Sweet Potato & Poblano Soup
An easy, comforting cold weather recipe
It’s finally here: soup season. It’s hard to be sad about the days getting colder when it means more nights curled up on the couch with a good movie and a bowl of hot, delicious soup.
I love this blended soup’s balance of savory, sweet, and subtly spicy flavors and how easy it is to customize with different toppings. I make this when I’m tired of eating tomato soup (No offense to tomato soup—I’ve been very clear about how much I love tomatoes) but I still want that creamy, comforting texture.
This soup is also great for people with dietary restrictions. It is vegan and gluten free! Though I must say, adding a dollop of Greek yogurt is one of my favorite ways to enjoy this recipe.
You will need:
1 TB coconut oil
2 medium to large sweet potatoes
2 poblano peppers
1 shallot
2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled & minced
1 TB cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 TB salt
4 c vegetable stock, plus some extra just in case
Juice of 1 lime
For toppings, here are a few suggestions:
Plain Greek yogurt
Chopped cilantro
Siracha
Crispy chickpeas (I drain, pat dry, coat in a little oil andthe same/similar spices as the ones for the soup, then roast in a cast iron skillet)
Sliced or diced red onion
Lime wedges
You will also need:
Large stock pot
Blender or immersion blender
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Start by peeling and dicing the sweet potatoes. This is a blended soup, so there’s no need to worry about any of your produce looking “pretty” before it goes in the pot. However, your blender and your patience will thank you later if you dice the potatoes small. I re-learned this lesson the hard way, so I suggest dicing smaller than what you’ll see below.
Next, cut the tops off the poblano peppers and dice, keeping the seeds. Peel the shallot and mince. Same with the fresh ginger, if you haven’t done so already.
Heat the stock pot on the stove on medium. When it’s hot, drop in the coconut oil. Once the oil melts, add the shallots and fresh ginger and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture is soft and fragrant. Next, add the poblano peppers and cook another 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the sweet potatoes, salt, cumin, and cayenne. Stir to coat everything in the spices. Put the lid on the pot and leave it for 10 minutes. This “sweats” the potatoes, or starts to soften them.
When those 10 minutes are up, pour in the vegetable stock and stir again. Put the lid back on and let the soup simmer for at least 30 minutes. You’ll know this step is done when the sweet potatoes are cooked through and tender. They should fall apart when you stick a fork in them. This step is also important to making the blending process easier—you want those potatoes to break down without issue!
Now, time to blend. If you have an immersion blender, stick it right in the pot and blend until the soup is smooth, with no potato chunks left. If you are using a regular blender, ladle just a few scoops of soup into the blender at a time and blend on high. It helps if you have a second pot to transfer the blended soup into. If you are having trouble blending, you may need to add more vegetable stock. I did that with this particular batch, because my sweet potatoes were so large.
Once your soup is blended, squeeze in the lime juice and stir. Ladle the soup into a bowl, top it with whatever you like, and enjoy!
I want to hear how this recipe went for you. What toppings do you use? Leave a comment and let me know!