Cheddar Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup
This Cheddar Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup gets a smoky kick from chipotle and a tangy burst from sharp cheddar making it an awesome vegetarian Fall meal. Gluten free and grain free, too!
Table of contents
Why We Love This Cheddar Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup
This Cheddar Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup is silky smooth and has tons of flavor from smoky chipotle chili pepper and cheddar cheese! A bit of cider vinegar adds contrast and brightness and helps balance the sweetness from the onion and sweet potatoes. Bonus that this yummy soup is vegetarian, gluten free and grain free! Each two-cup serving is filling enough to serve as a vegetarian main course along with a hunk of crusty whole-wheat bread.
While we are on a sweet potato kick don’t miss trying this super yummy, creamy and nutty Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup and for a real deep dive into the delicious world of soup check out these awesome 35 Healthy Soup Recipes. You can never have too much soup!
Key Ingredients For Cheddar Sweet Potato Soup
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a superfood and are chocked full of good for you vitamins and nutrients. Their mildly sweet flavor and starchy texture make them a perfect main soup ingredient.
Chipotle Chili In Adobo
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce are jalapeños that have been dried, smoked and placed in a spiced tangy tomato sauce. The slightly spicy and smoky flavor pairs wells with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. For the leftover chipotles, check out what to do with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
Sharp Cheddar
The nutty tangy flavor of sharp cheddar balances out the smoky chipotles and sweet potatoes, as well as adding a delicious creamy texture to the soup.
Vegetable Broth or Chicken Broth
I like to use Imagine No Chicken to keep this vegetarian. Or you can use chicken broth. I do not like most vegetable broths on the market, so if you are not vegetarian and cannot find Imagine No Chicken, I recommend chicken broth for better flavor.
Other Ingredients For This Recipe
- olive oil
- yellow onion, diced
- celery
- salt
- cumin
- cinnamon
- cider vinegar
- scallions
Step By Step Instructions
Step 1: Sauté the onions and celery and add the spices.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and salt and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is softened and starting to brown, this gives the soup more flavor . Stir in cumin and cinnamon and cook until the spices are fragrant. Cooking the spices in the oil will help to bloom their flavors and make the soup more tasty.
Step 2: Add the sweet potatoes and broth and simmer.
Add sweet potatoes and broth, cover, increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook, uncovered until the potatoes are completely soft and falling apart, about 20 minutes.
Step 3: Add chipotles and vinegar.
Add chipotle chili and vinegar and remove from the heat.
Step 4: Puree the soup.
Working in batches, carefully transfer a few cups of the sweet potato mixture to a blender and puree. Use caution when pureeing hot liquids. Alternatively use an immersion blender.
Step 5: Stir in the cheddar, garnish and serve.
Stir cheddar into the soup until completely melted. Serve immediately with the scallions on top.
FAQ’s and Expert Tips
Most yams in grocery stores are orange fleshed sweet potatoes. A true yam has a brown almost bark-like skin and is closer in flavor and texture to a russet potato, so they are not sweet.
Yes, you can freeze sweet potato soup for up to six months. Just leave out the cheddar and scallions and add them after reheating.
Boiling sweet potatoes retains more of the nutrients and makes them more absorbable than other cooking methods such as baking or frying.
Make Ahead Notes
This soup is best made fresh as the cheddar is kind of tricky to reheat. If you do want to make it ahead:
- Do not add the cheddar in the final step.
- Cool completely before sealing closed in a resealable container.
- Refrigerate for up to four days or freeze for one month.
- Heat until steaming hot on the stovetop (stirring often) or in the microwave.
- Stir cheddar into the soup once it is hot.
- Serve with the scallions.
More Sweet Potato Recipes To Try
- This Sweet Potato, Coconut and Peanut Soup is one of my all time favorites!
- Our Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Ground Chicken, Spinach and Cheese are so easy and so tasty!
- Vegetarian Slow Cooker Chili with Sweet Potatoes is great for game day or for prepping ahead for a weeknight dinner.
- Check out the recipe for these Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Citrus Dressing. It is a knock-out! I love the flavor the coconut oil adds to it.
- Wow! Sweet Potato Blondies, this Gluten-free Sweet Potato Praline Bundt recipe and this Sweet Potato Coffee Cake will make you forget everything you thought you knew about sweet potatoes.
- My recipe for Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili Tortilla Bowls is a great example of how healthy vegetarian meals don’t have to be boring!
More Cheese Soup Recipes!
- This Cheddar Potato Soup with Leeks has a big roasted garlic kick to really amp up the flavors.
- This 4 ingredient Cheddar Kale Soup is so fast!
- This Instant Pot Cream of Cauliflower Soup is one of my faves!
Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!
Happy Cooking! ~Katie
PrintCheddar Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 14 cups 1x
Description
This Cheddar Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup gets a smoky kick from chipotle and a tangy burst from sharp cheddar making it an awesome vegetarian fall meal. Gluten free and grain free, too!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
- 6 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1 chipotle chili in adobo, minced or more to taste
- 6 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 sliced scallions, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and salt and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is softened and starting to brown, about 7 minutes. Stir in cumin and cinnamon and cook until the spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add sweet potatoes and broth, cover, increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook, uncovered until the potatoes are completely soft and falling apart, about 20 minutes.
- Add chipotle chili and vinegar and remove from the heat.
- Working in batches, carefully transfer a few cups of the sweet potato mixture to a blender and puree. Use caution when pureeing hot liquids. Alternatively use an immersion blender.
- Stir cheddar into the soup until completely melted. Serve immediately with the scallions on top.
Notes
Take care when pureeing hot soup as the pressure inside the blender can cause the lid to pop off which is very dangerous! hold down the lid with a kitchen towel as you puree and don’t overfill it!
Make Ahead Notes
This soup is best made fresh as the cheddar is kind of tricky to reheat. If you do want to make it ahead:
- Do not add the cheddar in the final step.
- Cool completely before sealing closed in a resealable container.
- Refrigerate for up to four days or freeze for one month.
- Heat until steaming hot on the stovetop (stirring often) or in the microwave.
- Stir cheddar into the soup once it is hot.
- Serve with the scallions.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups
- Calories: 208
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 712 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 13 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 8 g
- Cholesterol: 21 mg
I Pinned this one asap. Cannot wait to make it! The chipotle addition puts this soup over the top!
Love the chipotle flavor in this!! While I’ve made TONS of butternut squash soup, I don’t know why I’ve never made a sweet potato soup! This sounds awesome!
That’s so funny you say that Becky. I think butternut squash and sweet potato soup are like twinsies, and I have actually wondered about subbing that into this recipe sometime. I’ll let you know if I try it!
I can just taste the smokey chipotle flavor infused in this creamy, cheesy, soup! I love soups like this when the weather gets chilly!
OMG Liren, I was literally just listening to you on the Chopped Podcast as this comment came in. I think we just had a weird food blogging intercosmic thing happen, no? Ha ha. Loved the interview and relate to so much of what you say- about blogging and juggling being a mom and there always being more to do. Will have to check into co-schedule again. I haven’t used it in years, but writing the drafts the way you described would be so helpful. Anyway, thanks for coming by to see the soup. Looking forward to clicking through to all of the lovely ES posts this month! My favorite time of year for eating in season. 🙂
I make sweet potato soup often but why have I never thought to add cheddar??? Or chipotle? I’m glad you did because I’m loving this silky smooth bowl of comfort and can’t wait to try it!
Oh man, you’ll love it then. It adds depth and richness. The smoothness is so key to me too. 🙂
What a fabulous smoky, rich and beautiful soup Kati! So true about losing weight just by taking ones lunch to work. Rob takes his every day and I’m happy to prepare it for him. Soups like this that are freezer friendly make it even easier to manage! Delicious work my dear! 😀
Thanks so much Traci. And about packing lunch- I totally agree. It is so easy once we got into the habit and it makes a world of difference!
I love the new, bright photos! And these flavors sound perfect. I mean, sharp cheddar is always a great idea! Perfect cozy Fall dinner!
Thanks so much Liz. I shot these with Stephanie and they came together so quickly. Sometimes that happens and it is such a fun surprise. {I think I owe it to being obsessed with the new linen- ha ha.} As far as the flavors- OMG yes. I fell back in love with this soup so hard. I even shared it with a group of my friends and they were raving about it too. Something about that combo I guess…. 🙂 Anyway, thanks for coming by. Looking forward to clicking through to all of the ES posts this month!
This soup looks so comforting! Love sweet potato soup, especially with that kick of chipotle and vinegar! Yum!! And I’m totally like you… love to freeze extra soup for quick weeknight meals or to pack for lunch!
Yes yes! I love to add a little vinegar to make the flavors pop.
This sounds AMAZING! Perfect for our rainy weather. I think it is going to be Saturday night’s dinner!
Let me know how you like it!
Oh my goodness yes. I never would have thought to add cheese to a creamy sweet potato soup – that is pure genius. Cabot chedder is so the best. I simply can’t wait to make this. Thank you so much for the recipe, Katie!
Thanks so much Alanna for leaving a comment and the compliment. I hope you enjoy it.
I made it this past weekend for a ladies’ night dinner, and it was just superb – my new favorite soup that I will make again and again! I just used water since I didn’t have any tasty stock, added a bit of smoked paprika with the spices, and used lime juice instead of vinegar. It was warming, nourishing, and just spicy enough. Love the fresh garnish of green onion. I made a double batch and the extras kept beautifully, which is a boon since I could live on this stuff. I also left some aside without the cheese for one dairy-free friend, which I found just as creamy and lovely as the cheesy version. Such a perfect recipe – I can’t thank you enough! I did have one question: the recipe says to cook the onions with the spices until fragrant, 30 minutes. Is this correct?
Wow, that is so great to hear. I am glad that it was such a hit. Nooooo, not 30 minutes. Ha ha. Good catch. 30 sec! Thank you for catching that, I will change that right now 😉
You had me at sweet potato! So stoked to hear all about your experience again with Cabot! I really hope I get a chance to do it with you next year!!
Yes Ari, I am bummed you missed out on this one. But there is always next year. I would love to have such a fun excuse to get together in real life with you:)
Yay, I am so excited we are doing this again! And the soup looks fabulous, my dear. I love cheddar in soup!
I am toooooo!!! Can’t wait to see you in May:)
Ooo…this looks delicious, Katie! I love the addition of the chipotle, too. Yum!
Thank you David. A little smoky kick from Chipotle always is a good bet in my mind.
I know you guys are having a cold winter this year and this soup would be so fantastic on a frigid winter night. You know I come from home state of the sweet potato capital of the world, so sweet potatoes are real high on my list! Great post, Katie! Love the photo!
It sure has been a cold one. And we just came home from vacation to a wall of snow. It looks like I may be making soup again soon. Thank you Bill!
Crazy! I don’t cook often, but I have to say – your food (from the pictures) is awesome. I would give anything to taste that soup. It’s awesome.
Thanks Jack Andrew. Glad you like the pics.
girrrl I LOVE cabot cheese, so I can only imagine just how unreal this soup tastes. and you added in chipotle?! you just melted my spicy-loving heart 🙂
Ha ha Christine. Glad I melted your spice loving heart. 🙂