Whenever we feel the first hint of fall in the air, I return to this recipe for Autumn Sweet Potato Soup. It’s healthy, vegan, and gluten free with an unexpected flavorful twist– a creamy touch of peanut butter. It can be made as a smooth silky puree, or with vegetable chunks for more texture. Prepared either way, it’s one of my favorite soups.
Seasonal fall produce really inspires me in the kitchen. With Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot just around the corner, my focus has shifted to foods that warm and nourish. This Autumn Sweet Potato Soup is perfect for this time of year.
I’ve packed this soup with seasonal fall goodness, including yams, squash, fresh thyme, and a touch of cayenne for spice. The broth has roots in African food tradition. Peanut butter thickens the soup and gives it a delicious flavor.
The peanut butter is delicious, as well as healthful– it adds a boost of protein and helps to make the soup more filling. I learned this culinary trick from a local Ethiopian restaurant. While it might sound a bit strange, the peanut butter enhances the spices, giving this soup layers of creamy, delicious flavor.
Serve this Autumn Sweet Potato Soup as-is (chunky with texture), or puree the soup with an immersion blender for a smoother texture. Garnish with chopped roasted peanuts or fresh thyme leaves. If you’re wondering how to peel tomatoes for the soup, learn how here.
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Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
Autumn Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 1/2 pounds orange sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and cubed
- 1 pound zucchini, sliced
- 2 quarts yellow vegetable stock (you can substitute chicken stock if not vegan/vegetarian)
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
- 3 medium tomatoes, peeled and diced (or one 14 oz. can diced tomatoes)
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter, or more to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Chopped roasted peanuts or fresh thyme leaves for garnish (optional)
NOTES
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium till hot (not smoking). Sauté onion in the oil until it begins to soften and turn golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and continue to sauté for 3 minutes more.
- Add sweet potatoes, zucchini, vegetable stock, thyme leaves, cumin, ginger, and cayenne to the pot. I like to use ¼ tsp of cayenne, which gives a nice spicy kick to the soup. If you’re sensitive to spice, start with 1/8 tsp. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to a light simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add diced tomatoes to the pot (learn how to peel tomatoes here). Simmer for 5-10 minutes more until all the vegetables are tender.
- Stir 1/3 cup peanut butter into the broth until it dissolves. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add more cayenne for heat, if desired. Add additional peanut butter to taste. Some like it with just a hint of peanut flavor. I typically use a few more tablespoons (around 1/2 cup total) because I love peanut butter. Adjust until the flavor is to your liking.
- Soup may be served as-is (chunky with texture), or you can puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Serve garnished with chopped roasted peanuts or fresh thyme leaves.
Nutrition
Tori, I need to substitute peanut butter do to allergies. Do you have any suggestions on a different nut butter?
Hi Gail! You could try cashew butter or tahini as a sub, I think both would work nicely here. 🙂
This was fantastic!
I followed the recipe exactly as written (except for having to use extra crunchy peanut butter) and I used 1/2 cup peanut butter as suggested by Tori. YUM YUM YUM! I have eaten this non-stop for 2 days and served it to 3 different (meat-eating) friends and they all loved it!
Thank you for sharing this delicious and VERY easy to make recipe! It will definitely be a regular in my kitchen.
I’m assuming the 114 oz can of tomatoes is really 14.5 oz? Love this recipe! A standard of our winter soup rotation!
It is one 14 ounce can. A 14.5 ounce can will work too. Anything in that range. 🙂
This recipe sounds wonderful. I’m a little concerned about the high sodium level, 1080 mg per serving. Is that coming from the broth used? Thanks.
It does seem like a lot doesn’t it? It comes from the broth and the peanut butter. My calorie calculation software doesn’t offer low sodium vegetable broth as an option, but I think using that would cut sodium substantially. You can also use salt-free peanut butter and simply salt the soup to taste, which will also help.
I have made this soup twice and it is fabulous! It also freezes very well. Recently I’ve been trying to watch my calorie intake and greatly appreciate the provided nutrition facts, but there isn’t a serving size listed. Could you tell me what serving size matches the provided nutrition facts. Thank you!
Christina
Hi Christina, the nutrition facts are based on dividing the recipe into 8 servings. When developing recipes in the past, I never measured servings because I didn’t have a system to auto-calculate nutrition facts. Now that I do, I try my hardest to measure everything out, but for older recipes like this I only update them when I get around to making them again. I will be sure to update it next time I make this recipe.
I’ve made this twice and holy crap it’s delicious! I never ever leave reviews but this recipe is worth a shout out. I roasted all my veggies and sweet potatoes in the oven rather than and went for the extra peanut butter. worth it!
Increasingly I have been using a double boiler top to reheat leftovers. It’s almost as fast as a micro but doesn’t change the taste or ( esp) texture as much. Plus clean up is easier. It’s great for reheating soups, beans, sauces, rice, even coffee without scorching the heating pan.
I got this at Amazon (( I don’t review there and, sadly, have no connection to the company that makes these ))
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Double-Melting-Chocolate-Capacity/dp/B01N2LVGH0/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=double+boiler+tops&qid=1567966113&s=kitchen&sr=1-1
You can use them with different size pans. And they come in different sizes as well- though maybe not from this manufacturer.
This may be my favourite soup and I’m a big soup fan. I used my immersion blender so it’s thick, creamy, flavourful and spicy. I’ll let my husband try it before I add more peanut butter. I started with 1/3 cup but I could do 1/2 too. Thanks for sharing this gorgeous recipe…..6 stars from me.
This is incredible…I made it for dinner yesterday and will make it again….wonderful soup!
So pretty and simple! Perfect for vegetarians