Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup
by Katie Webster
February 12, 2018 (updated 1/3/23) Jump To Recipe
Friends, I’m here to tell you today this Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup is one of the Best Healthy Seasonal Recipes ever. There are times in recipe development when the stars align and a keeper is born. This soup is one of those recipes. It is so delicious that I can’t wait for you to try it. I am officially obsessed!
I originally shared this recipe on March 6, 2012. I have updated the images and some of the text today.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup
Outside of Virginia, to most Americans, adding peanuts to soup may sound like a strange idea, but Peanut Soup is actually a traditional West African dish. While my Sweet Potato, Coconut and Peanut soup is not traditional, it is a must make recipe! The silky smooth texture from the sweet potatoes pairs perfectly with the taste of roasted peanuts, cilantro and spicy hot sauce.
This soup is absolutely delicious exactly as is! The sriracha adds the little extra kick to push this to the top of my soup recipes. YUM!!! Thanks for the awesome recipe.
Linda
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Ingredients For This Recipe
- Oil: avocado oil or organic oil
- Vegetables: onions, garlic, celery and sweet potatoes.
- To Season: salt, lime juice, Chopped cilantro, chopped peanuts and Sriracha
- Liquids: “lite” coconut milk, vegetable broth
- Peanuts: Look for unsalted roasted peanuts
How to Make this Sweet Potato Peanut Soup
Saute the Onion and Garlic
To bring out the flavors in the garlic and onion, saute them in the soup pot with oil. Cook them until you start to see browning of the veggies (and on the bottom of the pot.)
Simmer The Soup
Add in the broth. I like to use Imagine No Chicken Broth because it tastes amazing and works for vegan cooking. If you aren’t vegetarian and cannot find it a good sub is chicken broth. Add in the sweet potatoes, celery and salt too.
Bring the soup to a simmer and cook it until the sweet potatoes are super soft and falling apart.
Puree The Soup
Be careful when pureeing hot liquid. If you have an immersion blender, that’s probably the easiest way to puree this soup. Otherwise use caution, as the lid can pop off the top of the blender when you’re pureeing hot liquids. DOn’t overfill the blender (do batches) and hold the lid down with a kitchen towel as you puree.
Puree Coconut Milk with the Peanuts
- To make the peanuts melt into the soup, puree them with the coconut milk.
- Do this as a separate step to ensure there aren’t any grainy pieces left.
- It will take about a full minute.
- I recommend running a silicone spatula along the edges half way through to scrape down any gritty pieces.
To Finish the Soup
Add the coconut milk mixture and lime to the pureed soup and stir to combine.
If necessary you can rewarm it over medium-low heat. Do not boil it as it can scorch easily on the bottom of the pot and the peanut starts to thicken up as it boils.
Garnish and Serve
The key to this soup is juxtaposing the creamy velvety peanutty sweet potato with the garnishes. It is like a party in your mouth! I like to serve it with:
- Chopped Peanuts for a bit of crunch
- Cilantro leaves (if you don’t like cilantro try mint or Thai Basil.)
- Sriracha or another Asian-style hot sauce.
FAQs
Yes it freezes very well. Store in an airtight container in the freezer up to 2 months. Defrost and reheat until simmering.
Chill, and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 4 days. Reheat until simmering.
Reheat on the stovetop in a large pot with a heavy bottom to prevent scorching. Heat over medium heat, stirring often until simmering.
More Sweet Potato Recipes To Try
- Another sweet potato soup recipe to try is this velvety and spicy Sweet Potato Cheddar Chipotle Soup.
- For more winter and fall cozy meals try this Vegetarian Slow Cooker Chili with Sweet Potatoes or a vegan sweet potato coconut curry.
- For a holiday meal try 5-spice mashed sweet potatoes or Easy Sweet Potato Casserole.
- In the summertime, try this paleo ginger cilantro sweet potato salad.
- And sweet potatoes are also delicious in baked goods like these Sweet Potato Blondies, this Sweet Potato Coffee Cake and this recipe for Gluten-free Sweet Potato Bundt Cake.
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
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Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 cups 1x
Description
This Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup is creamy and nutty with bold flavors. The coconut milk and pureed peanuts add richness to the silky smooth sweet potato soup!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or organic canola oil
- 2 medium onions diced, about 3 cups
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 6 cups vegetable broth, such as Imagine No Chicken
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 to 2-inch chunks
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 13-ounce can “lite” coconut milk
- ¾ cup unsalted roasted peanuts
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- Chopped cilantro, chopped peanuts and Sriracha for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often until the onion is starting to soften and brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add celery, broth, sweet potato and salt, increase heat to high, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, removing lid to stir occasionally, until the potatoes are very soft and fall apart when tested with a fork or tongs, about 15 minutes.
- Puree about half of the soup in a blender in two batches and add back to the pot. Puree the coconut milk and peanuts in a blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Stir the coconut mixture and the lime juice into the soup. Gently stir over low heat to warm through. Do not boil. Serve garnished with cilantro, chopped peanuts and Sriracha to taste.
Notes
To Make Ahead:
Cool completely before sealing shut. Refrigerate leftovers up to 4 days.
Rewarm until steaming hot. Stir frequently while heating and do not boil.
Soup can be frozen up to 2 months. Thaw and bring to a gentle simmer. If texture appears “broken” when reheated, puree to combine.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Category: soup
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups
- Calories: 163
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 559 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 23 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 3 g
Keywords: sweet potato soup,peanut soup,sweet potato peanut soup
Katie Webster
Katie Webster studied art and photography at Skidmore College and is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute. She has been a professional recipe developer since 2001 when she first started working in the test kitchen at EatingWell magazine. Her recipes have been featured in numerous magazines including Shape, Fitness, Parents and several Edible Communities publications among others. Her cookbook, Maple {Quirk Books} was published in 2015. She launched Healthy Seasonal Recipes in 2009. She lives in Vermont with her husband, two teenage daughters and two yellow labs. In her free time, you can find her at the gym, cooking, stacking firewood, making maple syrup, and tending to her overgrown perennial garden.
This soup was a huge hit at my house!! Everyone loved it!
★★★★★