel free to use all/some/none (or even extra!) of the heavy cream and sour cream. This recipe is easy to tweak to your tastes. Or make it a sweet potato soup with coconut milk.
- To make the soup vegetarian, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. To make the soup vegan, sub the butter for oil, use vegetable broth, and use coconut milk instead of the creams.
- I find it easiest to weigh the sweet potatoes at the grocery store since sizing is so subjective. I used 3 small-to-medium sweet potatoes that totaled 2 pounds (before peeling).
- I like to use immersion blenders like this one that are made of plastic vs. metal so it doesn't scratch the inside of my enameled cast iron pots.
Leftovers and storage
- This soup can be frozen, but it will also keep in the fridge for at least 3-4 days in an airtight container. I actually find the flavor gets even better after the first day or so!
- Simply warm it up over a low heat and enjoy.
What to serve this soup with
- This soup is great as an appetizer/starter, or serve it as a main course with some crusty bread or a side salad.
- Try my homemade croutons or drizzle some good olive oil over top.
- I also like to sprinkle some Tony Chachere's seasoning onto my bowl of soup for a little kick and more saltiness!
Give these delicious soup recipes a try
Questions about this cozy soup? Let me know in the comments below!
Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 sticks celery chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth (or veg broth) + more as needed
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled & chopped
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/3 cup sour cream optional, see note
- 1/2 cup heavy/whipping cream optional, see note
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the oil and butter to a soup pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion and celery for about 7-10 minutes or until it starts to brown lightly.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add in the broth, sweet potatoes, and smoked paprika. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Cover the pot with the lid slightly open and reduce the heat and let it simmer rapidly for 25-30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft.
- Carefully blend the soup using an immersion blender or regular blender (you may want to let the soup cool a bit first).
- Stir in the sour cream and heavy cream and season with salt & pepper as needed. The soup will likely be quite thick still, so thin it out with a bit more broth if needed. Taste and adjust... like add more cream or sour cream if needed.
Notes
- I recommend cutting the sweet potatoes fairly small so they cook faster (no larger than 1" pieces or so).
- I love the tanginess the sour cream adds to this soup, and you can't beat the creaminess of heavy cream. The combo makes this soup deliciously silky and offsets some of the sweetness of the potatoes. You can play with the quantities, omit one or both of the creams altogether, or swap for a cup or so of coconut milk if desired.
- Serves 4-6 depending on portion size.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
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