Autumn Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup
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With carrots, sweet potatoes and apples, this savory soup with a hint of sweetness is the essence of fall.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
It seems I’ve always got the components of this soup lingering in my veggie bin (along with other mysterious things, but I’ll spare you those details), so it’s easy to whip up on a cool fall day. The nice thing is that the sweet potatoes add body to the soup, making it luxuriously silky, without even the slightest bit of guilt-inducing heavy cream.
Now, I have to admit that I’m not one of those people who look forward to fall; my pessimistic side knows all too well that winter is looming. But the thought of comfort food and cozy clothes does make it more bearable. So go ahead and think of this dish as that soft knit sweater you can’t wait to put on at the first sign of a chill. Pair the soup with crusty artisan bread, challah, or dinner rolls.
Table of Contents
“Absolutely scrumptious! My husband is still talking about how delicious dinner was last night!”
About Sweet Potatoes
Before we get started, let’s talk about sweet potatoes. It’s common practice in the U.S. to use the words “sweet potato” and “yam” interchangeably. This is confusing since yams aren’t sweet potatoes at all, but rather thick white tubers with dark brown skin. But chances are you won’t find real yams at the supermarket, so if you see “yams,” you’re probably looking at sweet potatoes. As for the different varieties, look for Garnet, Jewel, Beauregard, all of which have orange flesh and reddish-brown skin and are delicious in sweet potato pie, mashed sweet potatoes, and sweet potato casserole.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by cooking the onions in butter until they are soft and translucent. Then, add the curry powder and cook until fragrant.
Add the carrots, sweet potatoes, and chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes, then toss in the chopped apples.
Purée with a stick blender until smooth and creamy.
Enjoy!
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Autumn Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup
With carrots, sweet potatoes and apples, this savory soup with a hint of sweetness is the essence of fall.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon curry powder, plus a bit more for serving
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 1½ pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 small), peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 8 cups chicken broth, best quality such as Swanson
- 1¾ teaspoons salt
- 1 tart yet sweet apple (such as Honeycrisp or Fuji), peeled and chopped
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Do not brown. Add the curry powder and cook a minute more.
- Add the carrots, sweet potatoes, chicken broth and salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until vegetables are very tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the apples and honey. Using a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth and creamy. (Alternatively, cool the soup slightly, then puree in a blender in batches. Be sure to leave the hole in the lid open, and cover with a kitchen towel, to allow the steam to escape.) Season to taste with salt, pepper and more honey if necessary. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with more curry powder if desired. (Note: As the soup sits, it will thicken up so you may need to add a bit of water to thin it out.)
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost the soup in the refrigerator for 12 hours and then reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat until hot.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Serving size: 1 1/3 cups
- Calories: 277
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Sugar: 18g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 8g
- Sodium: 941mg
- Cholesterol: 22mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Comments
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Thank you for the recipe! We are serving this with our Christmas Eve dinner- first course, out of mugs, to sip around the fireplace. I did only one tablespoon of honey, as the apple varietal (Envy apples) was fairly sweet. Also added a teaspoon of turmeric. YUM!
This soup was delicious. I will make it again. I did only use 6 cups of broth like another person suggested. It had the best texture and thickness . Great healthy soup.
I will definitely be making this soup again. Wonderful!
Everyone loved it, and tomorrow I’ll make it again.
Thank you Jenn! This soup was fantastic! I brought it to a holiday potluck and even before tasting it a friend said that if we both weren’t already married she’d asked me to marry her! 😉 I made it more “vegan” just because–modifications included: coconut oil instead of butter, salt instead of chicken broth, homemade apple sauce instead of apples, and Japanese sweet potatoes.
🙂
Glad it was a hit!
Delicious recipe! I subbed vegetable broth/bouillon because we had a vegetarian and everyone loved it!
I used low sodium chicken broth and the flavor was amazing without “adjusting” at the end. I did use more curry powder than the recipe notes as we are a family that loves curry. Excellent and will be making again.
Hi, I am about to make this delicious sounding soup for the first time. My friend cannot eat onions or much spice ( many health restrictions). Is there a substitute for onions or can I just leave them out? I also noted that you can substitute cinnamon or garam marsala for curry. Do I use about the same amount? For my friend I usually cut spice by 1/2. Thanks in advance for your suggestions, Pat
Hi Pat, Is your friend able to eat anything in the onion family? If not, here is an article that provides suggestions for onion substitutes. The soup will have a slightly different flavor with no onion, but celery would be a good alternative here. If you’d like to substitute cinnamon or garam masala for the curry, I’d use the same amount of garam masala but cut the cinnamon back to 1 teaspoon. Hope that helps and that you and your friend enjoy the soup!
Many thanks, especially for the quick response. She can only eat root veggies and peeled apples so no celery either. I will adjust the spices as you suggest.
Hi, Please help. Recipe in your cookbook says to use low sodium chicken broth. Recipe on your site doesn’t. Both say to use 1 3/4 teas of salt after adding chicken broth. I used regular Swanson chicken broth not low sodium. Do I use the additional salt?
Anastacia
Hi Anastacia, I would start with 1 teaspoon of salt and then add more to taste, if necessary. Hope that helps!
I went ahead and made the soup without additional salt and put it in the freezer. It tasted pretty good but I think it does need at least a teaspoon of salt like you suggested. I will add the salt when I reheat and serve on Thanksgiving. Thank you very much for getting back to me.
Anastacia
This soup is delicious! I usually don’t like the taste of curry, but the sweetness of the vegetables and the honey totally compliment the curry. I used 6 cups of the chicken broth as my family likes thicker soups. I kept everything else the same. Thank you for another great recipe!
This was SO delicious, thank you for sharing it! I’m glad I read the reviews beforehand. I didn’t add the honey and it was already sweet (just the right sweetness) from the carrots and apples. I also added some extra curry powder. I was going to ask if it could be made into a cream soup by adding cream but it really doesn’t need that, it’s so creamy and rich on its own. A perfect comfort soup for a May (yes, even in spring!) day while hunkering down!!