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This vegan sweet potato soup recipe is full of flavor! Peanut butter and spices help form a deliciously creamy soup base.
When people ask Alex and me how to get started eating more vegetables, we often say, “Start with soup!” Why? Soups are usually simple to put together, and a delicious way to eat a lot of vegetables at once. Soups hit the big three for us: they’re healthy, tasty, and easy to make. And this vegan sweet potato soup recipe with harissa is absolutely that.
The soup is made creamy using peanut butter, and topped with crunchy peanuts and that bright red harissa, it’s visually stunning too. Also: soups are also easy for toddlers to eat, which makes them kid friendly enough for our son Larson!
How to make this vegan sweet potato soup recipe
This vegan sweet potato soup recipe is nourishing, delicious, and can easily fit into your everyday life. It works for a weeknight meal or an evening entertaining friends, and is served with harissa, a North African red pepper paste (see below). To get maximum flavor out of this soup, onion and garlic are sauteed together, then cooked with sweet potato and spices like cumin and turmeric.
The magic ingredient? Peanut butter. It gives a creamy, savory undertone to the soup while keeping it vegan. To get maximum nutrients, we added some cooked spinach that’s stirred in at the end and wilted for about 1 minute. Topped with crunchy peanuts, this vegan sweet potato soup is a tasty way to get a variety of nutrients that help fight off the winter blues.
Related: 12 Top Turmeric Recipes
What is harissa?
Harissa is a North African red pepper sauce that adds a rainbow of flavor to the dish. It’s not so much spicy as flavorful, if you buy the mild variety as we did. But, you can also buy a spicy variety that really kicks it up a notch! You can find harissa at most grocery stores in the International aisle.
Need a few more harissa recipes to empty your jar? Here are a few harissa recipes on A Couple Cooks and some other sources:
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Goat Cheese & Harissa
- Grilled Corn with Harissa and Feta
- Falafel Patties with Harissa Yogurt
- Harissa Chickpea Hot Dish | Molly Yeh
- Feta & Harissa Fattoush Salad | Love and Lemons
- 13 Harissa Recipes | Bon Appetit
This vegan sweet potato soup recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant based, gluten free, dairy free, and naturally sweet.
Vegan Sweet Potato Soup
This sweet potato soup recipe is full of flavor! Peanut butter and spices help form a deliciously creamy soup base.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 ½ cups water
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups packed baby spinach leaves, washed (or chopped standard spinach leaves)
- Mild harissa
- ½ cup crushed peanuts
Instructions
- Dice 1 onion and mince 3 cloves garlic. Peel the sweet potatoes, then slice them into 1/4-inch thick rounds.
- In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until soft.
- Stir in ¼ cup tomato paste, ¼ cup peanut butter, garlic, 1 teaspoon turmeric, and 1 teaspoon cumin, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add sweet potatoes, 4 cups vegetable broth, and 1 ½ cups water. Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 to 25 minutes until sweet potatoes are tender.
- Once sweet potatoes are soft, blend the mixture with an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender). Stir in ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Bring soup back to a simmer, and stir in the spinach leaves. Heat until wilted, about 1 minute.
- To serve, garnish with a dollop of harissa and sprinkle with crushed peanuts.
Notes
You can substitute kale or chard for the spinach in this recipe; just cook the soup until the greens are tender (kale and chard take slightly longer to cook than spinach).
Harissa is a North African chili sauce that brings an integral flavor profile to the soup. Ours was a purchased mild red pepper harissa; spicy blends are also available if you’re looking for additional heat.
Adapted from Vegetarian Times
More healthy dinner recipes
Outside of this vegan sweet potato soup recipe, here are a few more of our favorite healthy dinner recipes:
Made this soup, special ordered the harissa..
Goodness, it is sooo yum! Definitely love it with harissa (mild)
LOVE this recipe and photos. Just started experimenting with harissa and it’s my new favorite condiment. Making this soup this weekend. Thanks for another wonderful idea to use harissa!
Made this for dinner tonight- Very tasty! I love sweet potato soups, and this was a delicious new spin, with the spicy harissa and creamy peanut butter (although, I used almond butter). Rich, warm and hearty. Thanks for the recipe!
What beautiful photographs. This soup looks delicious!
I love the composition of the first photo! I can’t wait to be transported away to Northern Africa by this recipe. I agree with Kathryn – your approach is so lovely and inspiring. Thank you!
Can’t wait to see what you two cook up in 2014. Also can’t wait to have a very very very very very very very overdue dinner in your fancy kitchen. ;)
Lovely post, looking forward from what’s in store going forward! This soup sounds (and looks) so darn yummy, and the photos are gorgeous!
This soup sounds so good! I am a big proponent of peanuts & spice with sweet potato, so you know this is exactly up my alley. :)
I just picked up a can of harissa, what great timing. This soup looks amazing and I love all the flavors–can’t wait to try it!
i need to buy some harissa paste.
Sweet potatoes are peeled, right? Can you get harissa at Trader Joe’s?
The soup looks hearty and yummy. I will definitely make this. Thank you!
You’re correct — noted in the recipe! Not sure whether harissa is available at Trader Joe’s, but it seems like a product they would carry. We got ours at Fresh Market. Hope you enjoy!
I love soup and this looks fantastic. Was not aware you could purchase mild harissa, good to know. Thanks!
This soup looks delicious! Savory, sweet, spicy, crunchy… It has it all. And what a pleasant surprise to see our Harissa – Mina being used : ) Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe and beautiful photos!
We loved the harissa! So glad that we could highlight your product!
Thanks again Sonja! Brilliant job : )
This is such a fun, unique, soup! Love it!
You guys are so amazing + inspiring; I can’t wait to see all of the delicious recipes that you’re going to have for us this year! I so like your balanced and realistic approach to eating – it never feels like you’re preaching but your enthusiasm for whole foods is infectious. Plus you’ve really upped the bar recently with your photography; love the shots in this post and I loved the oatmeal ones too.
Thank you so much, Kathryn! That is so kind of you to say. All of those things are what we’ve been really striving towards lately, so it means a lot to hear it is coming across. Thank you for all of your kind comments and friendship – you truly help keep us going.
This looks so good! I love harissa and I never have enough ways to use it, thanks for sharing!
This is such a flavor and gorgeous soup! Peanut based soups are my favorite and i think that sweet potatoes complement it so well! I need to order some Harissa!
Mmm, I can already tell that this soup would be so warm and cozy! And yes please, I’ll take any suggestions for fighting the winter blues!