Sweet Potato Lentil Soup – easy to make, delicious, hearty and satisfying vegan soup. Blended sweet potato is a creamy addition to traditional lentil soup.
Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
This recipe for Sweet Potato Lentil Soup may look daunting at first glance but it’s really a simple recipe.
The soup is made in two steps – the lentil soup and then the sweet potato mixture. You first put the soup on to cook. And secondly, while the soup is cooking, you prepare the creamy blended sweet potato. Both are ready to be combined at just about the same time.
As you prepare the recipe, you will be chopping extra onions and garlic for both parts – the soup part and the sweet potato part. Also, you’ll set aside a portion of the vegetable broth for the sweet potato mixture.
Please be very careful when blending the sweet potato, with a hand-held immersion blender or a regular blender, because it will be very hot and you don’t want to risk getting splattered upon!
Creamy Blended Sweet Potato Mixture
The soup only takes about 1 hour from start to finish. It’s easy to make for a weeknight meal, especially if you prep your vegetables ahead of time, the total time will be shorter.
If you have any leftovers, they taste great the next day – just thin the soup a little with some vegetable broth and heat and eat!
This recipe is hearty and delicious. It’s almost stew-like and very satisfying. The addition of the creamy sweet potatoes to the lentils is such a compliment and enhances a basic lentil soup so much.
And adding a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to each bowl just before eating, really adds an extra brightness that I highly recommend you try.
Benefits of this Soup
- Good source of fiber from both lentils and sweet potatoes
- Lentils are a good source of plant-based protein
- Gluten-free
- Hearty and satiating
- Everyday ingredients
Here is the recipe:
Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, diced, PLUS an additional 1/2 cup to set aside
- 1 cup carrots, medium dice
- 1 cup celery, medium dice
- 3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced, PLUS 2 more minced cloves to set aside
- 1 1/4 cups uncooked brown lentils
- 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes, with juice, regular or fire roasted
- 8 cups vegetable broth - SET ASIDE 2 cups of this
- 2 - 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, minced or 1/4 - 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tsp olive oil or avocado oil to saute in
- fresh lemon wedges to serve (Adds brightness and HIGHLY recommended)
For Blended Sweet Potato Mixture
- 1 1/2 cups mashed previously cooked sweet potato or garnet yam, peel removed OR 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed and steamed until soft and then mashed
- 1/2 cups diced onions, that you set aside from above instructions
- 2 cloves garlic, minced, that you set aside from above instructions
- 2 cups vegetable broth, that you set aside from above instructions
- 1 Tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce ( I used light soy sauce )
Instructions
For The Basic Lentil Soup
- Add the olive oil or the avocado oil to a heavy bottom soup pot or Dutch oven and turn heat on to medium high.
- Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook together, stirring regularly for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Then add the minced garlic and stir together for 15 - 30 seconds.
- Add the uncooked brown lentils, canned diced tomatoes with juice, and stir into the mixture.
- And finally add 6 cups of the vegetable broth, 2 -3 bay leaves, the thyme and salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a boil, stir and cover.
- Turn down the heat and cook for about 30 - 45 minutes, stirring regularly, until the lentils are done. When the lentils are done, remove the bay leaves, **cooking time will vary for the lentils according to how fresh the lentils are.**
For The Sweet Potato Mixture
- While the lentil soup is cooking, get another pot or frying pan and saute the additional 1/2 cup on onions that you set aside, in olive or avocado oil until soft.
- Add the 2 cloves of minced garlic that you set aside and stir into the onions and cook for about 15 seconds.
- Add the 2 cups vegetable broth that you had set aside and simmer together for a few minutes and then stir in the previously cooked and mashed sweet potatoes or yams, and let cook for a minute or so, stirring regularly.
- Stir in the 3 Tbsp soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste.
- Blend this mixture until it's smooth and creamy with either a hand-held immersion blender, or very carefully, BECAUSE IT'S VERY HOT, add it to a high speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Combine Sweet Potato Mixture and Lentil Soup
- When the basic lentil soup is cooked and the hot sweet potato mixture is complete, which should be about the same time, stir the blended sweet potato mixture into the basic lentil soup and it's ready to eat.
- Serve each portion with a lemon wedge to squeeze into the soup. It adds a special brightness that's very flavor enhancing and I HIGHLY recommend it.**This soup thickens as it cools and is refrigerated. When reheating, just add enough vegetable broth to the soup to get the consistency you want.**
Inspired by: The Spruce
For More Soup & Stew recipes, check these out:
- Let me know how you like this recipe or if you’re wanting to make it and please leave a comment below and a rating. I’d really appreciate it!
Thanks so much friends,
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