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This sweet potato lentil soup is a creamy, budget-friendly vegan dinner made with wholesome ingredients and aromatic spices. Perfect for meal prep and packed with plant-based protein and fiber!
Lentils are one of my favorite ingredients since they’re so inexpensive and versatile: I love recipes from lentil curry to lentil loaf to lentil sloppy joes. I’ve been making variations on my lentil soup for years, but this sweet potato version has become one of my favorites. It feels like a hug in a bowl and I can make a huge batch for under $10!
The flavor of this sweet potato lentil soup is so cozy and delicious, with a savory blend of spices and a hint of creaminess from coconut milk. It’s a healthy vegan soup that doesn’t taste “healthy”, if that makes sense. I recently served it to a crowd and everyone asked for the recipe!
Key ingredients in sweet potato lentil soup
This sweet potato lentil soup hits almost all my meal time wish list buckets: it’s healthy, plant-based yet delicious, easy to make, and even budget-friendly. You’ll need 45 minutes to make it, but it makes a huge pot so leftovers keep on giving! Here are the main ingredients you’ll need:
- Onion, celery and carrots: Called mirepoix, it’s a mix of aromatic vegetables often used to flavor soup.
- Sweet potatoes: The star! Use just two sweet potatoes for maximum flavor.
- Green or brown lentils: Make sure to use these varieties and not red lentils, which become more mushy in a soup.
- Cumin and curry powder: These spices bring big savory flavor without being extremely noticeable.
- Spinach: We love adding greens to soups for added nutrients; you can also use chopped kale or any other greens you have on hand.
- Full fat canned coconut milk: It adds just the right creaminess to the broth without imparting a strong coconut flavor.
What makes this healthy soup budget friendly
One standard soup ingredient is missing from the list: vegetable broth! Most vegan soup recipes call for vegetable broth, and this one would require two quarts, which can add up pricewise.
I’ve also have found that vegetable broth can impart odd flavor notes to a vegetable-based soup, so I’ve started using water instead of broth. Combine that with lentils, which are extremely inexpensive, and you’ve got a great budget-friendly meal idea!
Pro tips for the best results
Dice everything small: I cut my sweet potatoes and vegetables into small, uniform pieces. This ensures everything cooks evenly.
Don’t rush the sauté: Those first 5-6 minutes of sautéing the vegetables are crucial for building flavor.
Taste and adjust: The amount of salt needed can vary depending on your ingredients. I always taste the soup before serving and adjust the seasoning with a little salt or pepper. You’ll also find that if you taste a soup when it is very hot, it tastes less salty: so keep that in mind!
Perfect pairings to serve with this soup
I’m a big believer in the soup and salad (and bread!) approach to dinner. This lentil soup is hearty enough to be a main course, especially when you round out the meal with some salad recipes or bread:
- Fresh Salads: I love pairing this with peppery arugula salad or a crunchy Brussels sprout salad. A simple butter lettuce salad with my go-to balsamic vinaigrette or my favorite chopped salad are some other favorites.
- Bread for Dipping: You need something to soak up every last drop of that creamy broth! Focaccia bread is my first choice; crusty olive bread or easy no knead bread works well too.
- Cornbread: I also like adding cornbread muffins or skillet cornbread.
Storing leftovers and meal prep tips
This sweet potato lentil soup takes 45 minutes to make, but it makes a very large pot which is at least 8 servings. This makes it perfect for meal prep! Here are a few notes:
- The leftovers can become thick over time. Save the coconut milk and add a splash along with milk when reheating.
- Leftovers keep up to 5 days refrigerated. It’s perfect for eating throughout the week! If you get tired of the flavors, you can add new seasonings: we’ve added a little chili powder and ketch up to make it into a makeshift lentil chili.
Dietary notes
This sweet potato lentil soup recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Frequently asked questions
I don’t recommend it for this recipe. Red lentils break down much more quickly and will create a mushier, more porridge-like texture. If you want a soup with creamy, broken-down lentils, try my red lentil soup instead!
I usually don’t! But you can if you’d like to remove any dust or debris.
Lentils are like little sponges: they continue absorbing liquid even after cooking. This is completely normal! Just thin the soup with additional coconut milk, water, or vegetable broth when reheating. Add liquid gradually until you reach your desired consistency.
Absolutely! Between the lentils (packed with protein and fiber) and the sweet potatoes (full of complex carbs), this soup is surprisingly satisfying. I find it keeps me full for hours, especially when served with a side salad and some bread.
Easy Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
This sweet potato lentil soup is cozy and creamy: a delicious mix of aromatic vegetables with a hint of savory spices. It’s a healthy vegan soup that’s also budget friendly—great as a dinner idea with crusty bread or a simple make ahead lunch.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 white onion, finely diced
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 large sweet potatoes (about 1 lb / 4 cups diced), peeled and small diced
- 10 cups water
- 1 pound (16 ounces) dried green or brown lentils
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin*
- ½ tablespoon curry powder
- 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 to 4 cups baby or chopped spinach, or kale (chopped and de-stemmed)*
- ¾ cup full fat canned coconut milk
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, and garlic and sauté for 5 to 6 minutes until tender.
- Add the sweet potatoes, water, lentils, cumin, curry powder, and kosher salt. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until the lentils are tender (if not tender, keep cooking a few more minutes). Add the spinach and coconut milk and stir until wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and add additional salt to taste and fresh ground black pepper.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for meal prep. The soup lasts up to 1 week refrigerated and leftovers taste even better (you can also freeze them for up to 3 months). Leftovers may soak up extra broth, so you can add a splash of coconut milk and/or water and pinch of salt if the texture becomes too thick.
Notes
Save the remaining coconut milk for adding liquid to leftovers.
*You can use any type of greens in this soup, and add more to your liking.
More healthy soup recipes
A few more of my favorite healthy soup recipes and vegan soup recipes:
- Try my fan-favorite wild rice soup
- Go for cabbage soup or kale white bean soup
- Try other recipes with lentils: lentil soup, curry lentil soup, or red lentil soup
I made this tonight and was surprised at how tasty it is with so few spices and such simple ingredients! I used half vegetable broth and half water but otherwise, followed the recipe. Very satisfying, budget friendly, and healthy!
So glad you loved it!
very good! Just more like a stew than soup, even after I added some veggie broth. Next time I’ll lessen the amount of lentils
Wow, this was just perfect! After a week of traveling all I wanted was a bowl of vegetables and this delivered. The coconut milk delivered such a nice creaminess on top of the spices. We have a handful of allergies in our house, so a meal without dairy, soy, gluten…! AND the kids liked it? Just great. Thanks team!!
So glad you loved it!
Delicious. Glad I can freeze some as this made quite a lot. Served with Garlic Naan bread.
This recipe is a winner! I made it for a family meal with different dietary needs (vegan & gluten free). People had second helpings! I added more sweet potatoes, carrots, and celery than what the recipe called for and it worked well. I highly recommend.
This hearty soup is perfectly cozy and delicious for these repeated snow storms. Very easy and quick!
We have a coconut milk allergy in the family. What can I substitute for it?
Great question! You can use half and half, whole milk, or even heavy cream (use less than the coconut milk amount, to taste!) to get a little creaminess into this soup.
Looks great. Can you provide nutritional breakdown? Thanks
Added!
Made this for my wife and I tonight, it was delicious. Look forward to it being part of our soup rotation.
I made this last night, but scaled it down to only 1 cup dried lentils and used my Instant Pot. Delicious!