A creamy vegan Sweet Potato Peanut Soup for all the peanut butter lovers out there! A silky smooth, rich soup with subtle hints of coconut milk, fire-roasted tomatoes, and peanut butter. A true treat if you want something warm, tasty, and satisfying!
Peanut Butter in Soup
What, have you never added peanut butter to soup?? There are so many things you can do with peanut butter, and for the most part, we do not think of adding peanut butter to savory dishes, but it tastes fantastic in soups.
Not only that, peanut butter is an inexpensive, filling ingredient that pairs wells with sweet potatoes!
If you're not convinced, I urge you to try it. SO GOOD!
Related recipe: Sweet Potato Leek Soup
Benefits of Sweet Potato Peanut Soup
With this soup, you get a well balanced, well-rounded meal.
- Sweet Potatoes: Its orange color indicates it’s rich in beta cartone, which is what your body uses to convert into Vitamin A. It’s also an excellent source of complex carbohydrates (that’s the good carbs).
- Peanut Butter: Natural peanut butter is high in protein, which is a good addition to a well-balanced plant-based meal. You can look for natural peanut butter without any added sugar or ANY OTHER INGREDIENTS, such as this one, to keep this recipe healthiest.
- Coconut Milk: Coconut milk is high in good healthy fats. The kind of fats that help promote good cholesterol. Plus, good healthy fats allow you to stay full and satiated. I recommend using lite coconut milk without an funky additives (such as this one) for this recipe to cut down on the fat a little, because the peanut butter already adds healthy fats to this soup.
- Diced Tomatoes: Did you know that tomatoes are one of the few vegetables that can be MORE nutritious when cooked or canned? The lycopene content in tomatoes increased when they are heated / canned, so using canned tomatoes is actually a GOOD thing in addition to being a time saver. I love using fire-roasted diced tomatoes (Hunt's is often my go-to) because of the beautiful char, though it doesn't matter much in this recipe because they get blended in and you don't see the char. But either way, the acidity of canned diced tomatoes helps balance out the rich flavors and the healthy fats in this soup.
Related recipe: Creamy Carrot Soup with Parsley Pistou
Making your Vegan Sweet Potato Peanut Soup Creamy
Key ingredients and tools you need to ensure a creamy soup (and not a grainy one) include; a good blender, coconut milk, natural peanut butter, and the type of sweet potatoes used.
- Immersion Blender. A blender is a MUST for cream-based soups. You can use an immersion blender, such as this one to puree the soup. It’s so convenient as you just stick it directly in your pot of soup and blend it to your desired smoothness. It saves you time, hassle, and dishes. They are inexpensive too.
OR
- Traditional Blender. If you don't want to get a single-purpose kitchen gadget, then a traditional blender is the way to go. If you're getting one, I recommend splurging on an industrial strength blender, such as the Blendtec or Vitamix brand of blender. It's strong enough to make the smoothest smoothies out of ANYTHING and can even turn roasted peanuts into all-natural peanut butter. I spent a lot of time and did a lot of research and finally settled on Blendtec. This is the one I have and love dearly.
- Coconut Milk: Just like in my Creamy Vegan Carrot Soup recipe, coconut milk is the best ingredient to make a creamy vegan soup. It is thick enough to give you that creamy effect. Just make sure you are using the unsweetened coconut milk in a can.
- Peanut butter: Peanut butter adds another layer of creamiest to your dish. If you can get your hands on this brand of peanut butter, I highly suggest it because it’s natural without the added sugar or other additives. Its only ingredient is peanuts.
- Sweet Potatoes: Of course, any sweet potatoes will work for this dish, but Garnet sweet potatoes tend to be on the smoother side. Use whatever sweet potatoes you have available, but if you see Garnet sweet potatoes, be sure to grab them!
Related recipe: Pureed Parsnip Soup
Other Ingredients to Spice Up Your Sweet Peanut Soup!
The soup is pretty simple, using common ingredients you can find everywhere (or that you may already have).
- Dried Cumin and Coriander: Ahhh, you know how much I LOVE cumin and coriander. They add a warm, smoky, fragrant aroma to all recipes. These here are my favorite brands to use because there are no preservatives or funky anti-caking ingredients added: Cumin, Coriander.
- Want to add some spice? Add some fresh jalapeno or a few pinches of cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, or berbere to the bowl when cooking or serving. If you've never had Berbere, it's an Ethiopian spice and is used in dishes like my Ethiopian Chicken Stew, Ethiopian Chickpeas (another healthy vegan recipe!), and Ethiopian spiced cottage cheese.
- Fresh Cilantro Leaves: This is optional, but garnishing with a little bit of cilantro adds depth of freshness to the soup, plus it makes it look pretty. If you don’t like the taste of cilantro (because you have the cilantro taste like soap gene lol), parsley will work too.
- Peanuts! I mean, this is peanut butter soup, so for added crunch, go ahead and sprinkle some peanuts on top!
Ways to Serve this Soup
- Nothing is better with creamy soup than crackers or warm crusted bread! Try my Whole Wheat Garlic Bread or Toasted Garlicky Pita Wedges
- This soup would be great alongside a salad like my Fall Apple Mandarin Orange Spinach Salad or Beet and Blue Cheese Salad
Looking for more soup recipes?
Try these reader favorites:
- Vegan Sausage Zuppa Toscana - so hearty, tasty, and yes - vegan!
- Lentil Butternut Squash Soup - a more filling version of the creamy butternut squash soup
- Potato Turnip Soup - vegan, creamy, light, healthy
- Curried Butternut Squash Soup - this butternut squash soup has a lovely flavor thanks to a little bit of curry powder
- Moroccan Spiced Lentil Soup - vegan, healthy, loaded with veggies and heart-healthy lentils
Looking for more sweet potato recipes?
- Roasted sweet potato tian with salsa verde
- Sweet potato pulled pork hash
- Sweet potato leek latkes
- Sweet potato coconut curry with shrimp
Or see all the sweet potato recipes from Babaganosh.
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Sweet Potato Peanut Soup
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion - diced
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil - or olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1.5 lb sweet potato - cut into 1 inch pieces (about 2 large sweet potatoes)
- 1 14-oz can light coconut milk
- 1 14-oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- ¾ teaspoon salt - or more to taste
- ⅓ cup peanut butter - (or more to taste - up to ½ cup total)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice - from ½ lime
- Optional ingredients: red pepper flakes, fresh jalapeno, turmeric, berbere, fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- In a 4-5 quart soup pot with a heavy bottom, heat the coconut oil and saute the diced onion for about 5 minutes. Add the ground cumin and ground coriander and saute another minute. Option to add red pepper flakes, berbere seasoning, or fresh jalapeno for some spice, if you like.
- Add the cubed sweet potato, coconut milk, and fire-roasted diced tomatoes. Add salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the sweet potato is fully cooked. Remove from heat. Stir in the peanut butter until it is fully dissolved. Add a handful of fresh cilantro leaves or a pinch of turmeric, if you wish.
- Use an immersion blender or large blender to puree the soup to desired smoothness (feel free to leave some chunks of sweet potato and tomatoes!). Be careful when pureeing! It's hot. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.