A pureed vegetable soup may make a stunning, simple, and inexpensive starter for a formal dinner or even serve as a light meal on its own with salad and bread.
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 6 to 7 cups |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds peeled raw sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 large onion, cut into large dice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 pinch sugar
- 3 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 cups chicken broth, homemade or from a carton or can
- 1 ½ cups half-and-half (or whole milk)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Garnish: chopped honey-roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep saute pan until shimmering.
- Add sweet potatoes, then onion; saute, stirring very little at first, then more frequently, until vegetables start to turn golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and add butter, sugar and garlic; continue cooking until all vegetables are a rich spotty caramel color, about 10 minutes longer.
- Add ginger, nutmeg and cayenne pepper; continue to saute until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute longer.
- Add broth; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until sweet potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender or traditional blender, puree until very smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (If using a traditional blender, vent it either by removing the lid’s pop-out center or by lifting one edge of the lid. Drape the blender canister with a kitchen towel. To ‘clean’ the canister, pour in a little half-and-half, blend briefly, then add to the soup.)
- Return to pan (or a soup pot); add enough half-and-half so the mixture is souplike, yet thick enough to float garnish. Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed. Heat through, ladle into bowls, garnish and serve.
- Copyright 2004 USA WEEKEND and columnist Pam Anderson. All rights reserved.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 194 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 22 g |
| Cholesterol | 38 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 91 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This is a very thick & rich soup. It is very filling and has a nice warming spicey aroma to it. The flavor profile is not the most complex which is why I have given it 4 stars instead of 5. It is a good compromise between healthy and comfort food.
It’s really good, but my potatoes needed an extra 10 minutes to cook in order to soften enough for the emulsion blender after adding the chicken broth. I also needed to add some salt at the end.
I love this recipe and would not change a thing. I left a little bit of texture in the soup and added parsley otherwise I stuck to the recipe. Others are commenting about the amount of ginger and I think that’s what makes the soup!
I kinda followed this recipe, how much is 1.5lbs of sweet potato any ways, was pretty awesome!! However, I forgot to get ground ginger and used minced, they don’t measure out the same… lol I shared it with my cooking friends and we all really liked it, even if the ginger was rowdy AF..
Loved it. I didn’t purée it. I substituted coconut milk. I also added spinach at the end until wilted. I will make this easy, healthy dish again.
This soup tastes good, is low cal and is easy to make — what could be better. I made it exactly as directed. To adjust to our personal tastes, next time I will skip the pinch of sugar (it is sweet enough) and cut back the nutmeg to 1/4 tsp.
It was quite good. Thank you…
It was amazing!! The portion is only enough for 2-3 people. Very good as is but when I make it again I will use fresh ginger to give it more of a ginger flavour.
I really liked this soup – I exchanged out the dairy for coconut milk (with cream) and it was very good.
It was ok. Glad I tried it, but have other pureed sweet potato soup recipes I prefer.
It was lovely and spicey with a hint of sweetness. I didn’t use the milk because the consistency was right after blending the soup. It will be a good vegan dish if the dairy is left out.
Absolutely delicious! Will add a little more cayenne next time, but the way it was… YUM!!
Loved this soup but my husband thought it was too spicy. I’ll cut the spices in half next time for him.
I make this exactly as suggested (but since I am a ginger fan, I add a lil extra) and I love it! So does everyone else who tastes it. I am always asked for the recipe. Whip it up as is and enjoy!
I had one large sweet potato that needed to be used, and 3 white potatoes, so I used those to make this soup. I also substituted 2% milk instead of half-and-half or whole milk. It turned out delicious! I highly recommend it. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Wonderful!
Followed the recipe and loved it.
Really delicious soup. I served it over rice with chicken
Def has a kick! Very thick.. Even w 2% milk- will use more broth next time. Used fresh grated ginger. Hearty and yummy!
This soup is amazing! I used 3 large sweet potatoes, fresh ginger and only 1 cup of 5% cream because I like my cream soups thicker. The soup is velvety smooth and very flavourful. I highly recommend you give it a try!
Yum! I made this just as directed, except I used fresh ginger and added 2 tsp curry powder. 5 star!