Lentil Sweet Potato Soup with bread

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

This Lentil Sweet Potato Soup is one you’ll definitely want to have in rotation no matter what time of year! Warm spices paired with hearty vegetables you’ll love. It’s made in one pot and is perfect for pairing with your favorite bread. A match made in heaven!

Soup has never been one of my go-to meals, but I’m making an effort to try to incorporate them into my life more often. I love how versatile they are and I’ve been on a lentil kick lately, so I figured why not make a soup with them?! This Lentil Sweet Potato Soup will definitely be one of my favorites going forward. I ate this throughout an entire week (not every day, but at least 5-6 times) and looked forward to it every time!

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Lentil Sweet Potato Soup:

  • neutral oil of choice – you can use olive, vegetable oil, grapeseed oil or anything similar you have on hand.
  • minced garlic – jarred or fresh garlic will work!
  • yellow onion – the onion along with the garlic is going to create depth of flavor in the dish. Don’t skip it!
  • seasonings: salt, ground ginger, black pepper, ground cumin, paprika, ground cinnamon – these seasonings are what’s going to give your soup its unique flavor. Feel free to taste and adjust to your liking.
  • vegetable broth – you could also substitute for a vegan chicken broth if desired. Substitute with water as a last resort!
  • brown lentils – I used canned lentils in this recipe, but you could also use dried, pre-soaked lentils if you need.
  • vegetables: diced tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, chopped spinach – I think these veggies paired perfectly in this soup, but feel free to experiment with alternatives if you’d like!
  • fresh parsley – this is totally optional, but definitely adds a nice finishing touch to the dish!
Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

How to Make Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Making this cozy soup is a log easier than you might think. One could assume that making a homemade soup is difficult, but it’s actually pretty easy. You basically prep all of your ingredients, then add it to a pot! If you need a bit more detail, keep reading.

To begin, you’ll first want to gather all of your ingredients for the Lentil Sweet Potato Soup. There’s nothing worse than starting a recipe only to realize you’re missing something! Once all of your ingredients are accounted for, begin prepping your veggies by peeling/dicing the garlic (if using fresh), onions, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

When dicing the sweet potatoes, be sure not to dice them too big, or they’ll take longer to cook. I’ve found that dicing them into pieces that are about one inch in size seem to work pretty well. Same goes for the carrots.

Once all of the veggies for the Lentil Sweet Potato Soup are chopped, warm a large pot over medium heat. While that’s warming, you can measure out all of your seasonings, open your cans, and drain your lentils. Once the oil is warmed, add 1 – 2 tablespoons of a neutral oil, then add in the minced garlic and yellow onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste (optional), and stir regularly to keep from sticking.

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Once the garlic and onions are cooked, add in your seasonings: salt, ginger, black pepper, cumin, paprika, and cinnamon. Stir them into the garlic and onions until incorporated. Next, add in the vegetable broth, lentils, diced tomatoes, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Stir to combine, then increase the temperature of the eye to high and cover with a lid until the pot is boiling.

When the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to low and continue to let simmer for 30 – 45 minutes or until sweet potatoes are fork tender – meaning when poked with a fork the sweet potatoes should easily fall off. After the sweet potatoes are done cooking, stir in the frozen spinach and allow to cook for about 5 – 7 minutes more or until the spinach is cooked.

At this point your lentil sweet potato soup is done! Garnish with optional fresh parsley and enjoy!

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup Q&A

  • What pairs well with Lentil Sweet Potato Soup? I think this soup can certainly hold its own, but I love pairing this dish with french bread!
  • I don’t have sweet potatoes. Can I substitute with a different kind? I’ve only tried this recipe with sweet potatoes, but your could probably get away with using a different kind if you wanted to! Perhaps yukon gold potatoes?
  • I don’t have frozen spinach. Can I use fresh? I always tend to have frozen spinach on hand, so I use that but if you have fresh spinach you can certainly use that too! Add it in towards the end until wilted.
  • Can this Lentil Sweet Potato Soup be made in a slow cooker? Though I haven’t tried it, I’m sure it could be! I’d start by cooking it on low for 4 hours and check on it in 30 minute increments to check if it’s done.

I know you’ll love this Lentil Sweet Potato Soup! It’s hearty, delicious and filled with all the warm and cozy ingredients! Give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments below!

More Soup Recipes You’ll Love:

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The recipe and photos in this post were updated on March 19, 2024.

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup with bread
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5 from 8 votes

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

A warm, cozy soup filled with hearty vegetables and perfect for pairing with your favorite bread.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword Carrots, Lentil, Lentil Soup, Sweet Potatoes
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Add 1-2 tbsp of oil to a large pot over medium heat.
    1-2 tbsp neutral oil of choice
  • Once warm, add the diced onion and garlic. Sauté until onions are translucent.
    1 tbsp minced garlic, ½ medium yellow onion
  • Add in all spices and continue to sauté, stirring consistently until combined.
    1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground ginger, black pepper, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Add in vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, carrots, lentils, and sweet potatoes. Stir until combined and bring to a boil. 
    6 cups vegetable broth, 1 14.5oz can brown lentils, 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, 2 medium sized carrots, 3 cups sweet potatoes
  • Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover the pot. Let sit for 30-45 minutes.
  • Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, stir in frozen spinach. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes or until spinach is warmed through.
    2 cups frozen chopped spinach
  • Garnish with parsley chopped parsley (optional). Serve immediately and enjoy!
    fresh parsley

Previous photo:

Lentil+Sweet Potato Soup

9 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Delicious! Will never buy can soup again!

  2. 5 stars
    Just made this! It has a wonderful balance of warm spices! I added a little bit of sour cream to my bowl and it was deliciously creamy. Thanks for sharing!

  3. 5 stars
    This was so delicious! And I’m a horrible cook!! Haha! Seriously this was the first soup I’ve attempted that came out so good. I didn’t even have enough vegetable broth and a little less than a cup of lentils sitting around but it still came out perfect. Thank you!

  4. Keandra Ewing

    5 stars
    We had soup day at work and I made this soup. Everyone loved it. It’s filling and delicious. Thanks for another great recipe Desirée.

  5. Paul James Hossack

    Hi this looks really good! Is it ok to use any color of lentil?

  6. 5 stars
    I was a bit reluctant to try this odd combination of ingredients, but it turned out surprisingly tasty and a cup of this soup was very filling.

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