This cozy, warmly-spiced carrot and sweet potato soup recipe is soul-nourishing, silky, and easy to make in one pot. Perfect for getting your veggies in and eating seasonally during winter months, while staying warm.
Once winter hits, I go full tea-and-soup mode. Raw veggie salads take a backseat (except for my Italian Brussels sprouts chop), and I find myself reaching for all the warm, cozy vegetables in soups and stews.
Lately, this carrot and sweet potato soup has been simmering on repeat in my kitchen, and it's become somewhat of a fixation. It's a lighter soup - more of a side or starter roast chicken, a hearty grain salad, your favorite sandwich, or similar meals.
The flavors come from simple aromatics and warming spices: whole cumin seed, cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric. And the magic part? Toasting those whole cumin seeds right in with the aromatics. It deepens the flavor, adds warmth, and takes no extra time. Once blended, everything comes together into a silky bowl of vibrant orange that looks like the sunshine we all need in winter months.
On those chilly days when you just want the simplicity of a really good bowl of soup, nourishing vegetables, and good spices to carry you through the cold, this carrot sweet potato soup hits the spot!
As a seasonal recipe developer, I'm always looking for simple ways to turn everyday produce into something deeply comforting, and this soup is one of those cozy wins. Ready in one pot and about 40 minutes from start to finish.
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Key Ingredients
- Carrots and sweet potatoes - These are our core ingredients for this soup, and they're available seasonally in cooler months. They both provide a wonderful sweetness that pairs perfectly with warm, earthy spices. In fact, the spice profile in this recipe is inspired by my Moroccan roasted carrots!
- Spices - If you're open to a new cooking adventure, I highly recommend having some fun with whole cumin seeds here. Cinnamon, turmeric, and ginger are our other key spices. I've tried both dried ginger and fresh - both are amazing. Just use what you have!
Should I peel the sweet potatoes?
Since this is a blended soup, I do recommending peeling the sweet potatoes. They leave a grittier texture if you don't peel them (trust me, I tried to get away with it!), whereas for something like my sweet potato turkey chili, I usually don't bother.
Peeling carrots is totally optional here, but I do like to give them a good scrub with my vegetable brush.
Sustainable sourcing tip: Since carrots can tolerate cooler weather growing seasons, try to find them locally! Sweet potatoes can be harvested in fall and store well, so they can sometimes be found locally, even in wintery states.
Visual Overview: Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup
- Step 1: Sauté the onions, carrot, and sweet potato in olive oil. Add cumin seeds, garlic, and all other spices, making sure to stir so the cumin seeds get exposed to the heat and oil to toast.
- Step 2: Add in the broth and water, and bring everything to a gently bubbling boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, allowing the soup to simmer for 15-20 minutes (until the carrots and sweet potatoes are fork tender). I love to clean up my kitchen during this down time.
- Step 3: Blend the soup using an immersion blender or a stand blender. I prefer an immersion blender here - no need to transfer hot soup! But both work well. Blend until silky smooth.
- Step 4: Serve in bowls with toppings and (always) bread! I recommend a drizzle of cream or coconut milk, cilantro, pepitas, chili oil, and/or olive oil.
Sustainability Tips
- Storing carrots and sweet potatoes - Sweet potatoes don't like being in the fridge, so store them in a cool, dark, ventilated place (like a countertop). If carrots have tops, remove those and store separately. Wash carrots and keep in an open container with a damp towel on top.
- Bulk section - Purchase cumin seeds in a bulk section if you have access to one at your grocery store. Use
FAQ
Carrots, no - but make sure to give them a good scrub. For the sweet potatoes, however, I do recommend peeling to avoid a gritty soup texture.
I find that I actually slightly prefer this soup without milk stirred in, but I prefer a drizzle of cream, coconut milk, or even plain kefir. But I think ½-1 cup of coconut milk stirred in at the end would taste amazing!
Add an additional 1-2 cups of water and 1 cup of red lentils, and simmer them with the rest of the soup ingredients. When it's time to blend, blend everything together. It'll taste slightly different but in a good way! And you'll have a heartier soup.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
Did you make this cozy sweet potato and carrot soup? I'd love to hear how it turned out! Leave a ⭐️ rating and comment below, and follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and my newsletter for more everyday seasonal recipes.
📖 Recipe
One-Pot Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-5 1x
Description
This carrot and sweet potato soup is the coziest one-pot meal for chilly days! It's warmly spiced, silky, and packed with nourishing veggies. Made with carrots, sweet potatoes, aromatics, and broth, it blends into a smooth, feel-good soup for weeknight dinners or meal prep.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 4 cups diced sweet potato, peeled (about 4-5 medium sweet potatoes)
- 4 large carrots, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
- 1.5 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 4 cups broth (chicken or veggie)
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Toppings: pepitas, chili oil, cilantro, cream
Instructions
- Sauté aromatics. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, sweet potatoes, and carrots, and sauté for 7-8 minutes until everything starts to soften. Add garlic, cumin seeds, cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric. Stir to coat the vegetables and get the cumin seeds exposed to the oil and heat. Sauté for another 3-4 minutes.
- Add broth & simmer. Add in the broth and water, and season with the salt and pepper. Stir and increase heat slightly to bring everything to a gentle bubble. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and allow the soup to simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until veggies are fork tender.
- Blend & serve. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until completely smooth. Alternatively, give the soup a moment to cool and very carefully transfer the soup to a stand blender. Blend until smooth, then transfer back to the pot to reheat. Top with fresh cilantro, a drizzle of cream or coconut milk, pepitas, and/or chili oil!
Notes
- Storage & freezing. Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Reheat gently on the stovetop (after thawing, if frozen) or microwave.
- Chili oil. Chili crisp is a favorite at our house! But if you live in the United States and have access to a Trader Joe's, see if you can find the salsa macha. It's like a chili oil with pepitas, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds, and it is SO good on this soup.
- Drizzling. Heavy cream, coconut milk, and olive oil are all great for drizzling on this soup. If you're into gut health, I have drizzled whole milk plain kefir on this soup - also recommend. It provides the acidity of yogurt but doesn't separate into weird chunks!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop, one pot
- Cuisine: Moroccan-inspired
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 208
- Sugar: 12.7 g
- Sodium: 969 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.6 g
- Fiber: 7.1 g
- Protein: 3.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
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