Sweet Potato and Chipotle Soup

Sweet potato and chipotle soup

I know it’s not exactly soup season anymore as spring is in full swing and summer is around the corner, but for me, it’s soup season anytime of year. I mean, my all time favorite soup is my heirloom tomato soup, which is basically a summer and early fall soup. I make batches upon batches of that soup and don’t mind making it in 90-degree heat, because it’s that good. I wasn’t planning on posting anymore soup recipes for the season, but I saw this recipe in It’s All Good: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Greatir?t=marmamcoo 20&l=as2&o=1&a=1455522716Gwyneth’s new cookbook and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I made it up, and was happy that I did.

This soup is wonderfully creamy, but without the cream, as it’s dairy free and vegan to boot. Woo hoo! I love that it’s made with simple whole-food ingredients and most of them I already had stocked in my pantry, besides the sweet potatoes that is. The soup is sweet and creamy but with a spicy kick to it from the chipotle. John and I loved this soup. The kids liked it, but it’s not their favorite soup. They seemed to like it a bit more when I threw on some homemade croutons, as they liked having that extra texture.

I know sweet potatoes aren’t exactly in season this time of year, as they’re more of a fall vegetable, but at my local market they are selling them up by the boatloads. Most supermarkets label them as Yams. The ones I used were called Garnet Yams, and they tend to be a bit sweeter than a sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are chock full of heath benefits. They are heart healthy because they contain a large amount of B6, they’re also rich in beta carotene (vitamin A) which is an important antioxidant and cancer preventer, vitamin A is also great for your eye health, which is great for me because I think I might need some bifocals. They’re also rich in vitamin C and E, which are potent antioxidant vitamins that play an important role in disease prevention and longevity. Sweet potatoes also are high in fiber (about 7 grams per serving) and they are a great source of manganese, which helps you metabolize carbohydrates, so basically  you feel full longer because it helps stabilize the appetite. Who knew that sweet potatoes were chock-full of all that nutrition. You can make this soup up now if you see some yams at your local market, or bookmark this for fall.  Don’t worry, I will be sure to remind you all about this soup come fall.

Sweet potato and chipotle soup

sweet potato and chipotle soup:

recipe from It’s all Good
serves 4

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 red onion, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 5-6 sprigs of cilantro, sprigs tied together with a piece of kitchen string
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle in adobo (or more/less if you like) – I actually used this easy and convenient chipotle adobo paste from The Art of Chipotle.
  • 2 large sweet potatoes (also called Garnet yams), peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups) – To get 6 cups you want to get 2 really large sweet potatoes. I weighed mine and it was a bit over 2.5-pounds. You may want to get a small one as well to slice, pan fry and serve up on top of the soup. 
  • 6 cups vegetable stock

Here’s the chipotle paste I used below. To me, it’s so much easier than opening up a can and dealing with the mess and hassle of mincing up tiny chiles. All you have to do is insert your measuring spoon and voila, you’re done. I also love that I can store the leftovers in the fridge and re-use it again and again. I found this paste at my local Whole Foods next to the canned chilies.

Chipotle paste
Let’s prep all of your ingredients! I swear that prepping ingredients always saves time when it comes to cooking, because I know I have everything I need for the recipe and it’s all ready to go when I start cooking. Below is a photo of how I truly organize everything when I cook. As you can see, I don’t make my own vegetable stock, maybe someday, but for now I love that brand below from Imagine. The carton contains 4 cups, so since this recipe calls for 6 cups, I just measured out 2 additional cups from another carton. Tie up the cilantro sprigs with leaves attached with some kitchen string (excuse my photo below of the sprigs, I originally misinterpreted the instructions when I took the photos and removed the cilantro leaves, so please keep the leaves on the cilantro). Measure out the cumin and salt and put them together in a small bowl. Dice up your red onion and mince your garlic cloves. I always throw the garlic on top of the onion since they will be going into the pot together. Dice up the 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotles in adobo or just use the paste that I showed above. Peel and dice up your sweet potatoes. If you’re not sure how to peel and dice a sweet potato, I will show you below.

Ingredients for chipotle sweet potato soup

Below is a picture of the sweet potates, see how huge they are? They weighed a little over 2.5-pounds.

Two sweet potatoes
Wash up and then peel the potatoes with a vegetable peeler.

Peeling the sweet potatoes
Cut off the end pieces, and then cut the potatoes in half.

Peeled sweet potatoes
Then cut those potato halves in half.

Halved sweet potatoes
Then cut those halves into strips, and try to make them all about the same width if you can.

Sweet potato sliced in strips
Cut the strips into small cubes (about 1-inch cubes). They don’t have to be exact in size. You want to have 6 cups of diced sweet potato.

Cubed sweet potato
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat.

Add in the onion, garlic, cilantro sprigs (with leaves attached not just the stems like my below photo shows), cumin and salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened, but not browned, about 6-8 minutes.

Onion garlic cilantro in a pot

Sautéed onion garlic and cilantro in a pot
Add in the chipotle and the sweet potatoes, and give a quick stir to combine.

Chipotle and sweet potato in pot before cooking
Add in the vegetable stock and then turn up the heat to high and let the soup come to a boil, about 8-10 minutes.

Soup ready to be simmered
When the soup comes to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and let the soup simmer uncovered, until the sweet potatoes are very soft, (just pierce them with a fork) about 10-15 minutes. I made two batches of this soup and my potatoes were very soft at 12 minutes both times. The original recipe said 30 minutes, but I think they might have made the sweet potatoes chunks larger than I did. Timing will vary, so just test the potatoes at 10 minutes to see where they’re at. Below is what the soup looks like before it’s ready to be pureed.

Ready to be pureed out
Before you puree the soup you need to REMOVE AND DISCARD THE CILANTRO, and turn off the heat.

Puree the soup using either a hand-held immersion blender or a regular blender. If you’re using a blender, you will want to puree the soup  in 2 batches, pouring the first pureed batch into a bowl while you puree the second batch. Return both pureed batches to the soup pot after.  Tip: If you’re using a blender, wipe out the soup pot while you’re pureeing the soup, so that you have a nice clean pot to pour the pureed soup back into.

Blended sweet potato soup
Keep the soup warm until ready to serve.

Sweet potato soup in pot
John and I love this soup topped with some sautéed sliced sweet potatoes (which I show you how to make below).  My kids love it topped with some of the croutons that I make for my carrot ginger soup. We all like having some texture when eating a soup.

If you have some leftover sweet potato, try pan frying a few pieces to jazz up the soup. Just peel and thinly slice the sweet potato. Slice up as many slices as you want for each bowl. I usually slice up 2 per bowl.

Sliced sweet potato on a cutting board
Get out a skillet and add a bit of olive oil.  Heat the olive oil over medium heat and then add the sliced squash.

Fry the squash till browned on both sides.

Pan frying sweet potato

Finished pan fried sweet potato

Top the pan fried squash on top of the soup for a beautiful presentation.

Sweet potato and chipotle soup

With love Jackie

Sweet Potato and Chipotle Soup

0.0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Jackie
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cook time

30

minutes
Total time

45

minutes

    Ingredients

    • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

    • 1 red onion, finely diced (about 1½ cups)

    • 2 garlic cloves, minced

    • 5-6 sprigs of cilantro, sprigs tied together with a piece of kitchen string

    • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin

    • ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

    • 1½ teaspoons chipotle in adobo (or more/less if you like) - I actually used this easy and convenient chipotle adobo paste from The Art of Chipotle.

    • 2 large sweet potatoes (also called Garnet yams), peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups) - To get 6 cups you want to get 2 really large sweet potatoes. I weighed mine and it was a bit over 2.5-pounds. You may want to get a small one as well to slice, pan fry and serve up on top of the soup.

    • 6 cups vegetable stock

    Directions

    • I used a chipotle paste instead of whole chipotles. To me, it's so much easier than opening up a can and dealing with the mess and hassle of mincing up tiny chiles. All you have to do is insert your measuring spoon and voila, you're done. I also love that I can store the leftovers in the fridge and re-use it again and again.

    • Let's prep all of your ingredients! I swear that prepping ingredients always saves time when it comes to cooking, because I know I have everything I need for the recipe and it's all ready to go when I start cooking. Tie up the cilantro sprigs with some kitchen string. Measure out the cumin and salt and put them together in a small bowl. Dice up your red onion and mince your garlic cloves. I always throw the garlic on top of the onion since they will be going into the pot together. Dice up the 1½ teaspoons chipotles in adobo or just use the paste that I showed above. Peel and dice up your sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes. If you're not sure how to peel and dice a sweet potato, click to the original post and I show you how.

    • Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat.

    • Add in the onion, garlic, cilantro sprigs, cumin and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened, but not browned, about 6-8 minutes.

    • Add in the chipotle and the sweet potatoes, and give a quick stir to combine.

    • Add in the vegetable stock and then turn up the heat to high and let the soup come to a boil, about 8-10 minutes.

    • When the soup comes to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and let the soup simmer uncovered, until the sweet potatoes are very soft, (just pierce them with a fork) about 10-15 minutes. I made two batches of this soup and my potatoes were very soft at 12 minutes both times. The original recipe said 30 minutes, but I think they might have made the sweet potatoes chunks larger than I did. Timing will vary, so just test the potatoes at 10 minutes to see where they're at.

    • Before you puree the soup you need to REMOVE AND DISCARD THE CILANTRO, and turn off the heat.

    • Puree the soup using either a hand held immersion blender or a regular blender. If you’re using a blender, you will want to puree the soup in 2 batches, pouring the first pureed batch into a bowl while you puree the second batch. Return both pureed batches to the soup pot after. Tip: If you’re using a blender, wipe out the soup pot while you're pureeing the soup, so that you have a nice clean pot to pour the pureed soup back into.

    • Keep the soup warm until ready to serve.

    • If you have some leftover sweet potato, try pan frying a few pieces to jazz up the soup. Just peel and thinly slice the sweet potato. Slice up as many slices as you want for each bowl. I usually slice up 2 per bowl.

    • Get out a skillet and add a bit of olive oil. Heat the olive oil over medium heat and then add the sliced squash.

    • Fry the squash till browned on both sides.

    • Top the pan fried squash on top of the soup for a beautiful presentation.

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      28 thoughts on “Sweet Potato and Chipotle Soup”

      1. Oh yum! This looks so good. I didn’t know they sold chipotle paste, now isn’t that genius? I have always done the peppers in the can and chopped them up, this is sooo much better! I love soups in the fall and winter and even if its not quite soup season, it’s good to know about this. I think I’ll try the heirloom soup too this summer.
        Hope you are doing well! I’m not posting much this week, its a busy week and just not as focused on the blog but I will get back to it. Jake’s senior prom is this weekend. Eek! So excited for him. 🙂 xoxo, Sharon

        1. Hey Sharon! This paste rocks and I’m never going back to the canned version anymore. I despised cutting up those peppers with all of those seeds. Try the heirloom tomato soup, it will become one of your faves. I have friends who are making it now and spending the $6.99/pound for the heirlooms because they love this soup that much. I’m not going to go there yet and I also want to wait till it’s truly heirloom season and they are extra ripe.
          I’ve noticed that you haven’t posted since Friday. I went to your site this morning. I totally get it. I was up late last night trying to get this post out. SO excited that it’s Jake’s senior prom. I can’t wait to see pics, so if you don’t post them, please email me some! Have a great week girl and enjoy your break from blog land! xoxo, Jackie

      2. Hi Marin mama! I made this soup from Gwyneth’s new cookbook as well and loved it. Your instructions are so much easier to follow though. I didn’t know how large or small to dice the sweet potatoes, so I’m happy that you show those detailed steps. I didn’t make the sweet potato medallions, but will next time as yours look so pretty. 🙂 Katie

        1. Hi Katie! Don’t you just love her cookbook? I love it so much better than the first one. It’s seriously right up there with my barefoot cookbooks. I was a bit stumped at how many or what size sweet potatoes would yield 6 cups. The recipe said 2 large sweet potatoes, but I got 2 extra large ones and they made exactly 6 cups. I wasn’t sure about the size for the cubes either, but winged it and the soup tasted great, so I guess I got tit right 🙂 Thanks for stopping by! xoxo, Jackie

      3. Can’t wait to try this recipe! Just last week I made an asparagus soup (very similar recipe except asparagus & shallots, no chipotle) that was also sooo creamy without the cream. I was going to substitute broccoli and cauliflower but think I’ll try yours next. Bet butternut squash would be good too…ah, the possibilities are endless 🙂

        1. Hi Jyllzie! Ok, I so want that recipe for the asparagus soup, as I have so much asparagus around the house. Can you email it to me? I love soups that taste creamy but without the cream. My heirloom tomato soup tastes like that and there is no cream nor stock, just the tomatoes, believe it or not. It’s amazing! Once the heirlooms are in full season, you need to give that soup a try as well. Ok, I’m looking forward to that asparagus soup recipe 🙂 xoxo, Jackie

      4. I was going to avoid buying Gwyneth’s new book but if it has more where this came from I’m in. I am a huge soup fan. They are so easy to make and loaded with real and healthy ingredients. Do you take the prep pictures in your kitchen? If so I’m jealous of all that natural light! In Manhattan I’m lucky to have a small kitchen window but it doesn’t get great light!

        1. Hi Reba! Yes, those shots are taken in my kitchen. We have a huge skylight over the kitchen island as well as 2 big windows by the sink. I usually take most of my photos in our den, believe it or not, as I get beautiful light that streaming in from my french doors. That’s where I take all of my finished product photos. I just take my rimmed baking sheet and put all of my stuff on it and use it as a tray. I cart it back and forth to the den for photo shoots. You should find a room in your house that gets great natural light and stage your photos there. My kitchen has great light, but sometimes it’s not the direct light that I’m looking for!
          Get the book, it’s amazing! I hesitated as well, but I have already made 10 recipes thus far, so that’s saying a lot! She has some great juices in there as well and I know you like to juice 🙂 Have a great day girl! xoxo, Jackie

      5. I made a sweet potato/red pepper/Vita-Mix soup last fall and loved it. Thanks for the reminder! Sounds like Gwenyth’s book is a winner! I’ve heard great things about it and your soup turned out wonderful, Jackie!

      6. Look at those 2 cute little sweet potatoes in the center of that soup. Could you be any more creative! Wow! Impressed my friend and now kinda jealous that I had a salad tonight while you were basking in the glow of this amazing soup! Life is so busy right now- being pulled in a million different directions but no matter who i visit I always have to come see what you are cooking up. You inspire me girl! Hope you had a wonderful mothers day and a great week! Love ya

        1. Hey girl! I didn’t actually have this soup for dinner tonight 🙂 I did have some for lunch though paired my newest addiction, my kale and ricotta salad. We had burgers tonight with asparagus and sweet potato fries. YumI I ate too much and then proceeded to make a s’more and eat that as well. Oh well! I’m off to the gym today. I can’t wait to hear all your news! Have a great week as well. xoxo, Jackie

      7. Jackie,
        This looks so good! I saw this on Pinterest first. Last night I was reading your blog and my son got a glimpse of that photo of what looks like a white pizza with asparagus….where is that? Patrick reminded me again this morning that he wants me to make that! Nothing like a beautiful photo to spark an interest!
        xo
        annie

        1. Hi Annie! I love that Patrick looks over your shoulder while you’re reading blogs as well. Zoe always does that with me, especially when I’m looking at blogs with sweets 🙂
          The pizza he was referring to was the pizza I posted in my weekly menu post. I will post that asparagus pizza with gruyere cheese next week, but I’m sure in the meantime you being the amazing cook that you are, will create your own version. It’s truly a simple pizza. I haven’t been on pinterest lately, but went bonkers pinning last night! So fun, but a total time sucker 🙂 Have a great day Annie. xoxo, Jackie

      8. Hurray!! I’ve sorted out what I was doing wrong leaving the comments!! This soup looks wonderful – I’ve got to find some chipotle paste! I’m still loving her book too 🙂
        mary x

        1. HI Mary! Glad you figured out how to comment. I received your email and tried a few test comments and they worked so I couldn’t figure out why you were having problems, but luckily you figured it out. I used google plus most of the time when leaving comments because I always forget my word press password and it’s just too hard to set that up. Your local Whole Foods should have the paste, if not, request that they carry it. I do that all the time 🙂 xoxo, Jackie

      9. Jeanette Pratt

        Thank you for posting this recipe. I recently had it at a Resturant and asked our server if the chef would share his recipe. Of course, he wouldn’t so I googled it today and found it.. I recently gave Gwyenth’s new cookbook to my daughter…I may have to get myself one

        1. Hi Jeanette! You’re so welcome! Bummer that the restaurant didn’t share their recipe, but luckily you found it via my blog. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂 xoxo, Jackie

      10. I was so in love with this recipe that I made it in the summer even though it’s really more of a fall/autumn dish. I threw everything in the slow cooker and let it cook while I was at work. Used the immersion blender to puree it. Tasty!

        You also inspired me to make my own chipotle sauce, I whizzed up a can of chipotle peppers in adobo and froze them in a plastic-wrap lined ice cube tray. Excellent!

        You can read about my experiences making this recipe at http://bloginspiredcooking.blogspot.com/2013/07/out-of-season-sweet-potato-chipotle-soup.html

        1. Hi Jessica! I’m so happy that you made this soup. Soup is wonderful to me anytime of year and I’m actually making up a batch of my heirloom tomato soup as I type this up. I love that you used the slow cooker, what a great idea. I also love that you made your own chipotle sauce. You go girl. I can’t wait to check out your post! xoxo, Jackie

      11. Made this tonight and it was delicious! I went a little heavy handed on the chipotle’s but it was still tasty. I love the smokiness of it. It was super easy to make, too. Served it with a simple side salad and it was the perfect meal!

      12. I googled this recipe this morning as I needed to print it for a friend and found your experience with it. I have been receiving notifications when you post a new blog for a few years. You inspire me. Thanks for the tip on the chipotle adobe paste. I had been using the canned and honestly never bothered to chop it, I just broke it up with my stirring spoon. I knew the immersion blender would take care of it completely in the end.

        So I fell in love with this recipe awhile back as I bought the cookbook hot off the presses. We eat it year round. I appreciated reading your individual touches in the prep, so I wanted to share mine. I do not tie up the cilantro. I blend it in at the end and have never had anyone not love this soup. We top ours with Go Raw sprouted pumpkin seeds and ocassionally, Naturalissimo pancetta or bacon.

        Making a batch today!!

        1. Hi Susan! First off, I’m happy to hear that you subscribe to the blog! Thanks for sticking by me over the years as I figure things out! I LOVE, LOVE that chipotle adobe paste. It’s so easy to use and there is no mess involved! Thanks for your tip on the cilantro. I may try that next time! I LOVE Go Raw sprouted pumpkin seeds. They are the bomb! I top them on my salads all of the time. Cheers Susan 🙂 xoxo, Jacquelyn

      13. I just had Chipotle Sweet Potato soup for lunch from my cafeteria. Ioved it so much, I immediately looked for a recipe. I have to cook for one, so making a batch will need to be eaten for several meals in a row or better yet, get frozen for future meals when I get a hankering for this soup. Can this be put up in the freezer? I know cubed potatoes on other soups don’t hold up so well, but I’m not sure about pureed sweet potatos. Have you tried it? Would you suggest it?

        1. Hi Diane! To be honest, I’m not a HUGE fan of using my freezer. I find that when I freeze soups or sauces that they just don’t taste the same when I re-heat them. I know that sounds weird, but maybe it’s my freezer 🙂 This recipe doesn’t make a ton of soup, (4 servings) so I think you will totally eat it up before you have to put it in the freezer. With that being said, if you do decide to freeze a batch, go for it as soups with pureed potatoes freeze well. Here’s a link I found that tells you all about freezing and re-heating soups. Very informative! http://www.soupchick.com/2011/09/how-to-freeze-and-reheat-soup.html
          If you do make this soup and freeze it, let me know how it tastes when you re-heat it. I am curious and it would be helpful to my readers! Thanks Diane! I hope you LOVE this soup! 🙂 xoxo, Jacquelyn

      14. Elizabeth Wright

        I love this recipe but I’m here to offer a cheap, simple, and widely available alternative to the chipotle paste your recipe calls for. Not all of us live near a Whole Foods, and we don’t all have a ton of money either.

        Canned chipotle in adobo from Goya and/or La Costeña is sold at both the Piggly Wiggly and the IGA in the small, beautiful Florida Panhandle city of Apalachicola where I live. It sells for around $1.50 for a 7 oz. can, less than one-third the price of the cheapest available “gourmet” chipotle paste I found online, and is most likely available even in small grocery stores in any community with a Hispanic/Latino population.

        If you go with the canned alternative, you’ll have to spend a full 10 minutes scooping it out of the can, dumping it in your blender or food processor and pureeing it. Then put it in a container other than the tin it came in (which will eventually rust and impart a nasty metallic flavor to your chipotle paste) for long-term storage in your fridge or freezer.

        The paste doesn’t freeze totally solid so you can freeze it all in a single container and spoon out what you need. But I find it easier to freeze small single-use portions in ice cube trays or mini-muffin tins, or even as dollops on a baking sheet like cookie dough, which you can transfer to some sort of freezer container for long-term storage once they’re frozen.

        All the detail I’ve provided may have made this sound complicated, but it’s really not. You spend a little time when you first puree and package the chipotle paste, and then you’re good to go for a very long time. It’s only a small savings but those savings add up and allow me to buy things like organic produce and imported cheeses.

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