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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Wondering if anyone has tried to make this in a Vitamix? Looks delicious!
Really good recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Excellent!! I roasted the sweet potato and carrot with olive oil and let cool before adding and cut down stove top cook time. So good with a dollop if sour cream. Will definitely make it again!!
I am plant based so I used olive oil and vegetable stock to substitute butter and chicken stock. Without the animal fat, I found this soup to be a bit bland and the amount of curry left a slight bitter taste. It smelled amazing when I cooked it, but the taste was disappointing. I added some lemon juice to brighten it up and a tad more real maple syrup, and it became better. Maybe the next day will be better, too. If I were to make it again, I would add some garlic, reduced the curry powder.
Simple but delicious. I planned a picnic but with this weather had to switch to fall recipes. This soup fit the bill perfectly.
What can I use in place of honey?
HI Lindsay, you can omit the honey or replace it with maple syrup. Enjoy!
So yummy, I have made it many times now! It tastes so good, it’s hard to believe it’s healthy!
Loved this! I’m plant based so I switched out the butter for 1 T olive oil and I switched out the chicken broth with vegetable broth. It was so good I used the recipe for a cooking class on plant based whole nutrition. Everyone in the class enjoyed it. Thanks!!!
I forgot to mention that I used only 1 1/2 teaspoon of curry and only 1 teaspoon of salt.
Excellent tasty soup. My son who hates sweet potatoes enjoyed the soup.
Regarding the topic of salt, I learned the valuable lesson of tasting first before adding salt…about two weeks ago, then a year ago, and another couple of years before that. Cheers!
Wow! Made one substitution: real maple syrup for honey. Everything else the same. Excellent recipe, thank you!
This is an awesome recipe, I made it without the honey at first and tasted it to see the sweetness and it was pretty sweet for my taste so I left it out as other reviews have said and added gram masala and turmeric as well as curry powder just because they’re healthy and yummy. This soup was so good I ate it multiple days in a row which usually I get bored of things. Thank you!
Why didn’t the writer of recipe say to use low sodium broth and or decrease the salt. I ruined the soup because I used 1 1/2 tsp. salt which was way too much. I trusted the recipe because of the reviews. Didn’t anyone find it too salty? It’s a shame because it has wonderful ingredients. I couldn’t even fix it and certainly wouldn’t give it to my friends who are on low sodium diets.
This is a family favorite! Love the fall flavors and creamy texture. Perfect as written for our family! Thank you.
if you have a problem with low sodium it is your responsibility to figure it out, you should be buying low sodium broth or whatever and not be expecting everyone else in the world to cater to your health problems.
To remove excess salt in soup:
Peel a white potato, cut in small pieces, place in a sieve or colander (for easy removal) place in the soup and simmer for a while. The potato attracts the salt big time. Remove the sieve or colander…soup will be much less salty. This is an old Julia Child tip.