Sweet potato, carrot, and ginger soup – nothing better than a bowl of flavorful, hot soup to keep you warm on a chilly day.
I make soup at least twice a week, even in summer… And in winter, I often make a big pot and eat soup every evening for several days. So, if I can call myself an expert in anything, then I must be an expert in making soup. 😊
This sweet potato, carrot and ginger soup is one of our favorite fall soups. It’s spicy and comforting, and it warms you up from the inside. It is super easy to make, vegan, healthy, low-budget, and ready in less than one hour.
And although this is a regular, every weeknight kind of meal, the ginger sweet potato soup is pretty and tasty enough to serve guests. I often make it for informal parties with lots of guests during the winter months.
Check out more soups suitable for larger gatherings: German Lentil Soup, Pizza Soup, or German Cheese and Leek with Ground Pork – these are all standard party soups in our area. Or try this Spicy Pumpkin Ginger Soup.
Table of contents
Recipe ingredients
- Sweet potatoes: Red-skinned, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. Not to be confused with yams, which aren’t sweet potatoes at all but altogether another sort of tuberous root vegetable.
- Sweet potatoes are often sold under the name of yams, which doesn’t make sense as they are not a sort of yam at all; yams and sweet potatoes are two different kinds of vegetables.
- Other vegetables: Fresh carrots, onion, and garlic.
- Ginger: Fresh ginger; I don’t like using ground ginger for this recipe.
- Curry paste: I use yellow curry paste often; I like its flavor; it’s spicy and only mildly hot.
- However, different brands of curry paste can be milder or hotter than others, so make sure you know how hot the curry paste is before you add it to the soup.
- Other sorts of curry paste can be used instead; green curry paste is also fine.
- If using red curry paste, start with a minimal amount and only add more if you think you can manage the heat.
- Oil: I like using coconut oil when making a dish containing coconut milk; it enhances the coconut flavor. However, regular olive oil can be used instead.
- Liquids: Vegetable broth (stock cubes are fine, but make sure they are good quality) and a can of coconut milk.
- Spices: Cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to taste, fine sea salt or kosher salt, and ground black pepper.
How to make sweet potato soup with carrots and ginger?
- Prepare vegetables: Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and the carrots. Set aside. Finely chop the onions. Set aside. Finely chop the garlic and ginger. Set aside separately from the onion.
- Sauté: Heat oil in a large pot and cook the onion until translucent, often stirring for about 5-6 minutes on medium-low heat (1). Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste. Stir well (2).
- Add sweet potatoes and carrots and stir to coat for about 2 minutes on medium heat (3).
- Simmer: Pour in the vegetable broth (4), bring to a boil, and cook covered for about 15-20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes and the carrots are soft. Check with a fork.
- Blend with an immersion blender (5).
- Add the coconut milk, stir well and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Adjust the taste with chili powder, sea salt, and black pepper.
Expert Tips
Spices: Use your favorite curry paste; ensure you know how hot the paste is. You can replace curry with another spice mixture. Try Ras-el hanout (or another Oriental-style spice mixture) to give the dish a slight Moroccan touch, Herbs de Provence, or another spice mixture you like.
Stock: Use homemade or high-quality vegetable stock. You can also use chicken stock or chicken broth.
Blend the soup:
- It’s preferable to use an immersion blender to blend soups or other hot liquids to avoid the risk of the blender’s lid exploding (Amazon affiliate link).
- You can also use the stand blender, provided you follow a few safety steps:
- Let the liquid cool slightly and blend it in small batches.
- Place a folded towel on top of the kitchen gadget and hold it steady.
- Increase the speed gradually.
- Transfer the creamy soup to another pot and repeat with another batch.
Recipe FAQ
Sure. Use 1 teaspoon of curry powder instead.
Yes, that’s the beauty of any pumpkin or sweet potato soup; you can swap these two main ingredients according to what you have in the pantry. Hokkaido, butternut squash, sugar pumpkin, or another flavorful pumpkin are all great.
Sure, while the coconut milk adds flavor, you can undoubtedly make sweet potato soup without it. Replace it with heavy cream or use a dairy-free cream such as soy, oat, or almond cooking cream.
Refrigerate in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Freeze in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator and reheat until hot.
Reheat on the stovetop or the microwave before serving. Add a splash of milk or stock if the soup seems too thick.
How to serve?
The sweet potato, carrot and ginger soup can be served as a starter or as a main meal with bread, sandwiches, or a salad. You can serve it with homemade croutons, or the potato croutons suggested in the Creamy Pumpkin and Potato Soup.
You can also serve it with Tofu Spread (with Silken Tofu, Spelt Bread – No-Rise, No-Knead, Oat Bread without Yeast, Low-Calorie Hummus, Homemade Yeast Rolls, Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Croissants, or Cheese and Onion Pasties.
Or make a salad on the side: Try Mediterranean Parsley Salad – Tabbouleh, Grilled Peach and Chicken Salad, or Couscous Salad with Chickpeas.
More brightly orange-colored, healthy soups
- Creamy Carrot Soup with Milk
- Easy Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup
- Carrot, Ginger Soup with Coconut Milk
- Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup
- Vegan Roasted Pumpkin Soup
- Pumpkin Orange Soup (with Feta Topping)
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Sweet Potato, Carrot and Ginger Soup
Equipment
- Large soup pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes 1 kg, Note 1
- 3 carrots medium
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
- 2 teaspoons yellow curry paste Note 2
- 4 cups vegetable broth 1 liter
- 1 can coconut milk 400 g/ 14 oz, Note 3
- red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, to taste
- fine sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables: Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and the carrots into cubes. Chop the onion. Set aside. Chop the garlic cloves and ginger. Set them aside separately from the onions.
- Sauté: Heat the coconut oil. Cook the onion with a pinch of salt until translucent, often stirring for about 5-6 minutes on medium-low heat. Don't let it color. Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste and stir well for 1 minute.
- Add sweet potatoes and carrots and stir for about 2 minutes.
- Simmer: Pour in the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, cover, turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes and the carrots are soft (check with a fork).
- Blend the soup with an immersion blender (Note 4).
- Add the coconut milk, stir well and bring to a simmer again. Reheat for about five minutes.
- Adjust the taste with red pepper flakes (or cayenne pepper), salt, and pepper.
Notes
- Substitute sweet potatoes with Hokkaido or sugar pumpkin, butternut squash, or another flavorful sort of pumpkin.
- Substitute curry paste with 1 teaspoon of curry powder. Or use another spice mixture instead (my favorite replacement is Ras-el hanout).
- Substitute coconut milk with heavy cream or a non-dairy cooking cream (soy, oat, almond).
- Blend: It’s preferable to use an immersion blender to blend soups or other hot liquids to avoid the risk of the blender’s lid exploding. If you use a blender, let the soup cool slightly and blend it in batches, the blender should only be half full. Place a folded towel on top of the blender and hold it steady. Increase the speed gradually.