This silky smooth soup combines sweet potatoes, carrots, apple and lentil to create a rich bowl of comforting goodness. Perfect on a cold blustery day.
This beautiful soup is one of my favourites. The ginger and chilli powder give it a nice kick, and I love the way that my kitchen smells as this soup simmers on my stove. The combination of these hearty ingredients just leave me feeling like I’m doing something really good for myself. Let’s talk about sweet potatoes for a minute – shall we?
Sweet potatoes and lentils are both complex carbs which contain fiber. I highly recommend both to my weight loss clients because thanks to the fiber, they also leave you feeling fuller which reduces overeating and helps you to manage cravings. Lentils were KEY in helping me to lose 30 pounds!
Sweet potatoes are also high in B Vitamins. This is important because stress and depression completely burns out the B vitamins in your body. Vitamin B6 in particular helps manufacture neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which aids in the body’s ability to cope with depression, stress and anxiety.
Another added benefit is that sweet potatoes and lentils both help to stabilize your blood sugar so will keep your energy nice and stable. Stabilizing your blood sugar is also key for helping you to lose or maintain weight.
I LOVE to cook with sweet potatoes. I’m giving you fair warning that you will see lots of recipes with sweet potatoes on this blog (like here and here). I mean – they are so versatile! Whether they’re roasted with savoury spices, mashed or baked in a pie (more on that later), sweet potatoes are the MVP in plenty of recipes.
Other than tasting delicious, sweet potatoes are high in Vitamin C, D as well as iron. If there is one Vitamin your body needs in increased quantities in the Winter; it’s Vitamin C.
It is so important to make sure that your body always has adequate amounts of Vitamin C in the winter. Many people wait until the first signs of a cold to take Vitamin C. That’s like putting on a raincoat after you’ve been standing in the rain for an hour.
You need to stock up on Vitamin C BEFORE you catch a cold to minimize your chances of getting sick in the first place. With one serving you’ll have over half the recommended intake of Vitamin C.
If you’re trying to lose weight, not eating enough carbs can actually slow down your metabolism. Carbohydrates contain important phytochemicals, fiber, vitamins and minerals. You just want to make sure you stick with the right ones. If you’re wondering what the right ones are you can check this out.
You’ll spend the most time for this recipe chopping veggies, about 20 minutes or so, but trust me when I say it’s sooo worth it. After that, sit back, soak in the aroma and let your stove do the rest of the work.
Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple & Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil or butter
- 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into cubes
- 3 medium carrots peeled and chopped
- 1 apple peeled, cored, and chopped
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup dried red lentils
- 2 tablespoons minced ginger fresh is best, but bottled is fine
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar optional
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt butter over medium high heat. Add sweet potatoes, carrots, apple and onion. Cook stirring often until translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Add broth, water and remaining ingredients EXCEPT brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, covered, until lentils and vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes. Remove from stove and cool.
- In batches, pour cooled soup into a blender. Try not to fill more than halfway. Hold down the lid of the blender with a kitchen towel and begin to pulse carefully, then puree.
- Return soup to the pot , stir in brown sugar, and reheat before serving.
I wish you could be more specific in your amounts. There is a wide range of sizes for sweet potatoes and carrots. Lentils? Dried or canned? Can you be a little more specific?
Hi Joan!
The recipe states ‘2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes’. Was there another measurement that you were looking for that I can help with? I updated carrots to ‘medium’ and lentils to ‘dried’. Hope that helps. Thanks for the feedback!
Translating the word large into a specific number of ounces would be useful. I currently have a large sweet potato on hand which weighs almost 3 pounds and I don’t think you mean to use 6 pounds of sweet potato in this recipe.
Missed this one Elena! Thanks for the tip. 1 large sweet potato is about 8oz. I personally think you can never go wrong with having too much sweet potato ☺️ I can’t get enough of them! If it’s too thick you can add some veggie broth or hot water to think it out a bit.
Great recipe, I appreciate You posting such a healthy, tasty winter soup. Made it this morning and had it for lunch, didn’t change or add any ingredients. I made it in my Instant Pot on soup cycle and it came out perfect, THANK YOU
I’m glad you enjoyed it Rick! This is one of my favs 🙂
Delicious! I didn’t have an onion and it still tasted great. I used an immersion blender at the end and it worked well. This will be on our winter rotation!
Yaay! So glad to hear that you enjoyed it Emily 😊 It’s definitely one of my favs as well!
This is a new favourite in the soup rotation. I’ve found that the measurements are very forgiving. Sometimes I don’t have enough of one ingredient, ie. carrots, so use more sweet potato etc. I absolutely love this recipe!!
So glad to hear Una! It’s definitely one of my favs also 🙂
Absolutely LOVE this soup! I’ve made it for company several times to rave reviews! Thanks for sharing it!
So glad you enjoyed it Annie!
High can’t wait to make this soup. Can you please let me know what type of apple to use?
Hi Felicia! I like using Gala or Honeycrisp, but any type of apple with a bit of sweetness works. Let me know if you enjoy it 😊
Hi! I’d love to make this in the instant pot. Do you know how I could go about doing that? Thank you!
Hi Penny!
Yes you can go ahead and make that using the manual setting on your Instant Pot.
I usually start by setting the Instant Pot to the sautee setting and then adding butter. Once add sweet potatoes, carrots, apple and onion. Cook stirring often until translucent, about 10 minutes. Turn off sautee setting, and then add remainder of ingredients.
Set the instant pot to the manual setting and then cook for about 12 minutes.
Once done I do a manual release (quicker that way) then I just use my immersion blender to blend right in the Instant Pot.
Let me know how it goes!
Do you happen to have the nutritional information for this recipe?
Hi Erica!
Here’s a rough breakdown based on 5 servings:
Calories – 268
Total Fat 12.7g
Saturated Fat 9.8g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 1574mg
Total Carbohydrate 30.2g
Dietary Fiber 9.1g
Total Sugars 11.9g
Protein 10g
Hope this helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
This looks so good! What a great way to enjoy fall flavors and get your nutrition!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it Suzanne! I’ll definitely be whipping up batch this weekend 😊
Thanks for sharing! Does it freeze well?
Hey Vanessa! I’ve never tried it but you could try placing it in a Ziplock bag (once it cools down) and freeze it flat. Let me know if you try that!
This looks so good! What a great blend of favorite fall flavors!
Thanks Suzanne! Did you get a chance to make it?
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Hey Vanessa! Yes I can keep it for about 4-5 days in the fridge
Hi there. What type of apple do you use? Thanks!
I like using a Fuji or Honeycrisp as they tend to have a sweeter flavour. Let me know if you make it Shauna!
I made this without sugar, paprika and chili powder. Added cinnamon and a little coriander, fantastic soup. Thank you for the recipe.
Hey Mindy! Oooo chilli powder 😊 Great choice!
If you leave out the sugar, is there enough sweetness from the apple? Or would you also need to leave out some of the other ingredients like the spices? Or what if you had no sugar and no Apple? Would it not be like a nice savoury soup or would the spice be too bitter?
Hey Sam! The level of sweetness depends on your tastebuds but you can totally leave the sugar out. If you left the apple out it wouldn’t be bitter but instead a bit more on the savoury side. You could also add some cinnamon which adds a natural touch of sweetness without the sugar. Let me know how it goes!
I’ve made your soup often! I’ve never found the need for the brown sugar. I make mine in a crock pot and put it out at potlucks to be served as cup-o-soup it’s always a hit, even with the picky eaters!
Using a crockpot is a great idea! I hear ya on the picky eaters – my hubby is one of them and this soup is one of his favourites. 😊 Glad you enjoyed it!
This is such an delicious recipe! I added one more onion and also mushrooms! I also added a dash on cinnamon too. You are right about using fresh ginger vs. powder. You get little bursts of ginger throughout the bowl.Thank you for sharing 😊
Oooo never thought to add mushrooms and they’re one of my favourite veggies. Yes fresh ginger makes a world of difference. Glad you enjoyed it Kristen!
This is the best soup ever! It’s oh so flavourful and has a tiny kick at the end of each bite. This is my second time making it and it now has a permanent spot in my cookbook.
So happy to hear this Kay! This is def one of my favourites. Would love if you could snap a pic the next time you make it and tag me on IG! https://www.instagram.com/trudyestone/
Great recipe!
I found it just a tad too sweet so will hold back on some of the brown sugar.
Thanks Deborah! Glad you enjoyed it 😊
Hello. If i made this in a crockpot, would I just add all ingredients and cook on low 8 hrs or high 4-6?
Hi Leah!
Yes you could definitely do that 😊 I love making this one in the slow cooker and those times sound good!
Hello. Can you substitute chicken stock for the vegetable stock?
It might give it a bit of a different flavour but I still think it’s worth trying! Let me know how it goes 😊
Amazing soup!! I’ve made a number of puree’d soups, this one has inched to the top. I love the creaminess, and the flavor combo. Really the only thing I did different was to only add 1 tsp of salt & 1/2 tsp of black pepper.
So happy to hear you enjoyed it Meri!