Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Sweet Potato and Chilli Soup

Over the last month, I have made soup twice and ratatouille once. Thus, I conclude it is getting colder!

I actually find soup for lunch one of the perks of colder weather. If I make a batch on the weekend, I have lunch pretty well sorted for the working week, and I tend to eat more vegetables than if I was trying to cut up salad daily (as I try, but don't always manage, to do in summer).

This Sweet Potato and Chilli soup is particularly satisfying, and is very easy to make if you have a blender / processor. It's also good for cold days, as the chilli packs an extra flavour and heat punch.

Sweet Potato and Chilli Soup

Serves 4 to 6. Adapted from Taste.com.au.

  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 dried chillis, chopped and de-seeded (I accidentally left a few seeds in, which somewhat boosted the level of spice in my version!)
  • ~800g sweet potato (weight pre-peeling), peeled and cubed
  • ~1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 - 1.5 cups water (amount depending on how thick you want your soup. I used 1.5 cups and think I might use 1.25 in future)
  • Olive oil to taste, for cooking the onion


1. In a large saucepan, saute the onion over moderate heat for ~3 minutes, until slightly soft.

2. Add the chillis and cook for a further 3 minutes, until the onion is golden.

3. Add the sweet potato, vegetable stock and water. Cover and simmer on low heat for ~15 minutes, until potato is soft.

4. Add the coriander and stir through. Turn off the heat and leave covered for ~15 minutes.

5. Process the soup in a food processor or blender, in batches to avoid explosions.

I love the combination of sweet potato, chilli and coriander, so this soup was just right for me. It was quite spicy, but I attribute that to my rogue chilli seeds, and it was still not too spicy.

If you wanted to reduce the chilli, you could easily use just one, or even add a whole chilli at the simmering stage and remove before processing. As the original recipe called for garlic and not coriander, I think it would also be easy to play around with the flavours to taste.

Whilst this was cooking, I tried re-making Apple and Zucchini Muffins with whole-wheat flour and honey instead of white flour and white sugar. Unfortuantely, whilst the resulting muffins tasted beautiful, they were somewhat soggy in the middle! I think I need to tweak the flour amounts and baking time to compensate for the honey, so I won't share a revised recipe at this stage :p.


  1. I haven't had sweet potatoes in so long! Mum used to roast them every second night and I got tired of them, but it's been long enough now....

  2. love soup and sweet potato is excellent in soup - I had a recipe for sweet potato and lentil soup that I never seem to be able to find - not sure about the chilli seeds though - I can't handle too much heat

  3. @Hannah
    Ooh, every second night would get a bit much. Perhaps it's time to reintroduce them though. They're a great vegetable!

  4. @Johanna GGG
    Hmm, yes, definitely omit the chilli then. It was on the spicy side! You could include the garlic I omitted though, or add your own twist :)

  5. Oh these flavours just call to me. I love this soup. Should make it as I can't remembr the last time I had sweet potato.


